Don't Wait...

When I was 17 years' old, I was summoned to the headmaster's office during a science class where we were navigating the realms of quantum physics.

I was an extremely shy teenager back then who just wanted to fit in and so the long walk to see the headmaster flooded my mind and body with anxiety. And it didn't help when he started by telling me to take the rest of the week off from school.

I remained silent.

My heart beating faster by the second as my mind was drowning in an avalanche of thought, waiting to hear what crime I had committed.

He leaned forward over the table and as soon as he started speaking again, I saw my dad in the corner of my eye through the room's windows being asked to take a seat in the school's reception area.

My dad wasn't looking like his normal self, and it was at this point that I had a strong feeling that what I was about to hear was going to be far worse news than simply being punished for bad behaviour.

As I turned my attention back to the headmaster, his words confirmed my suspicion.

He told me that my mum has slipped into a coma following an unfortunate accident and hospital staff were uncertain as to whether she would make it.

I remember being sat next to her bed holding her lifeless hands just an hour later after leaving school with my dad and brother.

I was an emotional wreck.

I tried to speak to her but the closest I got to any response from her, were the tears of sadness that she wept.

Sadly, she didn't make it.

Just a few months earlier we were celebrating her 49th birthday and now we were mourning her loss.

It was a sudden, unexpected and hard lesson on the fragility of life - this rarest of gifts that we must never take for granted.

We have only a limited time on this planet and so must not let the addiction of busyness stand in the way of focusing our energy on what matters most. We must not forget how much of a miracle we truly are and the unique gifts that we were born with.

The greatest lesson that I therefore took away from this experience was this: "Don't wait."

These two words, when fully embraced will become your antidote to regret and set you on the path towards fulfilment. We have two lives and that second one begins the very moment you appreciate and understand that we have only one.

So...

Start that idea.

Ask that question.

Reach out to that contact.

Change that habit.

Rid yourself of those excuses.

Tell that person how you really feel.

Say "Yes" to that opportunity.

Do more of what you love.

Record that video.

Take that first step.

Fast forward 18 years to early 2020 and after being set up with an earpiece and microphone, I was led through to a small waiting room and told that I would be going live on Sky News in 10 minutes, to be interviewed by the presenter, Sarah-Jane Mee.

As I sat, waiting for the man speaking in my earpiece to count me down to when I would be brought up onto screen, I closed my eyes and began to reflect on just how far I had come since the loss of my mum to be sitting here in a national broadcasting studio. She would be proud I thought as I reminded myself how...

I went from feeling like a hopeless victim to feeling empowered.

I went from simply wishing things to be better to taking consistent action, however small.

I went from feeling drained and exhausted to feeling the most energised I have ever felt.

This radical reinvention was a beautiful demonstration that it is often in life's hardest moments where you discover the wisdom, insight and skills to create the best moments of your life. Because it's not what happens to us that determines the trajectory our life will take, but how we choose to respond to all the things that happen to us.

Obstacles it seems, can act as the springboard and fuel towards unleashing your genius into the world. In fact, the tougher the times, the more clarity you gain about what really matters and what doesn't.

The universe will deliver into your life, moments of beauty, a world of opportunity and seasons of pain. If you are humble enough to explore the lessons contained within each, you will soon discover that all are gifts. It is why our greatest periods of growth are so often preceded by times of great challenge and uncertainty.

The wisdom that my personal growth journey has taught me - from the inevitable obstacles to the incredible successes and from the moments of burnout to the euphoric feeling of being in energetic flow - is that energy really is everything.

In fact, the gateway drug to productivity is energy.

When we have clarity on what is most important for us, we begin to awaken our greatest sources of energy and as a result, transform the way we live and work forever.

Without energy, we can't get much done.

Without energy, we don't follow through with intentions.

Without energy, a better life will remain just a distant dream.

Since everything in our lives is either giving us energy or taking it away, our approach to managing our energy is what leads to a happier, healthier life - one that forms the very foundation of operating at our most productive selves.

It can be the difference between surviving and thriving, between helplessness and hopefulness and between low and high energy feelings.

You must live each day with intention because the more engaged you are with your own life, the more energised you will feel with regards to your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energy. And this will set the stage for a powerful metamorphosis to occur as you begin to rip open the portal to that hero potential that lies within.

Most allow their lives to simply happen to them.

Don't let this be you.

As the loss of my mum taught me: "Don't wait."

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Until next time,

Simon Alexander Ong

PS. My debut book, Energize, will be released by Penguin Random House on 21st April 2022 and you can?pre-order your copy now here.