Figuring Things Out? Not Necessarily!

To those who were born in the 80s and 90s, probably still in denial or perhaps, shock upon knowing bout the passing of Linkin Park's lead singer - Chester Bennington. He was found dead at his private residence in California and believed to have committed suicide.

Linkin Park is one of my favorite bands. Rock and alternative bands. But I somehow, outgrown their music and have lost tracked of their albums until this recent news popped! I listened to one of his last interviews on YouTube of which he mentioned about "bad neighborhood" and "mini Chester" in his skull. At the age of 41, he said that he is still struggling to get out from this bad neighborhood and relying on a constant companionship by doing things - charity, being in the band, being a father, a husband and etc.

An escapade.

A poignant moment during the interview, he mentioned that being in this battle and long hardship, has made him understands other people in a different way than others do. He sees the positive sides of each storm that came by and continuously putting a smile to other people's face. But he is still battling with his "bad neighborhood and mini Chester".

Insecurity comes in many forms. One of them - showing strength.

Not showing the vulnerability side of you is one form of insecurity. This mostly happens to overachiever and successful person. Their success can be their worst enemy and it happens most times that successful person believe that success will always follow them through. But in reality - it's not.

Success stops when you start to become complacent. A lot of overachievers are afraid to fail - to be seen as vulnerable and to be at the lowest point of their lives. They start to become bitter and selfish to some. I agree that success journey is one of the loneliest paths you'll ever take in your life, but become bitter and cold - certainly not.

Dare to fail.

Failing is like dropping a glass and the glass shatters to pieces. It becomes vulnerable upon falling down to the floor - a free fall. Towards journey of achieving what you considered as success - BIG or small, you'll definitely stumble upon failures. Why do failures happen?

Because you cannot figure things out. The right one.

So, you got things messed up and wrong. The only way to make up to this mess is to face and solve it. Not running away from it. The temporary solution will not solve things, rather, it shall make things worst! This applies to every aspect of our lives; be it personal relationships, work or finances. What would you do when you forgot your eraser at school? You would ask your friends in class if you can borrow their eraser. You would mention to them that you've forgotten or lost your eraser that you need their help to lend their eraser. This simple case also applies to failures.

One does not simply stand still and pretend it never happened.

Acknowledging that you have problems, facing difficulties and not getting your way - i.e. showing vulnerabilities to yourself first - is the very first step to figure things out in a better way. Getting a step closer to success and getting out of failure one more step farther.

Talk and reach out for more input to get out of the swirl. Put up a status on social media does not count though. People are with low focus retention these days, to take serious any postings on social media. You can trust me on that.

Plan and start taking small actions continuously. Like Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister said to ambitious graduates of the University of Edinburgh, do small things in a big way. Small things matter. Because a house is built out of one small brick stacked on one another. A ship is made from small metal plates combined together. Hence, human excellence is made from small action that he/she does every day.

Be realistic and repeat your target. The power of vocalizing your target over and over again can provide a boost to your energy and motivation. Pat your back and trust the process. You can never go wrong if you keep on having a positive attitude, being real and keep on doing to achieve more.

I hope this article serves you well. Signing off.

??Rahimah M Nawai - An engineer by qualification, business person by profession. A freelance writer. She is an active member of Malaysian Oil & Gas Services Council (MOGSC), UTP & SERATAS Alumni.