See Beyond Challenges and Hardships

Behind every successful person, there are many known and unknown hardships. Michael Jordan, a legendary NBA player missed more than 9,000 shots, lost more than 300 games and did not convert many game-winning shots. He failed again and again before he became one of the greatest basketball players in history. Roger Federer, one of my favourite tennis players used to struggle with anger on court and lacked concentration. He used to kick and throw his racquet around courts, and fell back on profanity to express his frustration and disappointment in himself.

Jack Ma was rejected by more than 30 companies after graduation. Steve Jobs was fired by Apple once. Simon Sinek lost his momentum in his career before he started sharing something really profound and later became a well-known motivational speaker. Richard Branson has dyslexia and founded Virgin Group which has more than 400 companies. Thomas Edison figured out 10,000 ways that light bulbs would not work.

Whether in sports or business, hardships are plentiful. Hardships often make or break people. The key difference between those who make it and those who get caught up in the emotions is what they say to themselves during those key moments. It is important to be present, to focus on the learning rather than let our emotions and ego override us.

In life, there are bound to be ups and downs. When we feel like we are at the pinnacle of our life, we are the most vulnerable. I fell victim to this not knowing that 80% of our life defining moments tend to happen before the age of 35.

What can we make of it? I have learned to ask.

Is it something that I can control?

Things happen for a reason. Are they good or bad? Who knows? The more we look at life as a lifelong learning and discovery journey, the less we will pay attention to these bumps and hiccups along the way. Look ahead and move on. Challenges only break you when we allow them to.

There is no such thing as failure. There are only life lessons and they do not define who we are. The way we deal with them says a lot more about who we are and who we are not.

Building a better world through positivity.

Aaron Pang