Day 138/365 - Affirm what we believe

My journey in entrepreneurship was not easy. Whatever you think could go wrong, definitely went wrong. Looking back, I deserved it. I was like sitting duck for a bunch of predators. Life is as such where if you cant take care of yourself, someone out there is going to take advantage of you. This is a sad paradox because while we are striving to believe in a beautiful world, the world is far from utopic idealism.

The business world is basically 'each man for himself, and for his own team'. That's the rule of the game. If you're lucky, you'd meet someone who genuinely cares about your welfare. More often than not, we really need to be able to fend for ourselves and survive on our own.

I am glad because I made it. From an innocent "know-nothing" who just believed in an idealistic dream, 22 years on, I am finally on my way. I started working when I was 16. This year, I will be 38.

Fresh out of college, I climbed the corporate ladder. I am blessed because as a Finance and Marketing graduate whose foundation was in Pure Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics), I landed my first job in Information Tech doing Business Development for a small reseller company. Then I advanced to a very established distributor selling high end computer servers, and finally in a Multi National Company as Business Manager selling personal computers.

I started my beauty salon while working in corporate. It was NOT how I envisioned it to be. I was not proud of what I had because there were problems after problems.. whatever you think could go wrong, went wrong. Partner problems, staff problems, client issues, inventory, accounting, marketing, management.. everything. I stuck through it for 11 years.

I ventured into Business Networking to bring business to my business (haha.. 3 times I said business! Now that's 4!) and that itself was an interesting journey. It made me see people for who they really are. Opportunistic, real and sure as hell care more about themselves than they would ever about others.. or about me, at least. It's not them. It's me. I have high standards. Something I am very proud of today (and trust me, it confused the jeepers out of me previously!) and it took me very long to come to this state. I believe that the world should be filled with rainbows and sunshine, people who genuinely care about others and who would help if needed. Now I know that if I can't find it? Let's create it!

From those business networking sessions, I got connected to a local university; wrote a diploma and degree in Spa Management for them, and proceeded to lecture Business Ethics and Corporate Citizenship, Personal Development, English to foreigners... and I actually fell in love with it. YES!!! I became certified as a HRDF (Human Resource Development Fund) trainer, started corporate training professionally and ... wow.. I just described the past 22 years of my life in 4 paragraphs. Haha! 

The biggest Love of my life in business came early actually. I know of NuSkin when they first arrived in Malaysia 2003. A friend of mine introduced me.. I didn't know what Multi Level Marketing was, knew nothing about business. Bought some products, didn't care about my skin much then in college - I was young, ignorant and didnt care too much about tomorrow. When I started my beauty salon in 2006,  never considered using NuSkin. I met my now-team leaders, Chuah and Penny in 2009, and I still did not buy into it.

In the mean time, there were a bevy of people from other brands that came knocking. You make it, I probably had a membership in it. It was only after ageLOC came out that I decided to really look into it. Tried the galvanic machine on more than 100 faces personally to test consistency. I went for a Success Seminar in 2014, met 10MDC Samuel Tan who achieved his USD10 Million Dollar Circle pin in 10 years after doing NuSkin business. Then it hit me. My exact thoughts were "He earned USD10 million in total commissions after just 10 years of doing NuSkin? What on earth have I been doing with my life?" I am nowhere near even RM1 million! I was depleted, deflated and struggling to keep my head above water. Damn sorrows just won't let me drown! They learnt how to swim.

I started studying the MDCs. There were 100 of them from South East Asia. Today, NuSkin has 1386 of these MDCs worldwide. 43 of them are 20MDCs (the highest pin achievers). I don't care what you think or see about MLM. What I saw was that one pin that I want. 20 MDC. Even when I was in college, I wanted my net worth to be 700 million. I embarked on NuSkin full time in 2017.

I learn that in life, we can be whoever we want to be. We become what we see. The challenge is, do you need to see it to believe it, or can you believe it then you see it? Success follows the strong and the brave. Why? Because they are confident. They have conviction. They know how to do it. They are fast and swift because they have know how. Like Tun Mahathir, our 7th Prime Minister at 93. In just 4 days of taking office, he has abolished GST, gotten Anwar Ibrahim out of jail with a King's pardon, he reshuffled the cabinet into a lean format, stabilized petrol prices and has investigations on-going for 1MDB. Watch out. He and the dream team's going to put Malaysia positively back on the map of the world.

Entrepreneurship is an interesting place. Life itself is a challenging game. I have asked myself a long time ago, and if I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, with no time, distance or resource restrictions whatsoever, what would I want to do? My answer - I want to build dreams.

I want to thank NuSkin, their visionary founders and the huge team across 54 countries all over the world for their dedication to help so many people achieve their dreams. I love my clients. I love my LumiSpa and every other NuSkin / Pharmanex product. I love my team of awesome business partners. I love my company. I love my leaders Penny Lim and Chuah Seng Yuan. I love winning deals! Love closing sales! Love how flawless my skin looks, thanks to NuSkin! And most definitely, loveeeeee all the positivity and perks that comes with this business!

If you are struggling through any challenges and reading this right now, I want you trust me and believe in yourself.  I adapted these positive affirmations from a poem by Christian D Larson. If you like it, take it and make it yours.

I am so strong that nothing can disturb my peace of mind.
I only talk health, happiness, and prosperity
to every person I meet.

I make all my friends feel that there is something in them.
I look at the sunny side of everything and make my optimism come true.

I think only the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
I am just as enthusiastic about the success of others as I am about my own.

I forget the mistakes of the past
and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
I wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature I meet a smile.

I give so much time to the improvement of myself that I have no time to criticize others.
I am too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

I think well of myself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud words but great deeds.
I live in faith that the whole world is on my side so long as I am true to the best that is in me.

❤❤❤❤

Be blessed always. Life is awesome. Thank you for reading. May you be well and happy.