I'M THE CREATOR - PUSHED AGAINST THE WALL?

I'M THE CREATOR 

EPISODE 2 - PUSHED AGAINST THE WALL

Some say, you're at your best when life push you the hardest. At first, its hard for me to believe it. How can we we the best when life push us against the wall? How can be function when everything seems to fall apart? How can we be great when everyone around us don't have the faith in us? Times like these, we need all the help that we can get. Who surrounds us will define who we will be and how we'll be succeed. The Malay phrase, Hanya Yang Cekal dan Tabah Akan Berjaya. It means that only the strong and persevere will succeed. 

Life works in a funny way. I was having lunch last Friday before the Friday Prayer with some random guys at a hawker stall in Subang Jaya. The hawker owner says that he was a Senior Manager in one of the GLCs. He works there for over 22 years.  Interestingly that he work his way up from a normal executive to where he was. Managing a multi billion dollar business that belong to the government and now he's earning his living by being a hawker stall owner. If we think about it, it's not easy for someone that level to go down like that. You're once respected in the company and now nobody cares about you since you're selling food on hawker stall. Not that I look down on hawker stall. Please don't get me wrong. I love to eat there. What I'm saying is, someone that was in a high level GLC position is willing to go down to serving people at the street is something very amazing. What he is willing to do is amazing... not the economy. The economy sucks. 

What is so interesting about this guy is, he share how he lose all his money. Willingly without people asking. That really show how hard his life was. He says that he lost of RM 200k by helping a friend. A friend, a childhood friend came and ask for help. Asking him to invest in a real estate. So, he invested. Little by little. The little money he invested adds up to RM 200k. Keep calling his friend but no avail. Mr Hawker was trapped in a real estate scheme and lost all his money. RM 200k is a lot of money. Especially when you're earning it from a hard work working for a company. You save it bit by bit but lost all of it at once. I can feel his frustration. I can feel that the scam still hurts him as he speak even that thing happened long time ago. Even though I never knew Mr. Hawker, I believe that the scam thing has changed him a lot. He says that when "you're up", sometimes you forget to look "further up". You keep looking down. So, Allah made you go down so that you'll "look up" to him. That's when you realize that you are not so powerful. That's when you realize that you are nothing without Him. That's when you realize that there's more powerful force than your so-called Senior Manager position.

We share few points while I was there. I'd like to share it here so that others will benefit it as well.

1. YOUR MIND IS THE KEY TO TURNAROUND YOUR LIFE

Your mind is really the key to turnaround your life. Our mind is so powerful that we are able to do impossible things. Our mind is so powerful that we are able to attract things by just thinking of it. It's amazing. Have you ever had an experience where you want something so bad and you get it? You want it so bad and you are willing to go through mountains to get it. Nothing else matters. Have you ever had that experience? I had. Plenty. At first I didn't realize it. I did it accidentally. I did it without knowing that our mind is so powerful. I had the thought that I want to run a million dollar business and be a director of a G7 Construction company before I'm 30. That was 15 years ago. Today, I'm there. I run a million dollar company and a director of a G7 Construction company. I don't know how it happened but it happened. Life will open a way for you to achieve your dreams if you just believe in it. Like the song Mariah Carey & Whitney Houstan, "JUST BELIEVE".

2. IF IT HAPPEN TO YOU, IT MEANS YOU CAN HANDLE IT

In Quran, it mentioned that Allah does not test His servant if he/she cannot handle it. So, it means that whatever shit life throws at you, you will be able to handle it. It's this phrase that I personally use at hard times to get back my momentum. Because I believe in the Quran. I believe that Allah does not lie. I believe that everything He says in his book is true. So, if He says I can handle it. It means that I can handle it. Even though it's tough as hell.

3. LOOK AT OTHERS WHO HAS GONE THROUGH WORST THING THAN YOU

When life pushed you against the wall, you need to find others who has gone through that worst than you. Certainly, you are not the first one who is tested. There are billions of people who are tested before you. One story that I always think about whenever I was down. I think of my Prophet. How hard his life was when he first telling the people about God. Story of Taif has always been my strength. My Prophet is the best of the best. He is the best of creation and loved by Allah. All these years, billions of years, one person stands up the most and Allah loved the most. Yet, Allah tested him with failure at Taif. The best of the best was hurt by the people by throwing stones. If my Prophet has to go through this to share the deen until it reaches to me, what am I doing?

4. YOUR "SEMANGAT" WILL DETERMINE HOW FAR YOU'LL GO

Your "semangat" or determination will determine how far you'll go. This short sentence means a world to a successful people. Sebab kalau tak ada semangat, dah lama kita give up. In business, we are smacked, pushed, kicked around by other people. Some of them is not even relevant to the business. Kene kutuk or bad mouthed. Orang yang kutuk tu bukan beli produk kita pun. Just suka nak kutuk sebab banyak masa lapang. If you don't have the determination for success, you won't be able to go through this downturn.

Make a choice. You just DECIDE what is it gonna be. Who's you're gonna be. How you gonna do it. Just DECIDE. And then from that point, the universe is gonna get out of your way.
-Will Smith

5. MANAGE YOUR "CIRCLE"

This "circle" means the people who surrounds you. It's very important that you surround yourself with a positive circle. It's very important for you to disengage your relationship with people who will bring you down. It's very important, to let go of your "kawan-kawan yang tak guna" because these are the thing that will bring you back to where you were before. Change is needed if you want to change yourself. It does not change by itself if you don't change yourself. If you're surrounded by friends who are 24 hours staying home and play video games, there's 80% chances that you'll end up like them. If you surrounded by friends who talk bad about others but do nothing about it, there's 80% chances that you'll end up like them. But, if you're surrounded by friends who are successful and wanting to achieve more success. Guess what, there's 80% chance that you'll be successful as well. So, manage your circle. Decide who is important and who is not. Kalau lepak mamak tu tak penting, let it go. Kalau whatsapp group tu tak penting, let it go. Kalau orang sekeliling you yang suka menjatuhkan you ada sentiasa kat office, pindah tempat kerja. Change your circle first and you'll change your life.