Dare to dream !

“How to get rich?” is a very common question. Actually, there are a lot of opportunities out there to make money. If one makes the effort to go look for it, they can find tonnes of opportunities. One can sell watches, games, clothes, do freelance for design stuff, IT stuff, programming, give home tuition classes, write online reviews, etc. The list can go on and on and on, especially with the help of the internet.

But knowing the opportunities available is just the first step and perhaps the least important one if compared to the next step – soul-searching. Ask yourselves what do you really want to do? What are you passionate about and what are you interested in? Ignore the money factor for now. Concentrate on those questions. Because if you are not interested or passionate in something, don’t ever bother to start working on it. Money is important but money alone will not bring you far.

Let me give you an example, someone by the name of Bob wanted to get rich fast so he decided to start a business selling …say….popcorn. But his real interest was painting, not popcorn. For the first few weeks, he was quite motivated because he could see the money coming in (due to the high profit margin). But after a few months…and then a few years, his popcorn business started to slow down. Running the business now seems like more of a struggle than anything else. He could not bring himself to go to work everyday. He has lost interest in it. Yes, he has got the money and has even reinvested the money to grow the business. But his main interest was not popcorn, and definitely not attending to the stall. His motivation to earn money only managed to last him for a few months. Well, I’m sure you can guess the outcome. Another popcorn seller who was more passionate on selling popcorn appeared in the neighborhood and the new kid on the block stole all his customers from him. His small popcorn business was forced to close down soon after that.

Bob’s case is just 1 of the many small businesses which have very short life spans. One reason is due to the competition but the main reason is that the person is just not interested in the business itself. He/she just wants to earn money and that’s it.

So the next time you really want to start something, be it selling popcorn, starting a new job, or even pursuing a degree, please make sure that you’ve done some soul searching before embarking on the journey. Because the journey will not be a short one, and since it’s not a short one, you better make sure you will enjoy the journey and not giving up halfway.

p/s…. there’s no harm in trying things out to find out which really matter to you most. But do so in moderation. Investing and pouring too much effort into something you are not interested in can bring pretty bad consequences. So be careful.

p/s…. this post is mainly on starting something. Whether or not you can survive once you’ve started, will rely on your passion, planning and a lot of luck.