It Does Not Matter Where You Are From...

I have been a big advocate about not giving up. Whether is starting a business or going through life's setback. It is important to dig deep in your heart and know what you want. Never get anchored down by your past experience.

What I have Learned from a Star Trek TNG episode called Tapestry.

I saw this episode nearly 15 years ago in Australia. This episode was a character driven episode about the show's main character -- Captain Jean Luc Picard. That time, I never really appreciate the lesson behind the show. I just find it intriguing to learn about Picard's past. 

Watching this episode again, I have learned something new. Who says, we cannot learn new things from watching television?



This is the speech from the show.

Au contraire. He's the person you wanted to be: one who was less arrogant and undisciplined in his youth, one who was less like me... The Jean-Luc Picard *you* wanted to be, the one who did *not* fight the Nausicaan, had quite a different career from the one you remember. That Picard never had a brush with death, never came face to face with his own mortality, never realized how fragile life is or how important each moment must be. So his life never came into focus. He drifted through much of his career, with no plan or agenda, going from one assignment to the next, never seizing the opportunities that presented themselves. He never led the away team on Milika III to save the Ambassador; or take charge of the Stargazer's bridge when its captain was killed. And no one ever offered him a command. He learned to play it safe - and he never, ever, got noticed by anyone.

In life, we have to learn to stay focus and seize each moment in life. There will be times where we have to take some risk and stand out in the crowd -- to get noticed. Getting notice it means doing a job well done. You may say, you are already doing a good job but you are not getting noticed. Yes! You could be right. Ask yourself, what have you done lately to get yourself noticed? There is no need to brag about yourself, but you will still need to reach out to the relevant people. This could be your teacher, your manager, owner of the company etc. Let them know about your passion, let them know who you are.

True, sometimes you may messed up and many people would see. In the future, would anyone really remember that you messed up? Ask yourself again, when did you remember your friends or other people messed up? Even if you did, what does it mean to them? Nothing! This does not stop them from pursuing what they want in life. So, you should not let it stop yourself as well.

Start right now, go out there and reach out. Take some risk. Be good at what you do. Be noticed.

You Need Passion Rather Than Money

Many people told me that they do not have the money to start something. This is partly true. The same time, I am also seeing this as lack of passion and interest to make the idea into reality.

No doubt certain business requires high capital expenditure. You can always start small. When I created the Better Dining site, I just have a three years old Ubuntu Linux machine. All the application that I used are part of the Linux bundle. Except for the hardware, the software that I used are free! The most expensive part of the setup is actually signing up with sitesell for web hosting and Search Engine Optimization. That cost 299 USD. The only running cost that I have is the internet connection.

Yes! I have not been making a lot of money through the site. Yet, I had a great time working on the site. I have learned a lot about web publishing writing up on topics that I like. Creating and researching content for the site is not work for me. Rather it is just something that I do outside of my regular work hours. Working on the site has become such a habit that I will uncomfortable if I miss a day.

Starting today, ask yourself. What is your passion? With passion comes creativity. That passion may someday help you to put food on the table.