Dear Families, Friends, Followers and Fans,
My father, like many people who have migrated from China to the
south, sought his fortune prior to the second world’s war. My siblings were the
first generation in Malaysia. I am proud to be the first in my family to
graduate with a professional honours degree from a local university. My parents
were both illiterate, but 6 out of 7 siblings received higher education.
I am fortunate that my family given me freedom to choose what I
wanted to be. No pressure whatsoever, but has its own challenges. My family did
not have a business that I could join. I was a science and maths person before
I discovered my talent in Accounts by passing my LCCI intermediate book keeping
examination which gave my teacher a great surprise.
My smooth sailing into the local university is my only reward I
obtained throughout my early life struggles. This was my only hope to move me out
from poverty that I have in my mind. I never really thought about career and
never had any counseling or mentorship. However, I was not so fortunate and
recession came in after my graduation with a degree in Accountings in 1987. I joined the mid-sized professional firm after
nearly 6 months of seeking relentlessly for a job.
After
nearly one and half years I made the decision that I could not endure the
financial hardship of a very lengthy internship training, so I make a shift
into commercial field and become a commercial accountant.
I learned , researched and applied all my know-how to move all
the way up to become a Financial Controller after successfully helping an
entrepreneur to grow his private limited company to a public limited company.
The journey was full of challenges which I truly enjoyed and moulded me to be
what I am today. The whole journey turned out to be one of the best things that
happened to me.
Now I am an Accountant, prolific writer, trainer cum consultant
in the financial and mind changing field. My articles are regularly published in
digital printing, online, magazines (Smart Investor, Financial First & Money Compass) and I am a well sought after speaker in financial
literacy, economic and mind changing fields. My mission is to help people to
explore the invisible and achieve the impossible.
I realized that the first and most important decision a person needs to decide is the selection of the field of your choice. It is most likely that you will be in that industry for the rest of your working life. However, if you decide to change along the way you will pay a switching price with such cost increasing year to year as you make progress in your career. Since this is a long-term commitment I recommend that you chose a field that you believe will flourish over the timeframe of your working life. Most importantly, you should do what you love, that is psychically rewarding that fascinates and endures you through the entire journey.
I realized that the first and most important decision a person needs to decide is the selection of the field of your choice. It is most likely that you will be in that industry for the rest of your working life. However, if you decide to change along the way you will pay a switching price with such cost increasing year to year as you make progress in your career. Since this is a long-term commitment I recommend that you chose a field that you believe will flourish over the timeframe of your working life. Most importantly, you should do what you love, that is psychically rewarding that fascinates and endures you through the entire journey.
Once you have made such a
decisive action that will offer excitement, enriching and enhancing mobility,
keep moving forward with massive action toward your goals.
Be mindful that mature companies oftentimes are stacked up with
many layers of management, and newcomer like you basically have to wait for
people to retire or die to move ahead.
Young and rapid growth companies tend to offer you the best
opportunity. Such opportunities will open up for those who are capable and
motivated to take up challenges, and it is naturally offer extremely rapid
career advancement too.
Even if you eventually leave for another job you will be coming
from a successful company that will endow you with a halo effect — people
coming from good careers in successful companies are generally viewed as
smarter and more competent and capable than others. This is the common
perception of people.
Once you have identified such an opportunity; make things happen
in your favor. It is lots and loads easier to get your dream job from inside
the company once you have proven yourself. It would be a huge mistake to forsake the
opportunity to join the right company in the right industry by choosing a
higher paying job for the sake of the paycheck only. By doing so, you need to strengthen
your belief and be better prepared to take more calculated risks than others.
It is of great benefit to think about your future
and decide what you want to be ultimately. Having such self-knowledge will determine
and guide your decisions and actions. What matters most is your own intuition
or GPS and not what others think.
These decisions are central to quality,
attitude and your professional development which you need to be shaped
accordingly. You should take
ownership as you have only one life to live, so make it meaningful and a fulfilling
one. You should always keep your own GPS and craft your own personalized path,
strategies and vision that conform to the specification you were created in the
first place.
In short, this is the best advice I ever
received and give this exact advice to my three children!
