What does success mean to me?
02/01/07 23:53 Filed in: Personal
I've been a
wanderer. I kept asking myself where I am headed.
Frankly speaking. I haven't a clue.
Am I lost?
Maybe. But everyone, no matter how clueless they are, have goals they wish to accomplish.
And that leads to another question — What constitutes a successful person?
Is it determined by the amount of wealth you are able to accumulate? Or add the factor of time to that — how fast you are able to amass wealth before you're 40 years old maybe. Or how much good you do to the people around you? Or how you affect the people around you positively. Or maybe how good you do academically, leading you to a well paid job and guaranteeing you of a rosy future.
Success mean differently to different people.
What does success mean to me?
Am I successful?
I don't know.
I went through the usual "safe" route — Study hard, get a good job, and live life comfortably.
That was not to be. After graduation, or rather months before graduation, it dawned on most of my peers that finding jobs for us graduates prove to be a trying time. Everyone of us had seen how trying it was for our seniors.
As for me, I knew this would happen. Did I prepare for it? No. Hahahaha
Heck. By the time I graduate, I refuse to look for a job.
I must have been really crazy at that point in time to start my own firm with my university buddy.
Both of us acknowledge and respect each other's strength in design, drawing, animation and programming.
Without much help and experience, we ventured forward. We started a business partnership, dealing in designing and animation. We played by ear.
It proved to be an enriching experience. We learned first hand how hard it is to survive on our own out there.
I learnt a great deal.
After that, I left. Started my own venture. Had my own ideals and goals. I became an independent software developer. One-man show really. I created a game for pocket PC. Did the artwork, programming, "packaging", marketing, publicity, setting up the online web store, liaising with the bigger online merchant to expand the number of channels my game can be sold at, and then maintaining a client base and taking care of them.
I learnt and earned so much more from this venture. Invaluable experience. The interesting part is, I deal with customers from all over the world.
After that I created a short animation clip for a television series.
Damn. That is another experience also. Not that creating an animation is hard and all. The bad experience is dealing with people form the media. It is so damn hard to get them to pay you. Worse part is you have delivered the work to them, and they dilly dally on giving you your dues.
Well, that pissed me off. Couldn't take it anymore till I sued them.
After that I went to teach computer software to students in government schools. And then I got introduced into robotics! Dealt with LEGO robotics, learnt about the RCX and simple programming using the MindStorm platform. Met good colleagues along the way.
And now I teach Biology. In a government school.
Biology. A wonderful subject. And the wonderful thing about biology is that no system is predictable. Even though we have deciphered how most of the biological systems work, if some part of our body fails, there is no telling why exactly it fails.
What else would I go into in the future?
Life indeed is a journey.
And most of the time, I go on a journey least prepared. Taking with me what I need to survive. I travel light. Whatever I need I will get it along the way. I think this attitude has spilled over to how I lead my life.
Simple, spontaneous, take each day as it comes.
Do I ever plan?
Of course I do. But most of the time, plans get thwarted, rendered obsolete by unforeseen circumstances, and then discarded. But new plans get drawn up. Always plan.
But my philosophy in life is always to travel light. If you have excess baggage, (those which you think you need, but later turns out you never got around to use it) it will be hard to be mobile, to be agile, to adapt, to change direction when you need to. It will bog you down and tire you easily.
Travel light. Always.
Am I lost?
Maybe. But everyone, no matter how clueless they are, have goals they wish to accomplish.
And that leads to another question — What constitutes a successful person?
Is it determined by the amount of wealth you are able to accumulate? Or add the factor of time to that — how fast you are able to amass wealth before you're 40 years old maybe. Or how much good you do to the people around you? Or how you affect the people around you positively. Or maybe how good you do academically, leading you to a well paid job and guaranteeing you of a rosy future.
Success mean differently to different people.
What does success mean to me?
Am I successful?
I don't know.
I went through the usual "safe" route — Study hard, get a good job, and live life comfortably.
That was not to be. After graduation, or rather months before graduation, it dawned on most of my peers that finding jobs for us graduates prove to be a trying time. Everyone of us had seen how trying it was for our seniors.
As for me, I knew this would happen. Did I prepare for it? No. Hahahaha
Heck. By the time I graduate, I refuse to look for a job.
I must have been really crazy at that point in time to start my own firm with my university buddy.
Both of us acknowledge and respect each other's strength in design, drawing, animation and programming.
Without much help and experience, we ventured forward. We started a business partnership, dealing in designing and animation. We played by ear.
It proved to be an enriching experience. We learned first hand how hard it is to survive on our own out there.
I learnt a great deal.
After that, I left. Started my own venture. Had my own ideals and goals. I became an independent software developer. One-man show really. I created a game for pocket PC. Did the artwork, programming, "packaging", marketing, publicity, setting up the online web store, liaising with the bigger online merchant to expand the number of channels my game can be sold at, and then maintaining a client base and taking care of them.
I learnt and earned so much more from this venture. Invaluable experience. The interesting part is, I deal with customers from all over the world.
After that I created a short animation clip for a television series.
Damn. That is another experience also. Not that creating an animation is hard and all. The bad experience is dealing with people form the media. It is so damn hard to get them to pay you. Worse part is you have delivered the work to them, and they dilly dally on giving you your dues.
Well, that pissed me off. Couldn't take it anymore till I sued them.
After that I went to teach computer software to students in government schools. And then I got introduced into robotics! Dealt with LEGO robotics, learnt about the RCX and simple programming using the MindStorm platform. Met good colleagues along the way.
And now I teach Biology. In a government school.
Biology. A wonderful subject. And the wonderful thing about biology is that no system is predictable. Even though we have deciphered how most of the biological systems work, if some part of our body fails, there is no telling why exactly it fails.
What else would I go into in the future?
Life indeed is a journey.
And most of the time, I go on a journey least prepared. Taking with me what I need to survive. I travel light. Whatever I need I will get it along the way. I think this attitude has spilled over to how I lead my life.
Simple, spontaneous, take each day as it comes.
Do I ever plan?
Of course I do. But most of the time, plans get thwarted, rendered obsolete by unforeseen circumstances, and then discarded. But new plans get drawn up. Always plan.
But my philosophy in life is always to travel light. If you have excess baggage, (those which you think you need, but later turns out you never got around to use it) it will be hard to be mobile, to be agile, to adapt, to change direction when you need to. It will bog you down and tire you easily.
Travel light. Always.
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