The People Who Inspire

I am always attracted to success stories. Other people's success stories. I read them. I reflect on the lessons learnt. I ponder over my own life and how I can apply the formula that made these people successful. 

When I was 15, I read an amazing story of a successful couple that inspired me to choose the profession which I eventually entered and stayed for a decade. I realised the importance of following my heart, even as a teenager. 

Then, very early in my career, soon after joining a conglomerate as a junior executive, I was handpicked to work directly with the Executive Director. It was a precedent that surprised all levels of Management. My new boss was such an inspiration. He was the youngest (at 37) ED ever in that conglomerate which has a long standing history of promoting only the more senior people to that level of Management. He opened my eyes in so many ways, both professionally and personally. I learnt to dream big. Very big. Anything is possible as long we cultivate our opportunities.

When I was 24, I read another article of a really successful musician from whom I learnt an important motto - Never give negative people the time of your day. I believe it has truly shaped me in many ways. 

It wasn't as easy to follow that when I was younger. But as I mature, it gets easier to just expunge any negativity from my life. I simply refuse to pay attention to negative people or allow them to affect me in any way. Over the years, I have learnt to pick out those genuinely constructive criticisms and ignore all other comments uttered freely by those negative, ignorant, jealous or envious people. 

Now, I can easily block out the negativity and channel my time and energy to what's important. Why ever waste my precious time on people who aren't important or useful in making my life better? 

In my last job, I worked for an amazingly talented boss and another equally inspiring mentor. To say that they have changed my perspectives in many ways is really an understatement. Of the many things I learnt from them, one useful insight is to recognise and accept that 

'The more successful one is in life, the more critics one will have. There are many people out there who are simply jealous of the successful people whom they deem have a better life than themselves. A smart individual will learn from others' success. An ignorant loser will criticise, diminish the success stories and put others down, in an effort to make themselves feel better for achieving less.'

Again, the bottomline is - Never waste our precious time on negative people. 

As a parent, I look forward to passing on pearls of wisdom to my children when they are older, guiding and inspiring them to lead their own beautiful lives.