The perpetrators slashed my tyres in hopes that I would stop my vehicle and I did. He walked calmly towards me with a beaker behind his back, smiled and splashed acid at my face.
The year was 2011 and I had just graduated from Engineering School. I was eager to start my solo-entrepreneurial journey. A year before I experienced a debilitating feeling working as an intern for Texas Instruments.
At the end of the three month stint, I said to myself, ” I’m not going through 10 years of my life working 10 hours a day trudging through each day doing the daily grind as life quickly passes me by. “
Nearly 12 months in and there have been many warnings, signs or omens if you believe in those sort of things.
One chilly night, I was driving home after meeting up with my friends at a cafe.
It was at the stroke of midnight. About a kilometer from home, a car flagged me down to inform me of my flattened tyre.
I pulled over to the side of the road. Checked my tyres and found it to be slashed. It was done with a knife, but at that moment I wasn’t aware that I had been targeted by thugs.
I decided to change the tyre. A moment later the thug walked towards me as if to offer some help. I sensed something was not right, tried to call home but it was too late. The thug smiled just before he threw acid at my face in hopes of blinding me. Failed to drive off with my car but they robbed me off my laptop.
Long story short, I was hospitalised for months. Had to be isolated in a special ward. Experienced daily excruciating surgeries on my eye and body. A quarter of my body had 3rd degree burns.
Days quickly faded into weeks, weeks soon turn into months of trying to get back on my 2 feet. The only good that did come out of this was the time I had on the hospital bed reflecting on my life’s purpose.
A million thoughts swirled through my head. My primary concern was that I had zero income. I couldn’t go looking for a job now because of my condition.
I needed a consistent financial income to keep myself afloat.
If you do not know me before the acid test. I was strong, and proud, and arrogant. It was then I wondered, every hour of my life, why God put me in this situation. But when I looked into the mirror and saw defeat in the reflection of my eyes, I start to think that maybe he brought me down in times like these to remind who I truly am, that I must not give up or give in.
Something inside of me snapped. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, regret, sorrow and sadness; I experienced massive growth and development.
“The Universe works in mysterious ways by sending you a problem and it sticks with you for the rest of your life until you get the spiritual lesson.”
Reliving this memory while writing is painful to me but it reminds me of my grit & determination climbing out from hell.
Sometimes… the only way to heal our wounds is to make peace with the demons who created them.
There are some things beyond our understanding. We must accept them and *learn* from them. Because these moments of crisis are also potential moments of faith. A time – when we either come together or fall apart. Nature always has a way of balancing itself. The only question is… What part – will you play.
Throughout the ordeal, I experienced that dealing with adversity can become a very positive and nourishing experience that can lead to massive enlightenment.
I needed to find a way to make money fast. Hence, I wrote my first book and published it on Amazon. I didn’t realize back then, but this was the very start of my 6-figure book empire.
Even though things started out slowly, the checks from the sales of my books on Amazon managed to replace a full time engineer’s salary within 2 years.
If you understood the power of compound interest or essentially the snowball effect. You can compound your wealth like Warren Buffet.
Cents quickly turn into dollars, dollars grew into hundreds and hundreds soon transform into thousands per month. Never underestimate the power of compounded interest.
When you roll a tiny snowball in your hand. Gradually push it downhill, it continues to pick up snow. By the time it reaches the bottom of the hill, it becomes a giant snow boulder.
Now the snowball effect is a great metaphor to explain how small actions carried out over time can lead to huge results.
Einstein himself mentioned that “The Most Powerful force in the world is compound interest.”
In 2017, while working on an article; I stumbled upon something else during research. It boggled my mind. For years, I had been searching for ”The Hedgehog”. It alluded me. I thought amazon was it.
You can’t see it unless I lend you one of my eye.
My Goal in Writing This Blog
Building my own online business has given me the financial freedom I needed to pursue other avenues and it gave me more time to spend with my love ones. It isn’t a way to get rich quick, but the income has the potential to grow exponentially over time.
Slow and steady always wins the race. What’s important is that you take the right steps today and lay the foundations for your dreams. And 5 years from now, who knows, you might end up quitting your job and travelling around the world.
If i’m craving “real” experiences, i’m sure you are too.
And that is why i’m not flashing my success story upfront and trying to tempt you that i’m all about success. Entrepreneurship isn’t all about success. If you are willing to take the route less traveled like I did, be ready for a fair share of setbacks too. But the rewards are well worth it at the end.
Do you know how the 1% get to where they are today? It’s not that they’re smarter than you and I, it’s just that they stayed with the problems longer.
Learn how to be mentally tough. Defy the odds, overcome your adversities and you will feel more alive than ever. Working on your passions will give your more drive to work even harder than before. Not for somebody who doesn’t appreciate your hard work.
If you lack the enthusiasm, energy or confidence to take that first step. Unsure where it would all lead to into uncertainty and fear of the unknown, read what Tony Robbins said to me | What Jack Ma advises Entrepreneurs
p.s. If you’re new to my site (and you likely wouldn’t be on this page if you weren’t), It will be constantly updated with the latest blog posts where I reveal & discuss the latest methods and strategies with publishing online, personal growth & self-improvement, productivity & Time management.
p.p.s. What is going on my mind? What hot new trails I’m on to this week? Follow me on Twitter if you don’t want to miss it.