Your First Times

Our first encounters with anything are usually memorable.

Ask yourself if you can still remember these ‘firsts’ in your life:

- Your first interview?
- Your first speech?
- Your first drive?
- Your first flight?
- Your first fight?
- Your first kiss?

Of course you do!

The thrill of doing something you have never done before mixed with the fear of the unknown makes these insignificant events memorable and even life-shaping.

However, after these things have been done repeatedly for a while, the fire burns out and the thrills and excitement experienced earlier disappear. Boredom sets in and it becomes a routine and nothing more.

This is, of course, simply a natural progression.

When a young person just starts out, everything is new to him. He therefore explores, with great curiosity, this world that he is just getting to know. Everything he sees and touches is new, fresh and novel. He tries out everything passionately yet clumsily.

As time passes, the things that were once new and exotic to him, start repeating themselves. As he repeatedly experiences the same things, he soon finds that the experiences that once gave him a tingling in the stomach are no longer exciting for him.

His passion turns into robotic calm as he goes about doing the once-exciting things which he now calls 'daily chores'. He does them as he MUST do them for whatever reason it may be. It might be to put food on the table, to honour the marital vow he pledged or to bring up the children that he has brought into this world.

He laughs at all the funny scenes on the television, but he is not capable of doing so on his own. He never really laughs a hearty laugh as a result of his own fulfilment or contentment of life. All his laughter is triggered by something external.

As he goes about living his life in absolute precision and predictability, he becomes quite skilful at what he does. From initially shivering and barely able to speak during a public presentation, he now speaks fluently and comfortably, regardless of the size of the crowd.

From being absolutely fearful of approaching strangers in a shopping mall to close a sale, he now understands exactly what to do in order to stop an uninterested passer-by dead in their tracks.

From having absolutely no knowledge about child rearing, he has now become the quintessential 'expert-father', specialising in all areas of parenting - feeding, changing diaper, speech therapy, medical care, etc.

Repetition always brings two attributes - one is positive while the other is negative. The positive one is expertise and the negative one is boredom.

To do something really well, we must do it over and over again so that our minds become conditioned in such a way to execute precision. When we reach a stage like this, we become 'experts'.

The first time we do something, however, is when we take it the most seriously and tackle it with excitement. This is actually when we are at our best - we are, at this point, the most alert, observant, humble, open, and willing to adapt and change in order to successfully complete the task.

Now, think about this: What if we combined the two attributes, excitement and expertise, in whatever we did? Wouldn’t we then have the best of both worlds - 'passion' as well as 'expertise' – the two most important qualities for success?

I once read a story that went like this:

A man had inherited a small drugstore business from his father, but he was getting really tired of running it. He opened his little shops in the morning, closed them at night, and repeated the same thing over and over again for years and years.

He was very good at what he did but he was bored to death. He kept thinking, "It is so meaningless to do this 'same old, same old', day in, day out."

Just when he had decided that he should just give up on his business, he suddenly had another thought, "Why don't I try to build the largest pharmacy chain in the world?"

It was a simple yet powerful thought, one that redefined the pharmaceutical retail landscape in the United States.

He plunged into the same game again, but this time, he did so with an absolute passion, the same enthusiasm which brought initial success to his grandfather and father before him. Not only that, he used all of the knowledge and expertise that he had gained over the previous years.

He was now playing the business game at his best. He had the passion of a starter and the skills and expertise of a veteran.

The result - the creation of the largest drugstore chain in the world, Walgreens, with a vast network of 7541 stores spread across the United States alone!

So let me repeat - combine a child-like enthusiasm and laser sharp acumen and expertise in your quest for success. You will get there sooner than you think!

“Life is about constantly going beyond limits!”
- Erican Chong