Photography by MJPhotographyHK
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I have been talking to quite a few of you recently on Instagram Live (@iamhakme) and one of the questions that keeps coming up is that “how do you stay motivated”. Don’t get me wrong, I do have days whereby I just want to sit and do absolutely nothing and I do have days that I got tired of the world. I am not sure if I am the best person to talk about “staying motivated”.
I do think this is a very deep and good topic to explore with all of you. I sat for a long while and kept asking myself “what is that one thing that makes me get up in the morning?” and “what is that one thing that makes me not throwing my towels when things get tough?” I kind of come to the answer for myself and I am sure everyone will have different answers and as always I am very interested to hear yours. When I reflected on the situations that I had been in and when I thought deep about why I didn’t quit in some of the ocassions, I found that I always have a voice cheering in my head “hold on, you are better than this!” And usually I would just shut up whining and get on with it.
If you follow me for awhile, you might have a feeling that I am quite committed and determined but I am also going with the flow most of the time. I can’t say I am hugely ambitious because if I am, I wouldn’t choose a less travelled by road for my journey. I do have different goals in life, like providing a better lifestyle for my parents, for Mr Honey and I, for everyone that is in the family of Hakme Beauty, helping others either in different ways, bringing products that I believe into the local markets, be a better person, doing things that I truly enjoy etc. But whenever I got stuck, I don’t tend to think about the life goals that much, maybe those seem too big at the time or they just don’t even enter my mind for some strange reasons. Now when I come to think about it, it’s that little voice in my head shouting “hold on, you are better than this” that truly saves my ass every single time.
Something that you don’t know about me, I was a grasshopper brain when I was younger, I never stuck myself to anything for more than 5 minutes. I usually would find something boring or came to a road block and then I told myself “nah, this is not fun, let’s move onto my next grand project.” After awhile I found myself being good in nothing. How could I be if I gave up every 5 minutes? At that time, I let my “difficulties” affect my abilities. Now when I thought about it, I found my younger self rather amusing. I admired my younger self having so many ideas but I was also sad that nothing was executed properly with patience and persistence.
My turning point was when I got my first job. It was during a really really bad time for Hong Kong whereby so many people were out of employment. I was lucky to have my first job. My boss was demanding and she even commented how I looked. Did that bother me? Yes it did. But did I let that bother me so much that I quitted? No, not this time. I started listening to the little voice in my head and I kept going. I guess it’s a kind of self-proof? Yes I needed to prove that I was better than a lipstick and a skirt, I was desperate to prove to myself and my boss that I was much more than the outlook. I did it. I was on that job for 5 years and my boss appreciated everything I did after the first 9 months.
I was pleased with myself that I didn’t opt for an easy option which was quitting, otherwise, I wouldn’t have known that I had it in me. I was happy for the first time in my life that I stuck to my choice and made the most out of it. That joy of being proud of myself is priceless and it still stays with me today. And I guess that little voice taught me something valuable and it motivates me every single day ever since – “hold on, you are better than this.” And now I know I need to use my abilities to conquer the “difficulties”.
