Life includes falling a few times, but get up until you become successful in what you dream of.
The first question to yourself is, "Can I do this?", "Can I overcome this?", "Is this for me?", Why do we have so many problems with things we think we can't do? Why do we have so many problems with things that we can do, but we often have second thoughts? Why? What reason? Maybe if I am the one to answer the question, we are afraid.
We are afraid that what we do will not be successful and we will have nowhere to go, I also sometimes feel very unsure about everything especially when there are things I want to do. Sometimes, it really takes me a long time to choose the decisions I want to make because I get to the part where I won't suddenly be sure. I'm scared and I'm afraid that I might fail or maybe I might hear something from someone else.
We have many doubts about our own abilities. It's just like things that we should be the first to believe and trust in our own abilities, but we are also the ones who think that we can't do the things that we really can do. Me, I failed several times in business before becoming successful. I also stopped because for me the business that I started back then was not going anywhere.
Last December 2020, I started a perfume business of 25ml. I sell it for a cheap price, I make a lot of money but I still make a loss on the shipping fee. As it came to the point where everything I spent was wasted, my parents even scolded me because the money I invested was wasted because of the wrong decision I made. Even though I was disappointed in myself at that time, because I just wanted to help my parents too, they were still disappointed with the outcome of my business. So what happened was, I just stopped it and the remaining perfume, which was almost a box, I just used it than to throw them and give them all out away.
There were a lot of ups and downs that happened to me then because I always wanted to do business because I was super impressed with entrepreneurs who have businesses. Like, I just said in my mind, "I have no hope in this business, it's not for me." Of course, what I felt at that time was really disappointed with myself to the point that I was annoyed because that's how it happened, and almost as if the suffering and expenses I spent were not reciprocated.
Of course, as their daughter, it's embarrassing on my side, especially when I know that my dad is also disappointed with what happened. Until last February 2021, I met my partner in a group chat. She is very business-minded to the point that you can learn a lot because her mindset is very positive and she handles money well. Me, I was really impressed with her because at that time I thought that I was very useless when it came to business because of being sloppy so I thought of giving up.
1 year and 1 month later I flew to Baguio City, Philippines. When I was with her, we decided what business we could establish in my area. At that time we hadn't decided yet until one of my oldest coworkers recommended, and let's call him "Tatay Teng." Father Teng is 50 years old and he is the one who recommended to me why I don’t start a business with jams, like strawberries and other assorted food from Baguio City.
At that time I didn't know but felt so happy at what he said, as if I was suddenly happy for some unknown reason. And when I got home from work, I was still thinking about Dad Teng's recommendation, but I suddenly felt sad later because I thought, "What if something goes wrong?", I'm thankful because I have the day off the next day and if not, I'll probably go to my work without sleep.
I'm a call center agent and one of the billing specialists so basically my sleeping hours are in the morning but I'm thankful because it's my day off. I thought about that thing and couldn't erase it from my mind, because I was afraid that I might fail and nothing would happen.
In the evening, when my partner came home, I talked to her regarding my plan, she even scolded me for what I was thinking. Why am I thinking about such a thing when it hasn't even started yet? At that time I agreed with what she said so I decided to settle to a decision I was thinking about. So after our first try, from 15 reservations to 85pcs up for just in a month. The growth of the business was very unexpected since I was really having a hard time when we started. But, I am thankful to God because he didn't let me suffer more. I know that there are things that will make me suffer, I still have many failure stages to experience and I know it will not be the end of it.
This is based on my real-life experience where I failed many times but not only that, I also learned. Maybe, not all the time luck is on your side and there are also times when you are very doubtful since we are new to this situation and we are not that aware of what kind of steps we need to take in.
I just want to convey in this article that it's okay if you fail many times, it's also okay if you think about giving up and if you think about abandoning the thing you've already started. Maybe right now, that's not for you but keep being dedicated to yourself so that someday you will do your best despite everything. These are not the only ups and downs that we will experience and maybe in the future, we will experience more than that and we will try our braveness.
Keep in mind that failure leads to success, you shouldn't be ashamed because you are not trusting yourself and you shouldn't be ashamed for failing many times. Take that lesson, and on the next step, change it and make sure that you really learned from your last mistake.
