Now that I had Mr. Mineral on board to help me the next challenge was to explain to my girlfriend that I would be gone for four months. Needless to say, she was not thrilled about the idea, but I had been dropping hints and slowly planting the seed of the event in her mind while I was still in Asia. While I was back in Toronto, I took extra care to give her the time and attention she’d been missing for the previous two and half months. I made it very clear to her that this experience was very important for my development.
I made it clear what I would gain in two ways. I showed her that with my contracting I was able to earn almost the same amount of money, if not more, in Asia. The second way was I continually fed her stories of my adventures and the lessons I learnt. I also promised her that I would talk to her each day via Skype. What ultimately showed my determination was that I told her I was willing to risk our relationship for the chance to grow as a person.
Seeing my conviction, she agreed to give it a shot for another four months because she could see how serious I was about my commitment to succeed. In the meantime, she would try to get into law school or complete an MBA. To this day, I don’t regret my choice to risk our relationship because both she and I have grown because of our distance and separate experiences. As Nobel Peace Prize winner Dag Hammarskjöld said:
Never, "for the sake of peace and quiet" deny your own experience or convictions.
I try to live by this rule every day.
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Swimming with Asian Sharks - Business Secrets from the Pacific Rim
Non-FictionEver wonder what it takes to do business in Asia? How do Asian business executives behave and think? Do you want to create a business from scratch in under 24 hours? If so, this is your guide. This book is a compilation of over one hundred business...
