A Blog in Review

I’ve noticed since re-reading a couple of those self-help books (yes, I admit, I read them in the hopes of improving myself and I don’t care if it makes me sound like a loser because I need them), that two recurring themes.

When talking about setting out to achieve goals, these are two things that help ensure success. The first is about developing an obsession for the desired goal which you wish to attain. The second is about burning the bridges behind you so that you can’t retreat and back again from going full steam ahead after that goal.

In a strange sense, I don’t think I need them because I have subconsciously applied these principles to my own life and achieved a couple of things that I have been truly passionate about. Take, for instance, the time when I decided I was no longer going to be a dentist. I was so obsessed with the idea that I was no longer going to be a dentist that I went out and bought myself a suit and a leather satchel. My plan was to wear that suit and carry that satchel to my next interview and I was determined that my next interview would NOT be for a position at a dental surgery.

A lot of people recommended that I hang on to my dental practicing license just in case I didn’t make it in the corporate world. I, on the other hand, had different ideas. I burnt all my bridges so I would either fly or die trying to succeed in this brave new world. I never renewed my practicing license, my association memberships, my practicing insurances. Anything and everything that tethered me to the practicing world of densistry, I let go of.

I received numerous lectures from well meaning relatives, friends, dentists, all of whom reiterated over and over what I was giving up. It was probably one of the few times in my life that I wasn’t affected by what anyone said to me. It seemed that everyone I knew thought I was mad. A dentist not wanting to practice? It was almost unheard of. Dentistry has always been one of those professions associated with raking in the big bucks. So ingrained was society’s mindset that I think my biggest obstacle was not in proving my abilities to any one company, but in proving that I was serious about my new found direction in life.

I believe I succeeded because I was passionate about it. You could even say I was obsessed by the idea. I had been planning this move inside my head since I was still a student of Dentistry.

I had a burning desire that became an obsession. I burned all the bridges behind me and I succeeded. Therefore I have practiced what I’ve read about in books after these events took place in my life though I may not have realised the principles that I had put in place at the time. Unfortunately, that’s it - I’ve only been really passionate about two things in my life. The other one was rock climbing. I certainly doubt I would have succeeded in climbing 7A if I wasn’t obsessed with the idea. As for the rest, I’ve usually been quite content to float on by and see what happens.

Now that I know that I know what to do to achieve the things that may or may not seem within my reach at this current point in time, what I really need is a tiger to keep chasing me so I’ll keep on going. Okay, so I stole that analogy from the obstetrician who gave a lecture on the process of labour at Pantai hospital yesterday. Basically what he was referring to was the difference between going through a labour with an epidural versus labour without an epidural. He likened the process of labour to a hundred meter race. Without an epidural, it would be like running the race with a tiger chasing you. Naturally, you would naturally run faster. However, if you had an epidural, it would be like running without the tiger to encourage you to run faster and hence, the process of labour would take longer.

So in the case of my Nanowrimo, where’s my tiger?

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