First Stage Cleared

Hi everyone! How's everyone doing?

Cant believe it is already FEBRUARY of 2015. Where the heck has January gone??



The 23rd of January 2015 marked my one-year anniversary being in Forte and Appco, and I have gotten myself promoted to become a team leader officially, managing a team of 3.

It has been quite a journey to get myself to this stage, definitely not easy but so very fulfilling. I look back at the decision I made in June of taking the leap of faith in giving up my place in the university to make it work here, and I am so glad I did.



At the start, people around me left and right, whether it is my family, or my friends in Uni, or even strangers I talk to by the road, have ALL been pushing me to go back to University.

'It's not SAFE without a degree' they said.

'We are saying this for your own good' they said.



No matter, what matters to me right now is that I am extremely happy doing what im doing as of now and proud to see the tremendous improvement I have made in myself since I joined. And as of now, I really can't see myself doing anything else, ESPECIALLY not writing essay after essay, facing school politics, having to constantly compare myself to the popular / pretty / talented kids and still trying to figure out why the fuck I took  a course that I know I am going to regret anyway.


People say I have no idea what I am missing out in Uni, like the environment, the last time I am able to have fun and hang out with people my age, the network that I will gain, learning different things etc etc. Erm, no, I was fully aware of what I was missing out.




What do you think I felt when I first gave up my place?

I had absolutely no reason to stay in Forte nor Appco. My sales was shit, I didn't have a team, no one really bothered about me because I didnt have results. The most obvious choice was just to give it up and just go back to school, JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE.

But that statement is the very thing that made me hold on to Forte.

Right from the start, I never really fit in to any clique in school, because I was fat, didnt really think the way everyone else thought, didnt enjoy the things they enjoyed, had a really headstrong personality with low tolerance for things I didnt like. I had already made the mistake once of listening to my parents of 'what would be the best for me', which was taking triple science, which I ended up regretting so fucking horribly. Never am I going to make the same mistake again, and I was finally in a place where I didnt have to try to be cool or do what everyone else was doing in order to 'fit in'. The rules were simple: You perform, you get the opportunity.




With a clear mind, a little bit of time and a tremendous amount of self-belief, I worked my way up to become one of the top salespeople in the company and having a team of 3. However, despite my super fast improvement and being ready to gun for the promotion, I wasnt emotionally nor mentally ready. I was still very young, I didnt have much experiences of taking failure / challenges, and I made a heck of a big hooha by falling in love with someone I shouldnt have.

Even though Allie keeps saying that it was a mistake I should never have made, but I am very sorry to say that it wasnt a mistake to me, and I dont regret the decision at all. It was just a good learning experience and I would take it as a normal obstacle I have to face on my journey towards becoming a stronger person. But the most important thing out of that whole saga was I finally found a very important person, someone almost or if not equally important to me as my family. That relationship, that love that I have is so rare, and I know if I let go of it, I would have regretted it so terribly. But I'm glad I held on, and now things are definitely looking up.

Then after that, I met up with one of the managers for a learning session, and the person (unintentionally, mind you) completely crashed my confidence, and  made me have a low period for quite a long while. But through that experience, I finally know how people who have down times feel, and not only did I learn how to manage myself better, but I also understood people much more as well.

Even during the down times, all I told myself was: It's okay that other people are flying right now, because that wont last. If I keep pushing on, my turn will definitely come.

And it came.

First came Ronnie's AM promotion, then hitting the bulletin for one month straight, then having two coreleaders who trust me the most, even compared to others, and having a very sincere and equally headstrong mentor (whom I now know personally as a friend haha) to guide me in every step of the way, then my promotion. Things are definitely looking up.



The question is, what can I do even more to get myself to the next stage? I need constant improvement, learning and developing myself and put in double the effort. Stage 2: Team Manager, here I come. ;)