When the game is on, never make a retreat!

Hiding myself in a corner, I started my self-reflection job as a habit when a day had ended. As usual, hundreds of questions came up, and I needed to classify them and gradually find the answer to each one. The scenarios reflecting what I had experienced took turns to be automatically played like I was watching Netflix.  Mixed feelings and messy thoughts were generated with the flow of thinking. When it came to an end, I told myself that when the game was on, I should never make a retreat.

My friends often described me as a meticulously programmed robot because they thought that I always tried my best to well manage my situations and design my daily experiences. They told me with a twofold feeling of admiring and complaining.

Replying to them with all of my honesty, I said: “When a game is on, I never make a retreat since thinking of a retreat just makes me weak in others’ eyes and leads me to the option of “Give Up” soon”.

“What makes me stay in the game as expected” is a haunting question and I keep asking myself about the factors helping me survive and thrive whenever I start something new or step into a new cycle of life.

The magical spell I almost always mutter to myself is Stay in the Game, Stay in the Game, and Stay in the Game…

I have had many ups and downs over the last 17 years in the labor market. I suppose that I partially understand the rules of the game. Many of them can be easily found in the book titled The 48 Laws of Power. For those who are interested in the laws, go and get it!

I have a habit of learning and transforming what I experienced into remarkable sayings.

1. “Deeply and truly understanding yourself before getting to know someone else and then making yourself understood.” Honestly, self-understanding is super important, it is the first key for individuals to acquire and master before doing whatever in life. It can be either a great source of support or a terrible obstacle depending on how well you decipher “your codes”. The ultimate aspects you are supposed to highly pay attention to could be (1) generation, (2) inherited social-cultural elements, (3) family background, (4) gained educational values, (5) employment insights, and (6) learning spirit and mindset.

2. “Every disastrous result is a new finding leading to better self-improvement. Remember not to procrastinate too long to take action afterward.” People are attracted by Success and hate failures, deficiency, and incompetency. That hatred of failures, deficiency, and incompetency often guides them to avoidance or escape. To cope with those courageously will take much time and acceptance. If you agree to change your view angle, you cannot deny the fact that you were incompetent, you were deficient, and you did it wrong. Thus, you gained bad results. When disastrous outcomes appear on your way, you should take them as precious signals to make improvements or adjustments right away.

3. “Seeing the big picture instead of immersing myself in details, Thinking logically, and Being flexible as much as you can will help you not to be astonished by unexpectations and keep you calm to come up with proper solutions.” It is an old same story. We are humans and humans have flaws. Some prefer detailed things and others don’t. Actually, they have their own reasons and evidence to reinforce their choices, and so do you. However, what I want to share is the flow of taking action or playing your role well in the game. First, apply the rule of TOP DOWN instead of BƠTTOM UP. Then, find out the nature of the event you are facing. Finally, recognize your current resources and position to decide what actions to take.

4. “Fast or Slow doesn’t matter provided that you are doing right. Everything carries its own rules. Learn and accept the nature of them.” Time is precious, time is something you cannot take it back once it passes. However, time becomes worthy if you know that you are doing right. In contrast, it means nothing. Make sure that you use the right approaches and methods. Now, the next question for me is about how you know that you are doing right. Am I right? Please get back to the numbers 1, 2, and 3. Thinking about them seriously and carefully.

5. “Constantly help yourself well-educated to be more in life.” Last but not least, education is considered the most powerful “weapon” of all time to help conquer challenges and recover effectively. With a great education, you can help yourself gradually see things clearly and wisely. That’s why it is said to learn more, be more, and earn more!

The great guides above somehow help me navigate my life and career through ups and downs. I cannot tell whether or not they can help me reach success, however, they can at least stop me from doing anything crazy or disadvantageous.