The Sky knows NO limit. SO DO YOU!

Hello everybody, my name is Tai, and I might want to stop you right there if you think I come from Thailand, I am not, and I am a Vietnamese. I was born and raised my whole life in Vietnam, in the capital city of Hanoi and in an average middle-class family with my mom being a high school teacher and my dad being a worker. As you can tell my family is not a wealthy or a high-class family, we don’t live in the city center, we don’t own fancy cars or i don’t even have a room of my own. Well my family is certainly not poor if you want to give that conclusion, but my parents can only support me the most basic need: getting a decent education in a local school near home, having 3 full meals a day, buying me clothes which are usually second hand or 50% off and so on. At the time hanging out friends, eating out or travelling, even domestically, let alone internationally were something so far-fetched and did not exist in my vocabulary. My mom has always told me that unlike other rich family with high social status we cannot help you more than this so if you want to get out of that situation, you have to try to study hard on your own. That mindset has always been deep-rooted ever since childhood and it has been the biggest and most powerful motivation ever.

                Not succumbed to the situation, I studied hard, and my first big break was the acceptance letter to one of the most prestigious high school for specialized students in the city center. And I started to rise above ever since. I took up another language besides English, which was Russian, and after 2 years I received a gold medal in an international Russian essay contest. In my final year, I expressed my desire to study abroad to my parents, which was blatantly diminished because our family could not afford it. But much to their surprise, I earned myself 80% scholarship for an undergraduate program in Japan, and going to Japan was also my first time sitting in a plane. My interest for language did not stop with Russian, I can speak up to 5 different languages: Vietnamese, English, Russian, Japanese, Mandarin, and I am now getting familiarized with Cantonese. I started to do Arubaito, which in Japanese stands for part-time job, and received my first salary at the age of 18. I kept pushing myself and it paid off with a full gpa of 4.0/4.0 in my first semester, and was able to snatch another scholarship. Not only did I manage to finance my living expenses on my own in Japan, but I even had to myself some savings and I used it to do the thing that my 15-year-old self would never have imagined. I travelled. I went to all different places around Asia: Tokyo, Taipei, Kaohsiung, Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, you name it. My international exposure did not stop in Japan as I got accepted to an international conference in Malaysia last March, where I met and exchanged ideas with other leaders, entrepreneurs across South East Asia. And here I am, finding myself doing an exchange program in the most prestigious institution in Asia, The University of Hong Kong!

Now you might think that I am now happy and proud of myself and should be enjoying my life right? But as a matter of fact, I am far from being satisfied with myself. I still feel like a small fish out of a thousand of other fishes out there trying to reach to the shore. I see more of others’ people achievements more than mine own. Now this would be another driving factors that push me to achieve even more, but it has a more detrimental effect on me. There are some days, actually a lot of days, when I feel unmotivated, uninspired and and completely loose track of what I am supposed to do. As a youngster, just like everyone of you who is sitting, I too have a lot of goals, plans, ambitions, and desires. But there’s one limit that deter me from even starting to pursue them: other people’s opinion! I spent most of my time paying attention to what kind of opinions they have one me, and if they express a little bit of doubt about my ability, even for a little bit, I started to step back just like a turtle hiding its neck.

So why do we care so much on other people’s opinion? This has something to do with BOUNDED RATIONALITY. Human beings are born with COMPLETE RATIONALITY, which means that we will do whatever it takes to get what we want. We know exactly what our desires are and will be doing any lengths to achieve them to get a sense of satisfaction. But as we grow older, it is not always the case. For example we cannot just go around naked even though it is hot as hell or we cannot burn down the school even if we despise education. Our rationality is BOUNDED by the community we live in and the people we interact with. This interaction has led me to excessively paying way too much attention on what others think of me. And that is when I started to realize that what I seek all of these years are not for myself, for the betterment of myself. What I seek is PEOPLE’s RECOGNITION.

Getting recognized, complimented for your work and your achievement is like a cherry on top of the cake, but is it really the main reason why you strive your best? I assume that all of you are familiar with the term “theorem” right. In science, theorems are always correct no matter what because it has already been proven by scholars, and now they are applied like a common sense. The most basic theorem is 1+1=2, where 1+1 is the premise of the theorem and 2 is the result. Therefore, can you say this as a theorem “If you try your best, you will be successful”. Here try your best is the premise, and being successful is the result of you trying hard. And then you also have implications, which are results DERIVED from theorems. So what are the differences between RESULTS and IMPLICATIONS.

To put in a most simplest term, let’s take a look at Peter. Peter loves painting, and he started to pain as an amateur painter. He tried hard every single day, and the results are beautiful paintings that reflect his emotion and appeal to the mass. But what are the implications? The implication is that since his paintings are beautiful enough, they are purchased. And further implications are that he is able to open an art gallery because he has gained enough recognition and reputation.

Back to the main topic. To me, the result of you trying your best, is the fact that YOU GROW EVERY SINGLE DAY. The result of you studying all night is not getting the top of the class, but is that your current GPA is higher than your previous GPA.. The result of you working out is that you lost a few weights, not having a six pack abs after a week. And of course, if you try hard enough and when the time comes, the IMPLICATIONS are that you get on top of the class, getting that 6 pack abs. The IMPLICATION is that your hard work is recognition given by other people.

Hong Kong is well-known for its industrial complex with skyscrapers punching through the skies and clouds. Now I love photography and Hong Kong is certainly a dreamland for those who wants to upgrade their instagram game. I have taken this photo about a month ago. Looking at this photo, I started to think about the limits of human. I think if the sky knows no limit, then there would be nothing that can limit you. The only limit is YOU. If you want to make it happen, it will happen, as long as your will and determination are strong and focused enough, to overcome all of the judgments of other people. When there’s a will, there’s a way. What you should be focusing on is your own growth, rather than comparing with others success, hoping that yours would be the same. Create for yourself small barriers and break them all step by step. No barriers are hard to break if you are harder.

Looking back, I see that I have wasted so many times paying attention on others’ opinions on me and letting their perceptions limit my ability. Well, it’s time for a change! I hope I made my point across loudly and powerfully: You are capable of anything you want to be. Stay hungry and focused. Focus on how far you have come rather than how far you have left. Once you start see the results, it will become an addiction. And that addiction will push you to the top, beyond limits!