My Kiasu Self…
A series of events that occurred recently made me realize that I’m indeed a very ‘kiasu’ person. ‘Kiasu’ is a Chinese Hokkien term loosely translated as ‘cannot lose’ which basically means the inability to accept failure.
Come to think of it, this is not the first time I have been labeled competitive. Throughout school, college up to the working world, I have been constantly trying to improve myself whether it’s
a) studying for an exam,
b) working on an assignment,
c) conducting a presentation,
d) preparing tender documentation,
e) completing a work related task or even
f) playing sports,
I always try to find ways to outperform everyone else to emerge at the top.
Deep down, I believe the reason behind all of this is I really fear complacency. I am terrified of losing my drive to work hard in life. The thought of living an average life is really scary to me. Sometimes, I ask myself the defining reason behind my need to achieve something with my life.
After doing some soul-searching previously, I finally decided that the main reason behind wanting to achieve some success in my life is so that I would be able to bring up my family comfortably. To be able to support them in a manner which they deserve. The question is how much success is enough? Hmm….
Come to think of it, this is not the first time I have been labeled competitive. Throughout school, college up to the working world, I have been constantly trying to improve myself whether it’s
a) studying for an exam,
b) working on an assignment,
c) conducting a presentation,
d) preparing tender documentation,
e) completing a work related task or even
f) playing sports,
I always try to find ways to outperform everyone else to emerge at the top.
Deep down, I believe the reason behind all of this is I really fear complacency. I am terrified of losing my drive to work hard in life. The thought of living an average life is really scary to me. Sometimes, I ask myself the defining reason behind my need to achieve something with my life.
After doing some soul-searching previously, I finally decided that the main reason behind wanting to achieve some success in my life is so that I would be able to bring up my family comfortably. To be able to support them in a manner which they deserve. The question is how much success is enough? Hmm….
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