Learn A Lesson & Move On

Dear Invisible Kids,

If you want to be successful in anything in life, you will inevitably face obstacles and failures, because you are trying to accomplish something new to yourself. Fail fast, learn a lesson, then move on. Don’t dwell in the past.

I failed so many things in the past year.

1. Relationship: I scared a girl away because I tried to pay her rent to ensure she had a safe shelter. However, her colleagues somehow found out about it, and she decided not to keep in touch. Auntie Dorothy said I might have a good intention, but the girl might feel embarrassed around her peers. I was not empathetic enough.
2. Health: I got sleep-deprived because of all the entertainment at night, and I was late for work nearly 90% of the days in November 2021. I lost around USD 3600 of my salary that month.
3. Career: I wanted the job at Basecamp so bad that I prepared a 15-page deck for the job application. After the submission, I decided to email the CEO of the company. Even though Auntie Janet told me not to mention my job application, I ended up sending an email mostly about how much the CEO’s book has inspired me, but I did mention my job application in the P.S. section. I didn’t get any response. Auntie Janet said it made the email appear ungenuine.

Every failure hit me hard. I did feel sad and frustrated. But once I realized there was nothing I could do to improve the situation, it was best to consolidate the lesson and move forward quickly.

The above “failures” made me a better person. I’m now more conscious of others’ feelings, I sleep earlier and go to work on time, and I learned how to write a more genuine email to people I respect.

Failure will make us a better person if we choose to embrace the lesson and move on. But if we dwell in the past and negative emotions, we are basically trapped in a downward spiral.

Fail fast, learn a lesson, and move on!

I love you!

Love,

Dad

“Dear Invisible Kids” is just an idea of recording my life lessons for my future kids. If they exist in the future, great, they’ll get to know their dad. If they don’t, I guess they remain invisible forever😂. Hopefully, those messages would benefit someone in this world.

P.S. If you want weekly emails on how to become your best self, subscribe here. A free relationship ebook “Mindful Love”+ Tim Ferriss’s workout cheatsheet will be delivered to your inbox immediately.