What a way to wake up this morning reading an inspirational video
 message from Robin Sharma. Robin is well known for his best-selling book The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: A Fable About Fulfilling Your Dreams & Reaching Your Destiny and his latest hit The Leader Who Had No Title: A Modern Fable on Real Success in Business and in Life. Thanks to my eldest daughter whom I am very proud of, I was introduced to Robin when she forwarded me a link to his blog.

Here’s Robin’s latest message on “How to Become Entrepreneur in
 these Volatile and Uncertain Times” which I personally transcribed to share with you.

HOW TO BECOME A REMARKABLE ENTREPRENEUR IN THESE VOLATILE TIMES

1. To have what only 5% of the population have, you must be willing to do 
what only 5% of the population does. That’s taking risk, that’s
 dreaming big, that’s growing following leaders around you, adding more 
value for your customers than they have any right to expect. Just
 remember the idea that to have what only 5% have, 
you must break free of the crowd and do only 5% of what they are willing to do.

2. Please remember that education is inoculation against disruption.
To double your net worth, triple your rate of learning. Remember the 
power of ideas, and the power of an inspiration of an idea. But
 invest in your learning, and training and professional and personal
 development.

3. It’s important to remember either you disrupt or you will join the disrupted. 
I know it is uncomfortable when you leave the safe harbor of knowing that you won’t know the blue ocean. But that is where the action 
lies. If you don’t do that, you will end up like Kodak, Blockbusters
 and all these companies that fell in love with their success, they 
fell in love with the way of doing things, they thought that the only
 way that they did things will get them successful in the future and 
they got knocked out of the game.

4. Final thing to remember is that if you are not leading, then you are 
following. Just because the world is living in certain conditions
 that doesn’t mean you should follow the same conditions. Think
 differently, be different, perform differently. 

To your success!

Thank you Mish, my daughter.

Thank you Robin for being such an inspiration and an effective mentor.

For more information on Robin Sharma and his teachings, visit http:www.robinsharma.com

What do climbing a mountain and writing a book have in common? They are both not easy. And its the not-so-easy things that I just love to do.

To jumpstart my journey in writing a second book, a follow up to my first self-published best-selling book The Tale of Juliet, I took on the challenge of climbing the Grouse Grind - a 2.9 kilometer trail up the face of Grouse Mountain which is the highest peak in Vancouver, Canada.

With an elevation of 2,800 feet and an approximate 30 slope, Grouse Grind is not for the average hiker. Apart from the rugged and steep terrain, hikers will need to face off with 2,830 stairs!

It will take an average of an hour and a half to reach the top, but for new hikers, two hours or more is recommended. It is a trail that requires physical and mental preparation.

On a cloudy Wednesday morning, I arrived at the site at 6:30AM with a friend. Usually there are more hikers during summer, but because of the light rain, we only saw a few hikers.

At the base of the summit, we took a moment to visualize our goal of writing and publishing the book. My friend happened to be a children’s book illustrator and she will do the illustrations for the book.

“Write the book, draw the illustrations, publish the book, launch the book,” this was our mantra as we took our steps.

The first few steps were a breeze, but after 10 minutes, the weight of climbing up the steep terrain was already getting on our legs. 30 minutes after, we were already panting and  catching our breaths.

And what we thought was already a long and painstaking achievement was only…

The rugged terrain was getting harder and harder as we move closer to the summit. The light drizzle turned into a shower, making the trail slippery and requiring more caution from those that step on it.

“Write the book, draw the illustrations, publish the book, launch the book.”

“Write the book, draw the illustrations, publish the book, launch the book.”

It was our mantra that kept us going,  plus the sheer beauty of the trees and the fog that embraces it.  As some hikers were giving up, we went ahead and pressed on.

We then reached the half-mark, and then the three quarters. These markings were like medals to our feat, cheering all hikers that the summit is within reach.

Our water and granola bars were done. We can hear the gondola from afar, it was like music to our ears! The bright light from the summit is already cheering us on, waiving hello to us.

We knew it’s only a few minutes and we can reward our tired legs with a wonderful rest.

As we reach the summit and saw the peak of the chalet, we felt like olympic champions. Oh we were shouting with joy! “Yes, we did it!”

1 hour and 30 minutes, that was our time. We didn’t finish it like the pros who complete the trail in less than 40 minutes. But we were so happy! The climb itself means nothing is impossible to achieve.

And so the journey to Grouse Mountain by climbing it has ended. But its end is only the beginning. It is the bell that heralds the journey to writing my second book. It is like the torch light that signals the start of a 3-month book project.

So  please stay tuned as I post more on the development of my second book!

Have you ever done a physical challenge to jumpstart another chapter in your life?

Marathon for a career change, skydiving to love again?

Share it with me!