Ah Bin: “Courage is the process of escaping your comfort zone.”
Ah Bin: “Courage is the process of escaping your comfort zone.” The foundation’s activities encourage everyone to push their comfort zones and make them larger. They encourage people to have firm beliefs in their goals and strive for them. This process then enables them to take on even more challenges. Having courage means going to do things that you find extremely frightening, uncomfortable or just don’t like and also coming to terms with the possibility that you might fail. Sometimes the weight of a challenge, tangible or not, makes people so afraid of failure that they don’t even dare to attempt to overcome them. Courage is what pushes you to face these challenges that you may not like and take the next step forward.
G! VOICE: Can you share a short story about courage that you have experienced, with the Gamania audience?
Prepare yourself and bravely sell your ideas
Ah Bin remembers back when he first started the enterprise. He had just returned to Taiwan, so he didn’t know many people. He had to go out every day with a large, black case with his portfolio and make friends with companies from all over. In fact, he had this trait since he was in high school. Ah Bin says that in high school he thought that POP brand pens wrote very well, so every day after school, he would take a box of POP pens to the Greenbean (A candy shop) and other local businesses to recommend himself. He offered to help the bosses draw POP posters for their businesses free of charge. This way, every time that those shops needed to make a new POP poster, they would think of him. Even though he only earned a few hundred dollars, it was an ample salary for a high school student. Since he had the courage to do this even in his youth, when he came back to Taiwan with no resources and no connections, he used that same courage to put himself out there and promote his ideas. At the time, Ah Bin was sure that that is what he wanted to do, even if the salary was very low. Of course this choice was a difficult one to make. It was like getting out of a warm bed in the dead of winter. It was agonizing but if he hadn’t acted as he did back then, he never would have been able to start this new chapter in his life.
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As long as you don’t give up, you’re still making progress
Ah Bin: “Every time I encounter a setback, I actually feel very motivated.” Ah Bin describes how starting the company was extremely difficult in the beginning. Depression was commonplace for him. The situation felt like he was trapped in a swamp with no way to escape. However, for him, even now feels like he is still setting up the company. Ah Bin: “As long as you don’t give up. You’re still making progress. If you give up, you fail.”
Reach for a Higher Goal
After Ah Bin returned to Taiwan, he was invited to an international ticketing seminar in Malaysia. However, he would be required to give a two-hour lecture in English. He was very hesitant to accept this invitation. He was full of doubt that he could succeed. After he hung up the phone, he told himself that he wouldn’t go. On the other hand, overthinking the matter was useless. If he gave up, the organizers would just invite a designer from another country to participate. This thought made Ah Bin decide to accept the invitation. Ah Bin considers that moment a major psychological breakthrough for him. He put himself in a difficult situation and, even without a translator, he gave an all-English lecture to an audience of 500 people. This was just like playing a game. He got through the level and he gained more experience. If you look at a similar experience from a different angle, it’s not a matter of doing it or not. You must challenge yourself and keep reaching for more difficult goals. Then you will break the mold.
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Picture Source: http: //browse. deviantart. com/? q=goals#/d50x4vw
The Positive Social Power of Youth
When asked about his impressions after this year’s Summer School ended, Ah Bin mentioned that he thought it was fantastic that senior students came back to participate. He felt that the older students were passing down what they learned and made the foundation seem like a full-fledged community. Every year new students join. Ah Bin expects the foundation to grow into a well-known public service organization for young people. It will provide a way to connect the ideas of youth to create a positive impact on society. Ah Bin: “We see that some when some young people are still in school, they want to show or express themselves, but their method seems over their age. This results in a conflict with their value in society. This doesn’t mean that they are wrong, it is just because our society values are too unidirectional.” The foundation hopes to open communication lines with society and combine forces in positive manner. No matter if a child is very strong or very weak, we should show care to him and all children. Over the duration of the summer school, not only do young people study and learn to develop themselves, they also put what they’ve learned into practice and use it to help others in need. Harnessing the energy of youth and connecting it with society can have a positive impact on everybody. Youth is a powerful force. The vision and objective of the foundation is to continue to guide this force towards a positive direction.
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