This year has proved to be a productive one, as I’ve managed to land a new job, get married, and—perhaps most surprising of all—I’ve been invited to give a TED Talk.
I mean, it was a TEDx event, so it wasn’t exactly the real deal, but I’ve been meaning to use the TED Talk meme unironically, so I guess I finally get to!
I was flattered to share the stage with people who’ve accomplished so much with their lives, which got me thinking, just what did I do to deserve it? All I could think about was finishing my book.
In fact, so much of my career has stemmed from that sole action in my life. One decision that would alter my writing trajectory.
Finishing my novel despite my doubts
To say I felt doubtful would be underselling it. I was in my late thirties, without a career and money, playing at being an author, in a country that didn’t much care for fiction.
Some of those doubts included:
- This is stupid
- Nobody will want to read this story
- I’ll never get published
- I’ll never even finish writing the novel
- Malaysia isn’t big on sci-fi, particularly English sci-fi
Despite all that, I still managed to waddle past the finish line. Day by day, I added a few hundred words to the project. I set aside a shoestring budget for the year or so I’d dedicated to that novel, and lived off the bare necessities.
And that novel would be my ticket to so many other opportunities in my writing career.
But writing that book wasn’t a goal I’d decided to pursue on a whim. In fact, I’d harboured that dream for eight years before daring to act on it.
The catalyst? A day at a cheesy fake guru seminar.
The day I quit my cushy job
Perhaps the biggest reason for my doubts during my novel-writing days can be attributed to my quitting a decent job just to pursue my dreams.
As the content manager for Malaysia Airlines, I’d landed a pretty comfortable job title and company, both padding up my resume pretty nicely.
Still, I couldn’t shake off the nagging feeling that I was meant to do something else. My conscience kept telling me to write fiction, even though I didn’t see a future in it.
So I did the adult thing. I figured that’s what adulting meant: letting go of fancy notions like dreams and just putting my nose to the grindstone called life.
That was until my company decided to enrol all its employees in an NLP self-improvement seminar.
To call it an NLP seminar would be a joke though, because all I remember was being forced to cheer lame platitudes, participate in cheesy team-building games, and basically partake in what I’d consider an MLM rah-rah recruiting session.
I remember feeling so alienated from my company’s vision because of that. Because despite growing up with Zig Ziglar and Tony Robbins’s books, I was particularly averse towards people who gave advice they didn’t seem to follow.
It was a two-day course. I barely made it past the first. On the next day, I quit my job to finally take charge of my life for once. So that was another pivotal point in my life. It was when I realised that I had the power to dictate what I wanted to do.
So in some ways, I guess the seminar did work after all.
But to give the seminar all the credit would be to do my other mistakes a disservice. Because I wouldn’t even think about writing a novel had I not entered the publishing industry in the first place.
Which brings me to another pivotal moment in my life.
The hopeless era
I had spent six years in hairdressing only to realise it wasn’t what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Then I went into accounting and learned even quicker that it wasn’t what I wanted to do at all.
I knew I wanted to do something with my life, but I didn’t know what. I didn’t know where to start. No idea what I could do.
I guess my desperation did end up helping, because otherwise, I wouldn’t have browsed all the available categories on a job portal, and I wouldn’t come across my first writing vacancy.
In fact, I didn’t even think I belonged, since I had no proper education, nor the relevant experience.
But I did apply for the job, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Still, I don’t think recounting my pivotal moments makes for a decent post. So let’s sum up with a worthwhile conclusion, shall we?
This could be your pivotal moment
The weird thing about all the pivotal moments above is that I felt like I was going through the worst times in my life when I was deep in the action.
But as I look back at all the opportunities I’ve had today, I can specifically trace the moments that led me here. It just took some time before I managed to see those moments as the blessings they were.
Which is why I’m writing this post today.
Because whatever you’re going through right now—especially if you’re careening down a trough—could very well be the pivotal moment you have to go through before your life turns around.
And while I didn’t enjoy the fake guru seminar, I can spout platitudes just as well as they can, and I can tell you that all the good and bad events in your life will make up the mosaic that is your own story. And a story without ups and downs is boring as hell.
That’s all I have for you today.
Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
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Stuart Danker 
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