Few days ago marked an exhilarating milestone for me. I became the first Financial Consultant to attain the Company’s highest award of “Premier Summit” this year within 10 months by October 2018.

Probably one question on your mind is – How difficult or easy is it to do this? This is akin to the scenario when kids come running to parents, “Hey Mum/Dad, I’ve got 100 marks for my exam today.”

Your first reaction is probably going to be ecstatic but at the same time, feeling curious as to how difficult was it for your kid to do this? So that you might ask “Oh, how did the rest do, baby?

Then your kid replies, “Oh quite a few of my friends failed the exam!”. Trust me, that’s why your eyebrow would raise. Your astonishment and happiness would instantaneously double.

[Sorry for digressing but somehow when you are a parent, the moment you talk about kids, you lose your attention in whatever you are doing…]

So back to the question of how easy or difficult to achieve it – Last year there were in fact no recipients for this award category. For those who did not know my background, I made a bold career transition from a corporate HR role to move into Prudential as a Financial Consultant in July 2017.

This article is not written with the intent to boast or self-praise. On the contrary, this article was written purely to motivate more to dream bigger and start believing in themselves.

I just wanted to share how ordinary I am as a person and if I can do it, many out there can start to dream of achieving their goals and big dreams as well. For those who are thinking of doing a career transition, I want to be one of your leading examples in your mind who succeeded in career switch. Trust me, this is important as you continue to read on.

In the past 17 months, literally from HR to Sales, many have asked, “Jas, how did you do it? How do you even consistently achieve top sales for the running months?” And gradually over time, one of the frequent remarks I received became “Oh come on, it’s so EASY for you!” This is to me a real paradoxical statement.

When I first made the decision to do this ‘drastic (aka crazy)’ career-switch, I have been told countless times by different people. “Are you sure you are going to do this? I have many friends who did not make it and left the industry. It’s such a waste, you’ve climbed so high in your HR corporate career. You want to be at the roadshow selling insurance? Insurance agents are often S.I.A.M by others. WHAT IF YOU FAIL? ”

Compare the two different bipolar statements. But yet at the same time, do you spot the similarity? All these are the opinions of others and sometimes it can make or break a person’s confidence. If you succumb to the negative opinions and start allowing them to destroy your confidence, that’s when your aspiring big dreams and goals also shatter.

Coming from someone who had been there, done that in HR and then again replicating the same success* in my new career, I can attest it is never an easy feat. I am stepping out of my own comfort zone – putting aside all my HR knowledge , entering a completely new zone of sales and to become a Professional advisor within a very short learning curve.

But yet it is NOT IMPOSSIBLE. The phrase itself already says “I’M POSSIBLE”.
[*By the way, Success to me is defined not by material wealth or position title. Success to me simply means we are better than who we were yesterday.]

But the question is – How did I do achieve success in such short time span? By the way, did I mention that I am a mother of two children, with 6 year old Claire and 4 year old Caydren?

This is the Iceberg Illusion. Usually it is a natural thing for people to see the tip of the iceberg because after all they do not get to see behind the scenes, or in this theory aka the submerged area of “What People Don’t See”.

The picture perfectly exemplifies what people DO NOT see behind-the-scenes. I have experienced in the past 17 months. The discipline which I instill in me to wake-up at 5am daily, the hard work of reading up and learning from the veterans, the dedication committed to clients so that we provide the most suitable recommendation. In between how we dealt with failure and managed our own disappointments and not to forget ‘sacrifices’.

I am sure many successful people have failed more times than the number of times you have ever tried. This is what truly differentiates the successful people from the ‘spectators’ who would comment but never dared to even try.

The following are the secrets to my success:

Ignore the naysayers. Everybody is entitled to their comments and opinions. But be discerning of those negative ones. Especially when you have already made up your mind to go for it. It is good to get feedback but they must be constructive ones.

Set your own BIG GOAL. One of the biggest takeaway from my Neuro-Linguistics Programming (NLP) class is that we need to set goals! Whatever our mind can conceive, we can achieve! At the beginning of this year, I have already declared my goal of achieving this “Premier Summit” award by end of this year. Ironically after I achieved it, my own Manager told me that he himself was skeptical at the beginning about whether it’s feasible considering how rare there were recipients to this award in the past 8 years he was in the industry.

Break your goal into smaller monthly targets and systematically track your progress. This is where usually many people fail to follow-through and eventually resulting in them not achieving their goal. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Keep an open-mind and learn from the best. Remember when you were a student and you have to attend mandatory classes, scour your textbooks, understand and memorise so that you are prepared for your exams. This is no different other than we are older (wiser) now. Continue to maintain a lifelong learning attitude by attending classes or even speaking to the veterans in the industry. One tip a day will grow you immensely.

Get out of your comfort zone. Impart your knowledge by sharing and teaching. For me, this is was one of best learning lessons in my new career. I remember in my first year, I was invited by Prudential on various different occasions to share product knowledge of 2 selected protection plans. I readily agreed despite knowing deep in my heart that I wasn’t that ready. But I knew I had to take up the challenge, as a form of give-back and at the same time grow myself. I spent many 5am mornings to read up, understand thoroughly, asking around for FAQ in order to prepare for the sharing with many other veterans. Many came up to thank me afterwards as they learnt a lot in the session. But guess who learnt the most in the process? I subsequently became one of the top sellers of these two protection plans.

Celebrate small wins. For me, this is extremely important as it fuels me for the next breakthrough so that you will be encouraged to keep up the momentum.

Remember your WHY. Life cannot be all about careers/goals. It should encompass other important pillars of your life, which include your family, friends, your own health and mind. Always remember to seek an optimal balance amongst these few pillars so that this is a sustainable self-fulfilling journey for you.