[Music]
how many of you have heard that you can
do anything just as you put your mind to
it well I'm here to tell you it's a
complete lie in reality there are so
many things in life that we just can't
do no matter how hard we try and we've
all been there before haven't we we
failed and failure isn't just miserable
because it's disappointing or
discouraging feel there is miserable
because it's also embarrassing failure
is not an option we're told I mean no
one ever starts out on a journey just to
get stuck at the mud but if you don't
know how to deal with failure you're
gonna have a miserable life
what does failure do to us anyway well
for some people it causes them
encouragement it cause them to push far
harder to get through that obstacle for
others failure disappoints discourages
maybe even causes them to step away from
the task but fear can do so much more I
want to tell you about a story about how
failure ignited my passions and drove me
to the place where I could be the very
best of myself I received a text message
one morning from my boss at work strange
I thought my boss never engages me
unless it's something important so this
must be very important I walked down the
hallway towards his office I was looking
at the stained glass windows of all the
meeting rooms that I'd become accustomed
to but this walk felt different it felt
heavy as I approached his office he was
on the phone I stuck my head in I looked
around I saw that we weren't alone in
fact sitting in the room on a swivel
chair was a lady whom I'd never met
before prim and proper in front of her
on the table was an a4 size brown manila
envelope
like I just you guys are laughing boss
gets on the phone he says to me Simeon
come on in and close the door have a
seat so I do that and I have a seat an
awkward silence puts us on the same page
I'll get back to that story in a moment
but let me ask you how many of you
remember what you wanted to be when you
were growing up in high school and
university some of you might said lawyer
doctor educator but not this guy I was
gonna be in the arts 26 years ago I was
in my first year of university and while
all my friends were doing something
called the Asian triangle engineering
science or business I wanted to be an
actor an actor Simeon Wang Oscar winner
performance you know an actor so I
enrolled in the university drama program
for the next two years I was engrossed
monologues improv sketches method acting
digging deep within myself to play the
character in the plays I loved it all I
was passionate wanting to be an actor
was a very mild term I was indeed
passionate about becoming an actor
Sophocles Shakespeare modern playwrights
there wasn't a genre that I didn't see
beauty in I want it to be an actor and I
worked hard at it I was first in last
out I memorized all my lines back and
forth like tonight
I was passionate but one day at the end
of the semester after one of our
productions my acting coach called me
aside and said I need to tell you
something simian so I said what is it
simian you're one of the hardest-working
students that I've ever had and I would
encourage you to keep on that work ethic
however working hard just isn't going to
cut it for you you don't have that
x-factor that star quality that we need
if I were you I would consider another
line of work well I was crushed all I
wanted to do was acting I loved the
dynamics between people the exchange of
ideas everything that was on theater
stage I loved it the problem is that I
had now failed at reaching my goals what
would you have done in that situation
perhaps you would have walked away
memorized more lines try to get back get
through that obstacle some of you may
have been disappointed discouraged
walked away but you know what I didn't
do either those I reflected on why it
was that I loved acting so much to begin
with and I thought about what was I good
at what was I passionate about I thought
if I couldn't bring these skills over to
acting surely there must be a career out
there where I could I've told my family
at this time my parents had a broken
hearts because they couldn't tell their
friends over dim sum one day that their
son was a famous actor doctor lawyer or
anything so I saw this opportunity as
one to redeem myself so I did as any
other Asian kid would do in the
situation I now wanted to be a doctor
that was it simian Wong MD I pictured
myself walking down the hallway in the
hospital stethoscope around my neck
along labcoat throngs of medical
students chronic running after me trying
to pick my brain get my time you know
simian Wong MD so I applied I went
through all the medical school courses
that were needed for admission during
the summers I sought after professors to
do research at the end of my
undergraduate I did my medical college
admissions test the MCATs but my scores
weren't that high so I kept taking them
until I got you know an adequate mark
but I was so determined to be a doctor
that I even took two more years to do my
masters in science I thought that's
gonna give me a leg up hands down drop
the mic I'm in medical school so I
applied to medical school and I applied
and I applied
but I kept getting rejection after
rejection after rejection not even an
interview I had failed yet again see by
this time I have been school for seven
years I had met my then girlfriend now
wife but I had no job prospects I didn't
know how to move forward I lost
confidence in myself so I needed dig
down deep and pull out something as a
reason to regain my confidence so back
to the drawing board I went I reflected
but this time I had to stare failure
down the barrel straight down and it
spliced me open see this time it hurt I
put so much time and effort trying to
achieve this goal only to fail again see
every time we're knocked down every time
we fail there's a part of us that gets
lost no one sets out on a journey just
to get stuck in the mud right success is
always the expectation again this time I
yet again have failed at reaching my
goals what I knew about science that I
loved though was I loved ideas I loved
the experimentation the ideas that came
out sharing with one another that was
meaningful to me so after a period of
reflection I had a few options in front
of me not that many but I decided to
give business a try it was gonna be a
leap of faith but I was willing to take
it see one thing that failure had taught
me was that I may not be the best actor
nor the smartest student in the room but
I was good at things that perhaps other
people were not as good at I was
strategic for example I loved solving
problems I had a curious mind but most
importantly I realized that I had a bent
towards influence and ideas but that was
between people
so I went back to school I enrolled in
my MBA program and I did all the courses
in business school I made sure that I
had solid job placements I even
volunteered for the MBA Society I did
pretty well in 2003 when I graduated I
joined a large consulting firm in their
strategy practice and for the next 17
years I was on a crazy ride I was gonna
be exposed to the wild crazy vast world
of business I saw leaders at their worst
and at their best I work with other
consultants the best and the brightest I
learned from so many different
situations I work with partners
influencers my career took me all over
the world
the best part about that though
as a sidenote was that I got premier
status on all the airlines and hotel
chains yeah you know what I'm talking
about
lounge access cheese and crackers right
but all seriousness I got to work with
CEOs boards of directors I manage large
projects and large teams I really loved
it one day I woke up and I poked my head
out and I realized my new passion now
was to be a powerhouse business
executive
forget about simian oscar-winner forget
about simian mdff that's nothing it's
simian CEO all the way but it wasn't
always smooth sailing as my wife will
tell you it's never a dull moment in my
life see there were speed bumps and some
of those speed bumps were pretty
significant that they impacted my
performance during those years I found
myself gravitating towards people again
but not just working with them it was
investing in them it was
sharing ideas it was trading mentoring
coaching and likewise the other way I
love that dynamic at the same time I
found myself distancing from project
management and Excel spreadsheets
timelines those are all important skills
to have as an executive and I could
still do them but the problem was was I
good enough in those skills to become an
executive would I ever be good enough at
those skills to become a CEO but the
most important question was did I care
that I would ever be good enough at
those skills to become CEO don't get me
wrong I tried my best to get better at
everything I trained I was mentored but
be that as it may I was never quite up
to snuff I received a message one day
from my boss at work strange I thought
he never reaches out to me and unless
something important so this must be
important I walked down the hallway
towards his office stained glasses of
the reading rooms that I was a company
to I went all the way down the office he
was on the phone I stuck my head and I
realized that we weren't alone there was
a lady sitting there on a swivel chair
in front of her was an a4 sized brown
manila envelope my boss gets off the
phone simeon come on in close the door
have a seat so I do that there's an
awkward silence and it puts us on the
same page see me at first of all I want
to tell you this company loves what
you've been doing for us for the past
couple of years you've been a great
employee however unfortunately due to
restructuring we have to lay you off
nothing personal we've just been going
through a lot of tough times and we had
to make some really tough decisions see
in my 17 years of business I'd
experienced layoffs and if you've ever
been laid off you'll know that it's one
of the most humiliating experience
you walk into the office in the morning
with your phone
with your laptop with your employee
badge and you fully expect to leave back
the day with the same things but you're
not you leave with nothing and if your
company owns your cell phone you don't
even have a telephone number anymore
it's deeply humiliating my world is
crumbling around me and I might my Dendy
was being stripped I had failed yet
again at achieving my goals but this
time was different in the eyes of the
world I'd failed at reaching my goals
but in my own eyes I hit a jackpot
because I knew I was good with people so
on the one hand I wasn't good enough to
be CEO material but on the other hand I
found something that I was good at and I
was passionate about in April of 2019 I
left the corporate world and I started
my own career coaching business my sole
focus is to help people find their
passion careers and to equip them with
skills tools and confidence to reach
their goals when I first started on this
journey I didn't know what to expect
being an entrepreneur is a pretty lonely
experience a couple of months into it
though I I realized that I hit something
that there was a need for coaching a lot
of my friends by working with they
weren't happy with her jobs they weren't
passionate about life they didn't know
what their legacy was going to be
coaching was needed I hid something over
the past year I've met hundreds of
people I've had the honor and privilege
of mentoring coaching some of them and
I've had the privilege and honor of
placing some of them in interviews and
jobs in Canada and globally one of my
services that I offer is called
outplacement consulting and what that is
is when an employee is about to be
their employer calls me and the first
point of contact when the employee gets
laid off they come out and I take them
under my wing I help them get back on
their feet there's nothing more
rewarding than that feeling you might be
asking me what qualifies you to do this
sim you are you a psychologist well I
can tell you that the only thing that
qualifies me to do this are my failures
see 26 years of failures have led to
this see I've been there before right
I've had my world crumble around me I've
experienced lacking confidence I know
what it's like to have to live with the
stigma of failure but because of the
past 26 years ever since I wanted to be
an actor I've also seen what fielder can
do to build people so now what I do is I
spend time challenging my clients to
allow their failures to ignite passions
as they rebuild their careers with these
new insights about themselves I want to
leave you with three things we've all
failed and we're all going to continue
to fail and some of those failures are
going to be devastating but failure does
not diminish your significance ability
does not equal to worth ability does not
equal to value just because you're not
able to do everything does not diminish
your significance secondly work hard on
things that you're not good at give it
your all but be bold and brave enough to
change goals when you encounter
something that you just can't do
sometimes it's better to go around walls
and not try to ram through them and
finally allow failure the opportunity to
show you when to let go of your dreams
because it's only then they'll have
clarity of your mind to see new
opportunities far better than you could
have ever imagined see failure is an
option and sometimes failure is even the
best option thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
you