Three Powerful Life Lessons I Learned From My Mom

All of us have a mentor in one way or another. That person is someone who guides and teaches us about life. That person could be our mother, father, or teacher. In my case, it was my mom.

We indeed learn the most by observing what our mentors do more than what they say. What I love most about my mom is that she is an action taker and initiator. She is also the most positive and uplifting person I know to date. She’s a woman of few words. She does more than what she say. 

In your life, perhaps you have people who inspired you, who believed in you, and who saw greatness within you even if you yourself couldn't see it at times. They instilled the mindset of "can do" and not "can't do". I was lucky to have an amazing mother who taught me the “can do” mentality in an early age.  I remembered a powerful quote by Henry Ford which says, "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you’re right”. Without knowing it, my mom inculcated this belief in my mind—that I can do anything and be anything if I believe I can.

The most inspiring thing was that I saw how she demonstrated whatever she taught me. For example, when we were forced to immigrate from East Timor to Indonesia, we experienced having no water, clean clothing, food, and house to live in.  People around us would complain about the difficulty of the situation, but not my mom. You know why she didn’t complain? She did not complain because she knew something that we didn't. She would go out to the marketplace to find her ways to earn money by adding value to the people through selling things for them. I learned three lessons from her by observing what she was doing.  She likes to smile a lot. No wonder I caught that habit too. She knows how and when to ask for help and she took action.

Smile

Ask

If you don’t ask, you don’t get. It’s very simple. If you find yourself in a difficult situation and do nothing about it or you do something but you keep on complaining, then I'm afraid to say that you will remain stuck in that situation until you realize that it's okay to ask for help. I learned from my mom that it's okay to ask for help and that I shouldn’t be afraid to be rejected. Many people are afraid to ask for help because they are scared of rejection. You see, rejection is part of life. There was a time that I don’t know how to write because I never went to school. I wasn’t able to study because of our situation. Later on, I took the courage to ask the people around me to teach me how to write and now, as you are reading this article, you can see the proof and result of asking for help.

Action

You can have the best business strategy known to humankind and yet, if you don't take action, that business strategy is as good as garbage. It’s useless. What I love most about my mom is that she showed us, her kids, the result of her actions. She says little but delivers more. She promised nothing to nobody but completes what needs to be completed.

These three life lessons—smile, ask, and take action—that I've learned from my mom changed my life. If I am anything today, it is because of these three life principles. Apply it, my friend. Smile more often, ask for help, and learn to take action. Imagine what your life would look like if you apply these principles. You will have more friends and you’ll increase your influence as people would want to spend time with people who are positive, uplifting and action taker. When you are smiling more often, when you are not afraid to ask for help, and when you take action on your ideas, success, happiness, and fulfilment are definitely within your reach.