This post was originally shared in my DT Email Newsletter here.
18 years ago, I decided to study materials engineering. Not because I wanted to.
But because my mom told me so. An engineering degree has huge prospects – it’s a professional degree, it’s “cool” and you’d make good money.
But I didn’t like engineering.
By my second year in university, I hit rock bottom. My grades were a decimal point away from getting kicked out of school. Too many C and D grades.
I struggled learning thermodynamics and Phase Diagrams. The first few semesters felt like a slow crawl under barbed wire, through enemy territory, just trying to survive
During my second year in university was also the time I was trying to make some pocket money.
I dabbled into trading: I learnt Japanese candle sticks, RSI and MACD indicators. I made some money trading and I lost a lot more.
At that time, it was only when my good friend – second year roommate – introduced me to a book called the Intelligent Investor. I was hooked.
For the first time, something clicked.
I wanted to study finance. I wanted to work in the investment industry. The thing is, I knew it was going to be an uphill climb. I couldn’t afford to switch – you had to pay a lot of money.
My grades were so bad no other faculty would consider me. What’s more, Mom would kill me. And I knew my parents had to pay for my sisters’ universities soon.
Sometimes in life, we aren’t dealt the cards we want. Some win the ovarian lottery. Some won the multi-million dollar lottery.
Well, I accidentally dropped my lottery ticket before I was born.
So what do I do? I made a choice. If I couldn’t study finance, I would teach myself.
While my friends were studying Young’s Modulus and thin films, I began reading up on PE ratios, free cash flow and intrinsic value.
I still laugh when I think about it: my engineering friends would glare at me because they didn’t know what time value of money was.
Business students stared at me with their jaws opened because I kept using the wrong accounting terms.
I was embarrassed, and boy I struggled studying finance.
I even remembered sneaking into a career fair only for business students, and handed my resume over to an internal recruiter of an insurer. She looked up and down my resume and looked at me, then said:
“Umm… Willie, do you have any investment internship experience? Have you worked in finance before?”
The thing is, I’ve also heard enough of “Willie, you’ve no top honours.”
But I pushed on.
The thing is, everyday is a tiny move toward your goal.
- Everyday you study an annual report.
- Everyday you work on your models.
- Everyday you gave it your all.
You network and learn. Some days you get punched in the face. But you keep on keeping on.
When you’ve the passion for something, you go all in.
What I‘ve always desired: personal creativity, financial freedom and finding investing to be obsessed with, ultimately converge into that ONE positive force that drives you forward.
Your thoughts shape your desire, desire shapes your feelings, feelings shape your actions. And action to results.
The results?
I got rejected a couple more times. On good days, recruiters would say: “We’ll get back to you.” I heard this more times than I can count. And almost gave up.
One day, I got lucky and hit the jackpot. Two economists (still very grateful to this day) of a prestigious investment bank took a chance on me. And I never looked back.
Later on, I started a financial blog, and at one point hit over 100,000 monthly readers, became a full-time investor, spoke across TV, radio and conferences, ran my Diligence community and helped others build their financial freedom.
I know it sounds cringey: Life will take a turn. Our starting point might not be perfect. We aren’t dealt the cards we always want.
But we play them with our best effort. The skills, experience, and knowledge we’ve acquired over the years are never gone to waste.
Trust the process, make use of what we have and get the things we want in life. When that happens, the universe WILL conspire to get the things for you.
If you want to quit the rat race, achieve your financial freedom goals, grow your passive income for retirement, or simply try to get to a better place, hear me out. You’re on the right path, my friend. Keep going.
Sometimes, investing can be simple.
Willie Keng, CFA
Founder, Dividend Titan
