The world-renowned motivational speaker Nick Vujicic is best known for his truly inspirational life story of living with tetra-amelia syndrome, a rare disorder characterised by the absence of arms and legs.
From feeling helpless, depressed and suicidal growing up to touching the lives of people all over the world, we gathered insights from the man himself in this exclusive interview to find out how he persevered through every obstacle and how we, too, can rise above adversity and life’s challenges.
#MDRTDAYSG2020 Day 1: Stronger Together
Turning chaos into purpose
When Editor Benjamin Ang asked what the lowest point in his life was, Nick said it was during his childhood. As a kid who was constantly bullied in school, Nick often found himself asking what was his purpose, his identity and what was he going to do in life? And while searching for the bigger answers to life, he had to face the idea that he might be alone in this lifetime.
From all the struggles, he said finding the inner self-awareness and safety within himself helped him realise the truth of his value and the truth of his purpose. “No matter who we are, we all go through ups and downs, and 2020 certainly threw curveballs at every one of us. And none of us is immune to feeling anxious, depressed or alone,” he said.
Being resilient and persevering are also principles of life that helped Nick become stronger and wiser emerging from all his struggles.
Some tips to get you through tough times:
- Understand that you’re a human being, and it’s normal to go through different emotions and mental challenges.
- Go through your emotions, but do not allow yourself to stay in the muck for too long.
- Realise the last big obstacle you went through may seem as big as what you’re going through now, and remember that you made it out and you’re still here.
- Have an attitude of gratitude by understanding that things could have gone worse than what you have now.
- Reach out to someone, talk to someone, and be vulnerable and transparent with someone. You are not alone in this.
- Never underestimate the power of human connections and reach out to people.
It is your turn to shine - Chris Gardner, Pursuit of Happyness
Pivot, reset, and reboot
Always quick to see opportunities in obstacles, Nick saw that 2020 was a perfect time for him to recharge, rest and get his equilibrium back. To him, it is the understanding that we could never separate the dimensions of a human being in the context of spiritual, mental, emotional, knowledge, wisdom and discernment all in one.
“You are one being. It helps you go through the fire to know that what you hold on to is true for you. And that gives you the power as well to continue on when you feel like you don’t have the strength within you,” he said.
His message to all financial practitioners, business owners, entrepreneurs – “There is no time to back down. You go, go, go, go, go, go, as quickly as you can for as long as you can until the holes in the boat are plugged up. You've got to do what you got to do.”
His message to those who are walking away after failing - “Don't let that define your identity or your purpose or your value as a human being. Failure is your classroom. And entrepreneurs have to go through failure before they understand the magnitude and significant levels of success.”
More tips from Nick to overcome obstacles:
- Do a mental exercise of the last crisis you’ve been in, you might discover some key lessons that you are not putting into practice now.
- Apply those lessons into practice now.
- Get mentorship, coaching or someone who’s in the industry that you aspire to be, See what they’re doing and build yourself up with those tools and resources.
- Use these tools and resources to motivate and empower yourself to get back on your feet.
- Get ready. Get your business plan together, and get ready to see opportunities.
- When you fall, get back up again. If it’s meant to be, it’s going to happen.
Want more of Nick Vujicic?
Nick has a home page, a YouTube channel, as well as a podcast that’s available on Apple, Google and Spotify.
To conclude, here’s one last piece of advice from Nick, “If you don't see your life as a gift and you take it for granted, I think you've missed out on the secret of life. The happiest people that I've ever met are the ones who intentionally live a lifestyle of gratitude. Because if you're always living in the future, you have never lived.”
This interview was conducted at MDRT Virtual Event and is brought to you in association with Manulife.
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