– Hello. You were selected by Forbes Vietnam as one of 30 successful young Vietnamese people under 30. How have you felt since receiving this recognition?
When I learned the voting results, I felt very happy and “High Fived” all my colleagues at the company. After calming down a little, I realized my true feelings were appreciation and gratitude. I am practicing gratitude toward life and everything that has happened in my life: successes and failures, joys and sorrows, lessons that made me reflect, the teachers who guided me, family, love and friends.
– Everyone on the published list of “30 most outstanding people under 30 in 2014” is still very young. As one of them, what do you think about the abilities — talent, intellect and passion — of today's under-30 generation?
They are all very young and represent many different fields. Today, the world has become much “flatter” thanks to the power of the Internet and technology. Consequently, the world says goodbye to old “idols” and makes way for new ones more quickly, too. Today's young generation is highly capable and enjoys many advantages, so they also face considerable pressure to prove themselves to previous generations and mature early enough to shoulder responsibility for developing the country. In my view, what the young generation under 30 needs is time.
– Many people believe success requires paying a corresponding price. Do you think your inclusion among the “top” “30 most outstanding young people of 2014” is deserved?
The most precious reward for those who invest great effort in their work is not the result they achieve, but their growth through all those efforts.
If I have matured and developed personally, becoming ‘Top 30 Under 30’ can be regarded as a milestone in my life.
Usually, when looking at someone who has achieved much success, we see only their glory and forget how much effort and work they invested.
Someone came and said to me: “I want to be like you. What should I do?”
I replied, “Are you willing to go through what I went through to become like me?”
That person fell silent.
For me, by the end of 2014, my greatest achievement was: Overcoming myself.
Our minds are like a garden: regularly pull the weeds, plant good seeds and care for it with sunlight, clean water and nutrients… Do not leave it unattended for destructive things to grow and spread. This requires perseverance, commitment and discipline.
Most people fail to realize their dreams not because they lack ability but because they fail to honor the commitments they made. An undisciplined person never becomes a champion. That is true in every field.
So I believe: Determination gets us out of bed. Commitment compels us to act. Discipline helps us complete our goals.
These useful habits, practiced and further ‘sharpened’ in 2014, helped me greatly in 2015.
– If you summed up your journey from 2014 to this point in 2015 in one short sentence, what would you say?
Let go to receive more values that suit you better.
– Could you reveal your plans and intentions for the second half of 2015?
I will continue replicating my current business models in new markets. However, I also plan to “let go”—take a temporary break and hand over operations to the Team for a while. I will use this period to “experience myself for myself” and regenerate the energy that comes from within. This may sound a little hard to understand because I do not want to share too much too soon, but the purpose is to get closer to the truth of who I am. I therefore need to keep practicing, and that is also how I can become stronger.
“Up or Out.” You have only 1 of 2 choices: advance or be eliminated. Mediocrity is the most dangerous disease for an individual or organization.
– You are still very young, but started your business journey early, while at university. Based on your experience, when making a decision or solving a problem, do you usually use reason or your inner guidance? Why do you choose that?
I used to lean heavily toward reason and real data, because numbers do not lie to us. Now I lean more toward intuition. I believe intuition can be learned. If an entrepreneur has great passion and puts their whole heart into their field, while continually monitoring data and staying close to market developments, over time they develop an ‘inner voice,’ an ‘intuitive prompting’ for that market. It results from tireless effort. ‘Intuition’ is a kind of habit that can be trained.
– As a young entrepreneur with extensive business experience, what insights would you share with young people eager for lasting success and to create value for the community?
I think the greatest mistake in life is trying to become someone you are not.
The purpose of human beings is to become the most perfect version of themselves. On that journey, we must always remember the teammates around us.
However strong you are, never shoulder everything alone; otherwise, failure is certain.
