Dreams, Passion and
Possibilities
by Kenny Toh,
April 2006
This article is inspired by a close friend of mine, Stefen Chow, a twenty-five
year old with extraordinary achievements. While I had the pleasure of meeting a
handful of individuals who had been to the top of the world, Stefen is by far
the youngest amongst them. We first met at Gone Fishing café in 2004, and I
could recall him introducing himself as a member of NUS Centennial Everest
Expedition team. Interestingly, as a personal coach who believes in the power of
unleashing the human potential, for our first meeting, I had no doubt that he
would make it, so long as the mountain permits. But what inspired me more was
not his successful accent, but the human spirit that he exemplifies before and
after the Everest success.
Conquering the highest peak is not about man beating nature, but man pushing the
limits of his ability. This is aptly reflected by the title of his solo
photo-exhibition (currently held at Gone Fishing) entitled “Climbing the Human
Spirit”. My favourite shot amongst his exhibits is the image of a group of
mountaineers walking towards what appeared to be total darkness. It made me
think that perhaps, at times when our goals are obscured and danger seems to be
lurking ahead, we must push on with courage, perseverance and caution as we
journey confidently in the direction of our dreams.
Stefen is a man of many dreams, and dreams are most powerful when they are
powered by passion. While the passion for mountaineering drove him to train
diligently for several years so as to prepare himself for the physical and
mental challenge he was to face at the mountains, it was his passion in
photography that enabled him to return with a unique collection of images that
only a handful of hardcore mountaineer-cum-photographers in the world could
produce. His effort in capturing the journey through his lens despite the
already challenging tasks at hand certainly paid off. It earned him the
privilege to hold his first solo exhibition at the National Library, followed by
a few part-time and freelance engagements as a photographer, the career of his
dreams.
However, it is important to note that the current reality of living his dreams,
doing what he loves for a living had not happened by accident. It was a result
of taking many actions that most ordinary people would not have done. These
include pro-actively seeking out opportunities for exhibiting his work and
taking on new projects, finding and seeking feedback from mentors, constantly
trying out new things, and even crashing into a private launch party of a
renowned photographer.
Tracing his progress was like observing the gradual unfolding of one’s dreams,
passion and possibilities into reality. After studying and researching on the
art of making things happen for several years, I conclude that the process of
turning one’s dreams into reality is no different be it for a mountaineer, an
artist or an entrepreneur. Every endeavour or creation began with a dream, an
idea or concept about something that we intend to bring into being. Creating our
desired reality and getting the results we want is a matter of taking actions
that are aligned to our intentions.
As human beings, we are all born with the ability to dream, and the courage to
create something out of our dreams. However, it is not uncommon for most people
to lose that ability in the process of growing up. We can attribute that to
social conditioning, an invisible force that excels at calling us to ‘stop
dreaming and wake up to reality’. The irony is that we get trapped in the
so-called ‘reality’ that we do not desire, simply because we have ceased sowing
the seeds of our desired future through the essential process of dreaming. Our
dreams are the gateways to new possibilities in our lives. Perhaps it is alright
to get ‘unreal’ for awhile, explore our deepest passion and innermost desires,
and then re-chart our course.
If you are keen to reignite your dreams and master that art of making things
happen, don’t miss the coming session of Tuesday with Fisher on 4 April. Come
and experience an unforgettable evening of a group coaching session entitled
“From Dreams to Reality”.