Redefining Excellence, Success, and Productivity: 8 New Things I Learned from Francis Kong

 

Have you ever met anyone who, when you speak to them, give you countless pieces of advice and motivational quotes—that you didn’t even ask for? They sound preachy, and conversations aren’t as engaging because they think of what to “teach” you and how to “motivate” you—instead of simply listening and trying to understanding you!

 

Considering Francis Kong is one of the most in-demand speakers out there, he’s just the opposite. He is friendly to others. He asks about them and what they do, and it’s never a one-way conversation. 

 

More powerful than his words are the way he leads by example. I observed how he engaged with his clients. Apart from listening and asking questions, he was taking down notes.

 

When I was interviewing him, I asked him where he gets his source of learning. He shared that he learns from his clients who hire him, and his children. 

 

“I am still learning. Today, I learn much from my clients as I interact with them and do training. I learn from my kids and family now, because they would tell me things that you won’t normally get from books.”

 

“I learn from my friends who are usually residing in my home library: these are the authors whom I constantly seek to learn from. I learn bits and pieces when I go to Church every Sunday and I learn from the messages being delivered. So, I learn from life experience,” he said.

 

“You just have to open your eyes and process everything and make all that into a classroom situation  and write down those lessons.”

 

 

The learning-from-your-mistakes part is usually a given. Laughing at them is not. The most unexpected part I found out about Francis Kong upon meeting him in person is his sense of humor.

 

We’ve often heard that experience is the best teacher, but I’ve always believed that life is too short to have to go through all those experiences just to learn. So, I asked Francis Kong what tips he would give to his younger self if he could go back to the time when he was in high school, in college, and when he was a fresh graduate.

 

“I would have told myself to take my Chinese lessons seriously, master communications especially in Mandarin, never realizing at that time that China would be a super power today,” he said. “And I would have told myself, ‘Why don’t you take your life more seriously?!'” He also shared how it took him six years to finish high school.

 

“College happened to be the best time of my life because that’s when I recovered. After spending 6 years in high school, I set a high goal of wanting to get summa, but I missed it by one point. But that was good enough for me. I was happy. So if there’s something I could tell myself then, I would say, ‘That’s what you get for being serious with your life.’”

 

“Right now, I experience the results of what you can achieve by putting all your efforts into something that you want to do.”

 

“I’d tell myself not to be so proud and egotistic thinking that since I graduated the top of my college, all those companies are gonna fall down on their knees to beg me to join them. Because that was not what happened. I still had to look for a job, and just like any other Joe, I had to go through the interviews, to get a decent low-paying, minimum-wage job.”

 

 

 

He didn’t explain elaborately how attending his talks will surely “change your life” or “motivate you.” Of course, his talks have the potential to do so—I can definitely attest to that. So can the countless clients!

 

But harnessing that potential is always up to you! 😉 

 

 

From these eight points, what can you most relate to and how will you apply it in your life?

 

Comment below and let us know!

 

Fracis Kong’s posts are always meaningful and interesting. Here’s where you could follow him.

 

Website: https://franciskong.com

 

Facebook: www.franciskong2

 

Instagram: @franciskong

 

Twitter: @franciskong