In a twinkling of an eye, third quarters of 2012 had passed and my daughter is turning 9 months old! Over this past year, this cute darling of mine has brought me much joy, laughter and also inspired me in many ways about life.

In the past few weeks we witnessed many of her “first” experiences, developmental milestones like her first roll over, her first tooth, and her first successful crawl forward.

Growing Pains and Breakthroughs

Before each breakthrough, there was struggle and discomfort. Before her first pearly white tooth emerged, her teething pains saw her gawing and gumming at everything and anything possible to relieve the pain. When she first tried to crawl she ended up reversing instead! I remember the intense frustration on her face as she kept moving further away from the toy before her that she was trying so hard to reach. Throughout the process we encouraged her and cheered her on because we believed all these were part of the learning process and it’s only a matter of time before she will be able to crawl.

After weeks of moving backwards, all of a sudden came one day when my baby started crawling forward! The entire family was thrilled and we  clapped and cheered her on as she placed one hand ahead of another and another. Seeing the smiles on our faces cheered her on and she wriggled her way forward excitedly. The next thing we knew, she was able to pull herself up from the ground and start to “walk” along while holding on to the surrounding furniture! We were amazed at her rate of development and so so proud of her!

Looking back at her developmental progress and my response as a mum made me realize 3 important lessons.

1) It Becomes Simple Once You Learn How

All growth and change takes time and there is bound to be discomfort and difficulties in the beginning. Just like when my daughter first learnt to crawl, she struggled for some time at the beginning. But eventually she learnt how to do it and once she knew, crawling became easy and she is now moving on to the next phase of walking.

It’s the same when we take on something new, like learning a new language, picking up a new musical instrument or or when we are developing a new skill like investing. The initial stages are always the most challenging, but once we overcome the initial difficulties, things become simple and we get to reap the rewards.

2) Keep The Faith

I believe we can learn to be good at anything as long as we keep at it consistently and believe in ourselves.

Throughout the few weeks as my daughter was trying to crawl, never once did we doubt she would ever make it. In our minds, we knew she will definitely learn how to, it’s only a matter of time. I’m sure most parents believe their child is capable and a good learner as well.

Yet interestingly, I notice that when it comes to ourselves, we so often doubt our capability to achieve. Have you ever told yourself “I can’t do this” or “I am not cut out for this, I can’t make it”? I sure did.

I still recall how challenging it was for me when I first started investing several years back. As a total newbie to investing, I felt at a loss of where to start. I tried attending talks and reading books, researching on the internet to learn about investing and the stock markets, trying to understand how it worked. But all the information and jargons made me even more confused and overwhelmed. I doubted that I could be good at investing and worried about losing money.

So many times I felt tempted to forget about it and just give up.

Thankfully with the encouragement of my husband, I persisted and stayed the course. The more I learnt and practised, the better and more confident I became at investing. Over the years I have acquired the skills to invest and grow my money confidently. Looking back, all the hard work, frustrations and disappointment were all worth it.

When we are stretching ourselves beyond our comfort zone, it can be challenging and tempting to give in. But once we give up, we will never get to experience what lies on the other side, the joy, the sense of confidence and the financial rewards.

3) Get Support

Having support and encouragement during the growth process really helps. Just like my husband who acted as my cheerleader, urging me to continue developing my investing skills. He was the one who believed in me until I believed in myself.

I find this to be especially helpful when it comes to investing, especially for ladies. As women we thrive with support groups; one good example is that of mums support groups, where mothers get together to share experiences about breastfeeding, balancing work and family etc. Similarly, a women finance community will facilitate the sharing of useful resources, ideas and tips among each other. The members of the group can also encourage and cheer each other along as we strive towards our financial goals and dreams.

Having gone through my personal journey of financial empowerment, from nonchalence and ignorance to becoming financially savvy and confident, I want to share what I have learnt and my experiences with other women, especially mummies.

This is why I created the “$mart Women Retire in Style” – a program designed to empower women financially; through practical strategies and actionable steps so we can secure the financial future for ourselves and our next generation. It’s my vision to create a community of $mart women supporting and encouraging each other in our journey towards a secure, bright financial future and retiring in style.

To all the readers out there who are facing challenges in a new endeavour, be it learning a new skill, starting a new business or going through any life changes phase, remember this is just a passing phase.

Once you know it’s possible, it becomes your new normal

All the best!

Yong Hui