Cham Tang hasn’t followed the traditional path to success. And he’s faced his fair share of failure, and the stigma that’s attached to it.
But he wouldn’t change a thing.
“I think there’s a stigma around failure because it means that you’re not accepted,” he told Insight.
“Everyone expects you to study hard and get good marks and if you don’t, if you fail at that then it’s like ‘what are you doing? You’re not playing by the rule book’.”
Cham failed his high school exams not once, but twice. In his first attempt he scored 49.45, and a year later when he re-sat them only managed 51.90.
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His Asian heritage meant there was increased pressure from his family and peers to succeed in life which meant going to university so he could pursue a stable career as a doctor, lawyer or accountant.
Even his now wife Stephanie struggled to accept his poor academic results.
“I just couldn’t fathom how can anyone fail their exams if they tried?” she said, admitting that at first she was embarrassed.
But Cham knew he wasn’t going to follow the traditional path. Instead he worked in an administrative role at NAB, then at a casino, he had a stint as a personal trainer and even sold Tony Robbins seminars.
In all these roles he was picking up new skills as he went. And in 2009 he co-found a personal development and business training company called Authentic Education which helps young entrepreneurs realise their dreams.
It was named as one of Australia’s fastest growing companies in 2015 and made $3 million in revenue news.com.au reports.
And Cham thinks people need to learn that failure is just a momentary thing.
“Why is there so much pressure to get things right, this perfectionist attitude in life? And people are so scared of failing because they can’t be perfect,” he says.
Cham eventually went on to study at university once he had a clear idea of where he was going. And it appears the path less travelled has worked out well for him.
Catch up on Insight's look at how people bounce back from failure, here:
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