Alaric Ong

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My daughter turns 1 year old today!

We are celebrating her first birthday!

🎂 She Turns One Today

Today, my daughter turns one year old.

One year ago, she couldn’t even lift her own head.

I remember watching her lie there — small, fragile — unable to roll.

Then one day… she rolled.

Just once.

And we celebrated like she had won the Olympics.


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From Rolling… to Crawling… to Standing (For 5 Seconds)

After rolling came crawling.

Not smooth.

Not graceful.

Awkward. Wobbly. Sometimes face-planting into the mat.

But she kept trying.

Then one day, she pulled herself up.

She stood…

For five seconds.

And then she dropped.

Today, at 12 months old:

And yet…

She is not dumb.

In fact, she is incredibly smart.

I read to her almost every day.

We go through ABC and 1-2-3 almost daily.

I spend time with her every day — because I’m blessed to be a stay-at-home dad who works only about two hours a week.

She is exposed.

She is guided.

She is loved.

She is learning.

But still…

She cannot walk.

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Let That Sink In.

It takes more than one full year… just to learn how to walk.

As adults, we take walking for granted.

We take speaking for granted.

We take balance, coordination, communication — all for granted.

But these “basic” skills took:

And no one looks at a 12-month-old baby and says:

“Why aren’t you walking yet? Maybe you’re not talented.”

We don’t say:

“Other babies are walking earlier. Maybe you should quit.”

We don’t enroll her in three courses and expect mastery in 30 days.

We understand something powerful:

Development takes time.

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The Same Is True for You

Sales feels hard at first.

Marketing feels confusing.

Public speaking feels terrifying.

Running ads feels technical.

Driving feels overwhelming.

But driving only feels easy now because you’ve probably driven for hundreds — maybe thousands — of hours.

To even get a license, you need 30–40 hours of practice.

And even then, you’re not “good.”

You’re just allowed to continue learning on the road.

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Why I’m Good at Sales Today

It’s not talent.

It’s repetition.

I’ve done:

I’ve tested.

Failed.

Tweaked.

Optimized.

That’s why speaking feels natural now.

That’s why closing feels instinctive.

That’s why marketing feels intuitive.

Not because I’m special.

Because I stayed long enough.


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The Invisible Phase

My daughter is not behind.

She is on her timeline.

And when she walks, it will look effortless.

People will say:

“So cute!”

But they won’t see the hundreds of attempts behind it.

Just like people see someone closing high-ticket deals and think:

“Wow, natural speaker.”

They don’t see:


The Real Lesson

If it takes a year just to learn how to walk…

Why do you expect to master sales in 30 days?

If it takes years just to speak in full sentences…

Why do you expect to become world-class after one webinar?

Growth is not dramatic.

It is incremental.

It is repetitive.

It is often invisible.

Until one day…

It isn’t.

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So Be Patient With Yourself

Give yourself permission to crawl.

Give yourself permission to wobble.

Give yourself permission to stand for five seconds.

Because five seconds today

Becomes five minutes tomorrow.

And one day…

You’ll be running.

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