Believe you can make it

So many things have changed for me in the past few years. I can’t believe that I am here today writing this blog, sharing my personal experience about achieving goals. By sharing my story, I hope that the lessons I’ve learned can help you to climb your own mountains and reach your goals.

Hi, I’m Sheryl

Let me give you a little bit of background about myself. I immigrated to Canada with my brother nine years ago. During my first three years in Canada, I experienced various types of hardships. In high school and university, I was working two to three part-time jobs while balancing my studies in order to help out financially at home. So yes, at an early age, I learned how to become independent and self-sufficient.

I used to always compare myself to others – especially during university. I always thought of myself as “not good enough,” “not deserving,” “I can’t communicate well” and so on. In other words, I lacked self-esteem and confidence in my abilities and was apprehensive about truly going after my goals.

My take on achieving personal goals

Here are some of the tips I’ve learned that have helped me stand up and control my future, while building self-esteem and confidence. These have enabled me to achieve my personal goals.

Know what you want: It is very difficult to reach your destination if you don’t know where you’re going. Knowing what you want will pave the way for you to start planning and taking the necessary steps towards achieving your goals. In my case, I discovered during university that I wanted to become a chartered accountant. Having goals in mind enabled me to focus my attention on developing my abilities. I started applying for internships, volunteering for various organizations, becoming active in university clubs and attending networking events.

Surround yourself with like-minded individuals: As they say, birds of a feather flock together. When I was going through the recruitment process at York University, I surrounded myself with the most motivated and positive individuals. Their motivation was so uplifting that I was able to believe in myself, thinking that if they can do it, so could I.

Always look on the bright side: Positivity is very contagious. It has helped me put my best foot forward, hope for the best and push through thinking there is always light at the end of the tunnel. This is the most important lesson I learned during the UFE process.

Don’t give up, always do your best, work hard and fight for it: There will always be setbacks, but you must remember how badly you want to achieve your goal. At the end of the day, it is up to you to continue on and keep pushing. Good results will come after your relentless effort. Trust me, it’s true!

So there you go. Remember: The biggest factor for success is self-esteem. Believing that you can do it, believing that you deserve it and believing that you will make it!

Sheryl is a recent graduate of York University majoring in Accounting. She is currently a Staff Accountant at our Toronto practice.