Ling Ling Tai – What Do You Value Most in Life? Invest in It

As an Intercultural Strategist, Ling Ling Tai helps people and organizations develop intercultural skills to foster successful collaboration and build important relationships to ensure continued business success in a globalized environment. She is a podcaster for the Leaders of Learning podcast, and she offers her insights through her website www.culturesparkglobal.com.   “If it’s a problem that can be solved with money, it’s not a problem at all. If it’s a problem that cannot be solved with money, then it’s something you have to look into.” Ling Ling Tai   Worst investment ever Inheriting her parents’ attitude towards risk Ling Ling and her siblings grew up in a traditional Chinese family and were taught the value of being prudent and frugal from a very early age. According to her parents, when it comes to taking risk, it’s either low risk or no risk at all. This shaped the decisions in her life and the things that she chose to do. Chasing independence Throughout her life, Ling Ling wanted to be independent, self-sufficient, and be able to rely on herself. She didn’t want to be a housewife and rely on a rich man, even though that’s what most Chinese parents want for their daughters. So she invested all her time in building up her career. Sacrificing her relationships Ling Ling had no time to invest in relationships as her focus was on building a career that would help her become financially independent. So she ended up spending very little time on people who mattered to her, including her parents and siblings. When death shakes your value system Ling Ling’s mom got sick in 2016 and died three months after she was diagnosed. Her death hit Ling Ling quite hard as it was fast and unexpected. During the time her mom was sick, her mindset changed about life. Seeing death right in front of her changed her whole outlook on life. Life stopped being about money and accumulating material wealth. She started evaluating what values are important to her. She realized that her worst investment was not investing enough time on the things that mattered to her, and instead, she was just chasing dollar signs, neglecting the people important to her, her well being, and the things that gave her joy. Lessons learned Money is not everything What do you value most in life besides money and wealth? Start looking into things that are not monetary, such as your wellbeing, health, relationship with your family, the kind of impact that you want to make on the world, etc. You may have a flourishing career and amass wealth, but when death comes knocking on your door, you can’t bring it with you anymore. So ask yourself, what values are important to you, and what do you want to leave behind? There is a downside to low risk and no risk If you avoid taking any risk, you will be so afraid of investing in...