A Parallel Challenge from My Other Half
And Hey… Why Not?
Earlier last Saturday, I challenged my kids in a challenge called The Pen Project. That same evening, my wife dared me, “Now I am challenging you to add value to this 2 plain paper clips. If you can challenge your kids, you should also grab the challenge as well”. I accepted the challenge. The duration of the challenge is similar — 1 year.
My First Move - 1st Trade (19th March 2022)
After 15 minutes of accepting the challenge, I visited Alya’s bedroom (my teenage daughter), asked her if there’s anything interesting that she can exchange with the 2 paper clips that I have in hand. I can see there were plenty of items lying on her table, arranged on her wall mounted rack and other spots in her room. Then I discovered a mercury thermometer (positioned inside a plain simple wooden frame). It’s interesting to own and it has the interchangeable value. I negotiated with her and she gave me the thermometer in exchange with 2 pieces of paper clips.
Yeay! I managed to to my first barter trade. That night, before sleeping, I kept thinking and it affected my sleep a bit. My brain cells and neurons were actively being forced to think who and what shall I trade next.
2nd Trade (22nd March 2022)
I contacted a friend of mine on the 21st of March and explained to him what I’m involved in. My friend, Ahmad, happen to be an online book seller. He has a successful online book store. Before contacting him, I figured that maybe I can exchange the thermometer with one of his book. Early morning on the 22nd of March, he texted me and showed the book that he is willing to exchange with my thermometer. I’m delighted and excited. Before heading to my office, I dropped by to his house to conduct the trade.
Yeay! I got an interesting new book titled “Chai Yok” and it still has a nice thin film of plastic wrap covering it. I thanked him a lot and I was so happy. My own piece of adventure seems to be heading to a positive direction.
3rd Trade (23rd March 2022)
Immediately after I collected “Chai Yok” book, I shared my personal and family endeavor with another buddy, Zamrin, my partner in crime. He too got excited and pledged to support my quest. Zamrin knew about the book that I just received from the barter trade. He was interested to get the book “Chai Yok” and said to me that he will search for something that he can exchange for the book.
Early that day, Zamrin text me and showed a photo of a set of Quran Translated Book worth about MYR 312. Again, I got excited! Later that afternoon, I met Zamrin and exchanged “Chai Yok” book for the new set of Quran Translated Book.
Temporary Conclusion
I’m liking what I am doing now. My prime goal of doing this is to show my kids that we can do the Pen Challenge if we are really up to it. I want to motivate my kids and show that I can do this, hence you can too. I am very confident that this one year project could harness the best soft skills out of them.
Besides that, the fire of excitement, adrenaline and my enthusiastic momentum seems to positively affect me in a very good way. I feel driven and hunger for better and better result.
…
I hope you enjoyed reading this. If you’d like to support me as a writer, consider signing up to become a Medium member and Follow me. It’s just $5 a month and you get unlimited access to Medium.
