A Dream Without A Plan Is Just A Wish

How We Can Change A Culture Through Story-Telling

Tia Ella Gliata
4 min readDec 11, 2020
Courtesy of Lina Kivaka by Pexels

There was a time where I stayed at my friend’s apartment for six months because it was very close to my office. Most of the time, I went straight to work, but it was a rainy day one morning. So, I decided to have a little breakfast first at a cheap minimarket nearby.

As I took the indoor seating, I noticed seven kids around the age of eight or nine sitting at a table outside. They were eating noodles, smoking cigarettes, and casually chatting with one another.

At that moment I wondered, what kind of life that they had at home? Was it good? Was it supportive of their growth? For their education?

The rain stopped and I ordered an Uber to go to work.

Such a situation reflected in the scene has haunted me since I joined the Southeast Asia Global Leadership Program in Singapore. I was 19 then when I realized there’s nothing that can come between one’s growth and productivity. Not poverty, nor disability, not even an absence of important family members.

Growth and productivity is a state of mind. Yet, so many people lose it or don’t think that they can earn one because of either one or all those three factors missing.

So what differs most people from…

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Tia Ella Gliata

Pouring my heart out. Writing as self-therapy. Healthy lifestyle, exploring, & building a community I’ll devote my life to. Cheerio!