Speaking excitedly about grit and antifragility on the stage, few would guess that Ryan Nicholas Leong would be referring to his relationship with a major childhood illness. Diagnosed with Stage 2 non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at age 12 after the sudden growth of a tumour in his neck, Ryan stopped his first year of secondary school to focus on 6 months of chemotherapy… and all the side effects that followed.
“Despite the selfless support from family and community for which I am grateful for,” Ryan recalls, “there was no running away from mentally and emotionally facing this ordeal on my own. What happens when suffering becomes the default occurrence that one can no longer run away from?”
That was the pivot point for Ryan to face his demons, adapt and make the most out of this unforeseen disruption in his life.
“It was a boiling melting pot of emotions – fearful anxiety, depression and frustrated anger took turns to gnaw at my mind, including that of my caregivers. “Would I survive? Would I be stigmatised when I apply for a job in the future?”
These thoughts would worsen as Ryan underwent chemotherapy. Medicinal needles inserted slowly into his spine, arm and chest… being connected to tubes… tufts of hair falling from his head… all these shook his sense of self-esteem. As he was bullied in school during his younger days, dark memories would resurface and compound his emotional insecurity.
Dread would follow after, as certain medicines caused Ryan to suffer from bouts of nausea, vomiting and splitting headaches for hours on end. “Often, I wished that I could close my eyes forever – it would save me the pain and everyone else the trouble of looking after me.”
And after repeated cycles of this, he realised he had enough.
“Why was I letting my imaginative worrying paralyse me into a vicious cycle of pessimism, of helplessness? Surely there must be a way out!”
As an introverted person who enjoys creative expression, Ryan turned to books and movies to distract himself from the trauma, and gain inspiration from the characters within – underdogs who suffered and were thrust into impossible-odds situations. They never gave up and eventually persevered towards resounding success.
From uplifting worlds of hope such as Star Wars and Narnia, to hearing about the stories of real-life cancer survivors, Ryan resolved to make his rock bottom his ‘refresh button’ on life.
“Being quarantined at home due to low immunity, away from the bustle of daily life, I now had the time to reflect deep within and ‘nurture my internal engine’ with both positive mindsets and creative ways to turn setbacks into setups for success.
I was further motivated in my newfound mission when I returned to the hospital ward, and saw children much younger than me going through the same medical procedures, their caregiving parents exhausted and distressed.
This fired up a brotherly instinct within me to help young ones and their caregivers who suffer silently. “I’m not just going to exist. I’m going to LIVE and help others with what I achieve!”
Fast forward to today – the treatment process, while effective, has left both physical and mental scars that Ryan will bear till his last days. But he uses these as reminders to keep humble and active at his ‘second chance at life’, making waves as a youth coach and corporate speaker around the world.
Inevitably, adversity now comes in other forms… but Ryan strategically embraces them from his past brush with the hard knocks of life, forging a future Renaissance where the indomitable human spirit and the advancements of technology thrive harmoniously. He achieves this through two edupreneurship ventures in the realms of:
Human Potential Mastery – As the Founder of GENIUS Generation Youth Coaching (GGYC), Flow Consultant and Top Youth Coach of the Year 2024 (awarded by the IAOTP), Ryan evolves youth to stretch their career dreams, making them irresistibly attractive for their dream jobs of the 21st Century.
Design & Technology Mastery – As the Founder of Worldbuilding Adventurers Academy (WAA), award-winning design thinking specialist and worldbuilder, Ryan empowers changemakers seeking to create irresistible user experience journeys for any project.
“In short, mastering both realms form a solid, universal toolkit, that prepares one to be able to thrive in the career landscape, and respond more intelligently in any scenario.”
Walking the talk, Ryan spent his 20s understanding and curating practical edu-solutions to better equip youth for the future, through meticulous inquiry with senior thought leaders and vibing with youths on the ground. During his university days, he passionately digested tips from over 120+ career-preparation events, spanning skills workshops to recruitment talks and career conferences.
And through his ventures, Ryan has unlocked significant career milestones – featured as a bestselling author, international speaker and innovative leader to look up to, across multiple local and global media.
His polymath mindset has also led him to manage projects with local award-winning social enterprises, regional and global players such as ASEAN Foundation, Microsoft and Google, to impact thousands with his ambitious energy.
Ever-innovating, Ryan experiments with moonshots, refining his productivity as an ‘A.I.-powered One-Man-Army’ and having an A.I. built up of his expertise and quirks, to augment his creative delivery of topics on the world stage.
But of course, all this was made possible through much perseverance, working hard and working smart. What are the secret ingredients?
“Age is not the gamechanger. It is mindset, really. And having the grit to pull through even if all seems lost.” Ryan credits his multiple mentors across various countries and cultures. Their guidance has shifted him to observe exponential impact from his habits and investments; time, energy and resources spent on endeavours that open new doors.
“Thankfully, there were those who didn’t give up on me… and through their example, I managed to go better instead of go bitter.
Ryan also notes that in an exponentially growing world of choices, it can be easy to be distracted and waste one’s resources away, yielding lifetime regrets.
“I have found that to excel in life is to not conquer everything out there, but to conquer oneself. Self-awareness, self-mastery and self-expression. This is like having a solid car engine from the start. Mess it up, and havoc will be generated along the roads of life. A strong foundation early on in life evolves one to naturally excel in both social and career situations, stretch their dreams, and lead joyful lives of growth and fulfilment.
My vision is that future generations will look back and say: “I’m so glad my ancestors didn’t give up on me, even at my worst. They went out of their way to equip me, so that I can now live my best life. And now I want to pass this on, and better.”
Ryan’s future plans comprise guest speaking on stages and podcasts. He welcomes education-forward communities to leverage his strategic mix of expertise, and level up their consciousness further to meet the ‘cancers’ of the times ahead.
“I’m happy to share stories of my successes and failures, so that my juniors will suffer less unnecessarily, and achieve greater than I ever could. I hope to be that senior they wish they had, the friend who can tell they are struggling silently in a dark place, and pull them out to live their best lives, that they may not even realise as possible!
Find out more about Ryan’s work via LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanleongweiren/