I had been traveling again last month, and one of the stops we made as a family was to Fontainebleau, near Paris, France. My daughter graduated from INSEAD (Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires) and earned her Master’s degree. Needless to say, I am very proud that she completed the one-year program, capping nicely my initial pride at her being accepted at INSEAD.

At my daughter’s graduation, Edoardo Campri, the class valedictorian, said, “If you fight for your dreams, your dreams will fight for you.”

This struck a chord with me because it evokes the value of hard work.

At the heart of this quote is the idea that our dreams are not passive entities, but rather active forces that will rise to meet our efforts. When we wholeheartedly commit ourselves to pursuing our ambitions, we unlock an inherent drive and resilience within ourselves that propel us forward. It is this fighting spirit – this refusal to surrender in the face of adversity – that transforms our dreams from mere wishes into tangible realities.

The journey is never easy. Pursuing our dreams often requires immense sacrifice, patience and hard work. There will be moments of doubt, frustration and even despair, but it is precisely in these challenging times that the power of “If you fight for your dreams, your dreams will fight for you” becomes most evident. When we continue to fight for our dreams, even in the face of overwhelming odds, we unlock a wellspring of inner strength and determination that can transform the seemingly impossible into the achievable.

My daughter and her classmates are fortunate to have been mentored by some of the best teachers and professors in the world. INSEAD is a fantastic school; an elite academic institution with a highly competitive admissions process. The education you receive here is top-notch, Ivy League-level. Your classmates represent the best of the world, and you make important business connections throughout your stay here. They say around half of the INSEAD alumni eventually end up founding a company, some of them the fabled unicorns – billion-dollar, privately owned companies that break barriers in the business world.

So it was not without a bit of somber thought that I remembered the small entrepreneurs I often encounter back in the Philippines. With my work at Go Negosyo, I get to meet these industrious, highly driven individuals who turned to entrepreneurship to better their lives. How I wish they, too, could benefit from the world-class instruction at INSEAD.

Over the past 18 years that Go Negosyo has advocated for an entrepreneurial mindset among Filipinos, we have seen many of the MSMEs we have guided scale up their businesses. This is one of the key success indicators that inspire our mentors to continue to teach, week after week, month after month, year after year.

Fortunately, as we push hard for greater inclusivity, the emergence of digital platforms has made it easier than ever to become an entrepreneur. Social media has made marketing and promotions so cheap a lot of small businessmen (and even some big ones) DIY their way to reaching more markets with the help of content creators and influencers and their millions of followers. The increased adoption of e-commerce and digital payment systems has removed the bureaucratic barriers for many small businesses. Technology-enabled logistics systems has made supply chains more accessible, even for small businessmen. You could say that today’s entrepreneurs are luckier. But when it comes to business, not all is luck; hard work is the one that will drive us to success.

Ultimately, the words of that young man at INSEAD is a powerful reminder that the true path to success lies not in passively hoping for our dreams to come true, but in actively and relentlessly pursuing them. By tapping into the inherent power and resilience of our aspirations, we can overcome any obstacle and ultimately realize our most ambitious goals.

I wish for our MSMEs that the same fire that fuels them today to achieve their dreams will never be extinguished. We must help them if the Philippines is to achieve inclusive growth. Success should not be only for the big corporations. Without a solid base of millions of thriving entrepreneurs, the growth will not be sustainable. Prosperity should be for all.

Originally Published in Philippine Star