No matter the job, there are always challenges in order to do it well. Whether it is a small or big business, we must make an effort to meet the challenges head-on.

Ker Moniroth, 23, has worked at a coffee shop for more than three years. He tells LIFT that some people may think such a job is easy. However, he says, it is not wholly different from other kinds of jobs. He faces many challenges on the job that require him to be patient, attentive and cautious. Sure, it might be easy to make coffee. But it is difficult indeed to make a coffee that everyone will find flavourful.

His first task upon being hired was learning the basics, because he had no idea how to make coffee. He says he had to overcome his initial failings, but before long he was loving his job.

“At first, I had no idea how to make a coffee with European flavours and presentation. I remember the first month in the job and how my coffee always came out bitter. But it taught me valuable lessons in life,” Moniroth says.

He says he would always get blamed by his boss if a customer complained or if other mistakes popped up. He would often leave work disappointed and with low self-esteem. He, too, at first didn’t think there was much skill required for his job. So why, he asked himself, couldn’t he do it well? He realised he didn’t like the feeling of failure and started to pay closer attention to the details. Now, if at first he doesn’t succeed in a task, he will try, try again until he has mastered it.

As they say, to succeed you need to learn from your mistakes. He now knows just how true that adage is. He has successfully overcome earlier mistakes, started taking the initiative to come up with ways he can improve the coffee shop and its products and is now a supervisor. One of his favourite tasks is coming up with different blends and seasonal flavours.

“Frankly, when I first started this job, I thought it would be extremely easy, so I didn’t put much effort into it. But then the bitter experiences that arose from my carelessness gave me the strength to struggle and improve to become a supervisor.”

He adds that if people are eager to reach new career heights, they shouldn’t take their job for granted. Even if we toil as a blue-collar worker today, this can help us become a white-collar worker.