When a kid who’s been called “lazy,” “stupid,” and “hopeless” discovers he might actually be a genius, you don’t just get a feel-good redemption story — you get a powerful reminder of how fragile and transformative belief can be. In this episode of Clean Your Toilet, Adam Khoo sits down with Barbara Latimer to revisit the messy beginnings of his journey: expulsion in Primary 3, rejection from every secondary school, and the shame of being the family “idiot” when all his cousins were thriving at Raffles and ACS.
Most people think the hardest part of school is the exams, the late nights, the endless grind. But what if the real burden isn’t the workload — it’s the labels we carry?
For Adam, the turning point was a five-day “Super Teen” camp led by his mentor, Ernest Wong. Until then, teachers called him dumb, parents said he was lazy, and he believed them. Ernest was the first to look him in the eye and say: “Whatever others can achieve, you can too. It’s all a question of beliefs and strategy.” Naïve enough to believe it, Adam walked away with a new identity — and the spark that would change his life.
But his story isn’t a straight-line transformation. Adam shares how being the underdog became his strength when he later stood in front of students. Instead of lecturing from a place of authority, he built trust through vulnerability. His PSLE results were worse than theirs, his expulsion story rawer — and that relatability became his superpower. If he could turn things around, so could they.
And that’s the tension at the heart of this conversation.
On one side: the limiting beliefs we inherit from authority figures, families, and culture. On the other: the possibility that one voice, one mentor, one program can rewrite our story. Between them lies a messy middle filled with questions every one of us eventually faces:
Do I let the labels of my past define me?
Am I willing to be “naïve” enough to believe in my own potential?
How do rapport and vulnerability actually unlock change?
Adam doesn’t gloss over the realities either. He admits most students in his programs don’t want to be there — dragged by parents, skeptical, resistant. The first day is often wasted unless he can break through their walls. But that’s where his journey comes full circle: because he knows what it feels like to be dismissed as hopeless, he knows how to reach those who’ve stopped believing.
If you’ve ever:
Felt crushed by the labels others gave you
Wondered if a single experience can change a life
Struggled to motivate yourself or others in the face of doubt
…this episode is your reminder that transformation is rarely clean. It’s messy, uncomfortable, and sometimes works only because you dared to believe before you had evidence.
🧼 Your belief is the clean water.
🚽 Old labels are the clogged pipes.
💩 Doubt is the sludge that keeps you stuck.
Clear them out, let new strategies flow, and see how different your reflection looks when the water finally runs clean.
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#Trailblazing #Transformation #PersonalDevelopment #InspireOthers #GrowthMindset #BelieveInYourself
