Adios 2018, holla 2019!
It’s that time of the year again.
It’s 6:21pm now and as I’m listening to the Charlie Puth’s song in the background… I’m actually just started to write this in the train at Singapore. Thanks to a dear friend of mine – Carol. Earlier on we were talking and out of nowhere she asked me…
“What’s your takeaway in 2018, Klennie?”
I knew this question wasn’t something new to me, especially when it comes to the end of the year or any event or workshop. So, here I am, reflecting on 2018 and I’d love to share my top 5 takeaways of the year. But first, let me take few minutes to sip thru my 2018 moments.
Overall: Pumped + challenging + grateful + celebrated + frustration + cranky + dreadful + rejoice + eye-opening + confidant + uplifted + guilt + awareness + awareness
In short: Generally, I’m actually pretty contented with 2018 – be it work or personal life.
Like every year, my checklist did not get to tick all. Not everything set at the beginning has been hit nor achieved and facing setbacks or down-time during the journey. Of course, feeling discouraged. But, learning something new along the way was even fruiter and I’m grateful for it.
Here’s my takeaway (in summary):
Surround yourself with the right people.
We all have probably heard this many times at else where. Truth is, you gotta be serious with it. You may share similar interests as someone but not necessarily share the same perspectives. When you able to find someone who shares the common goals, values or even belief as you, that’s like hitting a jackpot.
And that my friend, is rare but not impossible.
But Klennie, “I can’t find someone like Oprah Winfrey or Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk…”
Where to find one worrr?
It doesn’t need to be big guys or big followings influencers. Stop making this as an excuse. Sometimes that person is just around you. You just need to spend some time dig it. Someone that I value a lot doesn’t necessarily mean the same for you and vice versa. It all depends on what you value.
If you realized your current circle of friends are not aligned to your values, move on. Find a new circle. Go meet-up with new circles. Find like-minded people and you’ll attract similar traits. It takes time but trust me, it’s going to be extremely rewarding once you found them. And if you do, protect it and keep it like you mean it.
Self-awareness.
Self-awareness itself is a huge subject to explore. Being honest to oneself and acknowledge it takes courage too. Practicing self-awareness is utterly crucial and essential in my daily life. Think about it for a sec, it all begins with us and our mindset before anything else. I’m still learning in this, but one useful tips that I’ve learnt from Carol (again) is that:
“Have I validated it or am I actually making an assumption here?”
This is crucial as a designer and also in my personal life. It helps in killing off majority of those over-whelming and those self-running thoughts in my mind.
We only have 2 choices anyway:
Keep assuming something that might not even be there in the first place, or
Validate it and kill it off from our mind. Like it or not, but we get the answers and move on.
What’s even better?
That indirectly increases my dopamine as getting something off from my mind instantly gives me a sense of moving forward. Like ticking off my checklist!
Keep the thirst in you – Take action.
Growth comes in many form too:
Thinking
Skillset
Mindset
Attitude
Communication
Leadership
Emotional Intelligence and many more
If you desire for a change, figure out and do it. If you want to improve something, go learn how to do it. Dwelling and secretly pondering others’ performance without action doesn’t help you be better.
Always ask yourself, “What’s stopping you to XXX and why?” That’s where we have to be really honest to ourselves.
Most of the times, the reason is not because others are really talented in that area. They might have spent enormous time learning what ticks them and what makes them feel happy or fulfilling. They enjoy doing it for a reason and some even for a greater cause.
For instance, my dad lovesssss cooking. Not because he cooks since young age, or he can cook very well and delicious, or a scrumptious feast. But rather, he enjoys seeing the smile and happiness on our faces when we eat. And that, gives him the biggest tick.
Keep learning. Small progress is still a progress. Find out what learning method and approach suits you best, pick one aspect to learn, one at a time. One does not rush his / her own timeline with others, same goes to definition of success.
Embrace Mistakes.
Looking back, I’ve made few mistakes here and there. Some obvious some laughable some severe some cost me time and money. Be in work or personal life.
But at the same time, I’m grateful for all them. Some mentors actually take courage to let go and hold back to help. One of the learning method is by experiencing the mistakes and setbacks on our own.
Consistency and self-discipline.
Something that I’d need to be firm about. One cheat day and another cheat day in a row = gg.com.
Do what you said.
I know it’s very hard to keep up.
Accountability partner, someone that you know both can count on each other seriously. It takes two to clap. It requires both to actually really understand each other need, mutual trust and commitment. It does not work when one is actually not serious about it.
Again, like mentorship to me, not everyone is or can be a mentor to anyone, or anytime. It takes time to build relationship, understanding and trust. You’re not just finding someone you can count on, they’re also holding responsibility and count on you too.
But, I’m glad that my consistency in some aspect gave me some fruitful results. Another check on my checklist done!
“Let’s not make happiness and success about the size of our homes, but about the size of our heart. Let’s not make it about gratification, but gratitude.”
Chasing after what we want is good, but chase them for the right reasons.