As the year ends, we come full circle once again. Often repeating the sentence… “This year has passed so fast!”. The end of the year is typically a heavy time for me as its celebration after celebration… Christmas, my Birthday… then New Year’s Eve. Traditionally for the last 10 years, I’ve been taking the first week of the year off just to recuperate from the last 2 weeks of festivities and this also allows me to review, reflect and set the year ahead.
But I only managed to do this again this year… and not the last 2 years, as the past 2 had been a turbulent roller coaster ride. Putting that aside, I am grateful that I am back to tradition and again able to take the time to reflect.
This year I must say… aside a couple of minor bumps… overall… it has been GREAT!…
So I ask myself these questions every year…
So here are some of those moments I could remember and why…
Firstly, the year took me to many new places and some old ones carrying great memories. Racking up Air miles to New Orleans, Houston, Toronto, Las Vegas, Singapore, Phnom Penh, London, Beijing, Bangkok, Penang, and Kuching sounds tiring now looking back. But the Visit to the Grand Canyon was a real eye-opener. I truly understand now what a Wonder of the World is…
Beijing was a milestone trip as it was my first time in China. Another Wonder of the World and I was astonished by how this is all man-made…
I was grateful this year that Jovita could be with me on the majority of the trips, unfortunately, she missed Beijing, but the one that I will put up there is our Chinese New Year in London. This was significant… we have not been back in London for almost 20 years! There were so many memories re-visiting again and it was a time back then where our love first manifested.
Secondly, my teams at Infront and Owners Circle have been super awesome. All of them believing in core values, pushing through to the end goal and this has allowed me to take the businesses to yet another level and still allow me to build my own personal learning.
New alliances were formed this year, new products and partnerships were trusted upon us and clients are continuing to believe in us. I truly believe that when you have an aligned team, success and miracles can happen.
Thirdly, I get to live out my personal passions in life… emcee-ing and performing at several events, facilitating and teaching what I know, and mentoring entrepreneurs to achieve their own personal greatness.
I remember these things because every time I do it… I smile. I guess that’s what they mean by doing something you love. I was asked to facilitate Strategic Summits for some top businesses and it was an honor to be able to be part of that planning process.
Finally, the celebrations throughout the year. Having been named one of the 100 Most Influential Young Entrepreneur of 2018 was special because I loved the word YOUNG in there. I had 4 Team retreats, The results allowing for a new Malaysia, celebrations with friends at festivities were all still edged in my mind till today because it is done with the people I care about.
It is through celebrations that we remind ourselves that it makes up key milestones of memories through our lifeline.
Unfortunately, this was the year that my health had decided to test me. From shoulder injuries to missing elements in my system that won’t allow my wounds to heal and weak organs causing me to make changes in diet and lifestyle. This was a wake-up call for me. It reminded me that in the Wheel of Life’s Goals and Achievements, the center and core of it all is HEALTH. Without a good core of health, it makes it harder to go out to achieve your goals. Health has to be first and foremost the First Goal.
I also had a big regret. I lost a best friend this year. Totally due to my negligence and comfort level of the relationship. I had thought that through the relationship, a lot of things are ‘doable’ and it was alright that things were delayed. And although I saw the signs coming, in the end, I was too late. I will write again about this in time…
So what were my learnings from the year?
Have you felt this way before?
As I was trying to figure out what advice I could give, I remembered that the times that were in those situations, I researched as much as I could, thought very hard throughout, tried to play different scenarios in my head. But in the end, it cost me… time. I delayed decisions and this delay caused my failures, not my choice of which path to take.
I’ve learned that a wrong decision is one that is not made.
If we choose a path, do it all-in and wholeheartedly, then we will never feel like we lost out. Everything happens for a reason (point no.1) and we will never know until we start walking on one path and going full-on.
In the end, our ‘Gut Feel’ is a collection of our past experiences, and perhaps… if you believe… a guiding hand of God. So trust it…
I am now at the starting line of my 2019 race. While I have already set out a couple of goals (one of which is to start writing a book), my main goal is to live this year in my own timeline, plotting my own milestones and continuing to live my passion in empowering people.
I hope you are with me on this journey. Bless You