Take a moment, step back from your concerns, and focus on one thing: You have one life to achieve everything you’ve ever wanted. Sounds simple, but when you really focus on it, let it seep into your consciousness, you realize you only have about 100 years to get every single thing you’ve ever wanted to do. No second chances. This is your only shot. Suddenly, this means you should have started yesterday. No more waiting for permission or resources to start. Today is the day you make the rest of your life happen. Write down one thing you’ve always wanted to do and how you will achieve that goal. Don’t be afraid to be very specific in how you’ll achieve it: once you start achieving, your goals will get bigger and your capability to meet them will grow.

I’ve always wanted to be able to run 5km without feeling like I’m about to die. This year my friends + my brother have set themselves challenges to run 6kms and 10kms in a fun run by June. I will be joining them.

To achieve this goal, I’ll begin walking home every alternate day for the month of January. In February, I will be running and walking a total of 3km each weekend. In March, I’ll be doing that at least twice a week and pushing it up to 5km. By April, I hope to be able to run 3km without stopping. This means by May I should be able to run 4km without stopping. And in June, I should be able to do that 6km run. 

Here’s to 2012 and achieving that one goal!

The world buzzes about goals and visions. Focus. Create a vivid picture of exactly where you want to go. Dream big, then don’t let anything or anyone stop you. The problem, as Daniel Gilbert wrote in Stumbling Upon Happiness, is that we’re horrible at forecasting how we’ll really feel 10 or 20 years from now – once we’ve gotten what we dreamed of. Often, we get there only to say, “That’s not what I thought it would be,” and ask, “What now?” Ambition is good. Blind ambition is not. It blocks out not only distraction, but the many opportunities that might take you off course but that may also lead you in a new direction. Consistent daily action is only a virtue when bundled with a willingness to remain open to the unknown. In this exercise, look at your current quest and ask, “What alternative opportunities, interpretations and paths am I not seeing?” They’re always there, but you’ve got to choose to see them.

I’m back on the writing challenge, finally. It seems almost fortuitous that my interim performance review took place a bit over a week ago. I took the time to prepare for it because I was quite serious about how I wanted the next 6 months to go. 

I thought about where I wanted to be in 5 years, and then worked backwards towards the goals I had to achieve in the next 6, 12, 18 etc months to get to my 5 year goalpost. In 5 years I’d like to be leading an external communications team in a small firm or at least be a 2IC with a big company. I’d also like to be working in a different country in 5 years. 

I’m not quite sure what my alternatives are at this point, but if I’m still living here in Australia, I hope to be in a completely different industry, i.e., no longer in financial services but rather in technology or perhaps even healthcare or sciences. Who knows? What I do know is I don’t want to be pigeon holed so early in my career. 

We shall see where this 5 year journey takes me. First, I need to work out my 6, 12 and 18 month plan for myself, complete with a SWOT analysis. It’s all about the plan, baby.

Think of a time when you didn’t think you were capable of doing something, but then surprised yourself.  How will you surprise yourself this week?

I managed to walk the 5km journey home when I was only 90% well. I definitely surprised myself and I felt really good about it.

Maybe this week I will push myself to do some things which I usually don’t think I’m capable of doing and see how we go. 

Is fear holding you back from living your fullest life and being truly self expressed? Put yourself in the shoes of the you who’s already lived your dream and write out the answers to the following:

Is the insecurity you’re defending worth the dream you’ll never realize? or the love you’ll never venture? or the joy you’ll never feel?

Will the blunder matter in 10 years? Or 10 weeks? Or 10 days? Or 10 minutes?

Can you be happy being anything less than who you really are?

Now Do. The Thing. You Fear.

This post is again, a day late. And it’s mainly because I looked at the topic and went, “right, not another post about fear.” And promptly decided that I didn’t really want to think about this.

But then I’m determined to finish this 30 day writing challenge, so here we go.

I am where I am right now by choice. And because I have responsibilities. I’m working towards my dream and I have put in place milestones which I need to achieve in order to get there. 2014 will be the next year of change and that’s when I will realise that dream. It’s not about procrastination but about being responsible and knowing how to get there. And so, my dream of moving to another country in 2014, will happen. I’m just putting in place steps to get me there.

Will I regret in 10 years that I didn’t move countries in 2011/2012? No. Because I’m staying here for a reason and I do not begrudge that reason.

And I’m not unhappy because I feel like I’m anything less than what I’m meant to be. I think I’m slowly but surely holding myself to what I need to be to achieve that dream. And that process is what makes me happy right now.

Write down in which areas of your life you have to overcome these suicidal tendencies of imitation, and how you can transform them into a newborn you – one that doesn’t hide its uniqueness, but thrives on it. There is a “divine idea which each of us represents” – which is yours?

This post is a day late and really, it’s because I couldn’t quite think at 11.00pm last night when I looked at the challenge of the day.

I’m not so sure about imitation as a topic but a Twitter account I was monitoring yesterday for work purposes tweeted about creativity and encouraging it in the workplace. There was a particular tweet that stood out for me. “An idea is taking previously known knowledge & information and combining them in new ways. Creativity comes from how people combine.”

And that to me is how we exist in the post-modern world today. We take ideas that previously existed, adopt them and adapt them for our own purposes. More often than not, with a bit of creativity, it becomes something new. Afterall, Apple did not invent the phone. It merely took an existing product and improved on it.

In conclusion, I don’t have a problem with imitation. I suppose, it only becomes a problem when whatever you’re imitating goes against the core of who you are. That’s when I think it’s suicide.

What is burning deep inside of you? If you could spread your personal message RIGHT NOW to 1 million people, what would you say?

We are all entitled to our version of a truth. But we cannot insist that it is the truth that everyone else must live by.

Emerson says: “Always do what you are afraid to do.” What is ‘too scary’ to write about? Try doing it now.

2009 is a year that I always avoid mentioning or writing about. It was a year of lows for me. Work, health, familial relationships, friendships.

I don’t really want to revisit that year and would like to leave it as that.

What would you say to the person you were five years ago? What will you say to the person you’ll be in five years?

To my 2006 self:
Dear you,
You’re 24 this year, still a kid! You don’t know it, but you’re about to experience the most interesting 5 years of your life. And I kid you not when I say it’ll be the best part of growing up/old yet.

2006 is the year you move back to Melbourne to do your Diploma in Education. You did it because you realised that you couldn’t live in Singapore anymore and that the pull was just getting stronger and stronger. So you persuaded your parents to let you take on another year of study to obtain a qualification that’d allow you to stay on and apply for permanent residency.

You’ll question yourself a lot particularly in 2006, because you won’t be in your element. Hell no, you will definitely feel like a fish out of water. You’ll even question if it’s worth it. But you need to stay strong and stick to it because I’m telling you now, it will be worth every agonising moment. Not only will you obtain an additional piece of paper, you’ll also pick up a whole lot of skills from the year teaching kids. For instance, you’ll learn how to read a roomful of people really quickly and use that to your advantage. You’ll also learn to say the right things to get things done, particularly with the tough nuts to crack.

After your Diploma, you’ll get a job as a kitchen hand at the cafe downstairs. Believe you me, this is also going to be an extreme experience but you will learn tonnes out of it. You’ll learn how to julienne a cucumber in 30 seconds and how to make the best rice salad ever. You’ll also learn how to deal with difficult and sometimes unreasonable personalities, some of whom you’ll even get to know when you start another job in 2008.

Yes my friend, you will get that permanent residency status and you will indeed score a job that you will come to love. The first year at that job will be great but the next one (2009), not so. You’ll learn that your enthusiasm and satisfaction you feel for the job is so closely linked to whether you have a good boss and a good team. Many times you will feel like leaving the firm and you will come really close to doing that but hang in there and things will take a turn for the better, they really will, and you will thank yourself for having pressed on.

Between your cafe job and the one in 2008, you will decide that the person you’re with is toxic for you. And you will choose to end that relationship. You can’t quite see it just yet but you’ll come to the realisation that you are but a shadow of who you once were, and who you are meant to be. It will be a really painful breakup, but you’ll also survive it and be glad that you took that step to start loving yourself again.

It’s gonna be such a ride, these 5 years and I can’t wait for you to experience it. Stay focussed and stay strong. There will be tonnes of moments where you doubt yourself and question your choices, but you’ll look at your 2011 self and realise that you won’t do anything differently, not one bit.

Cheerio,
me

——

To my 2016 self:

Dear you,
I have so many questions to ask you. What are you doing career wise and are you still in Australia? Have you finally met the girl of your dreams (although I’d probably call her a woman)? I hope for your sake that she loves ironing because your 2011 self absolutely hates it.

Did you eventually get a job in Hong Kong? Because right now, that’s what I’m focussed on. My plans are to get a job in Hong Kong in 2014 or 2015. And if you stuck to the game plan, you’d probably be celebrating your first ‘anniversary’ in Hong Kong right now. Hopefully by taking a ferry across Victoria Harbour!

Are you still doing Spanish and are you already fluent? If you aren’t by now then what’s your excuse??? If you aren’t fluent in Spanish then at least tell me that you’ve begun writing that screenplay that you’ve always thought about.

Please tell me that you’re still loving your life, the way your 2011 self does. Yes, in 2011 you are living life with aplomb and enjoying every single moment as it comes.

Lastly, I hope you’ve kept your pillars of support. These pillars of support are the people who love you and keep you grounded. Yes, they do ask difficult questions from time to time but they are also the ones who cheer you on and keep you going just when you think you want to give up on your dreams. So I really hope you’ve kept them close to your heart. As for those who keep deriding you and stomping on your dreams, I hope you’ve gotten rid of them, because you really don’t need toxic people around.

Oh, my 2016 self, I really hope you’re as happy as you were in 2011.

Love,
me

—–

I think this post has been the one I enjoyed writing the most.

“Next to Resistance, rational thought is the artist or entrepreneurs worst enemy. Bad things happen when we employ rational thought, because rational thought comes from the ego. Instead, we want to work from the Self, that is, from instinct and intuition, from the unconscious.

A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. Its only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitate.” - Steven Pressfield, Do the Work

The idea of “being realistic” holds all of us back. From starting a business or quitting a job to dating someone who may not be our type or moving to a new place – getting “real” often means putting your dreams on hold.

Today, let’s take a step away from rational thought and dare to be bold. What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to accomplish but have been afraid to pursue? Write it down. Also write down the obstacles in your way of reaching your goal. Finally, write down a tangible plan to overcome each obstacle.

The only thing left is to, you know, actually go make it happen. What are you waiting for?

I have always wanted to write a screenplay. And see it come to life. And the only obstacle there is in my way is myself.

First up, I have looked neither hard nor deep into myself for a plot. Sure, I know how I want it to start but beyond the first scene, I have no idea how the screenplay continues nor do I know where it’s going.

Secondly, I have an innate fear of my writing being criticised. Somewhere inside me, there lives a doubting Thomas. And Thomas always tells me that I don’t write well enough nor am I good enough to produce a screenplay.

Thirdly, I always ask myself, so what if I do write a screenplay. What then? Will I take it as far as to try obtain funding to see it brought to life? Surely not, says the unnamed voice in my head.

But at this point in my life, I have no burning desire to see this come to fruition. Having said that, this entire 30 day writing exercise which I have been religiously completing, is part of the journey I’m taking in trying to be a better writer.

Perhaps, 2012 will be the year I actually complete said screenplay.