Personal
Reflection - 2016
As the year approaches an end, I have a habit of reflecting what has happened, and to plan my next steps. This post was originally written on Facebook to share with my family and friends. As I have gotten interesting feedback, I think some parts could be relevant to the general public. I have edited to remove some personal information so as to share this post here with you. Enjoy!
As 2016 quickly comes to a close, I'm glad to have time this winter break to do some retrospective thinking. Here's a summary of it if you are finding something to read.
The year started with an extended leave of absence. After spending much time at work in 2015, I took a break from December to January to recalibrate my life. That was when I went with my gut feeling to plant a seed. Feb came, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to go to Chicago for a one-week company training, something I realised I enjoyed immensely. It was obvious to me then, that I had this growing unsatisfiable thirst for knowledge that can't be fulfilled with what I was doing. It needs to be addressed in a more drastic way. After training, I had the opportunity to co-lead a brilliant team. We were the team that made a core part of a relatively huge separation and merger project possible. Around that same time, the seed I planted in Jan took off, and I had to decide if I should stay or go with the opportunity. I spoke to a number of people, and I am thankful.
I am thankful for the moral support from my family, friends, and colleagues from Accenture. They are brilliant people with great experiences, they are superb to talk to, and they give the best advices ever.
My decision was to uproot myself totally to study in CMU at its Silicon Valley campus, and that has changed my life from August onwards till date.
I've learnt so many things here. Aside from the curriculum, I’ve learnt about courage. It's only when we get out of our comfort zone and be vulnerable, that we can learn and grow. Challenges can be conquered. What's the worst that can happen? I've also learnt about self awareness, about how that can lead one to live more fully, and to knowing others to create something of real value. Within the SV community, I've picked up concepts and did some practices on a lean startup. When creating a product, you need to constantly attain feedback from your consumers, to have the flexibility to iterate to constantly improve and to be better than the previous version of things. This concept can work in every aspect of life.
All these exposures are giving me an itch, an itch to be more than what I was previously. I grow to realise that the possibilities are as far as where my imagination takes me, and this thinking is true for anyone to achieve. However, it is definitely not easy. There are trade offs, trade offs that needs to be accepted. Sometimes you may lose sight and wonder what the heck are you doing, but other times, the possibilities is intriguing. To be able to gain all these insights through experiences so far, I am thankful. I am thankful for everyone who were by my side who have made a difference.
In addition, I would also like to share a brain treat that I have been thinking about these days for those of you who have read this post so far to this point.
Just want to share that at times, if you feel empty scrolling through news feeds, thinking about what are you doing in your life. The key to fix that emptiness is to stop thinking of being someone else. We all know that Facebook have bias data as it tends to mostly show the positive sides of everyone's lives. Instead, take time out to invest time in yourself, to figure the art of being you, to be the better version of yourself. This is because each and everyone of us are equally going through this thing called life, we can't choose where we are born, our characteristic and stuff, but we can choose what we do to maximise the lives that we have. As per what Ghandi says, "My life is my message." What is your message?
If you have 30min to spare, I think these videos are quite interesting to watch:
That's all for now. As 2017 marches in, its a good time to set mini goals on what to do next. Hope all of you are looking forward to what’s coming up ahead. Wishing all of you my family and friends a happy new year. May you be able to connect with yourself and your love ones. Let’s continue to grow together in various aspects of life. May you be happy, healthy, and may your dreams come true 
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