theme of the year

i remembered during my meet up with kelvin yeo in late 2010, i shared with him about setting a theme of the year. after attending the programmes and trainings in eci, i learnt that creating changes in our lives would take time, effort and discipline. i decided to set a theme for 2011, to constantly remind myself of what i wanted to achieve at the end of the year. through eci, i realized that i was not loving myself enough, often trying to please others at the expense of myself. therefore, i set 2011 to be a “self love” year (s.l.y), using 1 full year to learn to love myself.

somehow, this came true. i left my internal auditor job in 2011 and took a pause in my working life. i finally decided to follow my heart and take a big step into the unknown. this pause stretched over 9 months until i was hit by another sign. during this period, i did a number of things which i always wanted to do (entry dated 23 september 2012). the break was not smooth sailing but nonetheless rewarding, at least i gave myself a chance to fulfill what my heart desired. in the process, i definitely learnt to love and get along better with myself.

in 2012, i set the year to be a “creation” year as i wanted to ignite the creative juice in me. 2012 became a year of changes, where i found a job through zhang yi, doing marketing analytics at zalora, an e-commerce start up company. i finally switched out of audit! i was grateful that this came along or maybe this was meant to be, as part of my journey. i was happier and learning new things. in the end, the biggest creation in 2012 was creating a team with kelvin yeo and zhang yi to do something together in 2013.

for 2013, i set to be an “action” year, a year to take action and get things done. i must say this is the toughest theme i have set. i am not a natural “action packed” person. there are a lot of internal fighting within myself, having self doubts and comparing myself with others. these internal conflicts are draining my energy, with ups and downs, like going on an emotional roller coaster ride. there are days where i can work and days where i just want to rest. i foresee “action” to be the theme for the next couple of years as well, until i get comfortable being “action packed”. although moving slowly, i must acknowledge myself for the small steps i take each day. still a long journey ahead!

having a theme each year helps me to stay focus and gather my intention towards achieving that. give a try to set a theme of the year for yourself. you never know what might unfold when you set a strong intention! before getting back to work, let me share an illustration by a malaysian illustrator, lim heng swee, to encourage you and me. never give up! = )

never give up!