All about Lina Lifestyle

What the year 2022 is like?

I experience two transitions in the year 2022. 2022 is the year of the Tiger where I started the year wondering if I have the courage to go on new hunting trails.

To be as courageous as a tiger

First Transition

The first is that I decided to step out of my comfort zone and go for training in an area that I have not experienced before. I spent six months knowing all the nuts and bolts of the Virtual Events and Production industry. Got exposed to the work of events planner. I remembered writing at length my decision to embark on this trail in the first quarter of the year.

Gaining crystal clear clarity on my desired course of action to live the best life

Second Transition

Next, I decided to move back into working for an employer for more stability after my studies. I felt that self-employment was good for a season where I get a lot of independence and autonomy to decide on my personal growth and align my career growth and interest. After spending the bulk of time going for career counselling, it is time to embark on a path of stability where the employer’s goals are aligned to my personal interest in the area of education. I believe strongly in moral education and it was an absolute pleasure to do what I believe in for a living.

Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com

Singapore is a Beautiful City

Singapore is a beautiful city. Somehow, I needed a reset in my perspective of life. I went to Marina Bay Sands and amazed by how aesthetically different life is when you take a new scenic route. Getting caught up in the flurry of activities this Christmas, I do wonder if I have enough time to just watch life as a tourist to my own country. Nevertheless, when I just viewed the photos I took earlier in December, somehow life seems more vibrant and beautiful when we can take a pause and recharge!

#singapore

Learning how to make Fantastic Brain Hats

I taught my students how to make fantastic Brain Hats. The brain hat consists of the left and right hemisphere. The left and right hemisphere will have to be connected together in order to form a complete functional brain. I liked how colourful the brain hats look. There are hats with labels on parts of the brain like temporal lobe, cerebellum and brain stem.

Global Vision for December

I enjoy learning all about the different countries in the world. I remembered one my favourite subject is Geography. December is a special time of the year where we can travel around.

It just happened that I felt that this season came for me to be in the classroom to enlighten young minds about the world. My students like the globe and I enjoyed illuminating their minds with more knowledge about the world.

On a personal note, on a busy day I broke my precious spectacles and lost my vision. I was so glad to have fixed the broken spectacles by replacing the lost spectacles frame with a new one.

I hope it helps my vision this December and have a global vision!

The Growth Mindset

I enjoy listening to this neuron song that I learnt.

Here are some facts of neurons:

1. A neuron is a cell of scientific fascination.

2. They receive, process and transmit information.

3. They allow us to think, solve problems and grow.

4. Thy allow us to learn the things we thought we could never know.

To have a growth mindset we need to believe certain things:

1. My abilities can be developed with dedication and effort.

2. When I find the right strategy the one that works best for me.

3. Whenever I struggle, make mistakes and correction, I am creating and strengthening my neuron connections.

4. When I am stimulating my brain and making it grow, I make room for all the amazing things I know.

Our brains have billions of neurons in a busy constellation connected by branches in a network formation. They fire in patterns electrically. Creating every feeling, thought and memory.

A touching story that moves the heart

I like the story about a glass of milk by Manuel Rojas. The story begins with a poor boy who did odd jobs to buy his daily food and go to school. One day, he ran out of water and decided to ask his neighbourhood for a glass of water. A girl opened the door for him. He said that he was thirsty and was hoping that she would be able to give him a glass of water. Instead of giving him a glass of water, he gave him a glass of milk. The boy was surprised to see the milk. As the boy did not have any money, he did not want to take it. The girl decided not to take any money. He felt better immediately after he drank the glass of milk.

Many years later, the girl fell very ill and was taken to the hospital. Tests revealed that she had a rare kind of sickness that would need great care for many months. Dr Philips promised that he would take great care of her. He visited her daily and stayed by her bedside at night and made sure that she was always comfortable. After six months, the girl was finally well and could go home. The girl was afraid that she won’t have enough money to pay the hospital bill. The nurse thought that she did not have to worry as he hospital bill has already been paid. The girl was astonished as the bill was cancelled across and it says “Paid in full years ago with a glass of milk.” It was signed by Dr Philips. The interesting part of the story comes in when the girl found out that Dr Philips was the young boy she had helped many years ago.

The moral of the story is that you never know how your one good deed can turn into another good one. So never hesitate in helping others.

The in between season before Christmas

November is a special month for me as it is my birthday. I often look forward to this time of the year when I take stock of what I have been doing for the year. I probably find that this year had been moving at a breakneck speed with my course in Virtual Events and Production running like a bullet train.

Moving on to a new job and managing the new environment with a whole new set of expectations can be quite exhilarating yet fun. Life can be unpredictable so that is where I get to experience a life with adventures. Two transitions happened in 2022 and now I am adjusting well to the second transition in life.

2022 had been quite a kind year to me where I emerged more aware of mental wellness. I do worry that with society resuming its function again that I would be running around busy but unhappy. The previous two years had been a season of retreating to the online space rethinking my mental state and getting a whole reset to my goals and dreams. However, I learnt to put some margins in life where I have a balanced life filled with hustling at work and resting the body and mind fully.

It is now the in between period where the real holidays have yet to begin in a couple of weeks. It is a quiet season of reflection, a lull period where I can ease into a good sleep by relaxing to soft christmas tunes and happily type on my wordpress. It is a good time to slow down and enjoy the process of living again where strivings ceased !

Burning with passion or burnt out?

Like with any persons who want to go on Linkedin to find careers that they have a passion for, I really face a dilemma of whether I can survive just on passion alone. I did conquer my fear of going back to work by making a transition to face Managers and colleagues after my 6 months of honeymoon like training ended.

I had a 101 doubts about my ability to handle real clients with real needs. I felt that passion alone cannot replace the real fear of having to deal with messy and difficult human beings who have emotions. I went from dealing with theories from looking at excel data all day to dealing with people all day. I was downright anxious about making such a huge leap from stoning in front of computers to standing in front of the classroom.

I survived the first two months as I made the transition. And I am glad I took the social risk of having to work for a Manager. Today is a special day as it is the first time in my career I received a message personally saying I have improved and became an effective teacher. It rebuilt my confidence and restored my soul.

People can be difficult and messy and they can cause you to be fatigued and burnt out. But they can be sweet and loving at the right time uplift you and help you survive a difficult storm(hurricane) etc

Is taking a career break risky or is it worth it?

I have been through seasons where I felt taking a career break is risky. As my priorities are in the area of mental health, I thought it was good to look back and I thought about how a #career may be important but knowing who you are behind the job titles or the work is crucial in knowing oneself.

I find it is important in the area of experiencing growth and challenges by opening up myself to new experiences like taking a 6-month course in a completely new industry and finding work more aligned with my idealistic self.

I felt that I have come full circle where after consulting with a few career coaches I found out that I no longer need to keep knowing my personality, strengths or weaknesses etc. I just felt that I had to make progress towards leaving my comfort zone and exploring the growth and development zone this year.

When I return back to work after my course ended, I felt that there is a certain kind of energy that is quite refreshing. It would have been different if I have not taken a step backwards and examined why I was burnout. A change of scene indeed helped made my mood and mental state better.

Is taking a career break risky or is it worth it? Read the WSG article for some examples of young people who decided it was worth the risk. What are your thoughts? Hopefully, you can comment below.

#work #job #growth #development #change #mentalhealth #comment #like #energy

https://content.mycareersfuture.gov.sg/young-singaporeans-career-break/?utm_source=wsglinkedinoct&utm_m

Staying Woke as an employee

I was just reading this post by The Woke Salaryman. I believe that there is much insight to be gleaned from this comic as I have been on the path of being self-employed wholly some seasons and on the side of being an employee ranging from small businesses to large government agencies.

To a large extent, I agree that being an employer is not a good thing as the amount of time and sacrifice needed can take a toll on one’s mental health. The space in between employer and employee was a good fit for me when I went full time self-employed through some seasons. That it when I can really decide on my own time how hard I want to work as I had to only be accountable to myself.

The Woke Salaryman has laid out the deck of cards when it comes to being an employer. I agree that it is not an easy yoke to manage financially as you have to shoulder all the financial aspect. In some sense, it requires more than passion for the industry but a very good mix of business financial acumen to prevent the entire boat from sinking.

https://lnkd.in/g7j5JfFu