2010s, thank you for a spectacular decade

It’s the end of a decade, they say. Looking back at the last 10 years, there have been so many changes and all I see is progress, progress, and progress. Progress not only in your life but the way the world around us has evolved.

Personally, I’ve seen much growth, having gone through really exciting times and places I never thought I would be from a 20 year old to a 30 year old. A decade ago, I couldn’t even imagine going beyond Malaysia for vacation but through the last 10 years, I’ve seen much more of the world than I could ever imagine and that surely changes the perspectives in life. I thought I would work in Malaysia forever and live that preconceived idea of life but I have now lived and worked in different countries. Will Singapore be my final destination - who the hell knows?

That’s the funny part about life though, you can never plan the life events and circumstances but you can always hold true to your beliefs that will steer the course for you. I’ve held on to some of these principles and I’m constantly mindful of them every day of my life.

1 - “Seek first the Kingdom of God

…and HIs righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you” Matthew 6:33. The truth of the matter is, God holds my destiny in His hands. If He can send his son to die for me, he can hold my destiny and I’m sure He will set my path. If all I have to do is to put Him first and I get the desires of my heart, the overflowing blessings, and His joy, that’s exactly what I will do.

2 - Stay hungry, stay foolish

I don’t mean to strive to be poor or stupid, but really to keep the hunger in you to want to learn more, to explore more and to do more. The world is changing at such immense speed, you cannot possibly stop learning and the moment you stop learning, that’s when you’re dead. Always find the purpose in what you’re doing because that’s what drives you. If what you’re doing has no purpose, then stop doing it (don’t even consider, just stop).

3 - Focus on things that matter and embrace failure

If you have set clear goals and objectives on what you want to achieve, focus on actions that can help you achieve that. Don’t get distracted by other things, other people and set your eyes straight at the prize. If you have to look left and right on what other people are doing, you will surely be driven off course. You may be going on unchartered territories, you may have fear of failure but all you have to lose is time but learning from any failures is the start to a new success.

4 - Stop caring about what people think

Stay true to yourself and own your decisions. If you have to spend time getting upset over what people say and trying to change yourself for them, you are not spending enough time doing what matters. Remember, people will always have their opinions but at the end of the day, it boils down to what you’re doing about it. Sure, you may be wrong sometimes, but you have to remain true to what you believe.

5 - Be thankful, stay humble but be confident

You should celebrate and be confident about the successes you have achieved - big or small. Humility does not mean you have to negate your success - that’s false humility. It’s one thing to be proud of the achievements that will push you through to another level and another to be arrogant and arrogance is just gross.

I don’t think I can summarize all the achievements of 2019 but I do have my Instagram #BestNine as just the tip of the iceberg.

In the next decade, starting with 2020, I want to focus on things that matter - family and friends, community building and a more purposeful career.

What have you achieved this decade and what do you have in store for the next decade? I can’t wait to hear from you.