I believe some if not all of you are anxious on my sharing for YWLC-IWD 2013.
It was indeed a memorable event with fellow ladies and also the 5 excellent speakers.
The session started with Minister Grace Fu sharing.
My main takeway: when she shared with us that success of life can be concluded into 3 buckets - Career, Family and Personal - how much of 'water' do we want to place in each bucket before we feel successful? As I was thinking through this question, I kept thinking how its a norm in society to make sure all these 3 buckets are filled to the brim but how often or not, we are weight down by its 'heaviness' and eventually lose it all.
And the next speaker was MP Tin Peiling who shared with us 5 very practical tips on how to be clearer on our career directions. I can't remember all the 5 tips. But my primary takeaway is to be prepared for whatever may come. Don't despair but be ready to stand up if its truly what you believe in.
Very apt. While she was talking about that , a quote I saw before came into my mind " Just do what you want to do. After all there will still be people criticizing it." - we can never please everyone. Be true to yourself.
Up next was Ms Adeline Chu short but very sweet sharing.
I remembered one question very clearly : it was when she asked, how long did you think it took me to quit from my high flyer job to do what I am doing now: nurturing start ups? We were all guessing 1-2months? But boy were we wrong. It took her 18 months. That stuck a chord in all of us. How many of us have been wanting to make a change but because of familiarity and also the fear of 'failure' that we stick to familiarity - regretful in not making the move yet still not moving. Now she's much happier and each day is like a treasure to her. Just as the saying goes " If you love your work, work is not work."
And next, Ms Janice Wong sharing which made us all very hungry and also amazed at how food can be created. The creations which she shared with us felt like a scene from the dance movie I watched before showcasing how art can transform normal things into such fascinating items. Totally inspiring for people who loves food and art. This is what people call fusion.
Lastly, was Ms Elim Chew from 77th street. She shared about how businesses can help social enterprise evolve. And how its indeed your own self that can make a choice to make an impact and difference in the society. You don't have to be armed with vast experience but more of a passion and a clear message of what you want to achieve. Raising examples of youths who have done great things for the society. And their age. Only 10. What other excuse do we have?
Rounding up the sharing, we then were divided into smaller groups with each speaker for us to ask more personal questions. It was fantastic!
There's more! We had to make sure we made our first step forward. So we were given a colored paper to write our next step. make it into an aeroplane and fly it into the air. And the other who picked our aeroplane will be like our secret pen pal who will remind me of what I had set out to achieve!
Kudos to the organising team! I'll join again next year.
Cheers!
