Yo Work Fun Nation!

Writing to you from the side of my son’s hospital bed, and if I’m being honest, I’m faced with a bittersweet thought. 

It’s his third IV drip or suero in his whole life, and he didn’t even flinch when the nurse came over to get the needle through. It’s amazing to see his resilience and acceptance sa procedure na to, where most kids will kick and scream just to get them to do this… but also saddening that he has that kind of acceptance din. 

Be that as it may, whatever mixed feelings I have on this, it’s times like these that I’m grateful for freelancing and the ability to work from anywhere. 

Si wifey din, she’s location independent. That, and the fact that I don’t need to work 8 straight hours a day. 

This way. we’re able to be with him kahit ano mangyari. 

And because I’m here sitting sa couch beside him, it got me thinking of all the times we’ve had to go to the hospital din. 

Time flashed past, and as I reviewed my calendar, eto na naman and 2024 is right around the corner na pala. 

15-ish days to go. 

Ewan ko ba kung bakit every time I look at the date, nagugulat pa din ako. Alam naman natin yan ever since. Hehe 

It's the time of year when we all start looking back and reflecting on what happened. 

And I don’t know about you, pero every year the same thought of "wow this year went by so fast" comes up.

Let me know if you feel this too, . 

Tapos this also happens: we can’t help but be reminded of the not-so-good things that happened in the past.

Many years ago, one night in December like this din, I found myself in my old apartment in Poblacion, Makati.. and I was looking at my Google calendar filled with crossed-out meetings and deadlines – the remnants of a year’s hard work. 

Solid naman, maraming freelance projects that were completed based on the output folders ng hard drive ko. May ibang fail, or hindi na-close na prospect, but that’s to be expected.  

Yet, amidst this evidence na may nagawa naman ako, I felt an unsettling sense of unfulfillment.

Why, after a year of effort, did my work feel so... meh? Na parang I was just putting one foot in front of the other, just to move forward? 

Just chasing the money.

Yes, may income naman which was starting to build up, but outside of that, what was I killing myself to go out in traffic and on shoots for? 

That evening, I did my first actual (na puchu puchu) annual review. I sifted through the year, not just in terms of what I had done but how I had grown. 

It was a journey of introspection. A deep dive into successes, failures, lessons, and, most importantly, the moments of personal growth.

I realized that while some goals were met, others remained unmoving, not because they were unachievable or I was lousy, but because they no longer resonated with my evolving aspirations. 

Example: Gusto ko dati maging Web Design Agency Owner (no kidding. I have past work to prove this. )

Akalain mo yan, yan work ko dati hehe. (No the site is no longer active, kasi the clients discontinued writing for their legal blog)

This was also when coding websites were still a thing. Wala pang drag and drop builders like Elementor or Thrive Themes. Had my fair share of doing trial and error too, uggh. 

The truth was, I was changing. And this goes for a lot of us na freelancers as well. 

We fall prey to the Sunk Cost Fallacy. 

It’s when people continue to invest time, money, or resources into something (like a niche or a service) because they have already invested a lot in it.

It’s when we stick with clients or projects that are not fulfilling or financially rewarding SIMPLY BECAUSE we have already spent a significant amount of time building relationships or developing skills in that area. 

This causes us to hesitate to explore other opportunities or niches because we feel that our past investments will go to waste.

I mean, I get it. Sayang nga naman.

I learned though, that holding onto them can stop us from finding better and more lucrative opportunities. 

This much was clear in that review. 

I NEEDED to regularly evaluate my current situation, goals, and interests objectively.

Something had to change. Not gonna lie, I was scared in taking that leap but also at the same time, I was excited that this was the right move.

After that exercise, the next year became one of my best freelancing years at the time. I quit all my side projects that weren't making any money, or giving me joy. 

What's funny now looking back is...a lot of that inspired me to eventually start The Work Fun Home Pinoy community. 

I was doing freelance video production back then, tapos I also started a videography school. While business was booming I started to get overwhelmed as my goals started to shift. 

Lalo na when my son Julian was born in 2017.

Instead of wanting to travel all the time and being in different projects (different countries even), I started to look into working from home. 

That also led me to seek out how to be more productive...and a lot of the things I discovered about productivity led me to start the Work Fun Home Pinoy where I am now publicly documenting all the lessons.

Had I not done my annual review, baka wala itong email na to ngayon. Crazy no? 

Just as it helped me, share ko na din ito in the hope that you take action and makatulong din sayo. 

1. Reflect on your three most significant achievements of your year.

2. Consider the biggest challenge you faced and what it taught you.

Yun lang, nothing complicated. Write it down and reflect lang.

Remember, the goal isn't to tally up successes or dwell on failures. 

It's about finding meaning in your experiences and using that understanding to create a path forward – a path that matches who you are and who you want to become.

Let me know if you did the exercise, . Excited to see how your 2024 will turn out. 

Happy Weekend!

Shoden

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