Hey ,

Happy Friday! We've made it till the end of the week. It was a short one because for our SG peeps, it was a public holiday yesterday.

How does your perfect public holiday look like? Here's mine - a perfect blend of work, play, gym-time, and family time.

Growing up, I found myself living according to a definition of success that constantly drained my energy and made me feel small.

I saw success as getting ahead, being better than others.

In school, the kids who did exceptionally well were the ones who got the awards, our teacher will ask the top student to stand up, commend them and everyone claps for them. I idolised people perceiving their worthiness solely on one aspect of their life, be it grades, beauty, popularity.

Living in accordance to this definition of success made me work harder and longer hours, without taking time to reflect on my interests or assess the alignment of my goals.

It made me want to get ahead of others so I could feel better and more successful, without asking myself what I really wanted in the first place.

You see, what we work hard (like we were taught to do) WITHOUT reflecting on what we want in the first place... we are like a car driving at 90 km/h without any direction.

Even if you have a Ferrari engine and sprint up to 341 km/h... you'll still end up at the wrong destination because you haven't taken the time to figure the destination nor have you keyed it into the GPS system.

In this increasingly capitalistic society where we're drilled to be efficient and productive, it's easy to work on auto-pilot as we do, do, DO.

This weekend, take the time to simply BE - reflect, look back at your week (and even your past year), and ask yourself: "Am I moving towards the destination that I truly want? Or that someone wants for me?"

Through years of learning, reflection, healing and tons of perspective gained through travel and mentorship...

I find my real definition of success to be this: "Do work I love, be surrounded by people I love, and live wherever I want."

Yesterday I spent my public holiday this way:

🎙️ Powerful Training in the morning with my Own Your Voice Circle coachees - How to craft powerful frames for presentations and when delivering a message — including an exciting hands-on activity!

⛳️ Golf with my sister

🍕Writing my next YouTube video while having pizza by the pool (ok generally I only like handcrafted pizzas but… my mom bought these, they were still tasty)

🏃 GYM time while watching "Joan is Awful" - EP1 of the new Black Mirror season - who's watching?

🦀 Delicious crabby dinner with family

and... 🎙️ Podcast interview to end the day!

-- We talked about building meaningful friendships and how to navigate different energy dynamics. I love sharing my experiences and insights on relationships and connection. The podcast host is based on the other side of the world hence the late night interview.

It couldn't have been a more perfect day. Truly. I am smiling just writing this post! Life is beautiful when we design it to be this way.

Is your life by design? Or on auto-pilot?

Take some time this week to reflect on these questions:

1. How do I feel this past month? How do I feel about myself? How do I feel about my work? How do I feel about the people I've met in the past month?
2. If there's any unhappiness, resistance, or "meh"-ness, what is this feeling trying to tell me? What are the truths that I've been avoiding?
3. If I am being completely honest with myself, is the career and life I am building really what I want? (think - the structure, the people, the actual work you're doing, the vision you're building, the lifestyle you're living) -- a good way to assess this is to look at the people you're working for, or if you're running a business, the people you're modelling after, and ask yourself: Do I want their life?

Here are two videos you may be interested in:

Watch: What I needed to Unlearn to Be Happy

Watch this if You Feel like you're Lagging Behind

I'll love to hear your responses :)

Share with me your definition of success, or what stood out to you by taking a snapshot of this email letter, and sharing your thoughts on Instagram or LinkedIn.

Alternatively, drop me a DM on Instagram, or join my Telegram Tribe here!

and as always, If you want to further elevate your speaking and communication and truly Own Your Voice, you're invited to join the Own Your Voice 6-months coaching program, find out more here, or watch my free masterclass to get a clearer idea on what your immediate focuses should be in terms of owning your voice.

Remember, you have everything it takes to Own Your Voice.

xx,

Rae