Corporate Survivor with Mei Phing : Career Growth In The Corporate World - Ep239: What went right (and wrong) in 2024.

Episode Date: December 27, 2024

✅ Watch FREE WORKSHOP, newsletter, work with me ⮕ http://www.meiphing.com ✅ Corporate Survivor™ is the ultimate career course for 9-to-5 working professionals, just like *you*, who want to enhance corporate world mindset, skillset and strategy so you can NAVIGATE + GROW your career with clarity, confidence & opportunities... 🚀 ⚡ 📌 ABOUT THIS PODCAST: Welcome to Corporate Survivor with Mei Phing — ex-Corporate Leader turned Career Coach & Founder of The Corporate Survivor™. On this podcast, Mei Phing shares her corporate world insights, experiences and wisdom so you can grow your 9-5 career with clarity, confidence and opportunities. ✅ WEBSITE ⮕ https://www.meiphing.com ✅ FREE GUIDE ⮕ https://www.thecorporatesurvivor.co/freeguide ✅ NEWSLETTER ⮕ https://www.thecorporatesurvivor.co/mondays ✅ CAREER COURSE ⮕ https://www.thecorporatesurvivor.co ⚡

Welcome to the Corporate Survivor Podcast, where we talk about how to grow your career confidence, build your skills and value, increase your salary, and the many lessons we learn in the corporate world. For more career support, click on over to www.mayping.com. This is Mayping, your corporate leader turned career coach. I hope you enjoy, like and subscribe. Welcome to the last episode of the Corporate Survival Podcast with Mei Ping this year. So this is Mei Ping. Now, this podcast has been around for almost five years.

And I remember in the early days, in the end of 2020 and 2021, I used to do this episode called like the top 10 biggest wins of the year. And that allowed me to have an honest and maybe slightly uncomfortable reflection and conversation with myself on some of the things that I think I did well, and some of the things that I think I want to improve in the upcoming 12 months. Now, that's something that I did in the first two years. Then over the past two years i don't exactly remember why i stopped recording and reflecting on these um episodes but this year i really really want to kind of like bring bring back this tradition and also at the beginning of

the year i did a new year strategy session with my corporate survivor members and we actually went through how to improve their personal as well as professional lives in five categories. So that's career, wealth, health, relationship and lifestyle. So since I got my members and students to reflect every single month for the year, I thought why not just actually wrap it up and also share my personal thoughts and my personal reflections for this entire year as well. So I'm recording this episode for myself because I want to refer back to this in the next 365 days. I'm recording this episode for my corporate survivor members who have been journeying with me every single month in our monthly mentoring calls, tracking their progress. I want to share my own progress with them as well. And I'm recording

this episode for you. And hopefully you can take some inspiration and some empowerment from some of the lessons that I have learned, my reflections, whether it's directly or indirectly, I think that will be super duper helpful. So as you know, I am a career coach, career mentor right now. So I consider this sort of like my full-time job, my career, and therefore this will then fit into the career category and i have a podcast i have a blog newsletter i have like free guides free resources and a career program as well so there are quite a few things and for each and every of this category i want to share like i said what i think i've done well what i think i could have done better and maybe some of the lessons learned. So since we're on this podcast, then let me start by sharing about this podcast. Now,

this podcast has been around for almost five years, so I won't go through the entire journey, and I'll talk about it in the five-year anniversary. However, for this episode, I think, especially in the last 12 months, I think the biggest change, I think the biggest positive change that I've made with the podcast is making it more authentic and more honest to the actual perspectives that I want to share. So moving away from what I feel are more YouTube-y or click-baity sort of like high-level tips that is so common that everyone else is talking about,

but gradually moving it towards just sharing perspectives, giving you some insights, giving you, more importantly, context that you can actually really understand the points and understand the insights. And the other thing I've also specifically done is to record my episodes in one shot. So there'll be no editing. It's just me clicking record and sharing my thoughts, giving examples and hoping that you can apply and take away as much as possible from it.

So I think this, to me, brings me a little bit closer to the actual purpose and intention of why I created this podcast back in February of 2020. Because at that time, I just picked up my phone and just started recording the thoughts I had in my mind around the corporate world, the working world, relationships with bosses, and how to manage your work and stuff like that. So there wasn't really like a, like a strategy or like, um, yeah, it wasn't even on YouTube at the time. So I just said what I wanted

to say. I just shared what I wanted to share. And I feel like over time I lost track a little bit of what inspired me to start the podcast in the first place. So this year, definitely, I think moving back to my roots, I think that has been super duper helpful. Then there was another thing that I did with the podcast as well. So I created a blog version for every single episode of the podcast. Because one of the things that i hear from my community members is that oh maybe you know um is there any way that i can look into like some of the key highlights from each episode if i just want to have like a tldr version like a one minute

version where can i get that and i thought yeah i think that's a great idea i'm like why don't i have that because even though my podcast episodes are usually a little bit shorter and it's a great idea. I'm like, why don't I have that? Because even though my podcast episodes are usually a little bit shorter and it's shorter on purpose because I want to make sure that there is a clear point and you are actually able to take away. I mean, I don't really believe in recording two, three hours podcast and then you listen to it and then you feel good and then you end up, you know, not implementing a single thing that I'm saying. So one of the feedback that I got was, Hey, you know, is there any way that, you know, there's like a TLDR version? And I thought, amazing.

So for all 200 plus episodes, I created like a blog version that you will be able to see at www.mayping.com. So when you click on the podcast links for each episode, you can find the TLDR version with some of the top takeaways, as well as the timestamp, so that you can jump forward if you want.

However, I still think that the context, the depth I'm able to go into in a podcast episode is still something that I really value as well. So definitely, I think that is the win, the good part of the podcast. Now, the thing that I think I didn't really do well with the podcast this year definitely is consistency. Because I started the year really well. There was episodes every single week up to maybe was it May or June. Then I dropped the ball and I got busy with other stuff. And I abandoned the podcast here and there. And sometimes when I

decide to make an episode, then it's again inconsistent. So I had a consistency problem with the podcast episode. So I think it's kind of like, I need inspiration to record the podcast. And I'm also an introvert. So sometimes when I feel like I'm really, really low energy that week, then I just don't record an episode,

which is definitely not good if you're a listener. And it's definitely not good from a consistency standpoint as well. So that's something that I definitely want to improve on next year to make sure that if there are weekly episodes, then you can expect a weekly episode from the Corporate Survivor podcast. Then I think the other thing, I think the podcast I didn't really do very well, definitely is promoting the podcast.

So I've seen some people do like all these like shorts and some people are so good at promoting their podcast and this is definitely something I have not mastered yet. So right now the podcast which I'm definitely thankful for is growing every single day. So thanks to you for sharing these episodes with your friends. I really, really appreciate it. Like I said, this is definitely an area that I think I could do better in the next year, probably sharing a little bit more on my social media, on these new episodes. I think that's something that I could improve as well. So those are the ones. Then let's move on to the next category. The next category would be the newsletter. So I have a newsletter and it's a free newsletter. Now here, I think it's been a

hot mess. The news, to be honest, the newsletter has been a hot mess. Not because I didn't try, but I think it has been a huge space that I've been using for experimentation in which if you act if you actually subscribe to my newsletter you'll notice that it is really like an experimental experimental space where I have like different different stuff that's like going on um there's like reflections, there's like stories and sometimes it's just some thoughts and then sometimes it's new podcast episodes and sometimes there's just promotions

and stuff like that. So I think it's been a little bit messy and I haven't quite found my cadence and I think more importantly, what I really wanted to achieve with each edition of the newsletter and this is something that is still on my mind as well so definitely next year consistency with the newsletter is important for sure but I think even before consistency then there is

a need for like for myself real clarity around the direction that i want to take the newsletter in and honestly this is very similar to your career as well like i mean you can be work you can work hard but if you don't really know what the purpose of this particular piece of work is then it's going to be a mess as well so i think before i start sending more newsletters um definitely i'm gonna take a little bit of time to think about the direction I want to take it in, and I think the purpose and the style,

I know it sounds a little bit abstract because it's a little bit hard for me to articulate this because in my mind it's not very clear yet. So yeah, for sure, the newsletter has been a hot mess this year. Definitely I've tried a lot of stuff, but it's just that I feel like I haven't quite come to a point

or a style or a kind of intentionality that I really wanted. With the newsletter, I don't feel like I've nailed it yet. So this is something that I definitely want to finalize and kind of figure out in the next 12 months. So I don't want this newsletter to be, I don't want to keep using the word hot mess, but that's really how I feel about it, at least right now. Okay, the next thing. So I have a free PDF guide. So it's like a five day career growth guide and accompanying training that I've made available for over a year now. So I won't say that this is something that is like totally new,

but I think the good thing that I've introduced is the free guide this year was actually an email. In fact, it's a five-day email that helps you go through step-by-step in terms of like career clarity, work confidence, competence, value positioning, and personal branding so this year while i didn't change the free pdf guide or the training because both of it are extremely popular with so many people so i didn't change any of that but what i did was just really added on to make sure that when you download the five-day career growth guide and if you want it you can get it at www.maping.com you also get the email course so it's like a five-day email course

that explains a little bit more on the concepts i'm talking about and sharing my personal stories better help you understand what i'm sharing with you in terms of the five step for career growth if you're working in a nine to five career so the email course i would say like the five-day email actually has been received really really well and in fact there were many people who signed up for the five-day course ended up joining the corporate survivor because they found that the five-day um course and together the video training and the pdf actually gave them a lot more context on like you what they um they wish they would have known when they started their career so this is something that um in fact one of the um corporate members texted me today and told me that this was something that he taught

his boss or his hr was supposed to teach him and guide him on but it turns out it wasn't the case and after he downloaded the free guide he kind of got a better idea on my perspective and the angle of my teaching and strategies and he signed up for the program and right now he's only in the program for the past two weeks but he's really enjoying it so much and he's actually listening to the videos every single day but anyway back back to the five-day guide so while it wasn't it wasn't um completely new like the five-day guide is not completely new but definitely the daily email training like the five-day training is new so if you have previously downloaded the five-day guide and you haven't kind of like gone through the email training yet then you can re-download it at www.mapin.com you can reassess it then you'll

receive an email every single day it's an email training so you can use itload it at www.mapin.com. You can reassess it, then you'll receive an email every single day. It's an email training. So you can use it together with the PDF guide as well as the video training as well. So I think that's the thing that I think I did well. Again, just to wrap up, what I think I didn't do that well with the free guide

is definitely talk about it more. Talk about it more. I record so many podcast episodes, but as I listen to some of my past episodes, I realized that like, why am I not talking about the free guide?

Like so many people have found it valuable. So why am I not talking about it? So again, you know, it's back to me, maybe not really mentioning the hard work that I've put in. So one of the things

that I always tell my clients is that if you're working hard, then you really need to make sure that you're getting visible and you're talking about it so that you get recognized for your hard work. And that's why I'm talking about it right now. And this is something that I think that I could have done better. If I've created the guide, the training, the email training, and everybody loves it and find it super duper helpful, then it's like, why am I not talking about it? So here's me talking about it right now. So there's something that definitely I want to improve on in the next year. Okay, moving on to the next thing.

What's the next thing I have? So the Corporate Survivor. So the Corporate Survivor is my career program for nine to five professionals, for experienced professionals, as well as for fresh graduates. So this program has been around since I created it in 2021. So let's start with what I think went well with the program this year. So I think this year, I'm actually really, really happy. I think the many members that joined the program this year

are exactly the kind of people that I created this program for. So to be more specific, it's for the people who feel like they want to learn all the rules about the corporate world. They want to learn how to navigate the corporate world. And maybe they're new to the working world, or maybe they've been working for some time, but they still feel like, I don't really feel I get it. I feel like I'm surviving at work every day,

but I feel like something's missing. I feel like I don't really feel I get it I feel like I'm surviving at work every day but I don't I feel like something's missing I feel like working hard but how come I'm not getting recognized I don't really feel I'm getting the the rewards or the recognition that I want and I'm really doing everything that I know but there's I feel like there's something missing and I think this year many many students who join actually told me that, Mayping, I'm so glad I found you on social media, because this is really something that I feel I needed, and it took a very, very long time for me to find a program

and to find a coach who is offering, you know, like navigating your career, meeting bosses' expectations, how to actually sell value and get opportunities. So this is something that, for sure, I think is a big win for the program this year. Now in the program itself, I have the course lessons, but I also have like the monthly Q&A calls as well as one-on-one coaching calls. So maybe I'll talk about what I think went well with the monthly Q&A calls. I think personally, this is really, really the best thing about the program. So I created the monthly Q&A calls to better support my members in implementing the lessons taught, but it's also for me to kind of like give them some guidance

on their latest career, workplace, or job search situation. So I created this in 2022, just a few months after I created the corporate survival program like the actual sort of training itself and initially when i created that i really didn't expect much however now that it's been more than two years i think what we have really built up it's a huge library of tons of like real life Q&As and like real life situations of members. I think we have more than

100 situations right now. And in fact, aside from me seeing my members every single month live, participating in our live Zoom calls and sharing their progress every single month, sharing their wins,

their success, and to train their critical thinking when assessing another member's career challenges and really them putting themselves in the shoes of the other members and really challenging themselves to think how they would approach the situation if that happened to them.

So I can really see the growth by the members who have been actively participating in the monthly calls. I can also see the growth by the members who have been actively participating in the monthly calls. I can also see the growth for members even though they don't attend, but they listen to the recordings and they take notes as well. So these are some things that I think definitely have gone really, really, really well. Now the thing that I think I could have done better with the monthly mentoring calls, I think it's not so much about the content because everybody is so happy um i think the thing that i think i could have done better is maybe just sending more reminders to my members to actually leverage this mentoring library so right now if

you join the corporate survivor you get 12 months so So you get 12 months of Q&A support, guidance to navigate your career, work and job search situation together. Obviously, the lessons in the Corporate Survivor. So in terms of support, you get 12 months. And the other thing, I think for the existing members, I'm also really happy about is to see members who want to continue beyond the 12 months. So like I said, if you're new, you kind of like get the 12 months um for free because i want to make sure that you are supported once you join the program however i think what i'm really happy about is to see

there are many members after completing their 12 months actually reaching out to me saying hey maybe how can i continue this like how can i continue joining these like q a calls i want to um learn from the other students and i I still want to access all these, like, insights in the library, like, how can I do that? So, now we have, like, members who are on, like, year two, three, and four with me, which I'm really, really happy about. So, I think a ton, for sure, tons of, like, good things from the monthly Q&A calls. Like I said, the only thing I think I would, I need to do differently or do better is to maybe remind more members to leverage these resources because it's something that is so so so useful

so if you want to get a taste of that you can actually sign up for the 30-day trial so it's a 30-day access but you get access like i said more than 100 real-life scenarios so you can learn how to deal with your career work and job search situation actually gain direct access to my corporate world perspective like as someone who's a former boss former hiring manager who has managed teams you'll see a completely different perspective and i was telling a student the other day that it's like once you see you cannot unsee it and i think that's really really the power of it. Because one of the things that my member told me this year is that, Mipin, you don't just teach me what to do, but you teach me how to think.

So I think this is where like real confidence comes in. Because once you believe in yourself, then you can do anything. So anyway, so okay, that's the monthly Q&A calls. So on the other side, one of the requests that I got from many members was to have more one-on-one coachings. So not so much every single month, but having access to one-on-one coaching, maybe on a quarterly basis, or as and when members require it to navigate their challenges. So this is something that I did consider. And that's why this year I introduced a new tier

to the Corporate Survivor that comes with quarterly coaching sessions. So this is only exclusive for those of you who want more accountability, you want more personalized support, and you want to make sure that you remain consistent, then definitely you can consider the pro plan. But otherwise, there are also options to top up the one-on-one coaching but it's only exclusive for members like it's not open to the public the reason why it's only exclusive to the members is because the way that i coach there needs to be some homework to be done and the corporate survivor the knowledge everything is

actually taught in the course training itself so when my members book their one-on-one call with me, they come in already having the knowledge, having the right perspectives, then we can deep dive specifically into the issue. So we're not like solving issues at a high level where everybody's going to ask the same question, stuff like that. It's not.

So it's highly personalized because the requirement to go through the program, like the student has already taken the action. So I think this is, in my view, the best way to maximize the program. And well, or whether how I could do it better, honestly, I think the coaching sessions are really perfect. And if you're a corporate survivor member who has had your one-on-one call with me, I'd say that every single member I've spoken to said to me

that this is one of the best things about the program. And maybe you can read my mind. So I think definitely I'm happy about that. Now, there is definitely one thing that I think I could have done better. Not so much during the one-on-one coaching. I think it's about the one-on-one coaching. In which, as I said, there are many students who told me that oh the session is amazing however as i reflected i realized that like i'm like hmm how come i feel like this vibe it's not really something that i could translate

in my social media i feel like i feel like this is not an excuse, but it's something that I'm actively aware and working on is that it's kind of like tied to my background. So I used to work in corporate governance and risk management. So I used to work on a lot of like regulatory submissions. So the way that I write,

and on social media, there's like a lot of writing. So the way that I write is very corporate and it's very neutral. And I realized that it doesn't work for social media. It's like, it's too soft. And people tell me that, oh, maybe, you know, your, your content is like,

it's, it feels, sometimes feels like it's very factual and it's very true. There's a lot of truth, but sometimes it feels like very soft. And, but when I speak to you, I feel like, oh, you really get what I'm saying. Like you're so high energy. You know, I really feel I can vibe with you and stuff like that it feels like it's not really translating in the content and i thought it's kind of an interesting comment so i was like scrolling my linkedin and instagram the other day and i was like oh heck like this is so true because as i look at the content that i create i'm like okay this is just like me writing regulatory

papers in the past which is like everything is like, there's like a certain format. There's like a certain tone to it, which is, it's not exactly neutral, but it's kind of like making a point, but being polite. And I realized that, okay, on social media, this is actually like the boring stuff. Yeah. I mean, honestly, the corporate world is really kind of boring. Right. So, and I think that maybe, maybe the vibe of like the way that I'm writing

is kind of like not helping the cause. And I think that's also a reason why I'm in trans, you know, moving on to like the last category I want to talk about, which is basically my social media, which is LinkedIn and Instagram. And I think this kind of like alludes to the problem that I think I have with my social media. And if you're following me on LinkedIn, Instagram, thank you, because maybe it's someone who doesn't know what the heck I'm doing on social media.

So, I mean, getting to the point, as I was saying, I think this kind of like is actually shown in a lot of my social media content. I feel like the content is very, yeah, it's like me writing a report. I don't know how to explain it in a much better way it's just like me it's like me writing a report me right making a corporate presentation which is totally against whatever the social media people are teaching um i feel like the vibe is not really translated and this is something that i'm trying to figure out like what more i can do and i think that's also the reason why I sometimes feel not as motivated

and like not as hyped up in social media as compared to the podcast. Personally, I really, really love the format of a podcast because I feel like we have time to go in that. I can really explain what I mean mean i can give you more context and give you some examples because at the end of the day like nothing is black and white this like five tips do this that i'm like okay this doesn't work in real life and if you have tried it you would know so i think that the podcast kind of like gives me that the richness of my thought and i can really expand and like make it fully clear,

clearly explain what I mean. But this is something that is not really, it's not that it's not really, it's more like it's my problem. Like I don't know how to translate it. I don't know how to translate it to my Instagram and LinkedIn content. And I think this is something that I've noticed, but I have not quite found a solution yet. So this is something that I want to improve on in the next 12 months.

And I'm not sure if I will kind of like find that style and kind of like move into a space that it's very rah-rah-rah, you know, like very controversial, very provocative sort of like post because I don't think that's my style. I don't think that's who I am. And that is definitely not the kind of attitude that will make you successful in corporate.

So yeah, for sure. I think this is definitely an area that I want to work on in the next 12 months i think it is not overhauling but i'll say that bringing more of the podcast vibe right bringing more of the podcast vibes into the content right the depth the the in-depth element of the perspective the comments that i'm sharing as well as i think the energy and the vibe as well i don't know like when i speak to my corporate survivor members either it's in the monthly mentoring call or even the one-on-one call and you'll notice if you're part of the corporate survivor or you have signed up for the three-day trial like the vibe that you get like the excitement the vibe that you get in the program particularly in the monthly mentoring calls the one-on-one call is like way beyond what you get in the podcast and definitely at 100 times

beyond what you see on instagram and linkedin which is i think that there is a gap there and i don't really want for that to be a gap because because i'm one person i don't really i don't intend to sound different on different platforms. It's just, I feel like the moment I start writing, it's like the moment I start typing, I feel like the corporate mapping comes in. So I sound very corporate. I'm not even sure if I'm explaining it correctly, but that's kind of like how I feel. And kind of like looking back at the post that I've made, I'm like, okay, this is very corporate-y. So I cannot write in a very corporate-y way right now. And it's very boring.

It's very unexciting. And there's like no vibe and no energy. So anyway, I've rambled on for quite a bit already. On the career part, so as I was saying at the beginning of this episode, when I started the year with my corporate survival members, we actually talked about kind of like thinking about your life in five pillars. And those pillars are career, wealth, health, relationship, and lifestyle. So in the past 30 minutes, I basically talked about the career

element, which is for me, it's a career coach, career mentor, and obviously running my career program, The Corporate Survivor. So the other categories, I'm just going to go through it very quickly because obviously, you know, this is a careers podcast after all. So the next category is wealth. So I'm going to cover these few categories in the context of a career. So there's something that you can take on as well. So wealth, well, I think I'm doing okay.

However, I think definitely there is one thing that I intentionally decided, which is to not take any sponsorships or not, and to be more selective with collaborations. So, of course, right, not taking sponsorships and keeping the podcast ads-free. There is a financial opportunity cost for sure like i could take money and just promote you a bunch of like stuff which i don't want to so i've declined so this is i think an intentional decision on my part i want to to me i see the podcast as my playground. It's a space for me to share all my experiences and, you know,

all the insights, everything I've learned in the corporate world. It also gives me a chance to share with you that little tidbit of what I share with my members of my career program, right? For those of you who might not be as ready yet to get a taster of my style. So for me, the podcast serves like a very different purpose. And yes, I don't accept sponsorships. I don't take this kind of like collaboration sort of money.

But as I said, this is intentional. But of course, there's going to be a financial hit. But that's something that I've decided that I want to keep this free. I want you to be able to kind of like listen to it and get inspired by it, share with a friend, you know, come refer to it when you need it. That's my intention for it. So next category, next category is health.

So health is a category I don't think I did very well this year in general because I started this year very sick because I started this year very sick. I started this year very sick from February. Then I realized that I am actually anemic. So I needed to take care of myself. I needed to kind of like take medication, blah, blah, blah. I mean, we're not going to go into detail here but i think it kind of like give me some reflections on work as well to also pace myself sometimes because in this i would say job but i mean i mean this job in this career right now right it's not

it's not like a nine to five so it's like having your own i mean for me like having my own business running my own company it's like 24 7 and sometimes it feels like 25 7 right it's on and on and on and there's a lot of like focus and attention that sometimes it's not so easy to have that you know switch off switch off so this definitely has impacted my health for sure and i think that the fact of it's also like you know getting older and your body's not so efficient and stuff like that so definitely um my health was quite significantly impacted this year i mean not just you know from my career but it's just an accumulation of like bad habits and and i think at the beginning of this year, I think was it episode 205, where I talked about the life lessons

I've learned, like, you know, my 20s versus 30s and how, you know, when you're not so young anymore, right, there's a lot of like rah-rah stuff that used to, used to like pull all-nighters in your 20s that doesn't quite work out in your 30s and a lot of problems then kind of like start popping up in your 30s so this is something for sure like i need to improve on like work on in the next 12 months so in terms of what i think i did better health wise this year honestly i don't think that much maybe i started a little bit of exercise but not enough um i'll say this year in terms of like health update is definitely more negative than positive um and i think this is kind of like a good um a good reminder for myself to improve my health next year like i think exercise and like food sleep all these things and just like being able

to mentally relax i think there's something that i want to take on for the next 12 months okay moving on to okay what's the next category yeah relationships so i see relationships as you know you have your friends and family and to me they're also the professional relationships obviously right now i'm kind of like um you know doing the corporate survivor um i consider these um like i say professional relationship so i think for personal relationships one thing i definitely have realized is that like if something is important enough then you make time because everyone else is busy right i mean i am in my mid-30s right now probably next year i'll move

like closer to like you know 40s right like Probably next year, I'll move closer to 40s, late 30s, getting closer to 40. So one thing I've realized is that everybody has stuff to do. Everyone's busy with their life. My friends are all like, many of them are married,

they have kids, and our parents are getting older, and there's just a lot of stuff that's going on. And I think it's a win to even meet a close friend like once a year like it does even if you can find time but i think the good thing i've definitely noticed is that like when when you're close to one another even if you don't meet for a long time you can still talk for hours and i think that's something that

is worth appreciating it's worth appreciating for sure. Now, on to the other element around professional relationships. I think for me, for sure, it's boundaries. And this is something that I'm very aware of for a very long time. Because there'll always be people who come to me telling me that, you know, we can do this and that. Or like they want to appear on the guests on the podcast even though they have not even listened to the podcast at all or there are

a lot of people who come for 1001 reasons and promise to do this and that but um after you collapse certain things then it's like okay i forgot about this and that so my kind of like takeaway with professional collaborations is very similar to working relationships, right? Like your office working relationships, everything is professional. And there needs to be a lot of clarity. There needs to be a lot of black and white. And if things are not clear, then try to put it in black and white.

I always feel like emails are so useful because it's kind of like a button down so anyway i'm not going to go into detail about professional relationships but i think like that's kind of like my my high level takeaway and in terms of like where i want to do better for sure continue to be selective with collab partners because one thing also is that like right now, especially on social media, everything is very numbers driven. Like if you have the numbers,

then it's like, okay, you're perfect. If not, then, you know, you need to pay me to do this and that. I mean, it's a hot mess there. But anyway, we're not going to get so much into that. Now, moving on to the last category. So like I said, right, career health, career, wealth, health, relationships, and lifestyle.

So the last part is lifestyle um lifestyle i think um i think it's been good i think the biggest thing i did this year and it's something that i've previously done many years ago but for sure it's just like resetting and like decluttering my entire wardrobe my entire home and just making sure that there's not too much distractions around and i find it personally super duper helpful um in terms of like lifestyle i think also i mean i'm not a person that like has a lot of routine and i think that when you're when you're in a nine to five job there's a natural inbuilt routine that worked for me in the past but right now because i'm kind of like doing things on my own and i'm working from home most of the time so the lack of routine is definitely something i

need to improve on next year because right now it's kind of like hunky-dory like whenever i'm in the mood but you know it's like when you're waiting waiting for motivation to strike most of the time motivation doesn't strike and and while some people think that like my job you know podcast everything looks really fun. But when you think about wanting to share certain thoughts and stuff like it, it's still things that you need to kind of like think about, prepare, like mentally get ready as well.

So that's just stuff that's in, I would say that I think a little bit more structure, a little bit more routine to my lifestyle would definitely help me a lot because otherwise i'm a person that is like an it's like all or nothing it's like obsessed or don't care i'm that kind of person it's like zero or hundred don't care or hundred percent crazy obsessed so i think you know moving closer to that middle ground would be good for me. And this is definitely something that I want to take note next year. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to like fully change it because I've always been like this, you know, ever since I was young,

ever since I remember, I've always been like this. So I don't think I'll be able to change it, nor do I want to like fully change. But I think a little bit more routine, a little bit more structure would be very good. And that could start with the days that are designated to record the podcast versus me recording the podcast whenever I feel like I'm in the mood. And sometimes when I'm not in the mood, then I don't record an episode,

which then ties back to the first thing I talked about at the beginning of this episode, in which one thing I want to improve on this podcast is consistency so that's my that's my uh that's my 2024 year in review it's not particularly okay for sure it's not a well very well thought out episode but like I said I feel like it's so important for me to reflect for myself and actually to have sort of a I don't want to say an artifact but a point that I can refer to at the end of next year so that I can continue to reassess what I've done well and what I could do better. Because even though it can feel like a little bit uncomfortable, but I always believe that if you are ready to reflect and to recognize your mistakes and recognize things that you could have done better in the most honest way possible,

that is real growth. And it doesn't mean that you need to fix everything immediately you don't have to fix everything tomorrow or next week but just being aware that these may be mistakes this may be things that could be better but you that could be improved on i think it kind of like reminds me or you know remind you that hey you know it's one step at a time and even if i can't fix this in the next few months but i know that this is something that i want to work on and when the you know i'll prioritize accordingly right and then when the time that i get that is allocated for this then i'm going to work on it

so i start I started this episode by saying that I recorded this episode for myself, for my Corporate Survivor members, and for you, a member of my community online. So, if you're here, I really want to thank you for following me and for being

a listener of the Corporate Survivor podcast, or even being a member of the Corporate Survivor podcast, or even being a member of the Corporate Survivor career program. I'm really, really thankful to you. And it's because of you, I get to do what I do right now. So I'm going to wish you all the best in the new year. And I hope that all your dreams come true. And I'll see you in the new year.

Bye.