Saying Yes, And...

January 10, 2019



One of the many things I believe in is personal development, whether in the workplace or in day-to-day life. This is why whenever I can, I take online courses and watch Ted talks, and why I practice pole and yoga. If there's an opportunity to move, figuratively and literally, I take it.

Last year, I have reached a mini-milestone of surviving my career shift, and I couldn't be any more happy with this change. I genuinely feel like I made a good move and I'm enjoying what I've learned so far.

As part of my commitment to improve my skillset for my new role, I contemplated between joining Toastmasters or signing up for improv acting workshops. In the end I decided to choose the latter so I also get myself another creative outlet. Today is Jan 10 (well, Jan 11 now as I'm writing this just past midnight) and my first acting workshop just finished. I'm pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed all three hours, and how suddenly a group of strangers became such as good set of people that I very much felt secure with.

Going back to the reason why I joined--I've always been my first critic, and I acknowledge that there are areas within myself that if I can improve, I'd do a much better job in my new line of work. I did a total of four public speaking engagements last year and I wouldn't really say I was excellent at it. Certainly, 10 years of sitting in front of a computer as a programmer did not prepare me for that amount of public speaking. Add to that, I'm also required to talk to clients in my new role and for someone *introverted like me, it is one of the most difficult things to do.

(*I've had people telling me they don't believe I'm an introvert. My short answer is that out of necessity, I have forced myself to be an outgoing introvert. Still an introvert, and I still very much love not having to deal with people.)

Anyway, earlier today I finished the first acting workshop. I will then commence on an improv intro programme in March. I'm excited and I cannot wait to see the improvement manifesting at work.

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