Introspection

I've been neglecting this blog again. This is getting pretty cyclical now. I hover between eagerly posting my thoughts to share with friends, to hastily removing or editing posts that I feel do not reflect what the blog is or should be about.

In some ways, it kind of reflects what stage I am at in my life.

For the longest time, I'd been driving myself (and others) crazy, talking about how unsure I felt about everything. When asked about what career I'd like to do, where I see myself in 5 years, etc., I had no clear picture at all. Some aspects of each career option appealed, but not all. I had no idea what my own 'brand' was - what I stood for, what values represented me, and what I wanted to achieve in my life.

Recently, I've been thinking about this a lot, and perhaps the accumulative result of all this reflection, coupled with relevant and educational experiences has actually helped clarify some of my confusions.

While I cannot pinpoint exactly how I want to turn out, or where I eventually want my career to go, I can say that I am happy with how things are at the moment. I have become just that little bit more confident. How? Not by accomplishing anything per se, but by becoming more sure of myself and who I am. This is a necessary result of constantly looking to see the relationality between my personality, and the cultures within which I was raised.

The more I look inside myself and analyse my cultural backgrounds, the more I realise how strongly my values are linked to my heritage. The distinctive Chinese notions of filial piety and hard work, but also the equally distinctive Western values of meritocracy, freedom and autonomy. The more I look around myself, the more I understand about my own interests - whether they be professional, intellectual or otherwise. And one of those, in fact, is a deep-rooted interest in the way in which this British-Chinese dual cultural heritage heritage plays out, especially for British-born Chinese (BBC) like myself. So one of the things I got involved in was a London-based artist Mike Tsang's photography and text-based project, which looks specifically at the increasingly influential impact that BBCs have on contemporary British culture. This is especially close to my heart, and after having worked with some inspiring and influential Chinese figures in Britain (now by that I don't mean powerful and wealthy), I've begun to understand the significance of flying the flag for such an underrepresented yet potentially very influential minority in the UK. I think this'll be a theme in most of my blog, as it underpins all of my thinking.

I suppose you can never really expect to predict the future, nor should you expect to completely emulate someone else's success story. Stop expecting MBA books to hand over the precise pathway to success. Rather, being sure of your own values and understanding your cultural and personal story is key to harnessing your true potential, all the while remaining authentic to yourself.