GIC x NYC x TTC Sessions: How Can We Ready Ourselves For A New Normal of Work in Asia?
Session 1: Take the long-term perspective (19/10/2020)
“Long-Termism is about thinking in years and decades, not months, weeks, days. This is a big competitive advantage.”
Rather than chasing short-term distractions, I should focus more on long-term investments that would benefit me in the long run. I used to be extremely sucked into the world of social media, always having the itch to check my phone to see if there had been anyone that liked or commented on my post. I could spend hours just continuously scrolling mindlessly until I realized that I had been spending too much time doing so. I had always done it with the excuse of destressing in mind but never controlled the time.
When I knew that these distractions couldn’t go on any longer, I deleted them off my phone and suddenly I didn’t have the itch to scroll anymore. There is still the occasional Youtube videos, Running man episodes to help me to keep my mind off the stress but the addiction I had to social media had substantially decreased. Instead, I spend more time listening to podcasts and reading the CNA news, trying to get my general knowledge up to date. Though I feel a little disconnected from my friends, I keep the important ones in my inner circle and frequently text them.
I realize the benefits that I could gain by utilizing my time more productively, rather than waste it away on content that wouldn’t value add to my life. I will keep this lesson in mind and frequently check up on the things that I am doing in a day, constantly asking myself if this could benefit me in the long-run.
Session 2: Focus on value (26/10/2020)
“To make wiser choices, don’t focus on Price. Focus first on Value”
I believe that everyone has value, everyone has something to offer to the world. I try to learn from others because they would have different life experiences from myself and might be able to teach me something.
The session suggests 3 practical ways to focus on value first:
- Pay the price to build up professional and personal moat with things of long-term value
- Don’t overvalue or overprice yourself
- Don’t undervalue or underprice yourself
But I would believe that for myself at this age, though some prices are expensive, I am able to handle them. Mostly due to the fact that I am young, I don’t have a lot of responsibility and hence, should venture out to find high-value experiences. This can help me to continuously build upon my value and eventually, be able to negotiate my price.
But before anything, I would have to know my own value first. What do I have to offer?
I did some self-reflection on my past experiences. Hard skills: Fundamentals in Python, Go, C++, C#, Java, Web Development. Soft skills: Professionalism, Leadership, Adaptiveness, Willingness to learn. I might not be extremely proficient in every one, but I am constantly trying to improve on myself to become a better-valued individual. Sometimes, doubts do start to creep in and I start to stress over the imposter-syndrome, but it is assuring to know that there are many others out there — no matter their age or experience — who face this problem as well.
As of now, I am learning Go Language part-time to further my programming skills, interning for SWITCH 2020 to expand my social network, teaching under Roboto Academy to instill programming fundamentals in the younger generation, and will be taking my SAT on 5th Dec. On top of all these, I would try to attend smaller courses in my free time, learning about JavaScript, PHP, Flutter, and entrepreneurship to further increase my value (and portfolio of course).
All in all, this was the session that I liked the most because it made me reflect the most. I now have a clearer goal to work towards and that is, to not waste my 20s, I want to work/intern for start-up companies and contribute value to them as much as I gain from the experience. Hopefully, these opportunities could be overseas, so at the same time, I would be able to indulge in the culture of other countries and have the actual local experience.
Session 3: Leverage your strengths (2/11/2020)
“Turning a talent into a strength requires a long-term intentional investment of time and a willingness to pay a high price for this high-value outcome.”
This session had made me think about my strengths and building upon them, rather than fixing my weaknesses. I do partially agree that being a Master of one skill is important, but I am more of a Jack of all trades. I studied for a Diploma in Information Technology but I am interested in a variety of things. I joined NP Ambassadors because I liked planning events and managing the details of them. While I had gone to a Bangkok startup for my internship because I was interested in entrepreneurship.
But anywhere that I go, I constantly feel that there are so many Masters in that field and I start to doubt whether I could ever reach that advanced level of experience. Those who have an interest in just a smaller variety of things are able to utilize and focus on those few, making them able to obtain a more in-depth understanding of and strength in it.
I would like to say that my strength is in coding, but there isn’t 1 particular language that I am extremely strong in because I experiment with many others. I know that my current skill level is not ideal for industry standards yet but I would like to try to attain it. I can only work towards the future that I want and eventually turn these interests into a strength.
Session 4: Be risk-aware (9/11/2020)
“How do I begin to be risk aware, not risk-averse?”
In our everyday lives, we have to make countless decisions. There are some that take up more time and mental energy to decide on, mostly because they might have a bigger impact on our lives.
We start to weigh the pros and cons to determine which route to take, and more often than not, we find ourselves stuck at the crossroads. Both ways seem to somehow fit with our vision and goals, but choosing one would mean forgoing something important that could be found in the other.
I do normally find myself in such a situation, though I pride myself in being an extremely practical person, there are some decisions that can’t just be made with logic.
Attending the session about focusing on value had made me more conscientious about the choices that I had made in the past, allowing me to reflect upon myself and my previous thought process. In the session, they had mentioned about sometimes
Session 5: Prepare, Don’t Predict (16/11/2020)
Practice being curious about your relationship with change.
Talking about the recent US presidential election, there are many out there that have tried to predict the results. Some are saying that Ohio would predict the next president because they haven't been wrong since 1964, some are relying on a monk’s predictions and I am guilty of that as well. But none of us have PREPARED for the results when either Biden or Trump wins.
In the session, it was mentioned that people often hold on to predictions because it gives them a sense of control in a non-deterministic situation.
Therefore, this is exactly why we need to prepare.
We need to prepare for the possible outcomes that might happen, we can’t risk our everything on 1 choice and hope that it works out. We need to have exit plans and plan ahead because life is unpredictable.
Not saying that we have to hoard everything right now. But there needs to be a balance, we can’t over-prepare or under-prepare. Applying it to my life, next year when I apply for my University courses, I can’t bet that I would get into NTU CS, so I would apply to NUS and SMU as well. For scholarship options, I have applied to a wide variety of them (eg. DSTA, SAF, CSIT, SG Enterprise…) to increase my chances of getting 1 that could offload my financial burden during my studies.
Conclusion
After the 5 sessions, I have become more aware of the goals that I should work towards and how to better attain them. I have learned more about myself as well, some of the decisions that I have made, I understand that there was a thought process that I didn't realize had existed before. I will continue to apply these 5 values to my life, especially during this journey, and make more conscientious decisions to become a better individual.
