A New Chapter

It's been a while seems I wrote. I was busy with family issues, and preparing for the PMP exam in the last 2 weeks. Finally, I achieved PMP (Project Management Professional) today. That's one of my New Year Resolution achieved. Not too bad for a good start to the new year.

Tomorrow my sabbatical will come to an end, and I will be starting a new job at ModusLink. Looking back, I am grateful for my decision to take this period away from work; despite the lost of income, the knowledge and insights I have gained far outweigh what money can buy. The time away from the daily hassles has also allowed me to lucidly see my past successes and failures,, and understand my strengths and weaknesses.

I have learnt the value of reading widely and frequently. Reading expands horizons and allows me to see previous blind spots. It was like what Chris had said, "overcoming the peak of the mountain and seeing a fantastic view beyond ". However, only when we had surmount the peak, do we understand how blind we were before; and how much we were circling around, making the same mistakes. It seems that we were so stupid.

Through reading and reflecting, I realise I'd made many mistakes in my previous job. I held many negative perspectives, and failed to see them. Perspectives drives thoughts and emotions, which in turn drives our actions. My negativity made me a very unhappy person.

My concern now, as I start this new chapter, is to make sure that I do not fall back into the trap that I was in. As the demands of the job and the hectic pace kicks in, I must continually review my perspectives and remember lessons learnt during this sabbatical; use them to guide me on this new journey. Hopefully, I can maintain the composure and the empathy that I have gained.

I hope to still make time to read. There are still so much more that I have yet to learn. Hopefully, the learning continues...