I wanted to take a break from all the reviews to consolidate my thoughts. Birthdays tend to be a good opportunity to do a stock-take, and I’m lucky that mine’s in the middle of the year so I have a de-facto midyear review. COVID-19 has changed the background environment for me, especially with my addiction to traveling, but I’ve found myself developing other aspects of my identity and picking up new skills where I never had the time.

Twenty-seven is a weird age. It’s definitively past the younger-end of one’s 20s, and arguably past the mid-segment. Yet, we’re not in our 30s yet, a milestone that brings on more anxieties from the looks of my peers. Twenty-seven is like a warning call that your 20s are coming up and you’ve either got to speed up on maximising your youth or start preparing for the seriousness of life.

I think about the goals I set for myself last year. I told myself to create value, and think about redesigning my life for healthier and long-term options. These align well with my decisions over the last year. For one, I chose to move out of my parents’ place and live by myself. No one kicked me out – in fact, my parents have been pretty explicit that they would prefer for me to stay under the same room, especially with COVID-19 rampaging in the public. But I am 27, and while I am young and still have much to learn and appreciate, I am also at a point in my life where I want to have agency over my life and my decisions. I want to feel like the choices I make are mine. This normally also means that consequences often tend to be mine to own.

I’ve enjoyed living in my own apartment. I live in the city center so there’s vibrancy everywhere. I feel young, and plugged in. Chatter is everywhere and I am constantly being exposed to new ideas and discussions. My mind is expanding faster than even before, and that’s a significant bar in itself. I am dealing with payment plans, schedules and obligations – all important in building a backbone, and perhaps, most importantly, I encounter the oblivion of impotence on a daily basis. I must decide how my day goes. This very post took some time to getting to, but I had to sit down and decide to do it.

It’s likely that out of this, my doubling down on podcasting occurred. I now host three podcasts:

1. SGExplained
2. The Good Technologist
3. EDB Coffee Chats

The third came about from an invitation to host an internal podcast series to keep a buzz going on latest conversations. I am spending nearly six to eight hours a week editing podcasts, learning how to work Adobe Audition, and how to put together a narrative that influences and compels. It reminds me of when I started The Hidden Good and had to learn how to edit videos for YouTube on Adobe Premiere Pro. I enjoy learning, but more importantly, I love creating. The podcasting spree has allowed me to enter into a space while it’s still nascent, and shape something out of nothing. It has allowed me to innovate and experiment, where collaborations can still be free and the spirit is to grow rather than compete. I have enjoyed the breadth of topics I get to cover, and the guests that I get to interview are fascinating.

Since my 26th birthday, I think I’ve done pretty well. I drink less, I exercise more, I spend more times on calls with family and friends, and I am creating value in the small ways that I can. The year ahead should be a year of leveraging the hard work done to start scaling impact. I want to reach more people and tell more stories. I want to influence a generation of young people to create their own platforms for growth and take agency back for themselves. It’ll be an exciting year ahead. This blog shall be witness.