Man. I don’t even know where to start with Awesomeness Fest.
It was like, the BEST thing i ever went to… and there is SO much to tell about it, not to mention the HUNDREDS of pictures i took over the four days it happened.
I made so many amazing new friends-for-life from all over the world, from Africa to New Zealand.
I learnt, partied, laughed, cried, and EVOLVED.
I learnt SO MUCH STUFF, things which i’ve been sharing with lots of people since i got home, but i think it’s about time i start sharing it here with you all too 😀 Well, i’m gonna try to fit in as much as i can across a few blogposts. It”ll end up being an impossibly long post if i tried putting it in ONE!
OK OK breathe, phew! I feel so overwhelmed on where to start.
So i’ll start from the VERY BEGINNING.
I FIRST heard about Awesomeness Fest when i went to Mindvalley for an event in January.
Loved it so much i blogged about it *HERE*
After watching it i was like, “What the hell is this… i have NO IDEA but i WANNA GO.”
Here’s another vid to explain what Awesomeness Fest is (soddof)
After i decided i wanted to try to go, i found out how much it cost (RM6K) and thought HMM can i really afford this what with all the money i’m planning to pump into my business this year? And then thought OK I’m just gonna try, and if it happens then it happens. If it doesn’t then at least i know i tried to go.
So i took the first step by sending in an application. Yup. You can’t just pay and go for it, you have to fill in this form on what you do and what you think and why you want to go. Serious stuff. Basically they just want to ensure that they only accept the type of people they want to draw – people who are driven, want to or are running their own business/es, want to better themselves, want to contribute to the community/world. Every year thousands of applicants vie for only 250 spots in Awesomeness Fest. So you see… i wasn’t very sure if i could even GO in the first place.
Sent in my application. Got word that i passed through the first round (yay!) and was requested to schedule a Skype meeting for an interview. Once i got through the interview process then i’d be confirmed as an attendee.
Somehowwww it was SO hard to get that interview done. The person who was to speak to me was Lara Berg, who’s based somewhere in the US which simply meant the only window of hours she could interview me was 2-6AM Malaysia time -_- I canceled the first meeting cos i had too much work and not enough sleep. The second time was cos i was sick and needed sleep so badly. And she was SO nice that when i told her the truth, she suggested to do one at 7AM my time so it wasn’t so bad. I groggily woke up one morning, had a Skype chat with her and found out after that i was IN.
YAYNESS! Then was the paying part. I felt that paying for something that was going to help ME in my life, was money well spent. I also didn’t feel like i was being cheated cos Afest is a 100% non-profit event, and all the money they make from it gets channeled to 3 different charities globally.
Fast forward, and i’m at Afest!
I purposely took a Wednesday night flight so that i could catch the extra sessions on Thursday. Afest is Friday-Sunday but i figured it’s not like i have to take leave, and the Chinese side of me wanting the bang for my buck kicked in :p
I. am. so. glad. i went that extra day.
Thursday afternoon session was held by Lisa Nichols of Motivating the Masses, and perhaps THE most powerful speaker i’ve experienced in person! She’s been interviewed by Oprah and Larry King, and personally spoken to up to 10,000 people in one event at a stadium!
[[ crap. i have to go out now. i think this is gonna be one of those blogposts where i continue it when i can. TA! Happy WEEKEND!]]
Thanks to Jun-E from MESYM.com for interviewing me… i wasn’t very keen on it at first cos i don’t think i deserve the spotlight, considering the other personalities they’ve interviewed are doing crazy amazing stuff like saving sun bears, turtles and forests!
FYI, MESYM.com is a platform for environmental movements in Malaysia!
Those were the words i’ll hear my mother say whenever we got our Chinese New Year angpows as a kid – “Let’s save!”
We would count out the money carefully and bring it to the bank, followed by seeing first hand a satisfying row of numbers printed in our savings books.
What i didn’t know then is that a child’s savings under 12 automatically goes to “The Fund for Raising You.”
I was terrible at saving up till… a mere year ago.
Ok there, i admit it.
I’m really awful at saving money.
I earn, i spend, i earn, i spend, i earn, i spend.
That’s how i lived my life… throwing my money away on food, traveling, shopping, drinking, some things i don’t even remember now.
Some of my friends (like this one person whose name starts with K) shared how he saved RM500/month on his future children’s education fund… even before he met his WIFE. Talk about future planning! I was like, “Wow… i wish i was a bit savvier but oh well…. think of all the money i had right now if i started!”
That’s the thing about saving money… it’s so hard to do it cos i think of all the things i’d RATHER spend my money on to live NOW. But recently (yay me *sarcastic cos i don’t deserve that yay btw*) i REALISED how important it is to SAVE.
That little bit that i put aside every month actually turns out to be a FAIR LOT after 5, 10, 15 years!
It seems like such a LONG time but we all know how TIME FLIES now, and when you look into that account after a number of years, you’d astonished and rather proud on how you’re managing your own life like a true blue adult should.
I really do wish i started saving from when i STARTED WORKING.
If i’d started saving back then (even though i wouldn’t know what it’s for), well right now i’ll bloody well know – i’d stream more funds into my new business and projects!
So whatever age you are right now, i implore you to just save… cos one day,
you’re gonna figure out what you wanna do with your life,
have the courage for it,
and need the money for it. 😉
To stop myself from spending what i have (cos no matter how much you tell yourself you won’t touch a CERTAIN amount in your bank account, that just doesn’t happen), i ended up opening up a second account where my savings go into for my home loan. That’s one way of doing it. After calculating with my banker what happens even if i pay an additional RM500/month into my account, the difference in interest was so huge i thought to myself, “OK that’s it. No more silly splurging on WHATEVER i feel like!”
It feels so ridiculous after i do my annual accounting and wonder WHERE DID ALL MY MONEY GO.
All it takes for someone to save is a little push i.e. advice you read here on a blog,
or your parent or mentor sitting you down for a serious talk,
or friends talking about saving and making you ponder about your own savings.
In fact, TRY asking YOUR friends how they manage their finances!
That’s how i started saving in the first place… Aps and i would meet up for our regular drinks and spur each other on to save which is how we ended up buying an asset each (we both got an apartment one directly above the other haha).
Other little things that would give you the right push is all these promotions the banks have now and then, to get you to save.
Saving is never a bad thing, and if you’re gonna do it, you might as well get something out of it 😉
Right now, RHB Bank is having a promowhere if you just open a bank account with RM500 (how funny, i began writing this without even knowing their opening amount and it turns out to be the same i’ve been mentioning all along!), you’ll get a Mini Cooper S miniature!
With the RM500 you initially save, you can get a Mini Cooper S Miniature by being the first 300 who sign up AND stand a chance to win a Mini Cooper S Coupe (the real deal mind you) and other latest gadgets!
Well, you know what you can do with this right, you can put it somewhere funny like your bathroom, look at it, and remind yourself why you have it – to SAVE so you can do something so much MORE with your money in the future!
All you have to do is:
1) Open a new RHB Bank account with a minimum deposit of RM500.
2) Send a text message to RHB Bank at 36266 with the word “MINI<space>Account number.
The first 300 will receive one Mini Cooper S miniature!
My fashion blogger friend Wen of Fash-Eccentric has just launched her designer nail wrap label called Gummi Nails!
Gummi Nails are premium quality, easy-to-use, lasts up to 10 days and made in Singapore! All the designs are inspired by runway looks and global fashion trends so i foresee this is something lots of fashion lovers are gonna pounce on!
I haven’t been blogging about myself as much as i think i do i.e. blogging about things i THINK and things i talk to people and friends about when i’m out. Maybe it’s cos i feel like i have all this branded content queued up, some of which are friends’ businesses i want to support badly, but i’m gonna try my BEST to keep it real and blog about what’s going on in my head okay!
I have a crazy week which started today. Ok that’s not entirely true, i think my week started yesterday cos i had a work event on Sunday at 11am, and then a shoot at 3pm in Ampang. This Monday to Friday is so packed that i organized my week last Friday in the fear (fear is bad, go away fear!) that i wouldn’t be able to accomplish everything that’s on my plate. So i’m quite organised… or i’m trying my best to be. You should have seen me a five years ago = a disorganized MESS.
Now i write down every single thing i have to do from work stuff (blog jobs, visits to suppliers, shoots, meetings, events) to fun stuff (what days i can cook for Clem, which nights i meet up with my girls), and even mundane stuff (buy softener for laundry, pick up altered clothes at Sacoor, buy shaving foam and new books for Clem). JUST SO I DON’T FORGET ANYTHING.
Yesterday i forgot something… just because i didn’t write it down! I was going for a Darlie event, and the SharkSavers.org shoot after required me to wear a block colour with no patterns. I have SO MANY patterns in my wardrobe that choosing one block piece i felt like for the day took 10 minutes (i usually take 1 minute to decide what to wear). Decided on red. Drove out. And in the traffic, saw Sazzy’s instagram and wondered why she and Ringo were wearing white… and thought, “Oh shit.” Called Sue Ann from Nuffnang and discovered i wore the WRONG colour. Patah balik. Changed. Went out again -_-
So yeah. This is why i have to write everything down.
Else i cannot make it in life. *hugs moleskine*
Ok so since i’ve been so busy and have so many things going on in my head, it’s really easy to stress out.
My friends know.
There have been some random days i’ve expressed how stressed i am and ended up tearing (such a girl, sorry, no wait, i won’t apologise! it’s good to cry!). But in the end, this is all me. This is all my doing, all in my head. I’m responsible for how i act and how i feel. So i just have to learn how to control my actions and thoughts better. Oh man, it’s not easy. I’ve been trying this whole positive and conscious thing since last year, and it’s such an irony that the MORE you learn about philosophy and how you go about managing your life, the more the bad evil negative thoughts permeate and cloud my vision.
Recently i’ve been practicing being in the moment.
I mean, i’m sure lots of you have heard about ‘being in the now’, ‘being in the moment’, ‘live the present, not the future or the past’ etc. It’s easy to know it, but another to practice it! I feel i did it more NATURALLY when i was younger -_- (Thanks for stepping in, Maturity and Wisdom.)
So i was thinking to myself this morning, since i already have SCHEDULED out my entire week to the hour, i don’t have to think and worry about what i’m going to do NEXT cos i already know. All i have to do is concentrate on what i was doing in that precise minute and hour.
For instance, i had to steam iron clothes for orders that went out this morning (erm one-woman show right now remember) and i think that if this was last year, i’d be stressing and sweating and cursing while ironing it and thinking “goddammit! why do i have to iron this!?” But because i know this is my TIME to do it, i, well, kinda reveled in it, and thought instead of how happy i was to get these orders, thinking about how i love my customers, and how great that i could steam iron CLOTHES (COME ON, it’s your favourite thing Joyce!) instead of poring over paperwork i hated (read: ex-jobs).
Then from there, i decided that today, i’m gonna be as NICE as i can to EVERYONE. Which meant all the strangers i came across, cos today was dedicated to work errands so i was seeing noone i knew.
I want to note it down cos i want you to SEE how simple it can be just to be NICE and SMILE.
– i smiled and waved at the guard when i left, and he smiled a big grin back which got me all fuzzy
– i got to the post office and smiled at the cashier, and he asked me how come i didn’t come for a long time. I didn’t even think he remembered me! 😀
– i smiled at this little old Malay lady selling stuff cos i was having trouble finding a printer’s office, and as opposed to how she might have reacted to a girl with tattoos and a short haircut, she smiled right back and helped me out
– i smiled at the Burmese waiters who served me lunch and said “Jay zu ding ba de!” (“Thank you” in Burmese) and the nearby waiters laughed and called me clever in Malay. That was funny. I walked out laughing with them and to myself.
– i smiled at my regular money changer who’s just across the ATM machine when i went to withdraw money and he waved at me.
– smiled at my butcher and chatted to him (but i always smile at my butcher… a butcher is someone you should always have a good relationship with!)
– i smiled at the cashier in the supermarket when i went to do the week’s groceries, and i overheard her telling another cashier in Malay that i was really pretty (and i was like whatttt cos i wasn’t wearing a scrap of make up today) but i still managed to turn around with my cart and smile back again and say THANKS!
Then when i got home and had to do the more serious work, i felt so… ENERGIZED cos i already made so much positive contact with people just by SMILING.
Amazing.
I already do half the things i mentioned above on a regular basis, but i pushed it a bit more today by smiling at people i don’t usually bother to. And i swear, it’s like because i believed in my own positivity glowing out, in reality it bounced right back at me and gave ME the strength i needed to get on with my day as BEST i could.
