Monthly Review | January 2025

Happy lunar new years, friends!

I hope 2025 is treating everyone well. 

As for me, the beginning of 2025 has been a whirlwind of emotions, to say the least. It began with discovering that my former company had mass terminated everyone within the company during the last week of December, leaving me jobless going into the new years. At first, I felt sad, scared and worthless, but as time moved on, I was at peace and I was much happier. 

As January is coming to an end, I thought I recapped some of my goals, what I learned about myself, and how I navigate this next chapter of my life. 

To start, I am not an overly ambitious person, but there is one mantra I have for myself in 2025, which is: I will have a successful business. That said, my goals for January were: 1) I want a new job (to fund my business) 2) I will edit and format my upcoming book (I started this project back in August 2024, but I put it in the back burner). 

When I was first laid off from my job, I took a step back and reflected on everything. Yes, I was upset, but I was relieved. During the first week of January, I got to decompress more and spent time with my family. I went to the movies to watch Wicked (huge musical theater fan here), had hot pot, prepared for Lunar New Year's with my family, reading books, as well as trying interesting food for the first time like Nanaimo Bars. 

nanaimo bars

While being unemployed isn't fun, during this time, I realized how tired and burnt out I was. There were days when I was actively submitting job applications, and there were times when I was feeling super tired, falling asleep for over 3 hours in the afternoon. This is when I knew I needed to take a step back to rejuvenate and focus on my health. 

As I regained my energy overtime, I continued scouting for jobs. To be honest, I started my job search since 2023 (I was fed up with my former company, which no longer exists), but I would mostly get ghosted or rejected. Knowing how terrible the job market is, I changed my strategy. I reformed my resume (modifying it from two pages to one page) and I ensured it had a high ATS score—I can definitely share some resources in future posts. Once I made those adjustments, I mass applied to various roles that I believed were best suited for me based on my past experience and skills. And then one day, I gradually started to get responses from employers, which I am happy to announce that after 141 applications later (with only 10 interview requests in total), I finally landed my next position starting on February 10th! Not to mention, during my spare time, I received my certification for QuickBooks Online, while running my business (working on my third non-fiction book, expected to be released in February!). 

From this experience, I learned a couple of things. To remain consistent and resilient. And most importantly, cultivating a positive mindset. Growing up, depression consumed my life. There were times when I had suicidal thoughts and some days it was difficult for me to simply get out of bed. However, near the end of 2024, I picked up a book called Ask and It's Given by Esther and Jerry Hicks (recommended by a certified hypnotherapist). After reading this book, I was able to find ways to help transform my mindset from a negative one to a positive one by employing techniques like pivoting; from then on, I continue to develop my mindset by listening to other manifestation podcasts. Hence, although job search is a brutal process, I was able to remain positive while I faced multiple rejections along the way; there were times when I felt discouraged (negative thoughts would occasionally creep in at times), but my mindset was able to bounce back more easily, blocking negative thoughts.

Now I mentioned my mantra for 2025 is to have a successful business. Having my own business was something I always wanted—especially since I was laid off and feeling the detrimental effects of being burnt out was not fun. So? From the lessons I learned in January and the evidence I've seen from the power of manifesting, I am excited to continue my journey in establishing my own business (I started this since Aug 2024, but it is not quite growing yet). I will remain resilient, consistent, and hopeful of what's next to come. 

P.S Here are some pictures from lunar news years!

coconut walnut rice cakes           cny dinner              animal cheesecakes