“Taken together… the path to a life of meaning and significance isn’t to ‘live in the present’ as so many spiritual gurus have advised. It is to integrate our perspectives on time (past and future) into a coherent whole, one that helps us comprehend who we are and why we’re here.” –“When” by Daniel Pink
This May newsletter marks the one year anniversary of CoffeeWithJR’s blog and newsletter series. I want to thank all my readers that have supported me to reach this milestone. Your engagement and responses energize and inspire me to continue to share my insights, reflections, and stories.
In this blog, I reflect on my experience so far as a professional speaker and a content producer and share my thoughts as I would write in my journal, so there is no specific flow to it. There is a little surprise at the end 🙂
*** It definitely has been challenging to be self-employed, a freelancer, and a traveling professional speaker, but so far it has been very rewarding. It is challenging because unlike the traditional 8–to–5 job, it’s hard to know when I will have my next speaking gig and paycheck. I constantly have to push outside of my comfort zone and learn new things. For example with the COVID-19 lockdown, not only have I needed to learn to use the online teaching technology, but I have also had to figure out how to recreate an interactive and engaging atmosphere so that my webinar and online training won’t be boring. And it has been rewarding for the same reason – this line of work keeps me on my toes, it forces me to grow with time while responding to public demands and teaches me to be innovative and flexible with my ways of thinking. Even with a lot of uncertainty, it’s been exciting. I have also appreciated the opportunity to work, engage, and interact with diverse audiences across the country. I estimate that I have spoken in front of 1,000 people during 2019 in fourteen different states. And I appreciate the event coordinators that I have built professional relationships very much, some have become my friends.
The most rewarding part is the spark that I’ve seen in my audience’s eyes. A former professor of mine described the spark as the shining moment when everything clicks in the student’s brain and the student gets it. Right after the spark, you can see a subtle smile and brightness coming from their eyes. Normally, these students are the ones that come up to me after the presentation to talk to me. On average, I have witnessed two or three sparks per speech that I’ve given. Seeing those sparks is probably the best compliment that a speaker can receive because I know that I have gotten my message across and something is changed or about to change with that student.
*** I used to hate writing. Actually, I still don’t like to write, but after a year of consistent writing, I have developed a greater appreciation of its importance. Writing has given me more clarity about what I am thinking and forces me to examine my feelings. Even though I might have some great ideas and stories, writing also forces me to articulate these in a clear and precise manner.
*** Sometimes I wish English was not my second language and I could just write a simple email without worrying about making grammatical mistakes, so the words could just flow out of my head. Struggling with grammar and English has always given me stress in my life, insecurity, and imposter syndrome.
However, over the year, I have listened to authors like Susan Cain, Cheryl Strayed, Seth Godin, Tim Ferriss, Brene Brown, and Steven Pressfield share about their writing struggles and successes. I realize that every writer has their own unique and tough challenges when it comes to writing, even great writers like them. It is about how you handle and compensate for the challenges and not to succumb to the fear they present.
Fortunately, to make my writing easier, I have an amazing proofreader/editor that has been helping me out. Psychologically, knowing that I have a proofreader, I can feel the pressure and stress behind my writing decrease tremendously and I can write freer.
(If you are looking for a proofreader and/or editor, feel free to check out mine. Her name is Megan and she has been helping me since the beginning.)
*** So far writing these blogs and newsletters has been therapeutic for me. I don’t quite know how to explain this feeling. Even though I dislike writing a lot and often hit writer’s block, once I have started writing and I am in the zone of writing, it feels amazing in the sense that I feel focused and relieved.
*** Every month after I blast out my newsletter along with my blog about a dozen of my readers respond. And the readers that respond differentiate every month. I am always intrigued by how what I’ve written draws different reactions. So far, all the reactions have been positive and encouraging for which I am extremely thankful. So please continue to give me your feedback. I love to hear what you are thinking.
*** My favorite part of putting together the monthly newsletter is selecting the pictures that go along with the blog and my monthly updates. This process of deciding, matching the pictures with the content gives me another opportunity to examine and reflect on the purpose and themes of my writing.
*** Of course, my all-time favorite photo is:
Lola Photo by JR Kuo
Top Photo by Javon Swaby from Pexels
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