STIMY #53

Year of Travel

Read past STIMY Newsletter editions & subscribe here!

👋🏻 STIMIES,

Can I be honest?

↳ I never thought I’d enjoy Japan.

The first few times I came, I was ready to go home after a week.

Which I've always found to be weird (for me)

I love travelling and being in new environments but there was just something about Japan that made me go, “No, I’m good. I’ve had enough.”

Then some dear friends moved to Japan (👋🏻 Saran & Jared!) and they invited me to stay with them to experience the ‘digital nomad’ life for a couple of weeks.

So I said yes.

And it turned out to be the best experience of 2024!

As it turns out, being a tourist and living as a (temporary) “local” are two very different things.

Which is why I found myself back in Japan a couple of weeks into 2025. 😆

The first of many trips planned for this year.

Last year was my Year of YES.

This year, I’m making it my Year of TRAVEL.

I’ll still be saying YES to lots of things, but I’ll also be based in the UK, US and Canada for a fair bit.

First up is the UK in 2 weeks - if anyone is around, do hit me up!

I’ll be around for a couple of months and would love to reconnect with old friends, make new ones, join communities (I really want to find creative/writing/storytelling-related ones), host events etc.

I'll be sharing my experiences in this newsletter (+ more daily snippets via my old travel account, vidadeliya, which I really need to resurrect & consider whether it should be rebranded lol).

So keep your eyes peeled for more updates!

P/S: If you want to be part of the STIMY Community Directory, submit this form instead.

I'll add you to the Directory & give you access too!

STIMY Event: CNY edition

The first STIMY community event happened last week.

This was a special Chinese New Year edition co-hosted with some of Malaysia's top community builders (+ former STIMY guests) including TEDxKL, MrMoney TV (Peter), Malaysianpaygap (Prestine), HERizon (Jesyka), and so much more.

There was a ton of food, a mini panel session and of course... lousang. 😏

4 hours flew by just like that.

Special thanks to Daniel Cerventus for bringing us all together!

P/S: Want to get updates re the next STIMY event (likely happening in London)? Hit REPLY to this message and I'll give you the link to join our Telegram group!

Want to grow your personal brand?

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This is a beta launch so if you join now, you get a 50% discount as thanks for believing in a product that doesn't yet exist 🥺

You also get to build BYW with me!

Tell me more about BYW!.

LinkedIn Personal Branding Corner

Here some of the most viral LinkedIn threads published in the last week or so:

Personal Branding Tip

Your age isn't your enemy.

It's your superpower.

𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠: "Everyone has 20+ years of experience. I have nothing to offer!"

𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠: "Everyone has a unique perspective. That CEO is going to want to know what young 20-year-olds care about. I can share that in public!"

Here's how you can get started:

1️⃣ 𝐒𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐆𝐨𝐚𝐥
↳ Announce on LinkedIn that you will "Master ChatGPT in 30 days"

2️⃣ 𝐃𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠
↳ E.g. what you're learning, struggling with, milestones etc.
↳ Take photos, videos, screenshots of your own experiments/learnings from other YouTubers etc.

3️⃣ 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐲
↳ Set a schedule for yourself, e.g. 8am every Monday & Wednesday
↳ Avoid writing essay; make it a quick diary entry (albeit public!)
↳ E.g. Quick wins, failures, favourite resources

4️⃣ 𝐑𝐞𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐞
↳ At the 30 day mark, ask yourself: What did you learn? Did you enjoy? Do you want to keep going? What have you gained (both tangible/intangible)?
↳ What else do you want to learn?

5️⃣ 𝐒𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥
Because your learning should never stop.