Ulog #55 | Managing expectations & finding solutions

I started my new job on Monday, 7 Oct 2019.

With mixed feelings, I began my journey with a new organization and learning once again the company's culture and getting to know my colleagues. There is no one here that I know so it's a total fresh start for me. And so are the expectations from everyone around me.

That's the thing about expectations; everyone has it although we pretend it doesn't exist. It comes from within ourselves and if we don't control or contain it, it can overwhelmed ourselves without us knowing it. I'm trying to hold back these expectations that I have and maintain a neutral observation while understanding the political game in this company.

Since majority of the top management are from SEA countries, speaking in English and Mandarin seems to be the norm. As compared to my previous company in which I was based in HCMC, there is more English speaking here and less Vietnamese. I had wanted to improve my Vietnamese but I guess I'll end up improving my Mandarin instead. Nevertheless, for the purpose of my local communication and survival in this country, I will continue to pursue my education in Vietnamese language.

I did something new yesterday, something which I never thought I would do.

Photo by Afif Kusuma on Unsplash

I took a Grab Bike from my office to my apartment! Yeah.. Tell me about it; in my office dress suit and carrying my handbag and laptop bag. Never have I thought I would end up doing it but for the sake of survival and managing my financial, this was unavoidable.

It was a strange ride, being so open to every form of danger on the road but I dealt with it. Guess this is call managing expectations and finding solutions around it. With no transport allowance for my day-to-day usage, I had to find solutions around it. Grab Bike is very common among the locals and very affordable too. I have seen many foreigners take Grab Bike too so that was some encouragement for me.

So, my new life has changed so drastically that people who once knew me may not recognized me anymore. The lifestyle which I'm used to have changed to suit my current work demands. But, that's how life is; always full of changes and it's up to us to find solutions around it and manage the expectations that we put on it.

In some way, this makes me stronger and since I choose to believe that I'm a survivor, I will work around it and not let it affect me in anyway. Afterall, it's not that all bad, there are some good perks from it😍

We just need to focus on the good!

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