I’m saying what you already know: Never count anyone out. Don’t count yourself out. Don’t take the world’s appraisal of you and make it your own. Be aware of its appraisal—maybe the world has reasons for its reservations, maybe you should work on them. But maybe the world isn’t giving more than a cursory look; maybe it’s hardly looking at all. Even if it is, its estimation will likely lack a warmth of imagination. You may have to bring your own. And after the warmth, the work. Becoming who you are ain’t for sissies.
— Peggy Noonan, from "Becoming Who You Are Ain't for Sissies" (wsj.com, May 28, 2026)
Learn why successful professionals can feel stuck at work, what often causes career detachment, and how coaching can help restore clarity, strengths, and direction.
My strengths are directly evolved from my experiences with mental health and I owe this largely to work.
I am accepting. I don't judge people who are displaying symptoms. Often, in my hospital campus, there are people who are talking or smiling to themselves. They're not causing any harm or real disturbance.
I've only learned to embrace my mad bipolar self because of my peers in the ward or in care centres where I've learnt I'm not alone in facing mental health challenges.
I try to be kind. In group sessions when I'm facilitating and a peer veers off topic or can't stop talking, I try to gently bring them back to topic or ask them to let the next person speak.
I am artistic. I don't have any training, but when I apply myself, I often get surprised at the results.
I am mostly calm. haha. I laugh because that's obviously when I'm well only. In fact, with meds, maybe I'm too calm. I want to relearn fun (in moderation.)
I've retained my sense of humour and I don't care if no one else gets it. I can laugh myself silly if need be.
I'm still trying. I'm aware of my weaknesses. I will try to improve.
Aside from my comics, I feel these 3 have been my biggest project so far! This is a low-key ad as well for Gallup Strengths. Max, Lii, & Rel are personifications of my strengths from this talent assessment. If you want to learn more about Gallup Strengths and how it works for you, please visit, Gallup.com.
"Collaboration is all about individuals acting together to achieve a common purpose. But too often, it feels less like a group activity and more like a game of tennis." This sentence from an article on "obstacles to collaboration" represents how it is to collaborate with others.
I often naturally trust my teammates and i think that is one of my strengths as a collaborator. I'll always believe that everyone brings something unique to the group when working together. So even though ibecome the leader of the group, I never feel the need to control or direct everything which makes it easier to split tasks and work comfortable with one another. However, a weakness i noticed about myself is that i tend to hold back from voicing out my ideas especially when I'm in a new environment or surrounded by classmates I'm not really close to. This causes me to stay quiet even when I do have ideas to contribute to the group.
For example, during today's activity where we had to build a mini-monument, I was grouped with classmates who I haven't spoken to yet so when we sat together, we didn't really discuss much. I felt reluctant to share my ideas but as time went on, we did naturally star a conversation with one another and eventually started giving each other our ideas which led to our final design for our group's monument!
If i was given more time and paired with an unlimited budget to redesign and rebuild the monument, I;d start with redesigning the way the hearts are displayed. I would also change the way the messages are show by making only 1 heart that is a giant screen. With this screen, the public would be able to interact with monument by adding their won messages to it!
(303 Words)
Reference:
Tom May, 'Five Obstacles to collaborate on design projects, and how to overcome them' (26th November 2021)
When you're building a website for clients, you need to juggle a lot of things. It needs to be robust and adapt perfectly to all devices and
Collaborative Skills (Youtube with captions) - Melissa Quek (12th August 2021)
