Yesterday, HR asked me to complete a training request form for my team. That form also required me to write down my career background; start from my total working experiences until total years of managerial experiences. When I wrote down the answer, it reminded me that this month is the 8th anniversary of my career! January this year was also the 5 years mark of my career at managerial level. It brought a smile on my face knowing how many years I’ve survived this bumpy road.

Do you know what else amazed me? Just a few months before my 8 years mark, I was promoted from Senior Manager to Vice President 🙂 I knew that if I worked hard enough, I would make a great career; but being a VP before 30 was beyond my imagination! When I planned my career path 8 years ago, I never thought that I would make it this far by now.

After submitting the form, I looked back to the past 8 years, and I asked myself, “What makes this promotion feel so great?”

The new remuneration? Not really.

The new tittle on my Linkedin profile? I don’t think so. Some colleagues even told me, “I thought you were a VP already! You did a VP work all this time.”

Then what is it? What makes this promotion mean something to me?

This promotion is simply a reward to me. Not from the bosses, not either from the Company; I believe it’s only from God and from myself for all the hard works I’ve done.

It’s for all the sleepless nights.

The stress, depression, crazy pressures and all those – nearly – impossible demands.

The tears and disappointments when I tried hard and failed.

The struggles and exhaustion to hang on, rise again, and win again.

This promotion makes me feel good knowing that I didn’t work hard for nothing. Knowing that there would always be a rainbow after the rains. Knowing that all I’ve got to do is just to learn dancing in the rain!

Do you know what else I’ve learned in the past 8 years?

I’ve come to learn that everyone can change their life. From a crazy packed public bus to a comfort city car. From a super hot and dirty house to a comfort bed at night. And from never been anywhere to travel around the world!

I’ve also learned that self development, work satisfaction, and happiness are much more important than just a salary package and a fancy title on your business card. At the end of the day, they’re all the things that will put a smile on your lips a lot more often than just a monthly payslip can do.

And the most important thing, I’ve finally learned the hard way that a perfect career doesn’t exist on earth. There’s no such a thing like a perfect company, perfect boss, perfect co-workers, perfect team… And no matter how hard you work, there will always some things at work that upsets you, knocks you down, and makes you ask this to yourself, “After everything I’ve done, it’s all that I get?”

Right before I thought it’s all I’ve got along my career journey, I looked at my Path timeline and smiled. Here’s one other amazing thing I’ve had at work: no matter where I work, I always have a few people that ended up as my best friends. Many other people may resent me for doing the right things, but these people will always be there to back me up. And when it felt like me almost giving up, knowing that I already have these amazing people work with me in this Company always makes me want to hang on a little bit longer and longer. Who says you can’t be friends with your own team? They will still piss you off sometimes, but so do all other friends outside the office, don’t they?

People says, fairy tale does not exist in the real life, yet somehow to me, my career has given me my kind of fairy tale. I’ve seen how it has changed my life, not literally a magic, but it turns me from an ugly duckling to a girl living her own dream. Believe me when I say, I just cannot ask for more.

Happy 8th years anniversary to me!