Understanding Yourself is the First Step to Finding Your Path

Everyone has done some sort of a personality quiz these days as one cannot scroll through their social media feeds without being inundated by the many quizzes purporting to help them unveil their innermost personality traits or discern how ambitious they are based on the food order they create.

While most of these quizzes are just for fun, there are plenty of legitimate psychological assessments and resources used by psychologists, career counsellors, and employers that people use to get to know themselves better. These assessments can also help one have a better understanding of different perspectives and in building healthy relationships with others. This year, the 100 Wishes team at YWLC worked with SHINE Children & Youth Services on a series of web-based workshops for underprivileged ladies aged 13-21. The program’s focus is on helping the young ladies to better understand their personalities and motivators in order for them to live life to the fullest.

Partnering with CareerSocius, a Singapore-based social enterprise that helps job-seekers in Singapore maximize their career potential, participants attended two interactive workshops – “Who am I” and “What motivates me?”, with the focus of helping them better understand their personalities, motivators and build self-confidence.

YWLC members Shermin Ho, Joanna Chung, Rachel Tan and Crystal Chong also volunteered to share their own diverse experiences and self-discovery and development journey with participants during the Big Sister sessions.

Some of the 100 Wishes workshop attendees

Here are some key takeaways over the three weekends:

1. Understanding yourself is the first step to achieving your goals and improving your relationships – What are your strengths and weaknesses? What are your thought processes when you make decisions? With the help of online personality assessment tools such as Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), strive to understand who you are better as a person. This will help you to achieve greater self-awareness, and explore what careers are suitable depending on your passions and personality types. Not only that, you will have a better appreciation of other personalities which will help to improve relationships. You can do a free MBTI test here.
   

2. Love and be yourself – No one is perfect and there is no better personality than the other. The world is full of diverse characters and everyone plays a part in making society what it is today. We should learn to embrace our quirks and appreciate each unique individual as they are.
   

3. Do not be afraid to take risks and chances – Be open to new opportunities, always be curious about the world and explore as many things as you can to find out where your passion lies. There is no need to follow the wolf pack or be afraid of taking the road less taken. Even if you fail, there will be learning and growth. Often in life, you may not get what you hoped for or expected. You will learn to pick yourself up and in the process, come to know what you value better. A line that struck participants the most throughout the course of the three workshops was by one of our members Shermin Ho, when asked how does one know whether they’ve found the right job during this journey of exploration.
   

“You have found the right thing when your body, mind, and soul is aligned and in congruence.”

As we progress along our individual paths, be it in our personal or professional lives, that is something we can keep in mind.

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100 Wishes, a key pillar of YWLC’s Social Impact subcommittee, collaborates with various non-profit organisations in Singapore. The goal is to offer avenues and opportunities for marginalised women and children in Singapore to upskill and make meaningful changes to their educational, career, and life goals. Besides the SHINE Children & Youth Services, they have also partnered with Star Shelter, Singapore Anglican Community Services and Casa Raudha Women Home. For more information, visit the website here or drop us an email at impact@ywlc.org.sg.

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Organising Committee: Social Impact

Organising Team: Amanda Lye, Stacey Chua, Lim Kai Ning

Guest Speakers: Rachel Tan, Joanna Chung, Crystal Chong, Shermin Ho

Workshop Facilitators: Serene Cai, Ong Chin Hwee, Felicia Foo, Jeanie Sim, Liesa Desisca, Ng Shu Ping, Chua Khai Shing

Author and Photo: Teng Yitong

Editors: Audrey Tim, Joey Ong