So, what have I done all year?

Well, am not sure about you but 2019 has flown by and here we are on the 31st of December, a day of reflection.

This was a year of great changes for me, both for my career and my personal life. I started the year by leaving DBS bank and Singapore behind me to focus more on my hobby projects. This caused quite some attention and even became one of the most read stories of 2019.

Now I prefer the word hobby to “side-hustle” as for me, my side projects are always something I am passionate about, am not doing them just to make money or advance my career, am doing them because they are fun and meaningful.

Anyway, my hobby project of building social enterprises got more of my attention and this year has been a great year for growth for both Hotel Orangutan and Pulau Weh Paradise, which is where I now live.

This was also the year where I got recognized for these projects by being listed in the annual celebration of the 100 most socially impactful leaders globally, who are combining profit and purpose to help achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. 

In Janauary I formally took on the role of Chairman at the neo wealth fintech I co-founded with my good friend David Pettit and have put a lot of energy into the business to help take it forward to what is now, a very profitable and high revenue fintech company only after 18 months of commercial operation. Expect some seriously big news from PictureWealth in 2020 on how we are bringing financial happiness to the world.

As many of you know I really enjoy public speaking and this year was my transition to be a paid speaker, this was something I had some concerns about. Would conferences still want me now I didn’t work at DBS anymore? Also, what I am to talk about now if it isn’t about DBS?

Thankfully my new talk – “The future isn’t digital” has worked out well and fits nicely with my contrarian personality. This culminated in having the honor of speaking at the Aswan Forum this month, a gathering of Africa’s presidents, senior business leaders, the UN and for some reason me. It was mind blowing attending an event where they literally closed off a whole section of the river Nile and had an island dedicated to this convention. I will write more about this shortly, but to give you a teaser, my message was “Financial inclusion is dead”, watch this space.

This was also the year where I moved into elder statesmen territory and was incredibly excited to join the fintech advisory board for Razer. Being an ex-games developer and daily gamer, I couldn’t have found a more interesting position and look forward to engaging with my other board members and the bright sparks at Razer.

Finally, due to me having more free time I was able to spend a lot more time with my friends and family and even managed to build a relationship with a very special lady and got engaged.

So what I have I leant through this significant year of change?

Firstly, be brave, you only get one short life that can literally end in a heartbeat (or lack of), make the most of it while you can.

Secondly, you never realize the impact you make while you are making it. It’s only now I’ve slowed down a little that I have had more time to engage outside of my former circle that I’ve realized how many people are interested in my work and have kindly asked me to work with them on some very interesting projects.

Thirdly, I realized that I hadn’t grown for a while as had been focused on my banking career so deeply, now that I am the most junior person in the room again it feels great not knowing all the answers.

And the final thing I learnt was from the reknowned modern philosopher Beyoncé…

“If you like it, then you shoulda put a ring on it”

Happy New Year to you all ??