When a door closes another one opens up, see you later Singapore!

If we are to ask amongst ourselves ‘How has 2020 been so far?’ I’m very certain that the words that resonate for all of us are challenging and unexpected.

Being honest, personally I was seeing Covid-19 as a virus and a threat for my health but with no further impact in my other areas in life (work and family). Little did I know that I was  under the influence of the optimistic thinking bias underestimating the probability that Covid-19 will impact my life.

It all started, as some of you in my network might already know, when my life went through a big challenge and 180 turn a bit more than a month ago, while battling this global pandemic.

The ball started rolling when my couple's office revenue had been so impacted by Covid-19 that they had no other option but to lay off all its employees, including him. 

The first hit had arrived and our Singapore plans started to shake given that our immigration status’ are linked to our jobs. As foreign work permit holders, we quickly had to find a way around that challenge and brainstorm on what could be done for him to stay legally in the country (with Covid-19 you don’t want to be on a tourist visa in Singapore without having the certainty that the government will cover for your medical expenses should you get infected). We troubleshooted for a week as the two of us didn’t want our times here to be over both professionally and personally (we had recently moved into a new apartment and wanted to enjoy the place and the trips around this beautiful part of the world for a bit longer!).

On top of all that, the second hit came and our plans changed again the following week when I was  communicated that I was affected by the 5% reduction in force at Grab. That announcement came as an earthquake and was the definite turn to our 180 degrees change into my couple’s and my life since it directly affected our immigration status in the country.

This was the first time I was experiencing a company wide reduction in force in my 6 + years of working experience. Personally, I was also experiencing for the first time such a sudden and uncontrollable change in my life. Specially for someone like me who is veeeery keen on planning and organising ahead (those of you who know me probably have stories popping up in your heads that validate that fact!). 

A few examples of my long-term plans in Singapore included: enjoying the apartment we had just moved in and its pool, discovering different areas in the city, being able to use aaaall the credit vouchers in airlines that we haven’t been able to use while the traveling hasn’t resumed, keep on enjoying time with the network of friends that I had built while keep on being outside of my comfort zone and exposed to very different learnings.

I would be lying if I said that I didn’t feel that my life was shaking once I no longer had a job. In other words, my mind felt like a ceiling fan (and it sometimes still feels like one) while I was processing the news as I sensed that something very precious had suddenly vanished. Furthermore, this time (as opposed to my previous times in my career where I had actively moved on professionally) it was the end of a job that I was highly enjoying, in a thriving environment surrounded by amazing and very capable colleagues. Clearly, the decision to leave didn’t come from my end. 

As painful as it was and it has been, it has also been a huuuge resilience learning and a challenge to my ever so organised part. It has taught me that no matter how much you plan and replan, life will take you where you are supposed to be (this topic could cover an entire article, i’ll leave it here for now). Having said that, my partner and I both clearly felt that this was a sign from life that our Singaporean adventure had come to an end and it was time to go back to our beautiful Barcelona.

Having made the decision of relocating back and ending the circle in Singapore (I like to look at every experience in life as a circle), flashed me all the learnings that I have come across while enjoying (and sometimes battling) this exciting life experience.  Singapore has definitely been one of my biggest learning experiences that I have had so far in my life. When I look back I feel it has felt as a time of end to end accelerated growth both personally and professionally. So you can imagine, it’s not been easy to say bye and  give to closure to my Grab and Singaporean life adventures.

Here are my biggest learnings after almost 2 years navigating in this experience; those that touched me and helped me be a better partner, human and colleague.

Learning 1: Don’t let others tell you that you can’t

When I decided that I wanted to move to this tropical country and join my partner on this life adventure I was very surprised at the amount of recruiters and people that I spoke to that mentioned how difficult it was to land a job in Singapore (and some of them even pointed out that it could take me up to 1 year to find one) . That deeply discouraged me and made me rethink how doable my objective was, as well as if my capabilities and experience would match any qualified and fulfilling job.

Having in my mind the motto that no matter how many no’s I received it was all a matter of receiving one yes to achieve my objective kept me on being proactive and gave me the energy  to continue reaching out to people. Looking back I clearly see that my proactivity, persistence, energy and adaptability were key in securing my job opportunities in this country. I was even able to choose between different job offers and change companies and industries following my objective of finding a purposeful project in such a different cultural environment.

Be persistent on what you want and fight for it. Don't let others tell you how difficult it is without you even deeply trying.

Learning 2: Be open to look at your transversal skills an inner rainbow

This is a piece of advice I would often share with people who would reach out to me asking me for advice on the Singapore job market.

Realising that I had to broaden my search and not only look for those roles that I was familiar and I had done back home allowed me to not only test my different skill set but also getting outside of my comfort zone and boost new capabilities. I soon realised that cultural differences play a big role when looking for a job in Singapore as the roles and responsibilities vary widely from country to country. More in detail, the role I had in Spain, here it was considered to be for someone 10+ years of experience as it was covering a wider range of responsibilities.

Thanks to having  had various different roles and responsibilities while in Singapore, I feel I have been able to boost my transversal skills and build, develop and execute projects that I was not familiar with, but I had the capabilities of doing. Be brave and believe in all the array of skills that your inner rainbow has.

Learning 3: Transform frustration into opportunity

How many times would I have complaint about things in Singapore not being as in Spain? And I left (amongst other things) because I wanted to explore a different culture! 

Despite its heat (and my hair getting crazily frizzy), it’s outrageous prices for wine and western products and the cultural differences there are between the western world and Asia, the moment I stopped looking at that as annoyances but rather as opportunities and all the different things that Singapore could give me that Spain hadn't, I started to feel content and connected to the country. I was able to transform frustration for the cultural differences into amusement and fascination for the different asian cultures.

Appreciation for Singapore’s safeness, efficiency, cleanliness, multicultural environment, crazy food scene, being able to wear summer clothes all year round and travel to exotic and tropical destinations! Changing the lenses of my glasses helped me appreciate my surroundings and enjoy the doughnut and not whole.

Learning 4: Put your own mask first

I have always been someone highly interested in well-being practices, but it wasn’t until this life experience that I deeply understood the importance of self-care. 

These years despite rewarding, have also not been easy and have definitely been challenging. Being able to embrace and take time to take care of myself has helped me navigate through the difficulties that I’ve encountered.

Being able to put my own mask first has allowed me to prioritise my well-being to be ready to support and be there for others. That has come in the form of spending quiet time with myself (which I have discovered that I deeply enjoy compared to my busy social schedule I had back home), going away from social media, immersing myself in a novel, boosting my creativity by cooking and experimenting with real food, daily journaling to express my emotions and find self-expression, practising yoga and sport on a daily basis, meditating and building rituals and a set of tools to be able to listen more to my inner voice and intuition.

Prioritising on building these tools that bring me joy and get me closer to my best version have been my mask. They have helped me stay authentic and alive.

Learning 5: Be patient my friend

In this world of convenience where we live in which everything is due to yesterday and where we can get something delivered to our houses immeeediately no matter what time in the day, being used to wait and embracing patience is a difficult skill to build.

As much of a cliche as it may sound, whatever is rewarding in life takes time. Being patient and trying as much as possible to be present in the journey and focus on what you are doing on a daily basis is a powerful skill. Things will eventually turn out and at some point they’ll even become a pixel out of a big picture. And, if they don’t end up being as planned,  there will be be an amazing learning journey for you ahead and something else awaiting for you.

So, be patient and be ready to trust and surrender to what life has ahead for us!

Final thoughts

I don’t want to end this piece without deeply thanking to all of those Grabbers and ex-colleagues whom I have crossed paths with, that have shown tremendous heart, love, support, empathy and compassion. Thanks for helping me during these difficult and transient times. For spending time together over coffee or drinks, for writing me recommendations on my profile, sharing valuable and insightful feedback, connecting me with potential employers that could perhaps help me land my next job in Europe, helping me pack all the way to helping me sell my belongings!

And, what comes next?

I am very much aware that it’s not the ideal time to take a sabbatical with the current economic circumstances. Ideally in my head, the sabbatical I had pictured consisted of backpacking around the remaining spots that I hadn’t managed to explore in South East Asia. Once again, this experience is helping me to be flexible, learn to let go, trust life and and be patient with what will come ahead.

Having said that, I will be taking some time to resettle in beautiful Barcelona, re-explore Europe or Spain (if we can still travel while we don’t get hit by this 2nd wave) and be able to make the most of this precious quiet and calm time for myself.

As a social animal that I am, I’ll be reaching out to my European/Barcelona network to catch up and explore potential opportunities. But, if you want to reach out to me if you think that my profile could be a match in your company or if you have also been let go and need support let’s schedule a virtual coffee or f2f and I’ll be more than glad to meet you and help you!