“What does success and happiness look like to you?”
When I asked myself this question several years ago, I always pictured myself as a career woman progressing up a corporate ladder working for ultra luxury international hotel companies and being posted in a new country every few years.
And, all that became a reality. I started my international career at an entry level in Singapore in 2011, with one of the most luxurious hotel chains in the world, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts. Within what seems like the blink of an eye, I earned my very first directorial role in 2015. Between then and now, I had worked in the most exotic countries like the Maldives, Qatar, the Seychelles and Japan.
It was in Japan in 2017 when my perspective and definition of success started to shift. Discovering the practice of Shinrin Yoku 森林浴 or Forest Bathing and Ikigai 生き甲斐 or life’s purpose prompted me to revisit my own definitions of success and happiness. It was not that I was miserable or burnt out and that I questioned the meaning of my past achievements. But it was something that guided me to reset my priorities.
Fast forward to 2021 and long story short, my priority is now being close to nature, enjoying a simple living in a small house amidst abundance of trees. Professionally, I have made a gradual shift from being exhilarated by my own achievements to taking pride in empowering and inspiring people in my team and around me to be the best version they can be. Having a full time job and running The Mindful Tourist, I am in a quest for striking the right balance between doing more, being better and knowing when is enough.
Curious to see what kind of house Milena and I had lived in in Koh Samui, Thailand, one of the locations we had moved to? Scroll to the very bottom to see the pictures.