Crystal's Notes 20 April

I opened up my meditation timer a few days ago and a quote popped up.

“Why do you stay in prison, when the door is so wide open?”

I posted the quote on IG, for anyone who needed to see it.

Many times, we don’t realise that change is possible, and that our true lives are waiting for us.

3 years into my career as a senior investment banking analyst, I was called into a meeting room. HR and my boss were there. It was a short matter-of-fact meeting, but my world fell apart. I had to pack up on the spot observed, as in IBD protocol, so my work bestie helped me. Everyone looked on with pity and some came over to give me sympathy. But one senior associate, V, pulled me aside and said these words I have never forgotten.

“Hey Crystal, I am not sorry for you at all. This place is not meant for you. You’re going to find a path and do bigger, better and more meaningful things in life that will make all of this look small in comparison.”

He gave me a hug and walked off.

My work bestie helped me carry my stuff downstairs. And till today, I remember that dazed feeling of standing at the taxi stand with all my boxes, thinking, “Is this it? Is this all my life amounted to?”

The next few weeks were so hard. I had never really tasted defeat in my life at that stage and it was bitter. When I came back to the CBD to meet friends for lunch, my friends would be so apologetic when they needed to get back to work. Then I would walk around those office buildings, feeling like a ghost – invisible, too light, without a tether, and superfluous.

It took a while to get my next job. 8 months if I recall. No one was hiring in corporate finance. But I finally found a role in equity sales, which I absolutely loved. I loved the buzz, hoot and holler of the trading floor. I loved the excitement of deal roadshows and travelling to Hong Kong to see my institutional clients like Fidelity and GAM. I loved visiting companies, and having CEOs personally show me around oil rigs, building sites and factories.

Many of my clients have become my best friends who till this day, text me every week. I could not believe my job was to call my besties every morning and discuss stock ideas with them, go for lunches, and travel in style.

I have made more career pivots since.

And from that day, where I found myself holding a box at a taxi stand, my journey has led me to become the CEO of Forest Wolf, where I have had the honour to train and work with over 100,000 professionals.

It has also led to the co-writing of a best-selling book, Deep Human, with my husband, Dr Greg Lim-Lange.

And most valuable of all, my journey has led me to over 250,000 of you in this community.

If you have been laid off, or are feeling stuck, or going through a big shift and getting a serious case of self-doubt, I know it really sucks. I am not going to put lipstick on a pig and tell you all of that will become amazing experiences.

You will need to take a break for a while, go on a holiday if you can, or get off social media. Parent yourself with tender loving care. Be your own best friend. Love yourself, and give yourself permission to be you. And then, when you’re ready, make a plan. Because a crisis opens up a world of new possibilities.

You have your own unique path lying ahead of you. And know that someday, you will be talking about this moment and saying, “That grew me”, and impossible as it sounds now, you will be grateful.

Rejection is redirection. The same applies for careers, or whatever life may throw at you.

Your new way is waiting for you. The door is wide open.

Much love,

Crystal