Fortunate Life

When I first started freelancing and training, I thought what I already knew would be enough to carry me through. But I quickly realized the world doesn’t stand still. New tools emerge, industries shift, and what worked yesterday may no longer work tomorrow. That’s when I learned that upskilling isn’t just an option—it’s a necessity. But let’s be honest, it’s not always easy. Deciding to learn something new often comes with fear: What if I’m too late? What if I can’t keep up? What if I fail? Sometimes, even just clicking “enroll” in a new course feels intimidating, especially when self-doubt whispers that others are already far ahead. Yet every time I leaned into that discomfort, I discovered something empowering: learning keeps me alive, relevant, and resilient. It takes courage to admit that what I know today isn’t enough for tomorrow. But it also takes humility to say, “I’m willing to start again as a beginner.” For me, one of the biggest shifts was learning how to use AI tools . A...

  One of the first things freelancing taught me is that nothing is set in stone. Projects come and go. Clients change their minds. Proposals get ignored. Plans don’t always unfold the way I hoped. At first, I found this exhausting. I wanted stability, predictability, the comfort of knowing exactly what tomorrow would look like. But freelancing doesn’t always give you that. Instead, it teaches you how to bend without breaking. I’ve experienced projects being canceled or put on hiatus all of a sudden, with clients saying, “We’ll let you know when this starts again.” Or those dreaded Friday conversations where a client tells you not to come online on Monday because they lost accounts and had to let people go. Even if I had already foreseen it coming—like when I noticed they were losing clients—it still hurt. Especially knowing that my single fee could easily pay two people on their team. Those moments felt like a punch in the gut. But in hindsight, they also became small lessons in...

When I first stepped into training, I thought my role was to teach. To stand in front, deliver content, and make sure people understood. But over time, I realized that the best trainers aren’t just teachers—they’re also learners. And the key to thriving is something called a growth mindset . A growth mindset is the belief that skills and abilities can be developed through effort, feedback, and practice. The opposite—a fixed mindset—believes that talent is set in stone: you either have it or you don’t. In those early days of training, I wasn’t as confident as I seemed. Inside, I was battling racing thoughts, shaky hands, and the nagging fear that some of my students might outshine me. My palms would feel damp, my chest tightened as I spoke, and I’d silently wonder if I was good enough to stand in front of a room. But little by little, things shifted. Students would tell me that they clearly understood my explanations, that the sessions were helpful, and that they appreciated the way I g...