Hi! Welcome to Live Your Dream podcast.
My name is Celina Lee, and I’m a career and executive coach. I’m sharing inspirational stories from people who overcame rejections, and failures to achieve their dreams. I hope these stories will inspire you to have the courage to pursue your own dreams and live a life doing what you love.
You’ll also hear about how I’ve transformed my own career from an investment banker and a corporate lawyer to becoming a coach which I believe is my calling. You’ll also learn the strategies I use to coach many professionals out of unfulfilling jobs and into careers they love.
I’m so excited to be back with a new episode, and to be launching, Season 3 of my podcast!
2020 has been a very tough year for all of us, and I really hope you are taking care of yourself and staying safe.
I know you haven’t heard from me in a while, so I wanted to share with you what I’ve been up to, and also what I learned this year.
My 2020…
Back in March, I got sick with what I think most likely was the virus. And it was really a scary moment.
I was all by myself in my apartment in NYC and when I started to have a fever, and I thought, omg, I could die… and I wouldn’t even be able to get help because there was no room in the hospital unless you couldn’t breath or something serious like that.
So it turned out my symptoms weren’t terrible compared to what I’ve seen in other people but it definitely was a scary moment.
My parents are in Korea and I didn’t tell them that I was sick, because I didn’t want them to worry about me, but the Covid situation was getting really bad in NYC so they were freaking out and worried anyway, and they kept begging me to come to Korea.
At first I didn’t really want to go, and thought that things will get better and it will be normal soon.
but my work of course turned all remote, and I was just home working by myself all the time. And when my mom said I can’t sleep because I’m so worried about you! I said, ok fine I’ll go to Korea.
So I came to Korea in April, and packed my luggage thinking maybe I’ll be in Korea for like a month or two, but I’m actually still here in Seoul…. And it’s December. So I’ve been in Korea for a lot longer than I’ve planned and that transition has not been easy.
And after I came, I experienced this chronic fatigue and was just tired all the time. It was really tough because I am usually very energetic, as you probably know if you’ve listened to my past episodes, and it just felt so weird not being my normal self.
Well, the good news is, I am feeling a lot better now, and really excited to be starting my podcast again.
So this year has been challenging to say the least, but I’ve learned a lot, and I wanted to share those lessons with you.
Lesson #1. Having a positive relationship with myself is very important
Like many of you, I’ve spent a lot of time alone this year. I quarantined in NYC starting in March, and when I came to Korea in April, I had a mandatory quarantine where I literally could not get out of my tiny Airbnb apartment for 14 days, because the Korean government tracks your location on your phone.
They take it very seriously. I even had a public health official randomly come visit my place to make sure I didn’t run away and I was home quarantining.
And even after the quarantine was over, I didn’t go see my family just to be extra careful. So I’ve spent more time by myself this year than I ever did before.
And of course, I had very little human contact for a long time. So one very important lesson I learned this year is the importance of having a positive relationship with myself. I knew this before, but this year just reinforced just how crucial it is. If I didn’t have a good relationship with myself, and if I didn’t know how to manage my inner negative voice, which we all have, then I easily could have driven myself crazy, because I had so much time alone.
So I was reminded of what I’ve learned throughout my career- that the foundation of all success and happiness is being able to love, respect, and be kind to ourselves.
So how do we have a positive relationship with ourselves? Well, it starts with changing the way you talk to yourself. We all have our inner negative voice, that little voice that says all the mean and terrible things about you and your life. And during times of so much uncertainty, it’s even louder than usual, and that’s normal, but how much power you give to it, is entirely up to you.
If you change the way you talk to yourself- if you are a little bit nicer and kinder to yourself, then you will eventually change how you see yourself and transform the relationship you have with yourself.
Lesson #2. Be aware of what makes me happy and make decisions that are aligned with it
As I’ve shared with you, I’ve been in Korea for a lot longer than I’ve planned, and even though I’m really grateful to be near my family, and for being able to do the work I love remotely, there’s a big part of me that feels like I’ve been uprooted and feel unsettled because this not where I normally live.
I really miss my home and my life in NYC, and just yesterday, I was looking at Google map of my apartment building in NYC, and you know how you can see the pictures? I know, it’s really sad.
And one of my friends was recently visiting Korea from NYC, and I told her how much I miss New York, and how much I want to go back, and she said, the NYC you love is not there…. And that just broke my heart, and made me be really sad!
I know, even if I were to go back now, I will have to be all by myself in my apartment, so I decided to stay in Korea for a bit longer, until things get better. So I don’t know when I’ll be back in NYC, and there’s so much uncertainty, and I thought, so many things are out of my control, but what can I do now that’s within my control to make the situation a little bit better for me?
What can I do to make myself happier?
And I thought about “What was it about my life in NYC that I loved so much?”
And of course, there are unique and magical qualities about NYC that’s hard to replicate and find in other places, but it was also about being independent, having my own place and my own schedule, and also living in a cute neighborhood, I live in Chelsea, where I could walk to a lot of cafes and restaurants, and things like that.
So after the quarantine was over in Korea, I decided to not go to my parent’s place but got an Airbnb in a cute neighborhood in Korea, where I can easily walk to cafes and parks, and bookstores.
I love my parents but we all know that spending all our time with our parents is not always a good idea, so by getting my own place, I was able to recreate some aspects of my happy life in NYC. And where I am now has a cute park nearby, it’s kind of similar to Highline, so it’s my daily ritual to take a walk in the park every day, usually after lunchtime, or early afternoon when it’s still sunny out, because we all need sunlight. And I go for a walk and listen to my favorite podcast episodes, and I’ve really been enjoying it.
I especially love seeing all the cute puppies and dogs there, and I usually run into this group of old Korea ladies, who I think are all friends and they each have a dog, they are all wearing these really cute clothes, today I saw this one wearing a cute winter coat, with a hat on, omg it was adorable!
And they sometimes have their dogs on their laps and it looks like they are having such a good time! And for some reason, seeing them really makes me so happy.
So even though, there are so many things out of my control, and there is so much uncertainty, I still can think about what makes me happy and make decisions that are aligned with it, and take action that’s aligned with it, like getting my own place in a neighborhood I like, and taking a daily walk every day.
And it’s important to remember that only we are responsible for our own happiness, and nobody else is. So what makes you happy? And how can you take some time today to do something that will make you happy?
Lesson #3. Self-Compassion, not self-criticism makes me productive
Ok, I don’t want to admit it, but I took a much longer break from my podcast than I had planned when I ended my last season.
Of course, during the break, I was really busy with coaching and speaking, and my coaching practice has grown a lot and it’s been really amazing to see my clients achieve their goals like getting their dream job, getting promoted, switching to a completely new industry, starting a company, becoming an entrepreneur, all during the pandemic! And I’m so proud of them 🙂
It’s not always easy working US hours from Korea, like coaching at midnight and doing a webinar at 1am, like I recently did for MIT, but I’m so happy to be able to keep showing up and serving my clients and helping them to achieve their goals and dreams.
So yes I’ve been busy, but I have to admit that I’ve been feeling really guilty about taking such a long break from my podcast. Because that was not the plan.
And after I beat myself up for a long time about it, I realized criticizing myself for taking a long break and feeling guilty about it, is not going to help me start my podcast again. Because when I criticize myself, I start to feel bad about myself, and the negative feelings make me be less productive because I end up avoiding the task even more.
So after reading a book on self-compassion, I decided to be a little bit nicer to myself and think honestly about why I’ve been delaying starting my podcast again.
Story of my podcast…
And looking back, when I ended my last season, I was really burned out because it was so overwhelming to do everything by myself. There’s a lot that goes behind the scene to create each episode, and I had an audio engineer who is wonderful and helped me with the editing, but I was doing everything else by myself and it was just too much.
And I decided it is important for me to also get clear on WHY I started my podcast at the first place. And it was to inspire people to live their dreams, and I went back and read all the reviews for my podcast and people were still listening and writing me reviews even when I wasn’t creating new episodes.
And when I checked my podcast stats?! OMG, I saw that so many people from different countries were still listening to my podcast and I was like, I have to come back and launch a new season because there are so many people supporting my work, and I need to keep showing up and serving them.
And the mission to inspire people to live their dreams is still what motivates me to get up every day to do the work I do, so I got very clear on my WHY and decided to create a system to make podcasting easy for me, so I don’t get burned out again.
So one day I wrote down everything that I wish I didn’t have to do related to my podcast, and it was everything except sharing stories which I loved. And I thought if someone can just do all the social media, and producing & promoting the podcast, and all I had to do was just share the stories that will help people, then I would be so excited to start creating new episodes again.
So I recently hired an assistant to help me with those tasks, and now I’m excited to create new episodes 🙂 So if you are burned out, I hope what I’ve shared with you is helpful. First of all, get clear on your WHY, and create a system, and outsource & delegate to make it easy for you. You do not have to do everything by yourself. I learned this the hard way.
Ok, so I hope you are as excited as I am because I have amazing episodes prepared for you this season.
I know this year has been really tough but I hope this challenging time has also given you an opportunity to stop and reflect. And to really think about what is important to you.
I’ve learned that our time is limited, and we need to spend it wisely with the people we love and on activities that bring us joy.
I’ve also learned not to take anything for granted. Because tomorrow is not promised to any of us, and life can change in an instant.
So I think it’s even more important that we honor our dreams, and have the courage to pursue them. We need to give ourselves the permission to explore our curiosities and interests, and have the courage to leave what is not working, so we can give ourselves the chance we deserve to do what we love.
So I’ve been working really hard to create an amazing season with awesome episodes for you. And next week, I’m bringing back none other than Michael Kim for another conversation!
Omg, I’m so excited…! So many of you have asked me to bring him back, and we recently recorded another conversation because we are both in Korea right now.
And I also have many other awesome conversations in future episodes, and some of them were recorded awhile ago, before the pandemic. But the conversations are still relevant and will be useful to you and helpful to you, so I am really excited to share them with you.
Since this year has been really tough, I also thought about how I can help and support you.
So I decided to offer what I do best, to listen to you and coach you through this difficult time.
So I’ve never done this before on my podcast, but please let me know if you want to schedule a complimentary coaching session with me.
We can talk about anything you want, your career, your dreams, or anything else that’s on your mind. I’m here to listen and support you. And you can message me on my website, celinalee.co/contact and I’ll also include the link in my show notes.
I’ll try to make time for as many people as possible, but please let me know soon so I can be sure to make time for you.
You can also reach out to me through the same link if you have questions about my coaching, or have any thoughts or questions about my podcast.
For those of you looking for guidance on how to find happiness and fulfillment in your career, I’ve put together a guide to the “3 Steps to Finding True Career Fulfillment.” In this guide, I share the 3 common themes of the people who have achieved an incredible amount of success, and if you find what those 3 things are for you, I can guarantee that you’ll not only have a successful career but also a very fulfilling life.
So if you want to check it out, you can download it by clicking on today’s show notes on your podcast app, or on my website, celinalee.co, that is celinalee.co.
And please subscribe on iTunes, Google podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast, and while you are at it, I’d really appreciate it if you can please write me a review. As I’ve shared with you, your reviews are what keeps me motivated to keep creating new episodes.
And it’ll l really help me to spread the word and get discovered by new listeners.
Ok, thank you so much and I’ll be back next week with another episode. Hope you have a great week!
What is the lesson you learned this year? I’d love to know! 🙂
Please subscribe to “Live Your Dream with Celina Lee” podcast in your favorite podcast player! I have an amazing season with awesome episodes prepared for you!
If you got any value or joy from my podcast, I would be grateful if you can write me a review and give me a rating. Thank you! 🙂
Wondering how my coaching can help you? Here is what my clients have said about their experiences of working with me.
Any questions about coaching or thoughts about my podcast? Send me a message!
Download the 3 Steps to True Career Fulfillment Here
There comes a time in your career when you question your professional happiness and fulfillment. This can be a defining moment if you take the time to ask yourself important questions and take action towards career that brings you joy.
If you are feeling stuck and don’t know what to do next, you are not alone. With the right guidance and a little momentum, you can be happy and fulfilled personally and professionally. If you’re looking for clarity and next steps, check out this guide, the 3 Steps to Finding True Career Fulfillment.
I use a 3-part framework to help you take the next step towards doing work you love and believe in. Get your copy here.
Did You Enjoy This Episode? Click Below To Subscribe:
“How did you find what you wanted to do with your life? How did you have the courage to pursue your dream?” These are questions I explore with people from all different walks of life. Their journeys reveal stories about dreams, courage, inspiration, and creativity. Subscribe below!
