 Welcome back to my YouTube channel, guys. Today is a day of reflection. So if you missed my video last week, I'll link it above. I talked about how I've changed since moving to New Zealand, but I've been in the reflective mode. And since the end of the year, I've been kind of reflecting on growth and changes, things I've learned over the year. So we're going to talk about some reflections today and a little highlight on my plan for 2023. So here we go. So you guys may not know that one of the things that I did this year is I left my full-time job. I have been a communications business marketing professor for 20 years and I love it and I love my students. But I have decided to leave that and kind of jump into this whole YouTube world and this world of creating my own brand and some other small businesses. And I'm really enjoying it, you guys. I'm really finding my footing and I have really big plans for 2023, which I'll highlight in a minute. But if you don't know, so I have my kiwiamericans.com. You can go check it out. And if you are moving to New Zealand or want to know what it's like living in New Zealand or you're curious about things, go check that out. I have lots of services on there and it's kind of, it's a little bit all over the place. Like I have lots of services for people that are moving here. You can meet, set up a consultation. My biggest product, most successful product is my training hub, where is if you are moving here thinking about moving here, you can pay like a monthly fee and you get access to everything you need to know about moving and living and thriving in New Zealand. You also have access to a community of people in the same position. And then also live Q&As with me. And it's really great. I love my training hub. They are my people. And so check that out if that's helpful to you. I also have other resources like helping you find work here, helping you with CVs and that sort of thing. Then I also have a digital marketing company called Grow Remarkable that I have with a partner of mine in Queenstown. And we coach, we train, we help small businesses, new businesses get set up and be successful online. And that looks different depending on the person that we're talking about. We're also creating a community that's going to be amazing next year. I'm very excited about that, about women entrepreneurs and kind of providing all the resources in one place at a really low price. And so if you're interested in that, let me know. I can send you more information on that. And then in addition to that guys, everything is really slow in the publishing world. But me and my research partner are about to be published and I will share it with you when it's come out. And we've done lots of research about how to be better communicators when you're teaching online. And we have been successful in figuring out some really key points. So we have a free course. If you want to check that out, I'll put that in the description on helping you be better communicators online. My research partner has had a lot of success and has unbelievable perfect completion rates and courses if we just change the way that we work and live online. So you can go ahead and check that out. And I have lots of ideas for next year. So many things that I will be sharing as it kind of comes up. And so it's been good. I've been finding my footing. So that's kind of like my first big change for 2022. The second reflection that I have had and I've been really thinking about this over the last couple of weeks is that I feel that my and I shouldn't say I feel. I should say when I put out information on social media or just talking with friends about my cultural understanding of New Zealand, people are giving me feedback. Yes, she gets it. She understands it. She's nailed it. And I'm feeling like I might understand my cultural understanding of New Zealand is deeper, is clearer. And it's all because of you guys. I have nobody to thank but you guys. I mean, I guess I put out information. But what I've been doing essentially is saying these are the differences between us and New Zealand. And it's just based on what my understanding of something and I put it out there. And you guys have come back and say, and as nice as you possibly can, you guys are always really nice. It's no problem at all. But you're just like, actually, that's not true in the South Islander. Actually, you have that little bit wrong. And so it's those kind of minute details that you have communicated with me that have given me a clear picture because you don't know what you don't know. And so I didn't realize that I was wrong about something or like when you take in new information, when you're taking in a new culture, you're putting that culture within your own understanding and your own perspective. And that's not always accurate, right? As we've seen in many situations, right? We've been in any sort of relationship, even the Treaty of Waitangi, like that's the problem. The communication wasn't clear. One thinks one word means one thing. And it actually doesn't. And so and that's the thing. And so like me putting out for two years on TikTok, on YouTube, on Instagram, on Facebook, these are the differences. You guys are coming back and saying, Oh, actually, you know, this and this and this. And I've learned about the details and I'm understanding the culture. And on the onset when people come to New Zealand, they think, Oh, you know, I understand this place. This is, you know, it's not that different than where I'm from. It is. There's a lot of differences. There's a lot of things that you're not understanding because you're taking it within your own context. And so this is why my training hub is really great. And that's really the goal with it is it's a real in depth view. It gives you perspective on how to handle like work situations, things that your kids school, cultural things that you're not understanding the what they was really meant by something, why this is important, because they're valuing things differently. And so all of that is in there if that's helpful to you. But like, yeah, so that was kind of my point with growing that was that, yes, you can come in and you can function in New Zealand, but this training hub helps you thrive in New Zealand. Number three, the pandemic has taken its toll. And I think that this is not discussed on social media. And I'm very surprised about it because I've been reflecting on this for a couple months now. And really, as I'm feeling the effects on myself, like, if I were to tell you my pandemic experience, it wouldn't be bad. I had a great time with the family. Nobody annoyed me too bad. I actually think I'll keep them around. You know, I was a little worried about that. It was a lot of time together. We had relaxation. It's changed the world in terms of the way that we work and the ability to work from home and the flexibility and jobs. Now, obviously, not all companies are like that, but I think it will come around. And it just has changed the world forever. But I don't think that we really realize how much it has affected us. Like, I noticed I was relatively in shape before the pandemic. And it has taken me a really long time to get back up to that level because it's just, I think it was a lot of sitting around. I think it was a lot of extra eating. I don't know. We're like locked in our room. And I think that the effects on people socially have, I think that the like social skills and people and like, I think that a lot of people are finding out that they don't like to socialize as much. It has changed everything. It has kind of changed the rules in so many areas. And I just been really reflecting on that. I would love to know your guys' thoughts on that. I don't want to talk about it too much. But I just think that the summary sentence is the pandemic has taken its toll. And like, I think we're finally seeing after obviously there's mental issues. There's, you know, struggles that we all have and that people had even within it. But I think that even if the pandemic wasn't too bad for you, I think that it took its toll and that we're just seeing that now. And I think that that's interesting. So I'd love to open discussion about that because I certainly don't know everything. I hadn't had everybody's experience and pandemic was a lot worse in different areas of the world compared to New Zealand. So I would love to know your thoughts on that because I really think it took its toll. Number four, costs are rising. Inflation, the world is a little bit, feels a little like this. It feels a little like that a lot. Okay, we all feel that. But I just, the economy is changing. And so I guess my reflection and my thoughts on that is to be smart and to be wise. Don't be afraid of it. Don't be mad at it. Don't get frustrated by it. Like, I know so many people have like lost all this money, stock market or they lost it and NFTs or you know, all this kind of stuff. Like, yes, I think it's okay, I guess, to be frustrated. But like, things adjust. Like to think that the world is moving and it's going to go in the same trajectory forever is ridiculous. If there's anything that we've learned from COVID-19 is that things can just blow things up, right? And so we just need to be smart and we need to be reflective about what is the best way to move ahead, whether it's financially or our careers. It really kind of has thrown us into this whole world of like, oh my gosh, like, I don't know what I think about this. The world is changing, adjusting. I'm different. I just went through a pandemic. Like, what am I supposed to be doing? And there's a lot out there. So my advice is to just be smart. This isn't a time to be scared. This isn't a time to say, I'm not going to start a business right now because I'm not sure of the economy. No, generally that's a good time. Generally when things are going down, nobody else is buying, there's opportunities that are prevalent. So don't, you don't need to be scared, but you need to be wise and smart in what makes sense. Like people are panicking or they're like buying a house because they're afraid of interest rates, but you're still buying the house for way too much compared to what it might be next year. Like there's a lot to think about. And you don't need to like it totally stressed about it. Just realize that we've had a long time, decades of, of just growth and stability. And sometimes it needs to correct itself and that's okay. And so it's just time to be smart. Number five, education is forever. I think if there's something that we can take away from the last year is that education is not university, is not for those four years after high school, it's forever. And with google.com and with everything out there, like all the LinkedIn learning and skill share and all of the platforms that just have, you can constantly gain new skills, try new things, do a whole another career. You could have three or four careers in your lifetime and that would be normal. And so a couple of things that you can take away from that is that you don't need to be stressed. If you're like young and 20 and 25, you don't need to be stressed. Like picking your major or picking what you want to do isn't forever. It's just for a couple of years, see what you like and then you kind of move on to a different thing and you gain a new skill. It's forever. Like I don't know if you saw, I should have pulled it up. There's like a headline of like a 90 year old has graduated from the university. Of course, of course, when I teach, when I've taught over the last 20 years at the university, my oldest student was 78 years old. He hadn't graduated yet but I'm sure he was going to do fine. And like why not? There isn't rules around it. There isn't, education is changing, should be changing quicker if you ask me, but like it's changing. You guys, like you can go back to school whenever you can take a whole different career and you can. You can say I'm 45 and I'm done doing this and I'm going to go and do this like I did. And I've never in a million years if you would have asked me when I was 23 that I would be on YouTube that I would like video creation. I wouldn't have even told you that at 40. I've been like, like no interest in that. And here I am. You know, so you change as a person, which is a good thing. And so will your interest and your skills and your desires will all change with it. Number six, I have to throw this in because I feel like I have this conversation all the time is the time is now. I hear so many times and a lot from younger people that, well, I'll do this at this point in my life or I'm not quite ready for this. If there's one thing that you learn when you're older and wiser is that there is a no perfect time for anything. The time is now. If you want to try something, do it now. Don't do it tomorrow. Don't do it in a year from now. Try it now. If it's the business, if it's, you know, I want to try a new sport, a new hobby, I want to learn to cook, do it. Like there's no stopping you. There's unlimited resources. We live in a time where we have resources at our fingertips at any point for free and you can learn it. I mean, it's amazing. It's amazing time to be alive. It's amazing time to be an entrepreneur. It's an amazing time to just be able to change and to grow and to say this year I'm going to travel and then next year I'm going to get my PhD and do it and then get into it and hate it and change your mind. And that's okay too. I'm just saying stop putting it off. There's no putting it off. Like don't even get me started on the whole concept of retirement. The whole concept of retirement is, I don't know who came up with this, but it wasn't people that are supporting you. Okay. The whole concept is retirement is like, I'm going to put off for like all of the best years of my life, what I actually want to do when I'm 65 and have time to do, you might not even be alive. That doesn't make any sense. So do it now. Do it now. And if you're older, if you don't, I don't want to hear, I'm 50. I've passed my time. That's not true. We are all living really long. 80, 90 years old is not uncommon. You have time. Do it. Try it. Put the investment into it. Don't expect things to work immediately. There's no miracles out there. I work in marketing and I swear to you, business is a thing. I do one thing for them. I create a couple of videos for them and miracles will happen. That's not how it works. Okay. So everything takes patience. Everything takes learning. You know, these are just like the basics of like, but you'll enjoy it and enjoy the journey. Enjoy the journey. You want to enjoy the journey of your life. Don't put off your life for when you may not have it and you may not have your health. Number seven, change is now. Change is here. I don't know if you're living in a bubble, but there's a lot of changes happening. And what this means is it's an opportunity for you. Don't be scared of the change. Change is constant and things will always change. Just worrying about things staying the same. Don't worry about it because it's not gonna change. It's gonna happen and you need to be ready for it. It's where you're in the middle of it and who are you gonna be? You need to look at change as opportunity. This is your opportunity to do something different. This is your opportunity to be somebody different. This is an opportunity to have some say into something to say, hey, I think that this is a good idea. So be a part of the change and like be positive about it. When there's so much negativity on social media, why don't you be that positive person? Why don't you change the narrative about social media and start saying, hey, you know what, these channels are free. Maybe these channels are just a reflection of who we are inside. Why don't we start putting out positive things, encouraging things on social media and just change the way that we're talking about things. Like it's that simple. It's unfortunate that I made a video recently that went viral and it was me talking about what I don't like about New Zealand. Mind you, I've talked about what I like about New Zealand for two years and I thought that I should do a video and it's not even mean really to show that, you know, because there's no perfect place. I got to have a little bit of credibility, right? And that one, it does so well and it's like, and that's fine, but it's, I just, I'm open to the conversation about it. Why is this one doing well? It's because you guys engage with stuff like that. Stop engaging with stuff, stop hurting it, stop liking it, stop sharing it. Start putting out content that is positive and hopeful and talk about what you love and talk about your passion. People love that as well. It's just not a lot out there. So that's my encouragement to you guys. Change is here. Be a part of making it better, making it, making the world better, the internet better, you know, just do things better. And last and certainly not least, it's time for us to be grateful. Now, I'm just going to say, when I think of grateful, I had a hard time actually writing this word because there's so much like, you know, people talking about their gratitude, you know, journals that they fill out in the morning or in the evening or gratitude and all this meditation and all that. I'm not talking about that. If you're into that, that's fine. But I, this whole concept of like, I have a morning routine and I do the same thing and, and I have that, you know what? None of these people have kids. None of these people, none of these people have kids. None of these people that are like, let's scale my business to this and that and, you know, they don't have kids. You know, it's, I just want to say that. Okay. My point is though, be grateful. Be grateful. I'm grateful that we're not in COVID anymore. I'm grateful that I can travel, that I can visit family, that I, the world has opened up, that people can come here. Like I'm so grateful for that. Yes, it's expensive, but you know, it is a business and so I understand that as well. And just, just being grateful for the fact that I'm living here and that it's beautiful out, that it's summer and, you know, it's a good place to be mentally, emotionally, spiritually for you to be grateful and that's great, whatever that looks like. But what I'm saying is I'm not talking about all of these ways that people talk about gratitude. There's no rules around it. There's no ways to be more grateful. Like if you do this process or that, I'm literally just talking about saying, Hey, I'm thankful for where I'm at. I'm content where I'm at. And I'm grateful for all of you guys. I'm grateful for this community. I am grateful for your guys' honesty and telling me and for sharing your real thoughts. And I just love it. People will share like really long comments and share their story and their, their situation and what they've learned from it. Love it. Like truly love it. So thank you for that. And so thank you to everybody. I hope you guys have a wonderful Christmas holidays and a wonderful break. And I will see you guys in the new year.