Susan F

I’m reading a fascinating book, 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗿 𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱𝘄𝗶𝗻. Lately I’ve been intrigued by how the brain works, especially neuroplasticity. The idea that our brain keeps rewiring itself throughout life. Not just when we are young, but even now.

One insight really stayed with me: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘁𝘆. 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝘂𝘀 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁. 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝘂𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴.

I’ve never been fully comfortable with a predictable path. Corporate ladder. Safe routine. Same conversations. Same environment. I used to question myself quietly. Why can’t you just be content? Why do you always want something more?

Now I see it differently. Maybe nothing was wrong with me. Maybe my brain was under stimulated.

Some of the hardest seasons of my life, moving across countries, working across cultures, stepping into unfamiliar roles, were also the seasons I felt most alive. They stretched me. They unsettled me. But they grew me.

Today, as a transition coach and someone who has worked for years in humanitarian development, I often meet people who say they are tired. Burnt out. Flat.

Sometimes yes, it is overload. But sometimes it is stagnation. There is a difference between being exhausted because you are overworked and feeling drained because you are not growing. Understanding how the brain adapts and rewires gives me language for something I have sensed for years.

Maybe the real question is 𝗡𝗢𝗧, “Why am I like this?”. Maybe it is, “Where do I need to grow next?”

"The quiet urgency of January"

2025 was a rocky year for many of us. Me included.

It was a year of trying things bravely, watching some work, many not, and sitting with more emotional ups and downs than I expected. It reminded me, again, that growth is rarely neat. That transitions take time. And that kindness towards ourselves is not optional.

Now we are already 17 days into 2026. January has a way of moving fast, before we even realise what we are carrying forward from last year.

That is why I created “When the Year Speaks”, a practical year end reflection workbook I have been using myself since last year. Not to judge the past year, but to listen to it. To notice patterns, lessons, grief, strength, and quiet wins we often rush past.

If you want to start 2026 with more clarity, honesty, and self trust, this workbook will guide you gently through that reflection.

Not perfection. Just presence.

If this speaks to you, now is the moment to pause before the year pulls you along. Click here to get the workbook http://susanfong.gumroad.com/l/whentheyearspeaks

Before 2026 fills up with noise, expectations, and plans, I want to invite you to pause.

Last year stretched many of us in ways we did not expect. It certainly did for me. It asked for courage, resilience, and a lot of emotional honesty.

From that experience, I created “When the Year Speaks”, a practical reflection workbook shaped by real questions I asked myself at the end of 2025. Questions that helped me see what to release, what to keep, and what deserved more care.

This is for you if �You do not want to repeat the same patterns�You want to trust yourself more this year�You want a grounded start, not a rushed one.

The year has already begun. This is your chance to begin it consciously.

If this resonates, the workbook is ready for you now. Click here for more details. https://susanfong.gumroad.com/l/whentheyearspeaks

It’s Day 6 into the new year of 2026, and some of us already feel… behind.

Behind on plans we thought we would make. Behind on clarity. Behind on being “ready” for the year ahead.

But perhaps it was because we rushed too quickly into the new year, without taking pause to reflect, learn and consolidate from what has gone by in 2025?

Therefore, before rushing into new goals, I have learnt to slow down and ask myself one simple question�What did the last year actually leave me with? Not just what went wrong or right, but what it taught me. What it stretched in me. What I am still carrying, quietly.

That is how “When the Year Speaks” came to life. It is a practical reflection workbook I put together from my own year end practice, the same questions I used to make sense of a messy, emotional, very human year.

This is not about fixing yourself or catching up. It is about understanding yourself a little better before the year runs away with you.
January is still gentle, even if it does not feel like it. If you want to start 2026 feeling more grounded and less rushed, this workbook might be a good place to begin. Click here for more details. https://susanfong.gumroad.com/l/whentheyearspeaks

Take your time. Start where you are.

Last month, I was on a solo wander in Budapest - putting that proud tick in my 2025 goal list. This trip stayed with me longer than most.

I have been traveling alone for many years, but this one felt like a quiet punctuation mark to the year. A pause. A breath. A moment to take stock before everything turns into a new chapter.

I still love solo travel for the same reasons. The carefree moments. The unapologetic wrong turnings. The quiet moments no one else witnesses. The small victories that only you know you earned.

And yes, if I am honest, there were moments of loneliness too. Since a someone was not there, by faith and by choice, I became that someone.

My selfie game has definitely elevated over the years . The angles. The awkward arm stretches. The courage it takes to stand in a crowd and take the photo anyway. A small but meaningful reminder that I can show up for myself, even when it feels a little uncomfortable.

Budapest held me gently. And as the year winds down, it reminded me of something important. To hold myself with the same gentleness. To honour where I am. To appreciate how far I have come.

As this year closes and a new one waits at the door, I step forward with more trust, more softness, and a quiet excitement for what is still unfolding. One step, one city, one frame at a time.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐈 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡

I recently received an appreciation certificate from Refugee JumpStart Coaching (RJS), marking two years of volunteering as a coach with this remarkable organisation. It is a simple certificate, but it represents something much bigger.

Over these two years, I have volunteered as a coach with RJS and supported four refugee clients, each transitioning in a different country. This work has been deeply humbling. In a world that often speaks about refugees but rarely listens to them, RJS creates a rare, safe space where people are seen, heard, and respected.

I still remember one of my clients saying softly, “I have never shared this with anyone before…” and in that moment, something shifted. Not because I had answers, but because someone finally felt safe enough to speak.

Right now, RJS urgently needs financial support. Facing volatility and a fragile year ahead, without immediate help, this coaching may not be able to continue.

There is a matching opportunity at the moment:
• A generous donor will match the first USD 2,000 in donations through December 31
• A USD 200 donation becomes USD 400
If this resonates with you, I invite you to donate, share, or help amplify RJS’s work. Every gesture matters. Here’s the donation link https://lnkd.in/gXZ4sU2e

What gives me hope is that this work truly makes a difference. RJS’s evidence based research reflects what I see in sessions (full report https://lnkd.in/gPqEjQBa). Clients take real steps toward employment and education. They move from survival mode and self doubt toward confidence, agency, and possibility. They stay engaged, even while carrying heavy structural and emotional challenges. Coaching is often one of the few spaces where they can breathe, reflect, and remember who they are beyond their circumstances.

Making coaching accessible beyond privilege, borders, and circumstance sits at the heart of why I do this work.

Thank you, Refugee JumpStart Coaching RJS dedicated team for the trust, the learning, and the quiet, powerful reminder of what humanity looks like in action.

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𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗘𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱

So after that heavier December feeling I shared earlier, I finally sat myself down for my seasonal year end reflections. Self coaching with my 7-part process pulled me back to center. Two pages in, I felt lighter. Three pages in, I noticed patterns I had missed. By the end, I remembered my strengths and the quiet wins I had forgotten.

This is the same process I guide my clients through when they feel stuck or unsure about their next steps.

I am offering the workbook for free because reflection should be simple, accessible, and something you can actually enjoy doing.

Download it (link in my first comment below), or PM me (I'll send the file to you), and give yourself the space to slow down, reflect with honesty, and step into the new year with clarity and confidence.

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿-𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱.

December often shows up dressed in lights and celebrations… but behind all that, many people are simply tired.

Not just “I need a nap” tired, but the deep kind, the kind that comes from carrying a whole year inside your chest.

Your body remembers more than you think. Your emotions keep track of what you’ve held together, what you pushed through, what you didn’t have space to process.

So if you’re feeling a bit weighted down, it doesn’t mean you’ve done life wrong.
It just means you’re human, and your system is asking for a slower landing.

I’m preparing something gentle and grounding for this season. Just wait.

How many passports can you have? Apparently... this many

Every renewal felt like a silent promise to keep moving - even when I didn't know where the next step would lead.

Each passport saw a different me: the dreamer, the doer, the wanderer, the one learning to belong anywhere (and nowhere).

The angel in the middle? Maybe a reminder that every journey was guided, even the messy ones.



Transitions TheMove

🌿 Between What Was and What Still Can Be

Somewhere between the dust and the dreams, I’ve been rethinking what it really means to live.

Lately, life has been reminding me, in quiet, confronting ways, about time, aging, and how fragile this human journey is. Some days feel heavy. Other days, I’m just grateful to wake up and have another chance to get it right… or at least try again.

The older I get, the more I realise, life doesn’t slow down for us to catch up. It keeps moving, asking us to shed, relearn, and rediscover.

And honestly, growing older isn’t always graceful. But maybe grace isn’t about smoothness. Maybe it’s about showing up , still curious, still open, still dreaming.

That’s the spirit behind my latest piece, a love letter to freedom, courage, and finding myself again on the road.

Perfection used to mean having everything in place.

Now, it feels more like that falling “E” in PERFECT : a little off, a little messy, but completely alive.

Because maybe that’s where the real beauty lives, in the cracks, the dust, the unplanned moments that shape us.

Read my latest reflection: “Dust, Dreams, and the Road to Myself.”
Link: https://icfmalaysia.org/articles/dust-dreams-and-the-road-to-myself/

Different doesn’t mean lost.

For a long time, I felt “off track.”

My peers had steady careers, families, houses,... milestones that made sense.
I had backpacks, border stamps, and stories from strangers.

But then I realised : different doesn’t mean lost.
It means living life in your own rhythm.

Here’s a piece of my story, for anyone who’s ever felt “off track.”

Read my latest article “Dust, Dreams, and the Road to Myself” https://icfmalaysia.org/articles/dust-dreams-and-the-road-to-myself/