My 2025 Recap
3/100
Let me be the first to wish you a Happy 2026!
It is 365/365, and this is worth celebrating; to have witnessed the Earth go around the sun. If you think you did not achieve anything, marking a 365/365 is worth celebrating. Being alive. Being here.
At the start of the year, I had big goals; ambitious milestones I aimed to achieve. Some of them felt so big that they were frightening to consider. I remember lying on my bed with my laptop open and my journal beside me, designing my vision board for 2025 and outlining my quarterly goals. I had this delusional confidence that I would accomplish them. Good grief, I was mistaken, at least for the most part. In reality, I achieved about 25% of my goals.
Looking back, I realise why I struggled to achieve most of my goals. I lacked a detailed plan that outlined the specific steps I needed to take to reach my goals, particularly regarding my career goal, which I felt strongly about. I did not have any clear career objectives. I just listed what I wanted without considering how to attain it, what steps to take, or who could help me. I did not even have a clear picture of what my dream job would look like.
Anyway, life happened, and I found myself adjusting quite well (of course, with plenty of complaining along the way! 😁). It is surprising how you can start the year as one person and end it as another. That is exactly what happened to me.
At the beginning of 2025, I was working as a teacher. You are surprised, right? Well, I needed to stay busy while I searched for my dream job. Honestly, I am glad I held on to my teaching position from 2024 because I gained many transferable soft skills that helped me when I transitioned to being an Executive Assistant.
In April, I realised that I would no longer be keeping my teaching job. I wanted to focus completely on securing a role as an Executive Assistant. On the day I submitted my resignation letter as a teacher, I received an email containing my offer letter for the Executive Assistant position. Coincidence? It did not feel like it. To be honest, I was not expecting the offer, as I did not think I performed well during my interview. I had mentally checked out of this particular company, only to receive an offer letter from them anyway. I was so happy; it felt as if I was in sync with the Universe. What made the offer even more exciting was that the role was remote. I was finally transitioning to remote work, and I could not have been happier.
In August, I decided to try freelancing, and I was able to onboard one client as a freelance Virtual Assistant. My scope of work was simple: build and maintain the financial record of the business. It was challenging doing financial stuff, but I learn on the goal, and delivered on all my deliverables. I also had to design a few fliers for marketing purposes. It was not really a good contract as the client failed to pay me on the last month, but it is all good. I had to make peace with the experience I gained from the job.
Somewhere between a full-time job and freelancing, I built an Executive Assistant portfolio with case studies and mock projects, and launched it on Framer with no prior experience using the platform. I had an old portfolio which I built on Canva, but I wanted something different and I chose Framer. Thanks to my bestie, ChatGPT—it came through for me, always.
I cried this year. In fact, I cried after each interview because I often judged myself for not performing well, or so I thought. I had about five virtual interviews and one onsite interview. I dislike that I struggle with stuttering during interviews (but I am actively working on it). But one thing I realised from my last interview was that I did not think poorly of myself, even though I did not perform as well as I thought I would, given my level of preparation. Instead, I followed up and have secured another interview next year, which I consider a win!
Reflecting on the year, I cannot believe how much I have achieved. I did not believe I had achieved any tangible goals until I reviewed my goals and through my tracker, and then I realised how much I had won. I made so many wins this year, especially as an Executive Assistant. One thing that will stay with me moving forward is to keep track of all my wins.
Here are some of my wins for 2025:
Managed 30+ executive meetings, including scheduling, agendas, reminders, and follow-ups
Handled executive inbox, prioritising and drafting responses across 1,000+ messages
Prepared 30+ executive briefing notes and research briefs for leadership use monthly
Responded to 500+ LinkedIn messages on behalf of an executive, ensuring timely engagement and strengthening professional relationships
Created 25+ weekly and monthly progress reports to support leadership decision-making
Wrote and documented 10+ SOPs, playbooks, and internal process documents that standardised workflows and improved team efficiency
Drafted 15+ presentation decks that enhanced clarity and persuasiveness in leadership communications
Supported 1 mentorship program and 1 career transition program, driving engagement for 40+ candidates and mentors and improving program outcomes
Coordinated volunteer placement for 1 candidate, managing outreach to 40+ schools and securing responses from multiple institutions to enable informed placement decisions
Led end-to-end coordination of an international QTS preparation process, successfully securing a UK ENIC (ECCTIS) Statement of Comparability and mapping 100% of EWC/QTS documentation requirements, reducing application ambiguity and rework risk.
Built and managed 2 operational dashboards in Notion to track projects and milestones
Learned and applied 15+ tools across project management, CRM, customer support, content, and AI-assisted workflows, expanding operational capacity and improving productivity
Wrote 70+ blog posts for a Career Support Blog
Built an Executive Assistant portfolio with 15+ case studies and mock projects
Designed and launched my portfolio on Framer with zero prior platform experience
Completed 1 EA internship and 1 three-month freelance contract, delivering measurable value while gaining diverse industry experience
Transitioned fully into remote work, adapting seamlessly to digital-first workflows and maintaining consistent performance
Sent 100+ cold emails and secured interviews with an international company (Fingers crossed)
Amidst my wins, I had low days. Days when I felt burned out. Days when I felt frustrated because of no power, which delayed daily tasks. Days when I felt like quitting because the tasks were too much, but look at me still standing.
This year, I proactively applied to 120+ positions, got invited for six interviews, and landed an internship role.
My goals did not materialise exactly as planned, but I gained more than I had envisioned. I am yet to secure an international role. Yet to build my dream workspace. Yet to start earning in dollars 😂😂😂.
As I step into 2026, my heart is filled with gratitude. For the goals I achieved. For the way life took a better turn. For the growth I experienced. For the company that gave me a chance. For surviving through all the hard times.
See you in 2026.
PS: I am currently building a good system to help me achieve my goals for 2026. I am building a Notion dashboard with trackers, timelines and a calendar to mark important dates. I broke my goals into projects (life categories), subprojects (goals for each life category), and daily and weekly tasks to achieve subprojects. I hope to complete this on or before 10 January 2026.