Are 20-year reunions still a thing?

I can't believe it's already been over 20 years since I finished pharmacy. It's crazy. I'm here at Sydney Uni. Check out the view, like, check all this out. It's changed so much. I don't know if you've come before, but I'm meant to be on my pharmacy tour, um, and then it's followed by lunch, which I'm going to go to. But I've had a really busy morning with the kids, you know how it is, um, soccer, ballet, piano, you name it, and my own meetings and things. But I'm really grateful for this time. I'm super grateful for this moment to breathe, to be honest, where I'm just not rushing. We rush so much. We rush so much in life, in business, every day. Like, it's already Friday by the time you've started Monday. Not a bad thing, um, but I love my weekends. I didn't used to love my weekends. I used to work like a dog on weekends. I used to, even until the last 6 months, um, really just breathe work. Now I live, but I work to live. I don't live to work, to put that in a nice way. And I said that to one of my clients this week, which is really cool. Another thing that I said, which I do want to share with you, is that Self-doubt, you know, self-doubt, or you can put in there any other word, insert any other word. Self-doubt is— it robs you of your dreams. It's a thief of dreams because then you don't even dream big, so you're not even allowing yourself to even envision what a life could be like if you take different steps. For me, I could have stayed in pharmacy. Would I have been happy? No, because I knew I got to a point where I gained 8 kilos. And I was really grateful. I had a really nice set of mentors. I worked in hospital pharmacy and I just knew I was made for more. And that's happened a couple of times in my life. Even more recently, like 5 years ago, I knew I was made for more than dentistry because I don't know if you all know, I went and studied dentistry. I thought, what do I do next? My dad's in the dental industry. That's what I know. This is what we're going to do. And I just woke up one day and I actually— this is exactly how it happened. I woke up one day and said, Mum and Dad, I'm sitting the GAMSAT. I've already paid for it and I'm going to do dentistry. That's what I said. I actually got in twice. I got in twice at Sydney Uni. Interesting, right? First time I got in, I declined because, oh, I thought I want to do my pharmacy graduation and finish my graduate year, which I did. Super grateful because then it allowed me to work as a pharmacist through my dentistry degree and have pocket money. But then I worked Saturday, Sunday, So I think that's where the poor habits started, working Friday night, Saturday, Sunday, and then I had university full-time. And if you study pharmacy or dentistry or medicine or any of those big degrees, you don't even choose your subjects. I don't know if you know that, but you don't get to enjoy half of these buildings behind me. I could even walk to the pharmacy building. There were literally 1, 2, 3, 3, 4 buildings that, that we went to. Dentistry was literally 3 buildings. Westmead Hospital, Sydney Dental Hospital, and the university lecture theaters. Okay. Interesting how your life changes when you start to dream differently, think differently. I'm so grateful that I studied at school and was able to get marks to go to university. Super grateful. In this day and age, is university the answer? Probably not. Will my kids be pushed to go to uni? No. Will they be encouraged to follow what they are good at and what they— their talents are in? Absolutely. Will they be encouraged to go and learn a skill, a trade, what it is that they love and they're passionate about? Absolutely. Do I want them to follow in my footsteps? No. I want them to make their own steps, their own pathway forward. That's a big big deal for me, though I do value education very highly. However, I value life and lifestyle and living and wellness above all. Hey, family comes in there, uh, wellness and health, fitness. So I'm really focusing on things like— I squeezed in my Pilates, 50-minute session, I've been 4 times this week, and that's a norm now. That's my new norm. So if you are struggling, if you are struggling to make new norms You know what, let me be your, your, your guide, your, um, role model. Okay, life's ahead. You might think it's too late for me, I've gained too much weight, or I'm stuck in my career, or I'm, uh, I just, you know what, I, I can't go and learn something new. Do you want to change or don't you want to change? It's all in your thoughts and your dreams and all in your absolute belief in yourself. This self-doubt I mentioned earlier, it absolutely is the thief of dreams. Don't let it steal your dreams away. Don't let it steal your life away. We have one chance here, and I believe— I do believe that we have one chance on this Earth, and we're put on this Earth to fulfill a purpose. Find your purpose, your passion follows, and you get to help lots of amazing people on the way. Collect your community. Shine. Start shining. Stop being the best kept secret. No one likes secrets. Let people know how awesome you are. That is what I'm thinking about sitting here reminiscing about my 20-year pharmacy reunion of finishing pharmacy, right? Finishing pharmacy. It's a 4-year degree. 50 is graduation, um, or graduate year. And if you're early in your career, even if you're 20 years in, it's never too late to change and follow what it is you need to do. Start listening to your body, start listening to those inner nudges and those thoughts, and take action. That's the biggest thing, taking action, because if you don't take action, then thoughts are just thoughts. That's my wisdom for today. I'll catch you all next time. Do visit me, Vickysamios.com.