Turning Pain into Purpose and the Problem with Qualifications
Host: Eric Chow · Guest: Sunshine Joyce Batasin · January 22, 2020 · Episode 22 · 84 minutes
Transcribed from the episode audio and edited for names and terms. Speaker labels are assigned automatically and can occasionally place a line with the wrong speaker; the episode itself is the record.
Eric Chow
What is up everybody before anything else? I just want to say thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of the Eric Chow Empowers Podcast. I know how valuable your time and your attention is and the fact that you're choosing to spend it listening to me. I am so grateful and I'm so so so excited to have you listen to this amazing episode. You guys letting me know you guys showing me that you're listening to the podcast and the messages you guys send me about it are my oxygen and Keep me going so I would really appreciate it if you could right now screenshot that you're listening to the podcast and go to Twitter or Instagram or a social media platform right now and tweet or post a story and Show me that you're listening to this episode and tag me at underscore chow eric at underscore CHOW.
E-R-I-C You guys would literally make my day by doing that and you would be helping me to grow this community of empowered people I would love if you could do that you would make my day. I cannot explain how amazing that would be Now with that being said I'm so excited to let you listen to this episode. So here it is. Enjoy. And we are live. Hey everybody, welcome to episode 22 of the Eric Schauempower's podcast. Today I'm joined by Sunshine. Sunshine, why don't you introduce yourself? All right. Hi guys. My name is Sunshine Joyce Madison.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
I know Eric from high school. We had a few classes together and I go to the University of San Francisco as a nursing major.
Eric Chow
Yeah, so we've been wanting to do a podcast for what like one and a half months now, something like that, right? Yeah, I think I love it in November. Okay, November. So it's been about two months now. And one of the things we want to talk about was sort of why you got into nursing.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Yeah, it is. I reached out to Eric after listening to, I think, episode 16 of his podcast. Yes. talking with Christian and Sam about challenges that they overcame and I listened to that and I was like, you know what?
Eric Chow
I think I want to share my story on Eric's podcast. It's a great place. Thank you. Thank you for choosing this. Oh gosh. So you got into it. So, okay, well, let's start with when did you start thinking about that you wanted to get into nursing?
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Was that, was this one of those things that was like childhood or like? Oh, no, it was actually my sophomore year of high school when my father brought up the idea and then I was like, no.
Eric Chow
And we'll get into that. I was completely not.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Not with it. Yeah. Got it. Like, several reasons. Sure. You know. Should I start from the beginning? Go for it. Yeah. All right. So in my freshman year of high school, there was a family member of mine that had first a brain aneurysm in November of my freshman year of high school put into the ICU for about two weeks. And then in February, about three months later, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Wow. And that was all in my freshman year of high school. I was 14 years old. And it was just like a really, really stressful time for me. But yeah. And even though that happened, like I mentioned, even though that happened, I was able to see my family member in all sorts of different like hospital situations.
And even as a sophomore, after all that happened in my first year of high school, I still wasn't into the idea of going into nursing, to be completely honest.
Eric Chow
So your family member, so first it was a brain aneurysm and then three months later it was breast cancer. Yeah, that was obviously that's a thing for a long time.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Yeah, and it was pretty intense being around 14 years old at that time. Yeah. When the brain aneurysm happened, I was actually at home with this family member and I was the one that called 911. It was such an intense weekend. And to go through that and to see somebody that I really admire, really appreciate, just go through something like that really struck me. It was really hard to process, especially in the midst of trying to be a freshman in high school and making that transition. When the family member was in the ICU, they actually asked me to stay overnight with them because they didn't want to be alone.
So they have those like pull out couch beds and I actually spent the night there and I met a nurse and you know, even after that, I still wasn't like completely drawn to the idea of nursing, at least not yet.
Eric Chow
But the seed was definitely planted there. Why do you think you were into nursing at that time?
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Well, to be completely honest, I really didn't want to be the quote unquote Filipino nurse stereotype. I didn't want to embody that. And I thought it was a little cliche, you know, this whole like illness-inspired career type of story. And it took a lot of reflection to actually think about what I went through, how I reacted to it, and derived meaning from it. and placed it into what I'm doing in the future.
Eric Chow
So what changed your mind to actually get into it then?
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
So after things kind of died down in my freshman year of high school as sophomore year junior year and senior year came about, I really had time to reflect on what happened and how I responded to it. For instance, when I When I was the one that called 911 when that family member just collapsed on the floor, I realized that I wasn't panicking and I have like this oddly like calm state that kind of just overtook me. And it was this very like utilitarian, okay, we got to get this done, like boom, boom, boom. Like I remember thinking to myself like, okay, sunshine, hold yourself together.
There's time to cry later. You have to get this done right now. And that's what happened when my Family member was taken by the paramedics and put into one of the general hospitals before getting transferred to the ICU. I will admit, like I had a really like personal moment of vulnerability where I felt completely alone. I went to the bathroom actually and kind of just like broke down. I was like alone and I was like, I need to be alone. And all the stress and worry and panic that like kind of happened then. I kind of just Moved it into there and wow yeah, and I remember thinking about that a few years later and I was thinking wow like this almost innate ability to control my emotions and separate logic from like emotion and stuff like that is definitely like Something that I think I could apply to Yeah, and um it was also and then Later on when this family member had cancer, I was just like, it was so much to process at that time.
And even looking back, I'm still shocked by how I handled that. It was just the way in which I essentially had to step up being 14 and put into a situation where you just have to grow up faster than you anticipated was something that I personally I'm proud of the way that I handled and I think that the skills that I used in order to help this family go from illness to treatment to recovery because they were like, they were definitely around a lot, very close family member, one who I really admire. It was like kind of like looking at those skills and understanding that like, oh, there's something that I have. There that I want to use and it's too much for me. It stood out to me too much to ignore it.
Eric Chow
I mean Yeah, no, it totally does. Yeah So and that that that's sort of a reflection that occurred over sophomore junior senior year.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Yeah for sure it definitely plays like late sophomore year and then all throughout junior year, you know, the time where you start thinking about like what you want to do with your life and stuff like that, right? And I realized as I've mentioned earlier that like the reason why I didn't go into nursing was very, very superficial. Like, oh, I didn't want to be like another Filipino nurse for the listeners. I am Filipino. Yeah. And I just like didn't want to sound cliche, right? Right. But after reflecting on it, it realized I realize that by deriving meaning from the events that happened in my life, I can take control of like my narrative, take control of the stereotype and just acknowledge the fact that those things exist but know that like to me personally, the reason why I'm doing what I'm doing is like a very conscious, yeah, a very conscious, I mean, yeah.
Eric Chow
Yeah, no, absolutely. And especially for like Asians like yeah, nursing, doctor, lawyer, engine like it's always like the same classic ones. Yeah, like obviously like not wanting to like follow it just because of a stereotype is definitely something that a lot of people have to struggle with and then it is deciding to add like or deciding to say like, hey, it's completely separate from that it has nothing to do with that it's just this is what I've been through and this is what I think I should do as an adult.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Yeah, for sure. It's definitely one of those things and I realize that in my first semester of college, it was really evident watching the way in which some of my friends that are upperclassmen, some of my peers, the way in which they reason things out. Yeah, oh my gosh, I lost my train of thought.
Eric Chow
But as people... It happens in every episode, don't worry. Okay. Okay. Every time. Yeah.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
So, um, I realized like looking at the people around me, like people are considering switching majors, people are like, Oh, I don't know if this is what I want to do. Right. Right. Undeclared and they're trying to figure out a direction and all of that is perfectly okay. You know, um, and I think that for listeners, definitely like if you're. you know, discouraged by being part of some sort of stereotype put into a box, that kind of stuff. Just acknowledge that it'll always be there. And I remember listening to episode 20, actually, where Kim have only brought up that interesting point about like where those stereotypes come from. Like, yeah, they do exist, but you could take control of your own narrative by knowing where your meaning comes from.
Eric Chow
No, it absolutely does. And in fact, I actually want to read this. This was part of the original message you sent me. All right. Just I just want to read this for everyone listening. Okay, here we go. Quote, the overall theme I kind of hope can be put out there is to refrain from distancing ourselves from our past experiences and use it to empower us towards meaningful decision making during these pivotal points in our lives. End quote. Yo, that's a really good quote. It totally summarizes your experience, right? You easily could have been continuing on that train of thought of, hey, I don't want to be dealing with this.
I don't want to follow this path. I don't want to think about this at all. But instead, you were like, no, no, this matters to me. I think that it will, it's, going down this path is going to allow me to help people who, for example, might have to deal with that in the future, for example, right? Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah, and then, yeah, that's, that's good connection there to episode 20. I didn't even think about that at all. And that's, I think that, fuck, that's a long title though. I can't put that in the title. All right, whatever. So for someone who, let's try to make this more more broad.
Because like that's, that's, that's, well, okay, first of all, is there anything else you want to add to that story? No, I don't think so. Okay. Okay. So for listeners who... Oh, okay. Oh gosh, sorry. Go ahead, go ahead.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Right, this family member is alive and well and like...
Eric Chow
I was gonna ask that earlier and I totally forgot. Wow, okay, that's good. That's good.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Yeah, so actually my family member is alive and well and the recovery was actually so good that you can't even tell sometimes that they went through this. It's legend. And it's definitely not very good to go. Yeah, yeah. And then even after the stroke, like, you know, memories great.
Eric Chow
Motor skills are great. All of the small things that you don't have. Did you even mention that to everybody yet? The stroke? I don't think you did. I think I did. You did? Okay, I must have missed it. Okay. I have bad memory. Yeah. Okay. See, I didn't even have the stroke and I have the bad memory.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
What is going on here? What the heck? Oh gosh. But yeah, it's a lot to keep track of. I remember, I shared this. In more detail with like some close friends and I'm like, okay, here's the timeline. I need to guide through this. It doesn't get mixed up. Oh, your friends are like, ah! Got it. Okay.
Eric Chow
So for a listener who, you know, we don't really of course know their story, what would you say that they could, what are some of the things that they could potentially take away from hearing yours?
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Definitely to be vulnerable with yourself. Like in order to extrapolate meaning from pivotal parts in your life, you have to really like look a little deeper in yourself, contemplate and reflect. And hopefully use that as at least a general roadmap for the way in which you want to like live your life. Because I think that It's inspiring to get stories from other people, but ultimately your story is your own and the only way to figure out your stories to start where you are, look back and then take that and then move forward.
Eric Chow
It's kind of funny. I saw this literally early like this morning. Or yeah, I think I saw it this morning and it was like it was a line and I don't remember the exact line, but it was something like imagine that you Imagine that your entire life up to this point wasn't like you wasn't your life. Imagine it was a book you're reading and you read this story and then you have to figure out, okay, how can I get this main character to make the rest of their story amazing? What choices can this main character make to make the rest of their life amazing? And that's exactly what this is, right?
It's it's reading this story. of how you've lived so far and then figuring out what's next. Yeah, definitely. Being honest with yourself too, it's not like, oh, I'm not gonna, I can't ignore this. Like, you know, we can lie to people, but it's important for us to be honest with ourselves. Yeah, it really is.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
And I think that's like the first step in like figuring out like where you want to take yourself, you know? Right. Who you are. And to do that, it requires contemplation and reflection.
Eric Chow
Yeah. And then like you brought up episode, what was it, 16, right? That was like that was about a lot about being honest with other people. But I think that's a good, good check. Like before you can do that, you have to be honest with yourself before you can be honest with other people. Yeah. And one thing I like, like you just mentioned it, like right now, like one thing I like to say is like, The first thing I'll wish anybody is health. The first thing, like I'm gonna wish everybody and your circle of people health physically, mentally, emotionally. And then the second thing I'm gonna wish everybody is like self-confidence and self-awareness.
That's like, that's my second thing. Because like once you have those two things, like once you're confident in yourself and once you know yourself and you're honest with yourself. I think that's pretty much the unlock for everything else.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Once you have that, you can do anything. Yeah, for sure. And it really helps keep you grounded. Obviously, as we grow and change, we're definitely going to have to rework. Oh my gosh. English. Oh gosh. But as we get older and as we're in this at least in our case in like college age where we begin to figure ourselves out. I think it's important to start by grounding ourselves in who we are and our values and definitely self-awareness and honesty with ourselves is a good place to start.
Eric Chow
I agree. I agree and I like that one word you just mentioned, values. I like that. That's super important. In fact, you know what, I'm going to take this opportunity. I have an activity that I like talk. I've been talking about for a little while now, not too long. I call it the values list. And basically it's literally coming up with a list of your top values. And it's mainly like, okay, so it leverages your brain and how it's made. Your brain has something called the reticular activating system. And what it does is, our brains are bombarded with a crap ton of information, right? There are tons of light rays hitting my eyeballs that gets me to register a bunch of things.
But not all of that is going to my consciousness. I'm not caring that there's a water bottle over here until I just said there's a water bottle over here because I notice it. My brain will register it. The particular activating system, what it does is it's the part of your brain that decides what to send to your consciousness. What I think is When you write out your values and you say hey, these are the let's say 10 My top 10 values. These are the 10 things I care most about You're and you go hey like this is what I want to pay attention to Then your particular activating system can go okay anytime something relates to any of these 10 things I know I need to send it to their consciousness.
Oh wow That's sort of the theory behind it. And then of course it also leverages psychology. Right, there's the idea of confirmation bias. This is super similar. Like confirmation bias, you have an idea and your brain wants to confirm it. So if I go, hey, I care about these 10 things, your brain wants to say, oh, this guy cares about these 10 things. Okay, let's make sure he sees these 10 things. Yeah. And then so the values list is about leveraging the particular activating system confirmation bias blah blah blah in order to put the most important things to you as like deep deep priority in your life. Yeah. Yeah, I agree with that.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
And I think making a values list is important. And it's actually something I did. Excuse me as I like thought about what I wanted to do with these events in my life. Awesome. There's like actual there's like a million different ways I could have taken these events for my life and interpreted it much like how there's like several different ways you can interpret a book, right? But by knowing at least my guidelines and a good general sense of like my values, I was able to like look at what happened in my life objectively and use like these values in order to like determine where I want to go.
Like for instance, Knowing that at least innately for me that there was some sense of me being able to you know control my emotions and logic in very high-intensity situations, right? It ties into my value of actually consciously and constantly living out a life in which I know I'm using skills that I have in order to help others. Love it. Yeah, and I definitely could have chosen a profession that wasn't nursing and still implemented these values and skills and awareness in a different facet. But you know, and I think that's what's important about like taking these two ideas together because it allows you to take control and decide where you want to go.
Eric Chow
And like so you took your values and you took this story and you combined them and that's what
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
brought you to nursing?
Eric Chow
Yeah, yeah, for sure. And there's a million different directions I could have taken this story and applied it somewhere else, you know? But just knowing myself, and it took a while to contemplate, like it wasn't like, you know, it wasn't like, it wasn't the crochet story I thought it would be, you know, like as you see in the films and media where, you know, this thing happens and all of a sudden you kind of just kind of just know. Right, right. No, it was like it took three years for you, right?
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Yeah, it took a really long time. And I think that adds to the benefit of making this commitment towards nursing, because even as in in those general ed classes, my university, we have to take philosophy, for instance. It's easy to be like, oh, you know. What the heck? This class isn't in my major. I can put it on the back burner, like way on the back burner, you know? But, you know, I did make a conscious effort to like try to at least think, okay, yes, we're reading about, you know, what is virtue, right? You know, and I'm like telling myself, sunshine focus, like what is virtue?
You know, if you go with one day, you can apply that or like as we're reading. as we're reading other texts, I'm thinking, okay, maybe this can be used to connect with a future patient when we're reading something in literature, for instance. And I think extrapolating meaning from even like general coursework and keeping a sense of purpose in your life is really important.
Eric Chow
I really like that part you just mentioned, like finding meaning, because a lot of people, especially for something like general ed, especially like you said if they take a class like fucking philosophy like what the heck you know it's like a lot of people who sit in sit in those classes or they have to see like oh this class is something you have to take or you know they're in high school whatever it's like why do I care about this why am I here but as soon as you you can find something that's like sort of like an end goal, sort of like an end sort of purpose and just constantly keep reminding yourself like, hey, this is what I'm trying to do. This is why I'm here. Suddenly now you have a lot more motivation and reason to do it.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Yeah, yeah. And it doesn't even have to be an end goal. It could just be like, this will help me get towards the direction that I'm going in. Right, yeah. And even like, you know, like say like, general, why, like, at least if you're gonna do it. Try to enjoy it, you know what I mean?
Eric Chow
No, I agree. I agree. And you know what, this is something I mentioned. I think this was episode 20. Correct me if I'm wrong because I might be mixing this up with another episode. Since you listened, you might know. I mentioned my theory on procrastination, which is people procrastinate because they don't care about it. I think that's episode 20. Okay, good. I think it is. I think it is. It might be 21, which is unreleased, but actually no, it's going up today as we're recording, but not when this episode is live, it'll already, this is episode 22. So, yeah, that's my theory on procrastinate. I lost my train of power for a second.
That's my theory on procrastination. Like people procrastinate because they don't care about something. And so if you can find any reason to care, then it's like, okay, you have a much better chance of actually doing a good job and not leaving this off. Yeah. Which I still do.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
But it's fine. I mean, I think procrastination is inevitable, but I agree. It helps you get out of the slump. Reminding yourself, you know?
Eric Chow
Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Anything else do you want to say? What else can we say about this story and this values and adding meaning? Because we're talking about, okay, well, this works for majors and careers and classes as well. But I think this could also, I mean, this is life in general. Can you find a reason to care about what you're doing? Can you do things in your life whether it's like a hobby or whatever that aligns with your values and Connects up sort of with your story. So like you know, I think about for me, right? This podcast has nothing to do with my career or my major or my anything but you know my story like my somehow my life experiences have led me to starting it somehow my values are the reason that I'm continuing to do it.
So, you know, I think those two things, like story and values, getting a good understanding of those two and combining them and using them to find things that you like doing, whether it's a hobby, a major, a career, or anything you're doing in life. Like that's, I think that's definitely a big moral, anything you want to add to that? Um, okay. So, stories and value, right? Yep. Okay. I just thought of this before you while you keep thinking. Okay. Combining someone's story plus one's value is what allows someone to live a more meaningful life. It's the thought I just had.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Yeah, I agree with that. And... you know, it allows them to live a more meaningful life because one, like they look back on like where they've been and now they have like a direction for where they're going while also like appreciating like, you know, how the past experiences have shaped and then now applying that in the present as they move forward. Very true. Yeah, that's very true. Yeah. And oh, about stories and value, I think that, you know, what you value and what your personal story is doesn't always have to be manifested into something that's so clear cut. For instance, I was in band drill all four years of high school, you know, I think your sister is in it, right?
She is. Yeah. And as a, as somebody in band, right, and who's going through like, you know, all this personal family stuff at home, right?
Eric Chow
Yeah. You realize that like, I wasn't able to I'm really like tell anybody because like I knew that like thankfully they wouldn't be able to relate Through playing is like I was able to you know express myself without having to say anything and I think that really helped me like process what I was going through you know and I stayed in it for all four years and The things that I liked about it, you know knowing that there were people around me that you know cared about me and I was part of a team They didn't have to know everything that I was going through And I certainly didn't share all of that at the time, but I knew that they would be there for me if I so chose to open it up to them.
And also other skills that I still use to this day, definitely time management and delayed gratification, goal setting, the striving for constant improvement. All those things, you have this story as me who's a nursing major. who was ultimately driven to go into this profession because of something that was healthcare illness related, right? But what a lot of people don't see is that in between, it was music that really kept me together, it gave me this outlet, it gave me friends that I still keep in touch with to this day, of course. you know, that's obviously not very clear cut, you know, in at least in my narrative.
It's like, it kind of just seems like a hobby, but to me, it was something that like, I carry with me like every day, you know, and I think that's something that's really important to tell us of the viewers or listeners, excuse me, that, you know, just because you have this values and these stories doesn't mean that they always have to be like, you know, clear cut in a box in the way that you... You know, that's a very good point. Yeah, I mean that in that case it's super super simple like you enjoyed it done Like that's it. That's that's what made it like you enjoyed it and it was fun and you had a community of people that you liked being around like that makes it meaningful done deal like and I like how how that was like I like I like that one thing you just said like that one phrase it was music is what kept me together like I had this thing that I wanted to do, but music is what kept me together.
I really like that line because it's great to have a vision of where you want to go, but having something that ground you, I suppose, you could say, something to ground you on the day to day, that's a very powerful thing to have. I think Dwayne Johnson refers to the anger. Like he has all these goals or all these things that he wants to do and it's Dwayne Johnson, like he's a busy man. But you know, he's like, for me, quote, for me, it's about the fucking anchor. And for him, the anchor is going to the gym. That's his thing. That's his anchor. That's what grounds him every day.
That's what he makes sure like he prioritizes. And that's his alone time. That's his, you know, whatever you want to call it. other people meditate, other people have music, other people dance, other, you know, there's so many different things that you can, you might do for me, for a long time, it was martial arts, like having something to like ground you in the day to day while you're striving for something. Yeah, I like it. I like it. So the other topic you wanted to touch on was qualifications. Yeah, and this is something we've both been thinking about so this is perfect.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Yeah, definitely. Honestly, I had the thought of qualifications because as you kept like, you know, releasing more and more episodes, I was like thinking, wow, this is so cool. But in the back of my mind, you know, I was thinking, wait a minute, what makes this guy qualified? What do other people think makes Eric qualified to make this podcast as good as the content may be? So like what do you think about that?
Eric Chow
You know, I think for me the way I think of it first is Okay, so the so the question I asked right is if someone's asking me What makes you qualified or someone asks you sunshine like hey, what makes you qualified to talk about this topic? the entire reason someone asks that is because They're trying to figure out can I trust this person or not is this person right in what they're saying or not right? Yeah, yeah. And the way I see it, since I'm not doing anything that like, like, what everything I do, right, is something that somebody else can look at and go, hey, that guy's right, or that guy's wrong about what he's saying.
Like it's not like, it's not like, I'll get to that part after. Like, so for me, it's like, okay, forget the qualifications. You're gonna have to, you're gonna, the way I see it is someone has to take my word that Everything I'm going to put out is something that I believe in and something that I have done everything in my power to confirm as truth. So if I'm saying something, like if I say suggest something or whatever, I can be like, okay, look, this is my life experience. This is something I learned from my mentors. This is something that I learned from somebody else and I put into practice and then decided that, hey, this is a true thing.
or I looked at my friends and they told me something. Or my friends have confirmed what I've said. So like I said something, my friends said, hey, I don't know about that. Let me try it. They tried it and it worked. So I'm gonna do everything I can, right? Within my life, my friends' lives, within the people I decide to follow and learn from my mentors, like I'm gonna do everything in my power to make sure everything I say is right. And then... I'm going to put it out. And then it's the other person's job, in my opinion, to figure out, hey, forget qualifications, because qualifications are only trying to figure out, am I right or not?
Why don't you go see if I'm right or not? So you don't have to trust me. You can say, hey, Eric's suggesting this. Let me try it and see if he's right or not. And because I'm not like, it's not like I'm a doctor, right? Like if we're talking like surgery, right? You can't be like, hey, is this guy going to let me die or not? Give me some qualifications, please. That's a different scenario. But this is like ideas. I'm not potentially putting someone in danger. And so the fact that I don't have qualifications, to me, can be skipped. And instead, the question of, hey, am I right or not?
is a question for I think listeners to think about. And this kind of goes back to what we were talking about earlier, like self-awareness, right? Everything I'm gonna say is, as far as I know, right? And I'm gonna do my best to make sure I'm not the only one it's right for. But even if it is, even if I am the only person who does that one thing and I pretty much never will be, I'm going to put out because I think it's right for me. And it's... the listener's job to apply self awareness to figure out is it right for them. And as long as I'm not putting anyone in danger, like I'm not trying to say, hey, I'm doing surgery on you with no degree. That's an issue. I'm going to do that. But since it's just talking or saying something, I see it's OK.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
What do you think? I agree with that answer. Yeah, for sure. The reason why I asked this is one, because like, you know, as a listener, I think about that, thinking critically about the media that's put out there with the rise of influencers and the ability to do anything.
Eric Chow
That's what I do too. That's what I do too. Yeah.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
And secondly, I was thinking about the idea of qualifications because in this non-harmful way, you essentially just took a leap of faith and decided to put yourself out there, put something out there. That's right. That's right. I think for a lot of people it acts as like, you know, a type of barrier, you know. I see where you're going. I'll do something when they want to do something. For me especially, like I remember I was like at points in my life where I was like, like, what makes me like qualified to, you know, do this thing, go for this or try this thing out, you know?
Right. And I think like, I think that's like a really good answer, you know, if you're thinking. to yourself, like, oh, am I qualified to do this? Why should I do this? Somebody else can probably do it better. I think it's important to, as we were talking about earlier, remind yourself what meaning you've given to this particular thing. And then ask yourself, keeping in mind that self-awareness, asking yourself, is this something that won't harm anybody? Is this something that I think that you know, would be good for me if I did it and if it's really only like those types of things, a matter of asking yourself whether or not you're qualified per se to do something, then I think, you know, it's an easy block to overcome if you like look at it from different angles. I agree. This is a very good.
Eric Chow
So when I said I thought about qualifications, like everything I said before, that's like where I stopped. Like that was it. I was like done right there. But that's a very good point. Like, yeah, a lot of people feel like, I'm not qualified. I have no quote unquote professional experience. I, why would someone listen to me? Right? And for me, it's, I think I would, I would say a few things to that. I would say one, speak your truth. So in my case, like I said earlier, like everything I'm going to put out. I promise 95% of everything I ever say is going to be something I 100% believe in.
Or at least maybe not 95% I'm probably going to mess up at some points. But like, it's like, I'm going to do my best to make sure everything I say is to my knowledge, confirm truth. So as long as you are speaking your truth and you are being authentic about it, and it's not putting anyone in danger. or in some sort of risk, that's good. That's one box to check off. The other thing I would say is, there are other people who can do it better or something you said, right? And I read this in a book. I could be mistaking which book it's from, but I think it was, Everything is Figured Outable by Marie Forleo.
And I was reading it end of 2019, probably like November maybe. And one of the things she was talking about was, you know how sometimes when someone's like, hey, you should do this. And you're like, yeah, yeah. And then somebody else comes around and they're like, hey, you should do this. And they say the exact same thing. And you're like, oh my God, that's such a good idea. You know how there's sometimes those moments? So her point was like, sometimes it's not about the content of what's being said. It's about the voice. So, you know, a lot of, for example, a lot of what I say is not going to be totally new.
I'm not innovating. I'm not saying something that's like totally new and genius and like I just came up with this. No, no, no, no. There are people who are going to say a lot of what I say. If you wanted to, if I did not exist, if I wasn't doing anything like this, you could find everything by looking at other people. You might not find it all in one place, but every bit of information is already there. It's about someone taking all that information and putting it in their own voice, in their own way that makes it unique. So like, I am the unique combination of all my past life experiences, people, blah, blah, blah.
And so when everything I'm saying is not new, it's just a combination. It's just that unique voice that I've been able to develop. And it's not like I developed it by some amazing way. It's I developed it by living. I'm alive. So as a result, I have a voice that I can use. And so it's everyone has the ability to share something. And, you know, maybe someone who chooses not to get the value from me might listen to somebody else or a different person or a different person. And at some point they're going to learn a certain lesson. Whether they get it from me or from someone else doesn't really matter. I'm gonna put it out just in case someone does take value from it.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Nice. Nice. Yeah, that definitely makes sense. So, you know, what I'm gaining from this is that you've definitely like thought about this a lot.
Eric Chow
Lots of self-reflection went into like this idea before it like- That actually sounds- now that I'm like realizing what I just said, I was like damn, I did good, bro. Yeah. No, no, no, yeah, I mean, it was actually a third thing I was going to say, but I forgot it. Whatever. If I think of it later, I'll say it. But yeah, I mean, that's what I would say. Like, so like, with like, just to summarize everything, I guess, for a lot of things, people don't need qualifications, I think. And even in like something I'm observing now, like, people, companies are starting to move away from like...
Hey, you need a degree and they're starting to slowly, some of them are starting to move away from it and they're starting to think about, okay, what about skills? Like maybe you don't have this degree from this college, but oh, you've done a ton of, you have a ton of experience with this topic. Okay, you don't need the degree. You have a ton of experience. You're fine. Let's do this. Right. Right. So like, I think In some ways it's less about, in certain fields it's less about qualifications and more about experience. It's more about realizing, you know, in my case it's like, I feel like I have something I can say.
I feel like what I'm saying has some weight to it because I really like feel like I've in some areas done my due diligence and like I know a little bit. I'm no expert. I will never claim I'm an expert, but like I know something Maybe not much, but I know something and so I feel like I can put it out and I'm gonna do my best to make sure it's true like I said and I'm gonna put it in my own voice and hope and with the with the hope that Someone gains some kind of value it from it and whether that value is like insight or just laughter, like I don't really care. They get something from it that's in some way positive. I'm not gonna. That's good enough for me.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Nice, nice. Yeah, I definitely agree with that. For sure, only some professions because obviously, you know, I'm in nursing school. Yeah, that ain't gonna work for you. You can't drop out. No, you would not want.
Eric Chow
I would not want that. somebody without a degree to take part of you.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
That's right. Yeah. I agree. I do get what you're saying. And I definitely agree with that. And I think that a lot of people, you know, it's all about like, even in like professions or everyday like leaps of faith, you know, right? For instance, raising your hand in class and sharing something, you know, right? How do I know if I'm right or not?
Eric Chow
Yeah, exactly. And it's like. Like that's something that I think we've all been through. It's kind of like, you know, should I share my thoughts to this group of like 30? That's a very good point. That's a super good point.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
What makes me like, you know, qualified to say this when the person across the room, you know, is always shouting out like these ideas. Yeah. And I think it's just like trusting yourself knowing that you've, you know, reflected on the material and that what you're about to say is something that you want to share.
Eric Chow
You know, and you might be wrong. Yeah, I'm 100% sure at some point I'm gonna say something and some guy is gonna be like yo, you're completely wrong about this so that we're gonna talk about it and then I'm gonna realize yeah, I'm completely off I'm Positive that's gonna happen Yeah, and it's like it's okay Having an open mind as part of that I think yeah, and it's definitely part of like this whole idea of like you know qualifications as a type of you know
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
barrier towards like something you want to do or something you're striving towards, you know, and yeah, yeah, especially like, you know raising your hand in class, you know, applying for a job, even applying for colleges, you know, they're like, I don't want to apply to this college because, you know, even if- I'm not gonna get it in any way. Yeah, yeah, if they're fortunate enough to, you know, be able to pay the application fee. And if it's like a school that they're looking at, I think it's like, try it. Try it. Wait, really?
Eric Chow
This is something I just thought of, and this is completely connecting to it. It's like people like to debate whether they're right or not, or people like to debate. Like, oh, I'm not going to get into this college. Maybe it's like someone wants to ask somebody out like, yeah, hey, is this person gonna reject me, right? Like there's all these conversations that we can be had that can be had. It's just debating that is this gonna go my way or not and to me most of the time that debating is kind of useless. Like some things you have to debate, some things you have to be like, like for you, you have to debate.
Am I gonna get into nursing or not? That's not something you could be like Is this right for me? I don't know. Like I'm just gonna, you have to debate it some way, right? But like for a lot of situations, like if you have the financial ability to apply for this college, okay, then maybe you should just apply, right? It's like all this debating is not gonna get you all the answers. Like I can't see a math problem and look at it and say, hey, I think the next step or I think the answer is X whatever right yeah I can look at that and stare at that problem and think about that problem all I want and I can be like am I right am I right am I right am I wrong but until I actually Put down the damn answer and my teacher comes back and says hey this is right and this is wrong I'm not gonna know whether I'm right or wrong.
Yeah. Yeah, I agree. I could Have all these ideas all these thoughts all these thesis statements about life or whatever it is all these opinions all these ideas whatever but Unless I put it out there and let somebody else say Hey, that's a really good point. I like that idea. I think that's right I'm not gonna know anything. I can't know anything for sure I can do my best I can do my due diligence, right? But the only way I know I'm right is by putting it out there a lot of the time. Yeah. And a lot of the time, like we have a very limited amount of information too.
Yeah. When we're making decisions, we have a very limited amount of information. And so it's like, okay, I mean, I really can't know if I'm right or not a lot of the time. Let's just put it out there and see what happens. And it's also like, like you said, like being okay with being wrong, being open minded. If I'm wrong, okay, it's fine.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Yeah. And I think the same goes for rejection too. Oh yeah, for me personally, towards the end of high school, I got a lot of recognition just here and there and stuff like that. And for me, the meaning didn't really come from the award. It was amazing. It was nice, you know, but like a lot of it just came from the fact that there were so many times that I could not count where I tried for a bunch of stuff got like, you know, cut from this ensemble in this year of high school, applied for this thing and then didn't get in. And yeah, and that's what made like, you know, successes that much sweeter.
And I definitely remember thinking, you know, like... You know what makes me qualified to like start this what makes me qualified to keep going and then now that I'm at the end or at least and I was at the end of high school like looking back on all that and like knowing like Like how that like turned out is something that like I would have told my like Freshman yourself, you know, yeah, and imagine if you had just debated oh Am I qualified for this and never done anything?
Eric Chow
Yeah You know, it's like you you won't know unless you like do it and definitely for a lot of things like you know a lot of the Technical jobs where you know you need like real qualifications, right? like certifications and and stuff like that, you know It's like that's definitely something that exists right, but there's also the other set of qualifications is the ones that like exists in like the way in which you process information that exists in your psyche and how like approach situations. So I think there's two different types. I agree. But yeah, I agree. And you know what? I can I can bring up this line.
And this is from a guy named Gary Vaynerchuk. He said, I think a lot of people are trying to go for one, like four wins and one loss. They're trying to play the game so that they get four wins and one loss. Like they get four points and lose one point. That's how they're trying to play the game. To me, that game sucks. I'm trying to play the game of 117 to 93. So, like his point is like, people are so focused on trying to win everything they're doing. They're trying to be good at everything. They're trying to get as many yes as possible. Maybe they're trying to go for like three zero.
And he's like, then in a row, in my opinion, with so much better is I'm going to try everything. I'm going to do so much. And 93 of them are gonna fail, but I'm also gonna get 115 W's. Right, yeah.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
I think part of the reason, or I think that a factor to consider is like the rise of like, you know, social media and the way in which we like present our lives. I know that was talked about in like past episodes, but you know, you always want to like, it seems like a lot of people want to like add, you know, you know, the next post, something to share, you know, and even though they like show that side of themselves, there's also the side that like people don't see, you know, with a lot of like celebrities and public figures and stuff like that, right?
But it's hard to like decipher those, especially when you're in the process of being like, toward your goal, you know, as you're striving toward your goal, it's really hard to like see past that because, you know, you think to yourself, oh, you know, what if this doesn't work out? Right. Right. But it's also something to keep in mind like, yeah, if it doesn't work out, just go for a different opportunity. Go for the same opportunity again. If you know, that's like the case, if that can happen, you know what I mean? And it's like stuff like that that like makes you want to like, yeah.
Eric Chow
That's a good point. Like most of the time when you make a decision, you can either go back on it. You can change your mind. You can change direction. Sometimes you can redo it. Sometimes you can't. But either way, it's really easy to move forward most of the time. Most of the time, you're not going to make a decision where you make a wrong move and you're dead. Most of the time, that's not something that's going to happen. Most of your decisions are going to be, OK, I messed up. I did good. Move on, regardless. Most of the time, it's really easy. That's a good point.
I thought of an example a while back so I was thinking of and this was in the context of a book I was reading called extreme ownership by Chaka Willink and Lafe Babbin these guys are Navy SEALs and so this is a military example completely hypothetical however, some a situation that really does happen right so they're let's say a team of or a squad of soldiers, it's going down a hallway, narrow hallway. So they're in single file. And the guy in front, the point man, they call it, he's going to get to the end of the hallway. And he's going to have to make a choice of which direction he wants to point his gun in, right?
Because it's a narrow, it's a narrow hallway. He doesn't really know it's at the end of it. He's going to exit. It's going to be like, let's say the street is perpendicular. So he's coming on to an open area and he has all this space here. The point man has to decide, hey, I'm gonna point this way, I'm gonna point this way, I'm gonna point straight, like where am I gonna point my gun? And if they're in enemy territory, that decision could be life or death. But as he's walking down this hallway, this point man has no idea which direction to point. He doesn't know anything, can't hate.
I don't know where the enemy is, right? Like he goes, okay, well I'm gonna point right. Points right. If the enemy's on the left. Somebody gets shot. If the enemy is on the right, it works out. Right. Like it's making that best decision possible. And then if you're wrong, he points the gun this way. Enemies over here, you turn the gun and you shoot. Like it's not that hard. Assuming you're not dead, like you just turn and shoot. And most of us don't have to deal with that big of a decision. Right. Yeah. But like the point of doesn't have a lot of information, doesn't know if he's going to be right or not.
And being able to like. Change your and like move forward from it with the when you get when you get new information you can move forward like okay am I gonna redo it am I gonna? adapt the plan? Am I gonna? Retreat like what am I gonna do like you can make that next decision? When it happens? Assuming you're not taking and again most of us are gonna be in that big risk right yeah And maybe it's not life or death. Maybe it's a financial risk. Then obviously if something serious is like that, then yeah, you have to make it, like you have to really debate it, I would say.
But like for the most part, most of the decision most of us are ever gonna make or just do the damn thing and see what happens.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Yeah, I agree with that. And I think that getting past that barrier of like, oh, am I qualified to do this? And then doing it is really important. And going back to like a few examples that you gave, like people constantly focusing on wins and losses, right? Like as much as like you want to focus on wins and losses personally for me, I think that there's a totally different direction you can go in. And that's just always striving for constant self-improvement. A personal example for me is that for tests, for instance, right, you have several like You have like three tests in a semester, right?
And what I did last semester is that I was like, okay, I'm gonna study this way. You know, first semester of college, let's figure this out, right? Took a test, got my score, looked at it, I was like, okay, now this is my new baseline. I'm either gonna get this score on the next test or higher. And then I'm gonna be like, okay, last or before this last test. I use these study methods. Let me see if I can tweak these. And then now with this new baseline, I'm going to take the next test. And then I improved on that test. So I'm like, OK, so this is what went right.
I'm going to forget the stuff that went wrong. And this higher test, which was about 10 points higher, is now my new baseline. And I think that that type of constant improvement is the way in which people should ideally go about how they do things, because it helps them, one, keep an eye on it. keep an eye on how they want to keep moving forward. They themselves, how they want to keep moving forward. And it also gets rid of all the noise of people's scores or successes or situations, whether it be financial or personal or relationships, that kind of stuff. And I think it's like, after going back to my example, after that second test, I knew that I improved from the first test to this test by 10 points.
And the fact that everybody around me, you know, got a higher lower test score, didn't make me feel better or worse about myself. Because I knew that, you know, I was just focusing on constant improvement.
Eric Chow
I love that. I love, especially that I was going to mention that. And then you mentioned it like, it's so easy to be like, Oh, this person did better than me. Oh, that person did better than me. Ha ha. I beat this person. But when it's like, you're just focused on Hey, am I doing better? Am I learning? Am I growing? Am I getting stronger? Whatever the heck you're doing? And then just focusing on that, yeah, it's super powerful. And like in 19, episode 19, my friend, Alan called it Kaizen, which is a Japanese philosophy that means constant improvement. Marie Forleo and everything is figure outable.
She called it progress, not perfection. It's like... And yeah, it's just that idea of like instead of shooting for being perfect instead of shooting for a goal instead of comparing yourself with someone else like just focus on getting better and when success or when when how you feel about yourself is dependent on your ability to put an effort and get better I mean that That's as good as it gets, I think.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Yeah, and I think that really helps like eliminate like most of the noise. Noise, I agree. It's a good point. Yeah, and you know, as we strive for, you know, constant improvement, you know, I think if you want to have something measurable, just use your last success as a baseline to keep moving forward. That's great. That's personally what I do. Yeah, in high school, I actually I competed in this solo contest twice. I did sophomore year, junior year, and then I didn't do it senior year because I was working on scholarship applications. But in sophomore year, I got fifth place and then preparing for the next year's contest.
It was really easy for me to get derailed. And I really tried to keep myself focused. And the way I did that was like, okay, you got fifth last year, just try to get either fifth or the same score that you have, right? You know, you have fifth place and then you have like your numerical score, right? That numerical score, either you get the same thing or get it higher. Or better. Yeah. And that's the baseline that I used for myself. So, you know, all the pressure, just Kind of just came from my own willingness to see if I could like step up to this goal that I set for myself and Yeah, it was actually really really effective and I've been using it ever since um Yeah, my junior year after that first year.
I did it. I got first actually. Yeah. Yeah, I got a Wow it was like You killed it. Yeah, it was like really like whoa, this is like something that I'm gonna implement from now on and I've been thinking it since. So it's definitely like something that I highly re I really like it.
Eric Chow
Yeah. I really like this idea. I'm gonna have to start using that one. I've never, I've never heard of that one. I'm gonna start using that. Cause like, let me, let me, let me, let me ask this though. What do we do when it's not like a numerical thing? When I, when I, when it's not like, oh, I scored this much. What, how do you create a baseline? Do you have any thoughts on this? Sorry, in terms of like relationships or... No, in terms of like setting a baseline to do better for yourself. Like if I do something and somehow whatever it is and I'm trying to think of an example, but I can't.
Like, you know, but like not everything I'm going to get like a test score on it, right? Or like if I'm trying to get better at something and it's not a measurable thing through a test score or a number. How do I figure out a baseline? And that's I think an important question if somebody is doing something like that. And I suppose it would vary depending on what they're doing and what they're trying to get better at. So like, but the idea of coming up with a baseline is still powerful.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Honestly, I think that would go back to the list of values that we talked about earlier in this episode. If it's not something measurable, right? try to determine if it aligns with that base set of values that you establish for yourself.
Eric Chow
And if it's allowing you to practice the use of those values, then I think that's constant improvement already. Yeah, for sure.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
And if you do something that you're not necessarily proud of or something that doesn't align with your values, there's always ways to move forward from that. Depending on like, the degree of which it is, you know, like for instance if you like do something that like hurts your friends feelings, you know, apologizing as the way to start, right? And like, you know, or if it's like something like a little more severe that requires disciplinary action, it's being, you know, honest with yourself and admitting to yourself that you aired in that way, accepting the consequence and then trying to move forward from it as much as possible.
Eric Chow
I love it. I love it. Yeah. I don't really have anything else to add to that one. That's perfect. What are you thinking about these days? Like, so you're about to go back to USF. So, like, what are you thinking about these days? What's on your mind?
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
I'm mostly just thinking about like what I did last semester that worked and didn't. and then what I can do this semester in terms of like academic goals and stuff like that. Personal is more like thinking about like oh my gosh time management and maintaining relationships that like I've built this semester and having that go into next semester while keeping in touch with people from high school as well. Like it's a lot now. Yeah, so like there's a lot of different threads to pull from but that's definitely like stuff that's been on my mind.
Eric Chow
Yeah. How about you? Yeah. I like that that that that bit about like keeping in touch with everybody. It's gotten so much harder. Yeah, it really has.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Oh my God. Yeah. Wait, what's on your mind?
Eric Chow
You know, I got one and a half more weeks. So I'm kind of in fact, wait, what day is today? Today's the 15 when I release this I'll have like half a week left So I'm probably releasing this in like one week So I mean I got a crazy amount of time. This is insane honestly, I'm taking it kind of I'm not super great at like longer term planning so I'll plan what I need to plan, but for the rest, I'm going to take it each couple of days at a time. Because I also know so many things change from what I want to be doing, or my interests, or what I'm thinking about.
So many things change so quickly. So, yeah, I really take it. Each couple, like a batch of days at a time. Like for example, like I was going to be working on some articles that I was writing this week. That shit was on my to-do list for like Monday or like Sunday. I'm pretty sure I just moved it to Saturday like not that long ago because I was just like this is not my priority right now. This is not what I'm feeling right now. I have other things that I want to focus on instead. Like yeah, that's something I want to do but like right now it's not my priority right now.
I have other things I want to be focusing on. So I take things. batch a day at the time. Thinking about the podcast, editing, scheduling actually. Yeah, lots of scheduling to do. Cause I'm all, I'm trying to be more organized this, like for the next, these next couple of months. Cause like the 2019 when I was doing it, it was kind of like all over the place. Like I was like, Hey, you want to do it? Okay, let's do it. When are you gonna release it? I have no idea. Okay, cool. Got it.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
At least you know when this one's coming out.
Eric Chow
Right, yeah, that's what I'm saying. Like I'm trying to, I'm trying to plan it out. Like, okay, who's next? What episode? When am I editing? Like, when am I releasing? I'm trying to be more organized about it. So I don't f*** everything up. Like I did last year. Well, so you know what it's kind of like what you said like what did I do well? What did I not do well? Yeah, that's one of the things I didn't do well. So now I'm like trying to fix that nice nice Yeah Anything you want to any other topics that you want to talk about or anything you want to say?
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
honestly not really but If I were to say something, it's just that your podcast has been like really good. I really enjoy it. Like, you know, like as a listener, I remember you released like the first like 10 episodes and then I finally found the time to like do it and listen to it. Right. I remember that. I remember that. And I remember I went into your podcast listening with like skepticism. Like, okay, let's see what this guy can do. And then like just as you kept releasing more content, I was like, this is pretty good. I've like brought it up to a couple of friends actually.
And honestly, like if there's like one thing about your podcast, I would say, like it just like exudes genuinity. And that's something that's super important to me. Like I know we talked about values and like just for me personally in my like time reflecting, like That is like honestly the sole reason why I reach out to you because like your episode has genuinity vulnerability and like literally Really good content especially for someone who's like is starting college like it's a really good I guess coming of age type of podcast Because I've listened to a bunch and they're not there's not many people in this like particular age range Absolutely Absolutely.
Eric Chow
I'm trying to pull up my values list right now just to show you what number authenticity is on. Where is it? Okay, so self-awareness is two. Literally number two, which is kind of similar to authenticity and expressing it is seven or now six. So it's a high one for me. Authenticity and being self-aware. And like I was saying earlier, it's about putting out truth, right? Everything I want to put out. And so... Let's go. I don't know if you saw, like as you were talking, I was literally like... Yeah, yeah, for the listeners, I was literally celebrating as she said that. I was literally like, like, slinging my arm and everything.
He didn't know I was gonna say that. I had no idea. No. Yeah, I mean, I'm super happy that it seems genuine because that's always something I want to do and I'm super happy you're enjoying it. Yes. And yeah, I mean, part of its practice makes perfect. For sure. Yeah. Like get better with every episode. I learn more about how to edit, for example, that's been a big challenge. If you go back and listen to episode one through four, and you forget the content and you think about the audio quality compared to I don't know, I just feel like it's gotten so much better. That's good, oh my gosh.
It's little things. I do what I can. I'm super happy you're enjoying it. How many episodes do you think you've listened to at this point?
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Um, I've only listened to a handful, maybe like five or six.
Eric Chow
Awesome. Awesome. Thank you. Yeah, of course. Hey, anybody who's listening, if you've listened to more than six episodes, text me. Let's see if you can, if anyone's beating sunshine right now. I know a few people, I know, I know at least one person who's listened to like a good like 10. Oh, wow. Yeah. Or maybe, maybe even a little more like 10 to 12, I think they were saying. That's only like one person. Let me know if anybody's listened to it's like a lot. Like, message me or something or text me or something. Like, get in touch with me, please. Tell me about how I've gotten better or something like that. Yeah, no, thank you. I'm super happy you're enjoying it.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Yeah, I am. I really am. That's awesome.
Eric Chow
And thank you for sharing it with some of your friends. That's dope. Yeah. That's... That's something actually, you know what? I'll share this too. That's something I was thinking about, especially in the beginning. Because I was like, dang, people aren't really sharing the episodes. But then I realized, okay, first of all, I'm not gonna see everybody who shares them, especially if they don't tag me. And then two, it's not just like, hey, am I gonna post it or something? And is Eric gonna see it? Like, I'm not, obviously I'm gonna miss some of those. But it's also I didn't realize at the beginning like, hey, something called the word of mouth exists.
Like people could just talk about it or they could be in the car and then somebody could get in the car and my podcast could be playing. Like there are so many ways that it can be shared. And that was something I think I struggled with in the beginning because I was like, man, no one really is like listening or no one's really like telling me about it. No one's really like, I'm not seeing anything from this. It took a little bit to realize like, just because I'm not seeing it doesn't mean anything. There's so many ways that things could be making an impact or like people could be enjoying it without me even knowing anything.
I think that's, I'm not sure how that bring value to anyone. I'm not sure what a situation that like applies into. But that was a good attitude shift for me. Nice.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
And I think it's like honestly, if you didn't, you know, as you mentioned earlier, you know, like staying true to yourself and reminding yourself why you're doing what you're doing, right? Like I mentioned, I didn't start listening until maybe like a handful of episodes came out and like, here we are talking and I'm like a frequent listener. So, you know, like, so keeping that kind of perspective in mind and I applaud you for keeping on doing this and stuff like that.
Eric Chow
It's pretty good. I'm totally gonna cut this next part out of the episode.
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
I'm trying to do 60 by the end of the year.
Eric Chow
I think you mentioned that in one of them. Oh, I did. Yeah. Guess I'm keeping it in. I'll probably keep it in then. Oh, that was probably episode 20 because I had some announcements that in that episode. Oh, well, I guess I'll keep it. I'm hoping for 60. All right. But we'll see. I'm taking breaks. I'm gonna take a couple breaks. Right now I'm actually pretty much good for the until the end of February. Oh wow. Thank you. Like not in terms of like I've already recorded them but in terms of like plan, I'm good until the end of February. Nice. Yeah. Any final words for the listeners before we end the episode?
Sunshine Joyce Batasin
Oh no, for the listeners I think that there's like a lot to unpack in this episode and you know there's like bits and pieces that like are standalone or they can like relate to each other in some way but just like you know moments in our life just take it for what it is and then try to create meaning from it as you think about it.
Eric Chow
You know what I'm gonna share a quote that I think goes well for literally all of anything like like when you were talking to me about qualifications when I was talking about like putting out your truth and when we were talking about like, hey, am I right or not? And when it comes to what you were just saying like unpacking this episode. First of all, it's kind of funny because I have to unpack the episode too, because I have to go back and listen to it and edit it and then write the episode description and all of that and figure out what the heck I put up to put in the title.
You know, I'm not going to lie. I think title league is literally the heart one of the hardest things. Cause I have to like, I have to go through the entire thing, right? And then in the, in the description, I can put however many like things I want to say. Like I can kind of write whatever. Like it's like, Oh, what did we talk about? Oh, I can put like 17 things I want to. But in the title, I pick like three or two to put in the title. And so it's like, okay, what are the, what are the three I want to put in?
It's so hard sometimes. Anyway, the quote I wanted to share. is Bruce Lee, the quote is, adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own. So, you know, whatever you think is useful, take it, use it, apply it, let us know how it goes. You can certainly, as always, contact me, as you guys already know how to do that. In the episode description, you will be able to connect with Sunshine on social. Adaptive is useful if it's not useful for you if you think it's wrong for you if you don't think it's It applies for you reject it and whatever you can do to add to Anything we talked about add it and make it yours Thanks for comments on giant.
Thank you What is up everybody? I hope you guys enjoyed listening to episode 22 of the podcast I had a lot of fun recording it. There was a lot of amazing, amazing discussion and amazing topics that we covered in this episode. I think for me, the main thing I'm taking away is the way Sunshine turned her life experience, that story she shared, turning that pain and hardship into purpose and meaning. I think that's something I'm going to be doing as I reflect. on my past because I'm an undecided major in college and you know, maybe Applying this will create some clarity for me and I already can see how in some ways My life experiences have led me to where I am what I'm doing and who I am Today, so you know, maybe reflecting on this more will help me That's kind of my big takeaway and I'm curious to what you guys are taking away from this episode.
In fact, I'd love for you to message me what your takeaways from this episode are you can message me at underscore chow. Eric, that is at underscore CHOW. E R I C on Instagram and Twitter. You can also find sunshine's Instagram as well as her email in the episode description. Thank you so much for listening to episode 22. I will see you in the next episode, but until then have a fantastic rest of the day.