• Blog
  • Archives
  • Bio
  • Awards
  • Speaking
  • Book
  • Contact

Regaining focus

Published: Wednesday, 23 January 2013

During my time at Robogals, towards the end of every year, I would lose focus.

Why?  All my major projects for the year would have been wound up.  My goals were usually annual goals, so by December, I'd either have got there, or I wouldn't have.  And there usually wasn't much more I could do to change that by then.  So I'd be unmotivated and slow down.

But then I realised that I just needed new goals and plans for the upcoming year to motivate me and make me burst with excitement.  So I would create new goals that were challenging for me, things that were a step above things that I'd done before, so that I could learn many new skills.  This would make me super motivated and I would leap into action again.

In my final year of Robogals, I deliberately didn't sit down and do this, because I didn't want to get distracted creating new programmes.  Instead, I focused all my goals on succession, because I realised that the best thing I could do for Robogals in my last year was to set it up for the future so that many more people could create their own challenges and learn new skills from the organisation.

About Me

Marita ChengForbes named me a world's top 50 woman in tech & 30 Under 30. I founded Robogals and Aipoly and was Young Australian of the Year 2012. Currently working on robotics company Aubot. I'm the youngest Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and I give speeches around the world.

I tweet @maritacheng and I'm on Facebook.

Subscribe

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Random Articles

  • Last impressions count

    When you leave someone after an interaction, do you leave them present to their own greatness? Do you leave them feeling completely validated,...

  • Cairns Eye

    Returning to my hometown Cairns is always relaxing.  Returning to Cairns in winter is a luxury - because the weather is lovely, and not cold at all....

  • Woman in STEM

    For National Science Week, I spoke at the Super STEM Careers event about my career in STEM.

  • How I won my battle against procrastination

    Just in the past 2.5 weeks, I've seen my productivity shoot through the roof, I have more energy and I feel great about myself (who wouldn't?)   No,...

  • YouthActionNet Global Fellowship Day 0: The "best" and "better" plans

    A month ago, I came up with a list of the things I wanted to consider during my YouthActionNet Fellowship retreat.  In the 24 hours that it took me...

  • Don't kid yourself on your priorities

    What are your priorities?  Work?  Family?  Relationship?  Start-up?  9-5?  Non-profit?  Volunteering?  Watching television?  Reading blogs?  Eating?  Meetings? Don't...

  • Scrap paper

    I write all my blog posts on scrap paper. I printed so many speeches last year that I have all these A4 scrap sheets of paper that just have...

  • Wow! I'm Young Australian of the Year!

    Wow!  What a huge honour!  I flew overseas in the wee hours of 27 January, and so the whole experience of being named Young Australian of the Year is...

  • The unglamourous work you love

    I love the process of getting an idea, making a plan around it, and then bringing it to the world.  It usually involves a lot of emailing, fleshing...

  • No overnight success: Geoffrey Rush

    When I was touring schools with Geoffrey Rush and we were answering questions in front of hundreds of kids, lots of them said, "I really what to be...

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Scroll to Top