Four days ago, last Sunday, 13 November 2016, The Daily You officially turned one year old. (2 April is the institute’s birthday as The Daily Aloy, which was originally my passion project on living a responsible life – 13 November 2015 was the day it officially became The Daily You, the institute promoting living a Truly Good Life.)

Happy birthday to you, TDY!

Over the past year, we at TDY have seen our fair share of ups and downs, but as is with the financial market, the trend is generally upwards – we have developed in so many ways we never thought possible.

For instance, we started our Instagram account with your daily dose of inspirational wisdom et al, something that was but only an idea this time last year.

Those typographics have also expanded into downloadable wallpapers for your smartphone, so you have wisdom in your pocket whenever you want, wherever you want.

We purchased our own domain – last year, this was still just thedailyaloy.wordpress.com (that link is still active, but this one, thedailyyouph.com, is the “primary” one).

And, most importantly, we have now launched inspireD, our department covering motivational speaking and life mentoring, which we never imagined doing last year.

But that earlier phrase – “we have developed” – also applies to ourselves, to Lali and myself.

We have both grown a lot this past year, and clearly, 2016 has been a year of establishment and foundation for us and for TDY, setting the stage for further growth. This year, after working in the startup scene for almost exactly one year, I launched my own social enterprise with six others, a membership space for entrepreneurs, artists, and advocates. Lali, on the other hand, finally left the corporate world after seven years of hard work, and she too started her own business – which I leave to her to discuss.

I never expected, too, that I would become a motivational speaker. Author, yes, but speaker, no. For someone who was once timid and shy, and the one being life-coached (too much I’d say) and motivated, here I am, transformed, ready to talk to young ones about their lives. And it’s a fun and wonderful feeling.

God really works in mysterious ways. He really transforms you to suit his purpose (see what I did there) if you are open enough to receiving him.

As we build on what we’ve done this past year, ready to take on 2017 head-on, we want to thank you, our readers, supporters, and partners, from the bottom of our hearts, for giving us the strength to move on. Our raison d’être here is to help shape, transform, or simply guide young minds to live truly good lives, to live with a reason for living – a reason that as much depends on knowing the world around them, and responding to it, as knowing themselves.

Here’s hoping that next year will be just as, if not more, exciting and growth-filled. Cheers! #LiveTheDailyYou

Aloy Chua is the Co-Founder and CEO of TDY. His column, Today, discusses everyday living in relation to TDY’s philosophy of Higher Purpose Through Love. He’s also the co-founder of the Roots Collective, a community hub for entrepreneurs, and a freelance systems consultant and writer/editor, and loves reading about fashion, technology, travel, entrepreneurship, and healthy living. His first love is Pokémon. Find out more about living The Daily You on our About Page.

Follow Aloy on Instagram at @royaltruchua and Twitter at @TheDailyAloy.