“If only I could be as rich as Bill Gates”.

“If only I could be as smart as Einstein”.

“If only I have as big a house as he has”.

“If only I could be like him….”

Most people like to think that way… if only they can be like someone else. If only they can have what someone else has.

Yes, all they do is to dream of having other people’s ability or luck. They never really think of themselves. Neither do they think FOR themselves. What do they really want for themselves? What do they really wish to achieve in life? What are their objectives in life? Questions like these are far more important than all the fake illusions of being someone else.

Also, it’s important for people to learn to appreciate themselves – their physical self, their talents, their abilities, their uniqueness. They might not be as rich as Bill Gates in terms of $$$, but they can be richer in some other terms. They might not be as artistic as Van Gogh, but they can be more artistic in some other areas as long as they believe in themselves. Yes, each of us has a role to play in this world. Van Gogh and Bill Gates have their own roles…so do you, as long as you….

… believe in yourself. If you don’t believe in your own abilities and keep hoping you can be like someone else, then the future does look bleak for you. Because in the long run, the person which you want to become so much, might end up becoming your biggest obstacle to your true self. You will be forever living under the person’s shadow and the biggest success you can ever achieve, is to be another “him”. I’m sure you deserve more than that.

So stop imagining and hoping you can be like someone else. Start believing your own self. Think what you really want to do in your life. Set up short term and long term life goals. Then work towards these goals.

Last but not least, just be yourself…. your unique self. You deserve to live in this world as yourself, not behind another person’s shadow.

Some people believe that we should always think of doing things for ourselves, and not on behalf of other people. While I do believe this should be the correct way (only useful for those who are very much a self-motivated person), I also believe that we shouldn’t ignore the importance of doing things for other people especially people who are important to us.

In fact, it’s quite a different feeling for me. It’s as if you do have a very strong purpose for doing something and you know that there is someone out there who is depending on your success/failure. It actually allows you to withdraw a great deal of emotional strength from within yourselves.

Life is not just about doing things for yourselves

Actually, we see this all the time in movies and stories (er..mostly those movies with a big name hero ). In fact, some of the motivational gurus even insist that one should always be willing to help others or do things for other people. It is what make us human and it is also what makes whatever we do more meaningful.

Just in case some of you don’t get what I mean, let me give you a simple scenario.

Let’s say you are going to do this very very difficult and scary task – maybe a medical operation (touch wood). You’re afraid, very afraid. After all, it’s your first time in the operation room and you’ve heard scary stories before this. What you can do then, is to try telling yourselves that you can do it, and you want to be fine for the people you care about including your family. Repeat this for a few times. I believe that you will feel the confidence building up within yourselves.

I personally experienced this before. I was admitted to a specialist to do a kolonscope at the age of 22 or 23. I was very scared. The entire waiting area was filled with uncles, aunties and I was the youngest. And it was the first time I was admitted. So when I entered the “room”, with those scary-looking spotlights……. one thing came to my mind – my mum’s worried and crying face. And at that time, I told myself that I’ll be perfectly fine because I don’t want my mum to worry.

I know it’s not a big operation…er…it’s not even an operation. But it did help me overcome my fear. Because at that time, I had a purpose and a very strong reason not to fear of anything. Some people call this willpower….er…whatever it is, I believe it’s the same thing – the strength to achieve a particular goal for the people who you really care about.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a spiritual or motivational guru. I’m merely sharing my belief and my experience. I do hope that this piece of article actually help some of you out there who are struggling to overcome the many obstacles that life always throws our way.

p/s…….. if possible, try to manage properly the things which you are doing for yourselves and also the things which you are doing for others. But also try not go overboard with this – some people might start feeling themselves as very important, in a wrong way. Sorry if this article is making you feel that way =_= Maybe these individuals who feel they are so “great”, should learn how to be humble before practicing the things here.

In 2009, there will be a lot of people with negative thinking. Morale will be at record low. People will begin to feel hopeless as their world comes crumbling down due to retrenchments and bankruptcy.

But is it really that hopeless? Maybe it is, but we shouldn’t let that bring us down and ruin our 2009.

Very meaningful quote from Henry Ford

In my opinion, now is already too late for any ‘fixes’. If anyone tells you they are trying to implement some fixes to improve their business, it’s a lie. I would say that it’s not a fix to improve their business, but a fix to survive. Retrenchments, pay cuts or any cost cutting measures are not meant for ‘improving business’. Quite the contrary. These things are done so that a business can still survive.

That is why I think there are 2 things which every person and every business should do in 2009.

• Survive
• Prepare

The first point is to survive. If we’re not able to survive this cruel 2009 (and probably 2010), then any preparations or improvements will mean nothing. For example, you will need a job and the salary to survive. If you’re jobless now, your priority should not be to improve yourselves or to go for trainings….it should be how you can survive for the next few months. It’s either you get a full time job, or you get a part time job or earn some side income. The objective here is the only and only “to survive”.

The second point comes after you’ve ensured you can survive. It is to prepare yourselves in terms of finance and knowledge. Lead a frugal life and keep as much money as you possible can, and put it as a reserve somewhere. Invest them if you want but never spend it on your WANTs even though there are plenty of promotions and sales this year. You will need that fund to push you to another level once the economy recovers. As for the knowledge, try to improve your skills and exposures by attending trainings, self-studying, doing freelance, networking, etc. The people you know and the skills you’ve acquired now will be very important when the economy recovers. In fact, these might actually be the deciding factor to see whether you are prepared for the next level, or not.

To be honest, most people will spend their time in 2009 and 2010 doing the first thing. These people are actually those who are slightly motivated. Those who are less motivated will just sit there complaining and do nothing. So by doing the first and then the second, you are actually putting yourselves or your business in a very good position to challenge for the top spot when the economy recovers (when companies are hiring again, and when people are willing to spend their money again).

Those are the 2 things that I would advise people to do, and also the things which I myself will do. Because the last thing I want is to miss out on this golden opportunity to make myself known to other people. I don’t think I want to enter the newly recovered economy as a nobody.

Hope it helps.

P/S…….Feel free to check out this useful article from Seth Godin – Slack.

Today, my company informed my team that a change is needed. The management folks intend to move us from one department to another department – from Java technology to Microsoft technology. This is because there’s no project in the pipeline for the Java team but there are few big projects for the Microsoft team. Thus the management team asked us if we are willing to switch over.

This kind of situation is pretty n

Anyone wants to change to this job?

ormal nowadays since most companies no longer hire you for a specific skill ONLY. They want you to be as flexible as possible or in other words, provide as much value as possible to the company. So if you are willing to switch and remain flexible, the management team aka bosses can be sure that they can rely on you whenever there’s a shortage of headcount in other projects. This way, the company can reduce the expenses needed to hire someone new – and of course, get the most out of the people they’ve hired.

But let’s forget about the company for now…let’s talk about the individuals. What kind of answer do you think you will give, if you were in such a situation? Is it a good or bad thing if you are in such a situation?

Well, just like everything else, there are pros and cons. In my opinion, asking you to change department is much better than a salary cut or a retrenchment. Also, you get to learn something new (most of the case, trainings will be provided) and this new skill might become more valuable than your previous skills.

But that’s just how I think. At the end of the day, it really depends on what you want to achieve from the current job. Here are few factors to consider.

• Do you love your current company and are planning to stay longer in the company?
• Will there be a pay cut if you switch? If yes, how significant is it?
• Will trainings be provided?
• Are there any other projects in the pipeline for your current role?
• Can you find a better job out there?
• What’s your goal and objectives for doing whatever you are doing now? Start your own business? Be a consultant?
• Do you prefer to be a specialist (harder to find job but with higher pay) or a generalist (easier to find job but with lower pay)?
• If you choose not to switch and prefer to sit idling around….is your boss okay with that?

In fact, there are a lot to consider but all of the questions drill down to 2 main things – will your financial condition get affected and what is your plan for the future?

For example, people like myself would not mind switching since what I want to learn is the domain knowledge/operation and not just the technical side of things. I am the type of people who don’t like to get tied down or limited by a single thing. It’s just too risky that way….and too boring. Furthermore, my ultimate dream is to start my own business which does not really require me to know that specific skill. Because…well…an entrepreneur (a poor one especially) has to know EVERYTHING, not just a singe skill.

But enough about myself. What about you? If you were in such a situation, will you be willing to change? Do you mind letting go the years of experience you’ve obtained previously?

p/s… most bosses love employees who are worth more than they have been hired for. For example, it would be better if an employee knows multiple skills since the bosses can easily place him/her in any project to “fill in the gap”. Such employee is a valuable asset to the company (and they are not as expensive as the specialist).

Meetings and discussions are very common activities in the office and they are meant to discuss some important things and come out with best possible solutions for the problems faced. But throughout my 5 years of working experience, I couldn’t help but noticed that a lot of these meetings and discussions are actually useless and meaningless.

Why is that so? Here are some of the factors which I can think of for now.

• Agendas and things to be discussed in the meeting or discussion are not set. People do not know what to talk about and most probably end up talking nonsense.
• Most people are just there in the meeting room for the sake of being there, without actually wanting to solve the problem. Their bodies will be there, not their souls.
• The person chairing the meeting and discussion is not experienced enough or he himself tends to talk something unrelated to the objectives. Or worse, the person does not know what he wants from the meeting and just want to get it over as quickly as possible.

In my opinion, if you don’t have the willingness to achieve the objectives of the meeting (which, most of the time, is to solve problems), then don’t conduct a meeting or discussion in the first place because any meeting which fails to achieve the objectives is regarded as meaningless and a waste of time.

I think this kind of meeting is pretty popular

And if you conduct a meeting for the sake of coming out with ANY solution….then please…..don’t start the meeting at all. No solution is better than a very bad solution which might make things worse.

I started this topic after my sister told me that a customer service officer of a company called her up and changed her (the officer’s) statement from “Our company products’ warranty period is only 3 days”  to “After confirming with our senior managers, we have to inform you that our company does not provide warranty coverage to the toys AT ALL“. See the difference?

Call this irresponsible, or whatever. To me, it’s lousy management and leadership. If you can only come out with such lousy solution (it’s actually a worse answer than the first one), then at least, don’t tell me “After confirming with our senior managers”. You are giving me the impression that your whole company, including the senior managers, consists of a bunch of idiots.