Month: July 2018

Posted on

Hello Smartphone, I’m The Boss

“Your fly is undone” – Finally I plucked up the courage to tell a fellow passenger standing next to me on the bus this morning. He, like most commuters in this city, had headphones on and was reading stuff on his smartphone. So where should I start? Seeing an intent look on his face, my initial thought was to leave him alone. Part of me though wanted to speak out and save his awkward moment. After weighing it up in my head, I decided to tell him like it is. Instead of saying it verbally, I managed to type down these few words on my smartphone and show the text message in his face. Luckily, my well meaning gentle gesture was subtle enough not to cause a scene on this crowded bus.

Well, it was just a spur of the moment decision. Where did it all stem from? It could’ve been genetically ingrained in my DNA a long while ago – when I see something, I have the urge to say something. It’s just me. Anyway, my surprised move was well-received, he smiled at me and said: “Thank You”, before he had a chance to put his hand down there and zipped it up in a flash.

Speaking of smartphones, a long list of uses can go as far as our imagination takes us to. In the above case, it helped me communicate effectively and discreetly with a stranger, without even speaking a word. However, other smartphone uses, if not watched carefully, can intensify and spiral out of control. They can steal our attention away from things around us. In some serious cases, they can even have accident-prone effects on our health and safety. Arguably, using a smartphone while walking whether it’s day or night and in any given situation is just not a smart thing to do. You can never know what’s around the corner when you aren’t aware of what’s in front of you or beside you. For example, it happened to me some weeks ago when I was scrolling through my smartphone while walking on a sidewalk at night, thinking I was safe on a footpath, not realizing a car from a road was steering towards me, trying to enter a garage right where I was standing – in the middle of the driveway. One big lesson learned and never again.

Smartphones obviously have revolutionized the way we communicate with each other today and how we receive, send and share information. The trend is not going to stop. The challenge for us is to be selective – choose what feeds into our brains and only look out for things that add values to our lives. But no matter how smart, useful and attractive our smartphones are, we need to show to these small devices that we’re the boss. Remember, there’s an I in iPhone and I comes before phone…

Posted on

What Walking Away From Three Steady Jobs Has Taught Me

I guess I was a lucky one. After I was made redundant in October 2011, I continued to land one job after another. Although not in a close succession I still consider myself lucky. They say on average it takes about 5 months to find a job, it’s also very true in my case.

Bear in mind that getting a job is one thing, staying in a job is another. It’s a two-way street for both an employee and an employer. When it comes to assessing the long-term career prospects, it’s a whole new ballgame. So, after I was given a four month notice by Fairfax Media, a company I’d worked for more than 11 years, there was no time to waste and no time to rest, I went straight into a job hunting process. Believe or not, back then I didn’t even have a computer at home, no internet connection and no phone line. So, to get the ball rolling, I had to get these done in a flash.

In a matter of 18 months, I was fortunate enough to be hired by three different employers. However, as said, getting a job is one thing, staying in a job is another. At the end, I decided to walk away from them all. I remember when I told my mum that I’ve resigned from the first company, she was very worried. Why? Because I was living on my own, still paying home mortgage and all the utilities that came along with it. Then I got another job, but a few months later, I told her I left the second company, she thought I was crazy. Then I got another job, several months passed, I told her I left the third company, this time she was speechless.

Leaving a job while nothing else lining up is never easy. In fact, it’s brutally hard. Of course, I did it for a number of reasons. I even said I wouldn’t have done it any other ways had I been in a similar situation again. Looking back, it proved the pain was worth bearing and the risks were worth taking. Only in hindsight I’m able to see what I didn’t to see. You just can’t hurry time, that’s what life has taught me.

To put together the important lessons that I’ve learned after walking away from three steady jobs, here’s my summary:

  1. When one door closes, you need to get up and open another. It’s not an automatic door.
  2. Money is never a good motivator to stay in a job nor to leave a job. Money talks but it doesn’t walk.
  3. It’s perfectly OK not to know what the next avenue is. Knowing the current path is not a right path for you is perfectly enough.
  4. When you try, it leaves clues. When you think, it leaves plenty of question marks.

I guess the list can go on but that’s all I could come up with so far. If there’re more things that may pop up at a later stage, I can always come back and update it.

In the meantime, in case you are wondering, Yes, I did find my niche after resigning from those three reputable companies… and it’s nice I should also say…

Posted on

A Thick Skin Starts With A Brave Face

It’s funny we often use the word “thick” to describe someone’s lack of intelligence or common sense in their ways of thinking, talking or behaving. Interestingly, when it comes to the skin – the largest organ in the human body, we refer “thick-skinned” to people who aren’t easily hurt, offended or embarrassed by criticism or people’s negative comments. The word “thick” in this context, isn’t too bad at all. Judging by its whole meaning, we can all agree on the positive connotations that come with it. Obviously, we’d rather be thick in the skin than in the head, wouldn’t we?

I wasn’t born with a thick skin. Throughout my life I often consider myself as a thin-skinned, introverted person. Wearing this inward label every day, has it been serving me well up to this point? The answer is I wish I could’ve been more thick-skinned in many cases. If you’re sick of sitting on the sidelines, perhaps it’s time to think about cultivating a thick skin mentality and incorporating it into your personality? Wouldn’t it be nice if we can call upon it only when a situation is required, other times we just relax and stay the way we are? The question is always the same. When facing a new challenge, the first thing that pops up is: Where should I start? What’s the first step I should be taking before I can hone the skill? What should I do to increase the chances of success? I don’t know if there’s a rule book I can follow but instead of searching far and wide, going above and beyond, a better place to start is where we’re right now. Read on and find out where I started.

A couple of weeks ago my CEO called me to his office. It turned out he wanted me take on an office project – refurbishing part of the workplace. He was very specific about what he wanted it to look like. My task was simply to find someone who can do just that. Because I already had a couple of contacts on file who specialized in this type of thing, I was very confident from the outset that I’d achieve a good outcome. Interestingly, right before I stepped out of his office, he looked at me with a grin on his face then left an unexpected remark – go out and spend the money! I wasn’t 100% sure if he was serious but I wasn’t going to treat it like a joke.

While I wasn’t given a budget to run this project, I was very careful about where the money would go. In other words, I didn’t want to spend it like there’s no tomorrow. Over a course of a week, the consultant came back to me with a quote that seemed a bit too dear. When I presented it to my CEO, he looked at it and approved it straight away. I thought, Gee that was fast. There was no point for me to stand there and argue with him. I was happy to leave it at that. But, part of me still believed there was a room for price negotiation. So, did I do anything about it?

It was a venture completely outside my comfort zone. A day after the quote was approved by my CEO, I turned around, put on a brave face and called the consultant. I could feel I was mumbling and my voice was shaky. My message was kind of subtle and blurry but he totally got it – I wanted to get the price down. He asked me how much. I paused, refused to give away my bottom line. Before I hung up, he knew it was a matter of “the ball is in his court”. A few hours later, he came back to me with a revised quote – way better than I expected, a total saving of AUD $600.00. I cheered inside. That’s enough to buy our team a plenty of pizzas. Thick crust or thin crust you may ask? I don’t care…

Posted on

Dancing Like Someone Is Recording

After having written a post on a heavy subject last time, I thought I’d try something a little lighter this time. For me, life can be a bit fun and games sometimes and needn’t be taken too seriously in all cases. I just think life experience comes from all different corners, even a leisure moment has its place and we can benefit from it just as much.

On this post, the topic I’ll touch on is dancing. What’s prompted me to write this is that I recently got my hands on a video showing my hip hop dance moves, which was recorded on a conference night back in March 2017. For my own amusement and entertainment, I thought I’d share it on my Facebook and see what’d happen. To my surprise, it went viral. They say dance like no one is watching, I say dance also like someone is recording. To me, it’s about putting your best foot forward like there’s a hidden camera somewhere focusing on your every move. You never know when your most memorable moment will be captured by someone.

I love dancing and have been told good at it. As much as I’d like to do it more often, life has been super busy. Gone are the days when I used to spend the bulk of my time in front of a mirror trying to look sharp, in preparation for a night of hot dance at a night club in town. Sure, no big deal time has changed. I’m no longer that kid catching the spotlight on a dance floor. My priorities shifted years ago. Like some parents, I have a full-time commitment to work, home, hobbies and my fury kid, Realistically, I cannot just drop everything, hop on a car and drive to the city on Saturday nights. However, a change in lifestyle doesn’t mean a complete sacrifice for the fun things I love doing. There’s always a way around it. I still dance these days even though I don’t have the luxury to go out nightclubbing like before. I do it in the comfort of my own home instead. Every now and then, when I’m in the mood – whether I’m sad or happy or going through some mixed emotion, I’ll play my favourite types of music in my unit, sing along or dance along – the way I like it. The best thing about this is I can do in my PJ and no one would care. Be it as short as 5 minutes or as long as one hour, dancing always has a way to invigorate me no other forms of activities can. And just for the record, the most tangible effect it has on me is its healing power to uplift my moods. I highly recommend it!

5 6 7 8 Let’s dance!

Posted on

Size Isn’t Everything

What you see is what you get? We know appearances can be deceiving. It tells us just how easily we can be blinded by what we only see on the outside or on the surface. Drawing on that, mental health is something we can’t comprehend fully unless we dive into it deeply and learn it from inside out. Writing a post on this subject won’t be an easy task for me but regardless I feel a strong desire to say something about it. My intention is to break down the stereotype and bring an open conversation to the table, in the hope that will change the way we view mental health – to be less judgmental and more open-minded. Here we go…

In the early part of 2016, my company was looking to move to new premises. As an Office Manager, I was called upon to assist with the relocation alongside my boss, CEO of the company. In the process, we worked closely with a property broker whose primary role was to assess and screen properties on the market, then advise us if anything that may be of any interest to our company. If we liked what was presented, she’d go ahead and arrange open inspections for us to attend. From there, it’d be as simple as meeting with commercial real estate agents and commercial property managers on site, who’d then give us a guided tour around the office floors while discussing our needs and requirements etc. On a typical day, we’d inspect 3 to 4 offices in succession. As a first timer, it was a great learning experience for me.

Well into the second week of inspections, we had already seen a considerable number of offices in the city and the North Sydney CBD areas. None of them seemed to offer something that quite met our budget’s bottom line or suited the team size. Compounded by the lease with the previous landlord that was due to expire soon, we were under increasing pressure to find a right office in a very a short time.

Later that week, just when we thought we had enough of it and decided to call it a day, we were suggested at the last minute to inspect one more property before we’d start it all over again the next day. My boss agreed to give it a shot and that’s when we met Daniel, the commercial property manager for this office now which we’ve been leasing and called it our own since. Daniel arrived a few minutes late for our appointment and was very apologetic for it. It really didn’t bother us at all. I just wanted this to be over and done with like others. Seeing him break out in sweat, I immediately felt a bit empathetic. He must’ve just finished one job and rushed to get here to meet us. My first impression of him was his massive build and over-the-top height. I didn’t know who he was in terms of his public profile till my boss recognised him as a former sportsperson. Judging by his credentials, on paper, it looked like he’d got his life figured out, had a successful career in professional sport, a degree from one of the top ten universities in the world, a great transition into a business/civilian life post sports.

Shortly after, we signed the lease and it was all business as usual going forward. Then almost a year later, came a dramatic turn of events. I received a shocking news from my boss saying Daniel has passed away. The tragic loss of his life was confirmed a suicide. I was speechless. I only saw him talking on the phone in the lobby less than 2 weeks ago. I remember he briefly nodded his head when our eyes met. What made it hard to take was Daniel fitted the stereotype of what we perceived as a tall, strong, masculine man and an elite athlete. So, automatically we assumed someone like him was supposed to be a role model, stay at the peak and on top form physically, emotionally and in all pursuits, aligned with what the society expected. Nevertheless, from my limited interactions with Daniel, on a professional level, he came across as a polite human being with a gentle soul and a sensitive heart, contrary to his stereotyped public figure image.

Enough said up to this point but the question now is: Where do we go from here? Looking around, our lives, people, space and things, how do we measure up? Shouldn’t we come clean and get real about the yardstick for success or happiness? Can’t we give our vulnerability more recognition it so deserves and be open, comfortable and OK with it? Paradoxically, when we can, it means we’ve seen the power in vulnerability and turned it into strength…