CHANGE YOUR THINKING, CHANGE YOUR LIFE

Sorry for the long hiatus. I was bogged down at work (yes! I still have a day job) and just couldn’t find a suitable time to write. Upon reaching home, I have to do housework and take care of my daughter. And most of the time by the time I am done, I am all fours (flat!) on the bed. I know I know, it’s not a good excuse.

Truth is I am only planning to stay employed for at least a year or two so my CV looks good. It is a great way to do the final finale don’t you think? I feel that it’s a waste to give up too early after all these years burning the midnight oils for qualification certs.

As of now, while I am writing this, I am currently drafting my business plans. I just put down all my thoughts and start scribbling away.  I am also in the midst of writing the manuals and designing my new website. Yes! This blog will move to a new website soon and thank you to this one cool developer, Media Group Malaysia. They have been really helpful and they design cool, user friendly websites that doesn’t burn a hole in your pocket. I highly recommend their service! You may quote my site for a good discount.

To date, I have 3 - 4 businesses in mind and right now, my plan is to do research (as much as I can!) and see if they are viable or otherwise, while still working on my day job of course!

In my case, this is a good head start. Months ago, right after I started my blog, I was down and have no idea what’s my future direction. It was bad since the department I am attached to is outsourced. And I wasn’t really sure even when I was offered a new job.

Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful for the opportunity, however deep inside me I hate to be chained to the desk and adhere to the 9 to 6pm rules. Basically I have not broken the chains yet. I have 4 teams reporting to me, a tiny but cozy corner office and good pay too. The benefits weren’t that great, but I get to travel (domestically for now) from time to time.

The new company where I am now attached, some of the staff worked for more than 15 years now. One of them joined right after she had completed her form 5 studies. When asked, what are their plans for the next 5 years, most of them can’t think of anything but to stay. Clearly, they are not making any plans or even to look forward to come up with one. They are very comfortable at where they are right now although they dreaded the work.

Company wise, I felt that there are work processes that can be further improvised. But nobody (or rather the top management peeps) wants to do something about it out of being used to the way they do or deal with things for the last 20 years.

There are also other teams who complaints of not having enough manpower to take up some jobs that they ended making poor sales. Truth is I felt that this can be avoided IF they explore the creative part of their brains.

Now, there is no right or wrong being complacent. However, I feel bad for most of them because at the back of my mind, no one is dispensable.

Most people that I know of are afraid of making changes or welcoming changes into their lives. They are worried for so many reasons.

I have YET to join a company that encourages change (for the better!), open to suggestions (and exploring it without ASSUMING the outcome regardless who suggested it!) and challenging the status quo. When I mentioned YET, it makes me wonder further why all the companies I was attached to are so complacent and they seemed to be afraid of making changes, even small ones! How ironic.

To this day, I will always respect one individual (an ex CEO of a company I used to be attached to) who never sees me as a freak (for always suggesting going against status quo!). He encourages me to think out of the box, and even hoped for more ‘Change Agents’ like yours truly (Ahem!) to be part of the company.  The word keeps playing in my head over and over again as a self-reminder of who I really am.

If you are like me, who constantly thinking doing things opposite, that could improve the way we work or deliver, never be afraid to explore that further. Always welcome changes and make that change even if you have no idea how it will turn out to be.  Life is indeed a mystery and nobody knows how we live our lives 20 years from now.

Change is inevitable, instead of avoiding it like a plague, explore it! And with proper plans made ahead before making a certain change, it will definitely amaze you if you allow it to happen.