The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People

Recently I attended this course on "The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People" and I learnt alot from it. This is based on the self-help book written by Stephen R. Covey, and for those of you who wished to know more about it, here's a link I found online - http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/7-habits/7-habits.htm

Basically I just want to share with everyone on something useful which we can apply in our personal life, not just for work-related matters. Good things must share mah~ but if you're not interested then it's ok lor... Anyway, the 7 Habits in sequential order are as follows:

1. Be Proactive
   (you are free to choose your response to whatever happens to you)
   
   
2. Begin With An End In Mind
   (know what are your objectives)
   
   
3. Put First Things First
   (evaluate where you spend most of your time - The Time Matrix)
   
   
4. Think Win-Win
   (improve or maintain good relationship with others)
   


5. Seek First To Understand, Then To Be Understood
   (using empathic listening when listening to other people)
   


6. Synergy
   (1+1 = more than 2)
   
   
7. Sharpen The Saw
   (take time to rejuvenate and relax your body, heart, mind and spirit)

The Chat With HIM

I finally told HIM my plans just now when I was still at my workplace earlier at 11am plus.

HIM = Big BOSS (Uncle P)

It was an unplanned casual chat when he walked around and asked me if I was ready to go to another unit in due time. So I started with the usual "erm..." and smile back at him. Then I decided to let him know officially since there is a chance to do so. After I told him that I would be applying for the new post in May 07, he said "Apply lor, last time our Stanley (SA) also working there now". It was nice to hear him say that~ There was another nicer thing that he said:-

Uncle P: Anyway you still young mah, still can try out other things (actually I think he was talking about me going to THAT other unit soon). You now 25 right? So....

Before he can continue further, I interrupted him.

Me: Ah... no lah I where got 25? (but actually inside abit happy *hehe*) I already 28 leh...

Uncle P: (smiling) Aiya... 28 still young mah, I think before 35 you should be able to be an I*** (the upper level post).

Omg... 35?! Unless I have no choice but to stay back, ya~ 35 should be an acceptable turning point bah~ but it's like... almost 7yrs more!! He asked me to think about it, which I had been doing all these while... and the FINAL Decision~~~~

Just Do It in May 07!

Life Is Full Of Surprises~

The Case 6
I cant find my house key as I was packing my bag and ready to go to work, which means I'm stuck at home! There was no other extra key at home and my mum will only be back from work after 9.30pm... whereas Shirlene was out shopping with Baoli at Marina Square~

The Cause 6
Shirlene had accidentally took my detached house key that was placed on the table, which she thought it was hers. But in fact, her own key (detached as well) was all along in her coin pouch!

The Consequences 6
I was "virtually shot" over the house phone when I called my boss to tell him what happened, and I had to apply for urgent leave (my boss say he feel like shooting me *haha* jokingly of cos). I can't resist laughing when I apologised to him cos it wasn't any plan of mine to skip work, though it was nice to take the nite off to rest at the expense of my precious annual leave. Furthermore, now that I'm stuck at home, I guess I'll have to eat my favourite "出前一丁" instant noodle (sesame oil flavor) complemented with "Tulip" chopped ham for dinner.

Was it a misfortune or a blessing? Guess it was both bah~ you gain some, you lose some. This is LIFE, remember?

Coping With The Boss~

The 2 days course "MBTI Approach To Working More Effectively With People" had ended and it was one of the most enjoyable course I attended so far. Well I learnt alot... mostly about how a supervisor should manage his men.

Another interesting point during the course was on "Coping with the boss"... there was this graph that shows the severity of problem with the boss vs level of risk involved, and when the problem becomes seriously severe, we're supposed to Oppose the boss and the last resort is to FIRE - meaning to tell your boss face-to-face on what you think and let him know the consequences of ignoring your thoughts. However, this does not apply to ALL problems lah, if not wait you sure kena FIRED by your boss at the end.

Anyway, I juz heard from my colleague that there had been some problems with my boss recently. Things are getting worse, with tightened controls and loud naggings (dowan use the word 'scoldings') almost everyday. Yes~ he is great in his supervision and vast knowledge, and sometimes we were wrong... but some people up there doesn't realise that too much control is unhealthy at work. This is reality~ and it is also a reality that our bosses dunno about that or simply refuse to acknowledge that fact. Our guys' morale had been shaken once again, although there was an initial surge when he came.

I guess it's time for me to speak up on behalf of them (espcecially on the loud naggings), since I'm much more senior in age (sigh) and experience~ but I shall wait awhile more, since his big day is approaching soon somewhere near the end of March. The time has come for each and every one of us to share our thoughts again... before things get to the brim of the bottle and start to ooze out like the champagne-opening session during celebrations (but this one is not). Well, let us keep our fingers crossed and hope our unsettled morale can be uplifted once more.

Appeal For Weight Gain Tactics

I juz checked on their website and there is this new section on minimum requirement which wasn't there previously... and I saw the killer criteria - min. 45kg for female~

Omg... I'm 3kg lesser and I need help to increase it to at least 45kg by May 2007! Ya... I know some of you might think it's as easy as ABC... but not for me lor~

I still remembered facing the same problem 8 years ago when I applied for my current job. I was 1.5kg lesser at that time and I was rejected during the 1st application. I was so devastated but finally I managed to overcome that hurdle... if not I won't become Orang Lama (old bird) in my department now liao~

Well anyway, can any kind soul please post some comments here to share some valuable and "hopefully-will-work" tactics for me to gain some weight within these 2-3 months? Thanks... I'll give you guys a treat if I succeed and get accepted in the new post~

When??

Juz heard from one of my colleagues that she's been accepted by MOE to be a Home Econs Teacher, and she's going for a training session on 23 April 07. Meaning... she's gonna leave us for good~ omg... when will it be my turn? People have been coming and leaving like nobody's business after their contract is over... and here I am, still hanging around with never-ending opportunities waiting for me (which is a good thing actually~)

Like I mentioned earlier, some things happened for a reason... I had been doing quite well in my current post, and prospects are considered good. Maybe "Someone" wants me to stay back for a while more to wait for an auspicious time to leave later... cos immediately after I got my RB, the application was temporary closed til May 07. So my plan had to be delayed.

Well well... I'll wait patiently again~ til the time is very ripe but just before it turned mouldy for me. Gotta make some initial preparations in the meantime thou. Hope to share some good news with you guys soon~

Someone Somewhere

Today I feel like I'm being "taken care of" again by "Someone Somewhere"~ a moment of head-cracking problem had been instantly solved earlier in the noon. Here's the story~

I was supposed to go for a one-day Teambuilding event in Malaysia with my colleagues (it's a MUST go thing) on 12th March early morning. But suddenly I remembered that my passport has a validity of only 3 months while working last night!! I have exactly 3 days (including today) to make a new passport, and in order to expedite the process and get it done by Saturday, I have to go to ICA personally to speak to the officer for the special request. I was told by the ICA operator that Monday is the earliest to get my new passport. So the plan for my 1st off day had been drafted out as follows...

1. take instant passport-sized photo at AMK Central Bridal Shop
2. go home bathe
3. go ICA queue up and try to get my new passport done by Saturday
4. go home zzzz.... (which is dunno what time liao~ so maybe this luxury will be omitted *sigh*)
5. wake up for dinner appointment with Seok Wai (to pass her some documents for despatch to someone in her Office Tower)

So basically the day is packed, and I dun look forward to it... but Bo Bian~ who asked me to be so busy til I forgot to get a new passport before the event?

Anyway, when I reached the bridal shop at 11am, it was closed and would only opened at 1pm. It was a wasted trip (initial thought)... and I had to walk home like a zombie under the scorching sun after my night shift. I then took a short nap and decided to wake up at 12.30pm for the photo-taking at 1pm, but my precious napping session was interrupted and thus I changed my waking alarm to 1pm.

And here comes the turning point - my handphone rang~

On the other side was from the Human Resource Dept. He told me that my 2 days course had been brought forward to 12th & 13th March, and I immediately say "OK". Hahaha... this means I can continue with my sleep and do not have to go ICA today, since I dun have to go Teambuilding liao! Omg... I cant believe how lucky I can be... all thanks to that "Someone Somewhere" who had been taking good care of me, to stop me from the 1st instance outside the bridal shop so that I cant proceed with step 2 and so on.

Hmm~ this reminds me of the movie "Final Destination" where certain things happened for a reason. Well, I do believe in this phenomenon cos it has always been around us in our daily life. Take some time to observe and you'll agree with me~

Silence Is Golden?

Let me share a funny experience of service recovery I encountered today...

Shirlene and me had gone to a Japanese Restaurant for our late lunch cos her friend told her that the food was nice. Both of us then ordered our food with the waitress when she came to our table. I had ordered a set meal with some kind of noodle in thick curry sauce, and Shirlene had specified on my behalf to have the noodle type as soba (thinner in width) instead of udon (thicker). While repeating our orders, the waitress had stated udon instead of soba, so Shirlene corrected her, which she acknowledged.

After waiting for 10-15 minutes, my set meal finally appeared. Before I took a closer look at the huge bowl of noodles, the waitress realised that the noodle was udon and immediately remove the bowl and apologised. So I waited...

A short while later, a waiter appeared with the bowl in his hands and explained to me that the noodle type was wrong and I could request for a change if I wished to, but actually the taste of the udon will go very well with the curry sauce compared to soba. Without raising my head to look at him, I said "Ok, nevermind" monotonously without any facial expression. I was actually looking at the table and listening to his explanation. The waiter then left and I started to eat the udon. The taste was not bad although I was disappointed with the mistake.

In less than 5 minutes, the same waiter appeared again and said that he had checked with the chef and he could help me change the whole bowl of noodle. Once again, I used the same tone and body language, and said "Nevermind, it's ok". I continued with my food...and he left. Well for your info, I'm an easy-going person so normally I dun flare up with stuff.

I dunno if my silence and expressionless reaction was too weird for them to handle or what... that the waiter came over the 3rd time and asked if I wanted to have any soft drink for free. Finally I took a look at him and said "No thanks", and I returned my attention to the food. Shirlene told me that the waiter had smiled awkwardly at her after that.

Both of us thought that the issue was over since we managed to finish our food in peace. But then it was the waitress' turn now. She had apologised to me whenever she appeared to clear our crockery and refill our ice water... and I told her it's ok with a smile. I mean it's so funny to receive such treatment when I didn't even make a big fuss out of the issue like some customers would. When we asked for the bill, I was surprised with the amount... cos there was a 50% discount on the set meal that I had ordered. Realising that I had noticed the discount, the waitress told me that it was for the mistake earlier. I then paid a round figure and waited for my change as the waitress left. Shirlene and I were so amused by their service recovery and finally when I thought I can get my change and leave, there were 2 pieces of S$2 meal voucher for our next visit enclosed with my change in the black rectangular folder (dunno what's that called).


Well, both of us can't wait to get out of the place cos it's really too much for us. After the incident, we wonder how they would react if I were to reject the discount or left the meal vouchers behind. Would they come chasing after us and asked us why? Hahaha... anyway I felt it was something worth sharing cos I had learnt the following:

1. When I dun smile, I looked scary to some people (validated by Shirlene)
2. You dun have to make a big fuss to show your unhappiness (Silence is Golden)
3. Some service providers are really sincere in apologising (so we must appreciate)

Story of A Young Man

This is a fictitious story of a 20 year-old young man.... but the photos are genuine~

One day, a young man fell asleep after a hard day at work...

When he woke up, his devilish friend (in red of course) offered him half a glass of "wonder drink", telling him that it is something similar to "Tongka Ali" and will help him get stronger. The young man looked at the suspicious drink but still gobbled it up anyway... since young men always wanted to get stronger in "some way" (especially with "Tongka Ali").

After finishing the 1st glass of "wonder drink" offered by the devilish friend, the young man felt "shiok" and wanted more... (cos once is always not enough for young men). So he asked for more~ and the devilish friend had to find two other devils for the extra stock. Finally... the young man drank another 8 glasses of half-filled "wonder drink". At this time, he had already gone bonkers... and holding the 10th glass up high, he put a toast to his new found soul-mate.

And the story ended... with the young man "pouring his woes" to his soul-mate. Well, he didn't drink the 10th glass since he already had too much of it... and the 3 angelic devils had to take care of him.

Moral of story : Too much of everything / anything is bad~

Movie-Marathon

Just returned home from a movie-marathon earlier. Watched 2 movies one after another from 5.10pm til 11.30pm *hehehe* maybe I had too much "Ang Pow" $$ to spare on 3rd day of Lunar New Year?

Anyway, we had initially wanted to watch "Just Follow Law"... but then there was a handwritten paper pasted on the ticket booth window stating "Just Follow Law 5pm Full". We were there at 4.10pm and with a 2nd choice on mind, we chose "Ghost Rider" instead. I guess that was the 1st time I saw so many people hanging around at Jubilee, cos the cinema for the latter movie was also 90% - 100% packed (too dark can't observe much).

After the movie ended at 6.55pm, suddenly there was an urge to watch a 2nd one - "Just Follow Law" (maybe we have the 'Never Say Die' attitude or the ugly way of saying - Kiasu). Then we saw the same signboard on the booth window again~

"Just Follow Law 5pm 7.15pm Full".

Omg... but this time we decided to choose the next slot at 9.30pm *haha* how determined can we get? So we loitered at the vicinity and had our dinner before we finally got to watch the movie we wanted.

Generally it was a nice movie~ and I was able to feel a link to it - all the email thingy, rules and regulation compliance, cost-cutting and many others. But it was not just applicable in the public sector. Who dares to say that the private sector wasn't affected by all those nonsensical stuff? Raise your hand high up lor~

Oh by the way, for those who had watched the movie, who was your favourite character? Well, my vote definitely goes to "Muthu"!! Reason: There was unexplained humor whenever he spoke, and he put so much pride in his 'VIP Lot' duty although he was just a security guard.

Lunar New Year

It's Lunar New Year today!!

Woke up at 9am this morning and was so busy playing with my 2 beloved nieces aged 6 and 4 the whole day~ can't help it... since they both love me (I'm an over-aged kid ya know) *haha*

The 1st day of Lunar New Year was also a day for my relatives (dad's side) to come my house to eat, play poker cards, laugh, chat and basically just get together once a year (better than none). It's nice~ to be able to see my cousins and chat with them... and they had all grown so big now (mostly taller than me *haha*). Here are some cousins who are more interesting to mention:

1. Priscilla - the young lady who has a stomach capacity comparable to the universe. Able to eat 3 bowls of rice and she said she loves rice~ glad she's still able to maintain her figure *phew*
   
   
2. Minghui - the tallest and most macho guy among my cousins, where all of us except his elder sis, will try to refrain from standing beside him. I think my height is until his armpit bah~
   
   
3. Serene - the most demure lady who were busy entertaining my (our) nieces when the rest of us were engrossed in the Blackjack Challenge. I know it was hard work~

I'm actually damn tired right now, and I can "confirm plus chop" that if I were to lie down on my bed this instance, I'll be in my dreamland the next minute. By the way, thanks to Lawrence… for exchanging your leave with me for the night shift. Otherwise I can’t imagine how “stone” I’ll be at work tonite.

Here’s wishing everyone a Prosperous & Joyous Lunar New Year !!

The Truth

12th February 2007 - the day has finally arrived... no more postponement... and I had a feel of the solemn seat in the tensed Board-Room~

Questions were posed to me... which were more or less predictable~ it seemed like a scene where people always see in the TV or movie. I can't help but smiled to myself when I thought about it (lucky Mr. J didn't notice it).

I handled it well... since I was just telling the truth. On the other hand, he denied it... and he had someone to help him out. No big deal for me anyway~ but maybe my confidence was too overwhelming... that his helper doesn't know what else to ask me. I admitted my own lapses to Mr. J... (but I didn't tell him that I had since learnt how to protect myself after that fateful incident). Mr. J then asked me if I was aware of possible punishment against me~

"Yes Sir... I know..." (and I dun care about it anymore~ I just want to get it done and over with... this is wasting too much of our precious time... and like most snobbish fellas always like to say - wasting the taxpayers' $$)

But I was glad~ and certainly relieved... that it was over~ (I think so)

Beware of your back~ cos you won't know when people will start to stab you from behind~

Good News!!

One good news to share with everyone~

I finally got my R Bonus!!! S$4.5k wor... supposed to be mine since Sept 2006~ but some stupid system "kidnapped" it from me... and I could bet with you... they earned the interest on it during these 5 months... damn~ but nevermind, I'll treat it as a charity.

Anyway, I'm a step nearer to my goals now~ but still must clear whatever debts on hand 1st...

&&& Patience Is The Key To Success &&&

The 50-Meters Sprint

Today I made a 50-meters sprint along the pavement at Ave 9, and cruelly showed my practicality nature to the "Cas-Caller" (no real name is used in order to protect the involved party) *hehe*

This was what happened...

After our night shift which ended today, "Cas-Caller" waited for me to finish up with my audit emails cos usually he would prefer to have company since we're taking the same bus (72) back to our individual home (must specify properly). So finally after I settled my stuff, went to change, and met up with him at the lobby, we crossed the road at Ave 9 to the opposite side. We only exchanged a few words along the way... cos I was quite tired after a busy night~ Suddenly I heard someone shouted "Sze!!"

I looked straight ahead and saw two handsome guys (haha my colleagues lah~ Bin & Ta) standing about 50 meters in front of us. Within a second, I noticed they had flagged a taxi... and then the words appeared... a FREE RIDE HOME!! A sudden surge of energy immediately made my tired body run like hell towards the taxi door... and the only phrase I said to him as I darted off was "Sir, I take taxi home. Bye". I wonder how he felt... hmmm~

Well anyway, I was glad when I hopped onto the taxi... cos it actually killed two birds with one stone (for me) *haha*

I can be a Devil sometimes, you know~

The Isolated One~

This year's Annual Retreat (referring to some kind of gathering for team-bonding purpose) was somewhat different from the previous years - no presentation by us - just games and food = NICE~

Apart from relaxing and enjoying the moment, I kept my observation throughout the event...

I noticed the slight isolation somewhere~ but on the other hand, some of them were closely bonded together in their "mathematics revision group" using poker cards. Food and Games were supposed to bond EVERYONE together, which it did~ temporarily.

I shared my views with someone on the gist of being a good supervisor. Both of us concluded that the isolation might be due to the flaws from the self-assumed leadership qualities. Nope... I'm not referring to myself~

This is what I feel about being a Leader/Supervisor:

1. Don't be cocky or arrogant
2. Always respect your men, if you want them to respect you
3. Command is a must... but do it with politeness
4. You won't die if you use "please" when asking your men to do something (eg. "please be reminded that..." or "please refrain from..." etc)
5. Results are important, but so are your men
6. If you lose the respect from your men, you are only a Leader in name

I can't say that I'm a good leader... but I am sure I'm not a bad one~

Team Bravo 2007

Knowledge of Body Parts

Today I heard a real-life joke from my buddy about her female colleague~ it was damn funny...

The Senario 4 Both of them were having their Yoga lesson after work as usual.

The Yoga Warm-up 4 To place the left ankle across the right one while standing.

The Responses... (these pictures are only for reference)




77 The correct posture by my buddy... and everyone else

77 The totally wrong posture by her colleague....




The colleague had mistaken ankle for elbow, and was still seen swaying left and right with her arms crossed when my buddy noticed her outstanding posture among the rest... both of them eventually burst into laughter~

Sometimes it is very important to know your body parts in English terms...

Short vs Long

Some people like it short... some like it longer... how about you?

Haha... dun let your thoughts wander too far - I'm talking about the length of my blog posts lah~

Well I received feedback that some (or should I say most) of my posts are lengthy, and thus hinder them to read it further (or even start reading it). On the other hand, some readers commented that they preferred a more detailed one cos it'll let them "catch the ball" better. For me, I just want to share my life and thoughts with people here... just in case the unfortunate day comes where I couldn't remember things anymore, but I could still read through my own life~ or when the worse day comes... where I'm no longer around, and my loved ones could still feel my presence as they read through each post...

Well well... sounds sad huh? Hahaha... nah~ it's not the end of the world yet. I still have alot to enjoy and venture in my life... even though there are outstanding debts to clear, work to be done, and stress to handle. I'm still cool~ as always~

Life Is Cruel~ But Sweet Enough~

How many times had you spent tons of hard work on something, and the end result only took up a few minutes of everyone's time? I guess the answer is... "Always"

A moment of fame/glory at the expense of sweats and hunger~

Finally I managed to deliver the presentation earlier (5th Feb @ 1740hrs) to the Big Shots after completing my 3-days preparations. The "glorious" moment only lasted for 10-15mins. But it was a relief for me~ and I felt a huge sense of satisfaction after slogging for the past week. I guess everything went well... they were nodding their heads while I talked my way through, and I could answer almost all their queries... except for one question: "Which external auditors will be coming?" Seriously speaking, how would I know all the other big shots who would be coming over on 27th Feb 07? Moreover, I'm actually doing the presentation on behalf of my 2nd Boss, who was engaged in another activity. Nevertheless... I supposed I did a good job so far... and I treasure the chance given to me~

Before I left my workplace, I came across an email... a rather sad one... it's about a female colleague from another unit going for an urgent tumour operation at Mt Elizabeth, but the amount involved is about $90k (including $30k as deposit)!! Thus, we were all asked to help... I did... with only S$10/= available... (had been quite poor without the existence of my RB) and this is where Mr. Money showed us his ULTIMATE POWER~~

No $$ - No Talk

The world is such a cruel place to live in... and I am just one of its prey~

It's Now Or Never~

I feel happy today~

Got to see my Poly friends and finally had the opportunity to sit down and chat with each other, without the presence of their partners. Nah~ dun say I'm selfish... it's juz that sometimes I juz want to be ALONE with my friends. You dun have to worry about whoever's partner started to get bored from the non-related topic, or any couple engaging in their own world. Hmm... ok lah, you can say I'm selfish if you want to...

Anyway, we had our lunch at Vila'ge (pronounced as "V-Lah-J") Heeren, and then we went to PartyWorld KTV~ it's been so long since I last opened my golden mouth at a KTV (all thanks to Esther & Annie, the KTV Queens). Not forgetting our self-proclaimed KTV King - Errol, who indeed impressed us with his vast knowledge of songs... and nice vocals.

At Vila'ge
(Left-to-Right Top: Alvin & Ariane)
(Left-to-Right Bottom: Zhihui, Annie & Me)

At PartyWorld KTV - Room 59
(Left-to-Right: Me, Annie, Esther, Zhihui, Errol & Ariane)

Singing Halfway But Alert Enough To Pose For Photo

I would never forget the times when we played poker cards behind our Principal's office at TP - Grange Road Campus, during breaks. The whole bunch of us - Ariane, Esther, Annie, Shuzhen, Zhihui, Alvin & Errol would always hang out together, going to different Schools in TP to have our lunch, photocopying each other's tutorials when we were spilt into different tutorial groups in year 2 & 3, and copying notes when any one of us failed to attend lectures... especially me~ since I hate waking up in the morning. Well, everyone had their own life now, getting married, having babies, thinking of getting attached but haven yet~ haha... not talking about myself lah~ but all of us still looked the same - still friendly with each other.

Recently I realised I had been catching up with my old friends whom I had not met for months and even years. Guess I'm afraid of having regrets in my life...

Life is short... if you dun choose to meet them now, are you gonna see them at your deathbed instead?

Golden Opportunities

It's been another busy week for me... doing audit checks and documentation stuff.

I was given the chance by the Audit Chairman to lead a group of 6 men, going everywhere to do our checks, and instructing them on what to do, etc. I guess this was a great opportunity to prepare myself for the greener pasture in a few months time, provided everything goes according to plan.

Earlier there was another challenge for us... we were told that the presentation was on next Monday 3pm, and most of the documentation hasn't been done yet. It was a busy week for all of us, packed with Thaipusam duties, Annual D&D and other operational stuff for some of the members... how do they find the time to juggle between our audit and their work? This explains for the delay on the documentaion work.... sigh~ since operational duties always come 1st.

Moreover, I was tasked to do the presentation cos my Chairman would be engaged in another commitment. It's going to be another "warm-up" for me, to stand in front of all the BIG SHOTS and talk my way through, which I might be required to do that quite often in the future.

Hmm... sometimes I wonder if I'm lucky or what~ that all types of opportunities kept knocking at my door... except for money... Anyway, I'm gonna treasure those chances and hopefully I'll be a better person from all these experiences.

Forgive me if I'm slightly quiet these few days... hahaha... cos my mind is fully occupied~