Monday, October 24, 2005

My Mother and Her Mobile Headset

Last Friday morning, my mother borrowed my Nokia headset because she'd like to try using it to make and receive phone calls. Just before she left the house, she plugged-in the headset and put the mobile phone in her bag.

At about 9AM, I got a phone call from her. When I picked up the phone, I could hear only crackling noise and she didn't seem to hear me saying, "Hello...hello...." I thought perhaps she accidentally pressed the call button on her mobile, so I put down my phone. In less than 5 minutes, my phone rang again and the same thing happened, only this time I could hear her saying, "Hello...." but the voice was distant and she still couldn't hear my voice. At last, I realised that my mother used her mobile as usual (pressing the mobile to her ear) and the connected headset was in her bag. No wonder she couldn't hear a thing!

I tried to call and tell her that she had to use the headset to listen to my voice, but it was to no avail because she couldn't hear me. Finally I sent a text message telling her that while the headset was connected to the phone, she needed to use it to listen and talk.

In a short while, she called me again and this time I could hear her voice loud and clear. When I talked to her, I could hear that she was a bit embarrased by the whole affair. It was that "how silly of me...bla bla bla" thing. At the end, we just laughed about the whole thing...HA HA HA.

My beloved mother has finally learned to use the mobile headset :) Well done Mum!

Lessons:
1. Learn a bit about a new gadget you are going to use.
2. You seldom do something perfectly on the first try. It is perfectly natural to make a few mistakes.
3. Don't be afraid to make a few mistakes and learn from them.
4. It's never too late to learn something new.

Learn and Grow!

Sunday, October 16, 2005

A False Sense of Security

On 1st October 2005, the company I worked for announced that it was operationally non-active. All of its employees and distributors were quite shocked by this surprising news. All of a sudden, we were forced out of our safe haven of comfortable and secure employment...out of our comfort zone.

How do we react to this news? There are all sorts of reactions but this time I'm going to blog one interesting phenomenon.

At first, most of the employees were afraid of losing steady source of income. Therefore, some quickly scoured the newspaper looking for job opportunities and started sending out resumes. A few others began looking for new entrepreneurial business opportunities. Basically, the majority of people took rapid actions to replace their income. However, this phenomenon of taking actions did not last long! After they received their sizeable retrenchment benefits, the majority did not feel the rush to get a new source of income anymore. Some of them even stopped looking for a new job and decided to take a long vacation instead.

Are they falling into a false sense of security?

Have you ever observed this kind of behaviour in people around you? What do you think about this kind of behaviour?

These are some lessons I've learned from this event:
1. Be aware of falling into a false sense of security
2. Expect changes to happen as a wise man once said "Change is the only constant"
3. Be prepared and adapt quickly to changes
4. When people are out of their comfort zone, they start taking action to get back into their comfort zone. Once they think that they are back inside, they stop taking action.

Learn and Grow!

Sunday, October 02, 2005

The Legacy of Tanah Lot


Panoramic View of Tanah Lot (Earth From Sea), Bali, Indonesia

During Entrepreneur Business School in Bali, Roger Hamilton told us the story about the 500 year legacy of Tanah Lot.

The questions for you and I:
  • What kind of legacy are we leaving for the next generations?
  • How are we going to be remembered by our descendants?
  • Are we making a positive difference in life?
  • What are we going to do to ensure that we will leave a lasting legacy?
When you focus on leaving a legacy, you'll see a lot of your actions in new and proper perspectives. We often see our problems today to be very big and we tend to over-react, but when we view them from a longer and bigger perspective, these problems may be just small stuff. We need to focus on the important things...things that really matter.

What would you do differently today if you are going to leave a lasting legacy?

Learn and Grow!

Inge Santoso