I just can't believe that it is already Feb!

From working weekends and public holidays, I've moved on to working weekends and late on weekdays!

I must say it is a good thing I like my job or else I reckon it is going to be hard just staying in this job!

Looking forward to a last holiday before all the craziness begins! Last round of shopping! Wicked - here I come!!

P/S - it ain't that easy blogging on the phone! o_O

Last night, whilst I was on my bed, before I fell asleep, there were a couple of exchanges of text msgs:

His text: Bed now with the good wife

My reply: Me with the magicians

*grinz*

Now that it's morning and I'm wide awake ... the text messages does sound a little funny!

Chatted with a friend yesterday and mentioned another friend who's currently in a silent retreat. According to the first friend, she doesn't want to go to a silent retreat cos she'd be thinking of a lot of things and then end up crying ...

My answer to her was - that's what's meant to happen. We are supposed to deal with the issues within us.

Then I went home to reflect ...
Maybe that's why I have never wanted to go to a silent retreat. The fact that I like to talk is just an excuse. It's more like I do not want to stop talking, I keep myself senselessly busy because I do not want to quiet down, to let the whirlwind in my head settle, to discover what's really deep inside, to deal with issues that I may not even know I have! Or maybe just issues I have been denying exists...

Then I reflected some more ...
So when would I be ready to face these issues? Take the bull by its horn?
I don't know ... I really don't know

Of all the SMCs I have attended (which is not too many ) I think that this year's SMC has the best speakers. And Idris Jala definitely stood out! These are some of the points that I picked up from his Transformational Leadership talk:

1. 1Malaysia
I have always thought that the 1Malaysia slogan started off with good intentions but somehow got overused over the years. I especially can't tahan when the papers go "Happy 1Malaysia Day!" So when he explained what exactly 1Malaysia meant, I was glad that there is a meaning behind it and not just a slogan or a logo.

What he said was that 1Malaysia is divided into 3 levels:
Level 1: Tolerate
Level 2: Accept
Level 3: Celebrate

Malaysia is made out of ppl from various race and religion and we have to learn to (at the very basic) tolerate each other's differences. And if we are already in Level 1, move on to Level 2 where we accept each other's differences. And definitely if we can, we should all move on the Level 3 where we will celebrate each other's differences.

2. Change of action will lead to change of character/behaviour. So if one wants to change one's being, one will have to change one's doing!

3. For transformation to happen:

• Stand in the future to manage the past
• Set Olympic targets
• Conquer the fear of failure
• Have a game so large it consumes you

If you want to start the game of impossible, remember to tell everyone! And also remember that to fail is ok

4. Don't just talk about KPIs. Inspect KPIs. Cos when we start to inspect KPIs, the staff will actually do it!

5. When we have problem solving meetings - SOLVE PROBLEMS! Not there to talk or to waste time but to SOLVE problems!

6. Polarity to be managed vs problems to be solved. We have to know what are polarity to be managed and what are problems to be solved. Do not mix them all up! Once we can place things in the right place, life will be easier!

7. Be hard on business issues and soft on people issues. We are working out the problem and do not target the person!