Gotta Put Something In Before You Can Get Anything Out

 

Sometime back, my brother [a licensed engineer] faced some career challenges.  Seeing his worsening 'downtime',  I gave a 'Take it OR Leave it' proposal WHEREIN I recommended for him to switch careers, moving into I.T. as an Oracle developer/programmer based on three non-negotiable conditions, namely:

• THAT he has to totally forget all the sweat & sacrifices he endured until he became a licensed engineer
• THAT he'll start his I.T. career as an entry-level trainee
• THAT as an entry-level trainee, for the duration of his on-the-job training, his salary will be 0.00

Today, he is a Naturalized Singapore citizen alongside his Singapore-born kids, of which the eldest is the youngest member of the Singapore football team.  Bottom line here is, to quote American Author Zig Ziglar:  You Gotta Put Something In Before You Can Get Anything Out.  Problem is, in this sort of 'instantaneous' world we live featuring EXPRESS LANEs and FAST LANEs, many of us get off-tracked❌❌❌

BUT I guess that's a no-brainer as everyone knows it.  WHAT leads to confusion and bedlam is the mix-up between EFFORTS versus RESULTS.  At the workplace, once I did witness our big boss pulling aside my colleague and told him frankly that his work ethic + effort were NOT in question BUT it's the results [or the lack thereof] were in question.  And I observed that my colleague was kind of shocked because he confided to me that he was viewing his efforts as a measure of his success versus weighing the results he was supposed to be producing.  I commiserated with him then as I sensed it was a difficult conversation💥💥💥

From my end, I've done a fair amount of efforts exerted to really WALK THE TALK for this principle and allow me to pause and admit that this principle has become the very core of my numerous annual performance one-on-one's with my team members BUT to ease things up, I proactively set expectations by laying down this principle up front, at the start of the fiscal year [and that conversation was documented even in our HR's performance system.  At hindsight, I realized that there is a plurality of people [NOT just @workplace] WHO may NOT be clearly aware of this principle, thereby struggling to differentiate between EFFORTS versus RESULTS😖😖😖

Our takeaway:  From my observation post up @lighthouse, this has been the huge disconnect across many of us [and that included me those years WHEN I was very 'raw' and a novice @workplace.  The first magic word I absorbed then was EFFORTS, wrongly thinking then that as long as I exerted EFFORTS, that leads me to be inching towards success.  BUT alas, that was a fallacity, NOT realizing that IF the results were NOT as WHAT I expected, all those efforts will go for naught.  YES dude, YOU GOTTA PUT SOMETHING IN BEFORE YOU CAN GET ANYTHING OUT.  Gets???

Benefits of Wasting Time?

 

Are there benefits for WASTING TIME?  Absolutely there are.  BUT please DON'T get me wrong [before I get bashed here].  I am neither encouraging nor egging anyone to go and start WASTING TIME.  WHERE I'm coming from, everywhere you look, books and publications are full of productivity hacks LIKE ways to improve productivity, get more things done and most importantly "DON'T WASTE TIME".  In this rowdy world WHERE productivity values and results are all over the place, WASTING TIME leads to guilt feelings, right???

Ironically, this world we live in highlights those 70 to 80-hour work weeks are our BADGE OF HONOR.  That explains as to WHY 'WASTING TIME' provokes a sense of guilt and even worry.  WHAT IF we take an hour to exercise and miss an important call?  WHAT IF someone notices that we spent a few minutes browsing social media after hours of that concentrated work?  Truth of the matter is, there are essential benefits to people and even business WHEN we holistically embrace the very value and essence of 'WASTING TIME'.  As it turns out, people are NOT equipped to work 16-hour work days or even perhaps, eight to ten-hour work days WHILE maintaining high productivity and consistent quality levels at that.  Experts tell us that our human brain can focus BUT only for short spans💚💛💜

NOW, let's dive deeper.  In between those attention spans, DOESN'T it merit for some 'WASTING TIME'?  Let's face it, some of our TIME WASTERS are really unavoidable.  There could be work-related activities that DON'T require intense intellectual work OR even creativity.  Activities such as required meetings OR administrative tasks may feel like TIME WASTERs BUT they are probably necessary to your overall function OR role.  Some activities feel like WASTING TIME BUT are quite beneficial to our productivity📌📌📌

Exercise, reading [and even blogging], engaging in hobbies [oh yes, maybe some TikTok] and even connecting with friends and family all meet important basic needs we have as human beings.  Engaging in these activities may feel like WASTING TIME BUT they do contribute to our overall health.  Of course, there is a category that makes us guilty❎❎❎

That category, WHICH includes binge-watching the latest Netflix series OR even scrolling through social media, these activities may give us some reason to feel guilty BUT SHOULD WE?  If we are a typical office worker, studies show that we have probably four OR five hours per day of real focus available.  And YES, those hours can vary as it gets impacted by other factors.  Our takeaway:  WHATEVER calling you're in, bottom line is:  KNOW YOUR LIMITS before we realize that indeed we're WASTING TIME, dude😡😡😡

That Damn Important POV [Point Of View]!

 

WHO says we're TO EACH HIS OWN because we lead our own lives and we have our own POINT OF VIEW [POV]?  I beg to disagree with this train of thought though.  Even for this simple blogging, I take it seriously that one of my most critical decisions [even before I start drafting a new blog post] is to ask myself, WHOSE POINT OF VIEW am I going to write this blog?  I thought that's crucial to be clear up front📗📙📘

That POINT OF VIEW I'll decide up front determines the outlook of WHAT I'll write after all even as each perspective comes with its own devices that can give the blog writer that freedom to express BUT at the same time, to be extra mindful and conscious enough that I CAN'T just blurt out and end up shooting from the hip because there are limits I ought NOT to be breach, if at all❌❌❌

WHY is there so much cacophony in the world we live in?  Ooooops, there is NO single culprit for that harsh reality because, like it OR NOT, many of us are accomplices [in most cases, unconscious and unaware at that].  So you might get back and ask, WHAT POINT OF VIEW should we use if composing a blog?  In most cases, bloggers would opt the FIRST PERSON SINGULAR so that his narrative will become more personal, more genuine💚💛💜

On the other hand, some would prefer the THIRD PERSON LIMITED POINT OF VIEW in a scenario where the blogger writes something from only one person's perspective BUT as if the reader was following them around and observing.  This POINT OF VIEW will then allow the listener OR reader to gain a slightly broader perspective WHILE still being permitted to understand the innermost thoughts and feelings without being bound to one's opinion💥💥💥

Our takeaway:  Regardless if we're talking about fiction OR non-fiction, WHAT matters here is that in a two-way interaction, it behooves that we become more flexible and less rigid in our POINT OF VIEW.  In fact, if it happens that one protagonist is so vociferous and vocal, the other protagonist is encouraged to take a step [OR at least a half-step] back for him/her to get OR see the bigger picture [OR trying to see the whole forest and NOT just the trees] before one draws the conclusions arising from that interaction.  YES, that DAMN IMPORTANT POINT VIEW [POV] remains as damn important indeed😃😃😃

Are You An ALPHA OR A True ALPHA?

 

WHO DOESN'T want to be an ALPHA?  Of course, everyone wants and even dreams to become one.  And I'm sure, if we do a random check out in the streets, a good majority will claim [and conclude] that they are a true-blue ALPHA.  Seriously, there's just a very loose definition of WHAT an ALPHA is, such that, many have mistakenly believed that they are a true-blue ALPHA in everyday life📘📙📗

To quote one stereotype definition of a True ALPHA, they are defined as in possession of themselves and they ensure that their own passions DON'T end up running their lives.  In one of my previous business trips, after one long day of back-to-back huddles and meetings, my hosts brought me to their favorite winery and out of nowhere, a stranger joined us, engaging in our conversation like any normal human being would💜💛💚

Before I knew it, he began to dominate our group tete-a-tete and later on, this gentleman managed to turn around our conversations all about himself, whew!  As I have a good handle to find a true-blue ALPHA, I knew it, this guy was an ALPHA male in the flesh.  The original ALPHA Male theory goes something like this:  Human society is structured like a wolf pack and at the top of the pack is the dominant ALPHA male.  Think of that leader WHO shoots out orders and NEVER takes NO for an answer.  YES, from time to time, we do all run into these True ALPHAs even in our everyday lives.  If it's NOT at the corporate boardrooms, we can stumble across them WHILE you're queueing either at the bank OR even at the train station❌❌❌

BUT NOT to tear apart all the positivities of a True ALPHA, WHILE the True ALPHA  has the unsullied reputation of being a strong leader WHO seems to have all the right answers [besides ticking all the boxes], at times, I did observe that even a True ALPHA can be quite loud and for lack of a better adjective, obnoxious at times.  That's WHEN he gets his way through sheer brute force of his own will😡😡😡

Our takeaway:  My own take here is that, regardless WHETHER we claim to be a True ALPHA OR NOT, all of us need to prove that we excel on many things and would stand out even if you're in the middle of a mamooth crowd.  As things have evolved, ALPHA Theory 2.0 is interesting because a key attribute of a True ALPHA is one WHO remains moderate in their consumption of both food and alcohol.  Taking a step farther, they will get enough sleep and sufficient exercise.  And to quote studies, beyond the physical realm, the True ALPHAs will lead a well-ordered spiritual life.  Whether this remains ideal as such, it all boils down for us to buckle down and be sincerely honest enough on the path you want to take to be a True ALPHA😁😁😁

Ambiguity and Uncertainty

On the surface, AMBIGUITY and UNCERTAINTY seem to be very much on the same wavelength BUT it's NOT!  WHILE both AMBIGUITY and UNCERTAINTY both refer to situations WHERE there is a lack of understanding OR clarity BUT AMBIGUITY and UNCERTAINTY are NOT the same!  For alignment, let's agree that AMBIGUITY refers to a state of being unclear and can arise from having multiple options and lack of clarity on either the best OR the most appropriate option.  For brevity, WHEN something is ambiguous, it is unclear as to WHAT it means, and it may be interpreted in another way📗📙📘
 

On the other hand, UNCERTAINTY goes beyond implying a certain lack of information OR knowledge about a particular situation OR even an outcome.  WHICH means, even the possible outcome seems unknown, lest can it be predicted with confidence.  UNCERTAINTY arises WHEN we DON'T have all the facts OR WHEN we CAN'T accurately assess the probability of different outcomes😡😡😡

You might wonder, WHY are we spending time between AMBIGUITY and UNCERTAINTY?  Simple.  One too many confusions would then surface simply because someone thought that there's AMBIGUITY WHEN in truth, he is UNCERTAIN.  And sometimes, one [wrongly] thought he is UNCERTAIN WHEN in truth, he is no less AMBIGUOUS❗❗❗

WHAT this tells us is that even the most petty thing can get blown out of proportions once that mix-up between AMBIGUITY and UNCERTAINTY surfaces.  As both AMBIGUITY and UNCERTAINTY can create challenges for decision-making and problem-solving, nevertheless they both require more information and clarification.  There's a key differentiation though because if one faces UNCERTAINTY, that may kind of necessitate and need a level of risk assessment and a step farther, contingency planning❎❎❎

Our takeaway:  Quite a recurring but subtle scenario that seems to hit us is that conundrum WHEN we ourselves are unaware and/or unconscious if a certain question befuddling us is triggered by variables related to AMBIGUITY OR UNCERTAINTY.  I did bear witness multiple times WHEN protagonists started off with some level of confusion BUT the situation exacerbated WHEN the protagonists failed to pin down and clear up WHETHER WHAT's hitting him was either AMBIGUITY OR UNCERTAINTY.  Sweeping it under the carpet will only cause it to resurface again💥💥💥

Being Likened To An Onion?

 

Being Likened To An Onion?  NOT good to be tagged that way, WHETHER it's true OR not because assuming one is NOT ONION-skinned, somehow, it gets to tarnish OR besmirch the clean image OR reputation of someone WHO may have taken a lifetime to be as clean and as 'spotless' as one can be, and it DOESN'T matter if a persona happens to be a public [appointed OR elected] official💡💡💡

NOT to defend government OR public officials BUT it is regrettable WHEN one tends to be onion-skinned.  Through the years, I did witness multiple behaviors and manifestations of being ONION-skinned [and I admit that once OR twice, I also exhibited those manifestations].  BUT you might wonder if I got stuck to those manifestation?  Straight from my experiences, I realized that there was NOTHING positive I can derive from those behaviors.  During those isolated episodes, I was veering more on the negativities in life, WHICH never brought me closer to the positive aspects in life📘📙📗

Picking up from my real-life experiences WHEN it comes to ONION-skinned manifestations, I did realize that there was NOTHING positive that ever arose from it.  Did I pick up lessons?  That was a tough call to make because I realized that WHEN one is ONION-skinned, he tends to be 'flummoxed' because at the end of the day, he tends to see only those things he wants to see [and he CAN'T see things he is averse]💥💥💥

SO HOW?  Many times, I realized that for someone to reach that 'realization', it takes one WHO has gone through the same gauntlet to call a spade a spade.  WHY?  It boils down to one's credibility and WHAT better credibility than coming from someone WHO's been through the same predicament and challenges.  Imagine hearing from someone WHO's hardly gone through those battles and wars in life?  YES, that's really human nature.  We tend to give credibility to folks WHO have gone through the same ordeals, similar challenges.  I did bear witness of someone WHO kept preaching all the correct things in life BUT WHEN he was asked, 'DID YOU GO THROUGH IT?', he got stomped and flummoxed😡😡😡

Our takeaway:  Being ONION-SKINNED may NOT be an earth-shaking issue BUT unless it is rectified, the end-loser are NOT the people you interact with BUT it's YOU, it's us if we're that ONION-SKINNED.  To a fault, we tend to be oblivious of our frailties, our shortfalls BUT it takes courage and sheer honesty for one to admit he's ONION-SKINNED because recognition and acceptance is always the first step way before you can ever rectify it.  So, are you BEING LIKENED TO AN ONION???

Think Like An OPTIMIST, Plan Like A PESSIMIST!

 

Theoretically, an OPTIMIST and a PESSIMIST may seem to be poles apart BUT alas, we could be both, all rolled into one, AHA!  For now, my thoughts is NOT something new BUT allow me to tweak my age-old 'GLASS HALF-FULL GLASS HALF-EMPTY' mindset and for a lack of a better term, I'll coin this as my OPTIMISTIC PESSIMISM, sort of📗📙📘

For clarity, I am NOT exactly a subscriber to the OPTIMIST versus PESSIMIST thing because even as we speak now, I never saw this stuff as either black OR white as I always embraced my proposition that NO ONE SIZE FITS ALL.  And as our own personality traits DON'T seem to appear to be as stable as we used to think, , it just leads our own 'worldviews'  relatively malleable.  And I prefer to think of these outlooks as my owned learned responses😌😌😌

Over time, we learn to view the world one way OR another, often based on our experiences [rather than some inherent trait].  Problem here is that quite sometimes, we tend to give our preferential attention to certain types of experiences [regardless if such experiences are indeed representative of our lives [because, often they are outliers].  LIKE we seem more prone to attending to circumstances that we perceive as negativeand weighing those experiences in our own interpretation of the world💚💛💜

In the end, we're more likely to survive if only we can put greater emphasis on something that is either dangerous OR at least risky rather than on something that seems pleasant [OR neutral at worst].  Over time, I'd admit that it's quite easy to learn to view our world as one damn crappy place and for many of us, that could be no farther from the truth itself.  LIKE living in a war zone OR dealing with constant [i'll call it CHRONIC] stress OR worse, even violence [HOW often we hear about those mass killings, of which, the latest happened in Bangkok] leading us to predisposed with a pessimistic worldview although stress ISN'T life threatening OR even highly traumatising for now😡😡😡

Our takeaway:  WHILE often overused, this notion of OPTIMISM and PESSIMISM is often overused OR oversimplified.  On one hand, OPTIMISM represents one's perception of event as more likely to have a positive OR pleasant outcome WHEREAS the downside of that viewpoint is that our world is just full of debacles [i'll call it disappointments and challenges].  So, WHAT IF WE THINK LIKE AN OPTIMIST AND PLAN LIKE A PESSIMIST?  Does that hold water???

DOESN'T Matter If You Started Early Or Late

 

WHO says THE EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE WORM?  Me Me Me, I said it a zillion times and even as we speak now, I truly believe in it.  BUT if I tweak my question and ask if DOES IT MATTER IF YOU STARTED EARLY OR LATE?  No Senor, for many compelling reasons, it DOESN'T matter at all, NOT to me at least.  IF I have to defend my dissertation and IF this happens to be my thesis, the very core of this idea is that the FINAL OUTCOME, the FINISH, the END RESULT is all that matters.  NOT WHEN did you start it out.  NOT HOW long did it take you to traverse that journey from Point A to Point C [via Point B OR any other forked road[s]]😡😡😡

In my early twenties, I thought I was doing everything right [BUT I was wrong].  I thought I was working damn hard, kicking my ass hard enough, and WHERE possible, I intentionally avoided the multiple distractions WHICH came in different forms and shapes camouflaged as teasers.  WHILE some of my colleagues were out chilling OR travelling [OR for some, they were just biding their own sweet time], I was so immersed [and submerged] into my 'building blocks'💚💛💜

I then thought that IF I started that early up front and IF I can put in the work as early as then, I would gain that headstart and eventually all my efforts and timings will pay off.  Oh Oh, moving fast forward, I'll admit that my results and my records then were spotty at best.  I achieved some.  I failed in some.  NOT the best record that can give me the bragging rights BUT enough to push me farther.  Learning skills was one.  I thought if I equipped myself early on, that would give me the edge.   At that time, IBM's Lotus Notes was lording it over the market and I [wrongly] thought then that if I equipped myself with its LotusScript and its Formula Language, I will zoom ahead of the pack💥💥💥

Alas, I was all wrong because eventually, IBM's hold of the Lotus Notes market dissipated faster than WHAT I anticipated.  End result?  I was like holding a huge pail of water that was empty after all.  WHY?  WHEN I started early on in the game?  This brings me back to full circle that it DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU STARTED EARLY OR LATE because at the end of the day, the world we live in is too fluid, with one too many dynamics that get into the equation😡😡😡

Our takeaway:  Some of my realizations [WHICH I summarized below] did sink in enough for me to get back on track:

• WHEN you hustle early, you expect to fall into place sooner
• WHEN checking all the boxes, think 5 to 10 steps way ahead
• WHEN you have a blueprint, LIFE does NOT always follow it
• WHEN you are so focused in your journey, MURPHY's Law can kick in, ANYTHING THAT CAN GO WRONG WILL GO WRONG.  In a nutshell, got to have a Plan A, B and C!!!

Yes, We Can Sprint In Life

We always heard, LET'S NOT SPRINT BECAUSE LIFE IS A MARATHON.  I just WON'T agree less with the fact that LIFE IS A MARATHON but I'll be the first to disagree if someone tells me that we CAN'T SPRINT?  C'mon dude.  Even in various organizations, you would hear SMALL SPRINTS in 'war rooms' either for operations and projects!!!

Let's try to be on the same page here.  So WHAT do SMALL SPRINTS really mean?  Simply put, it refers to the very popular best practices of breaking down huge or complex goals OR projects into shorter and more manageable 'time-boxed' periods a.k.a. SPRINTS to achieve material and tangible progress and keep that motivation going💧💧💧

So, the bigger question, HOW do we achieve BIG progress in small blocks of time called SPRINTS?  One expert was widely quoted like:  YOU DON'T NEED HOURS OF FREE TIME TO MAKE PROGRESS.  ALL YOU NEED IS 20 MINUTES OF FOCUSED EFFORT.  Oh YES, I vividly remember one time in the past WHEN my frenetic schedules really 'hostaged' me from dawn till sunset and in between, I had like a few blocks of 20 minutes to spare📌📌📌

So, WHAT I did, instead of waiting for that PERFECT block of time WHICH will never come, I decided to tackle one small piece of task in between those chunks of schedules.  Oh Oh, would you believe, those fragments of 20 minute-windows changed everything.  And I realized I DIDN'T need hours and hours BUT instead, all I needed was to put on the focus within the duration of those small-small windows.  And from that time on, I adopted that approach of squeezing those SMALL SPRINTS in between my frenetic schedules, and that approach really paid off💥💥💥

Our takeaway:  True, our lives are always BUSY and IF it's NOT busy, it's BUSIER and finding time to tackle meaningful work often feels like a battle against the clock.  Many productivity systems do demand hours of focus OR intricate planning WHICH can feel impractical in a whirlwind of meetings and all those distractions.  This explains WHY I embraced those 20-minute SPRINTS as I realized I could use those small 20-minute gaps in my schedule to chip away at big rocks to achieve progress.  That's WHY, let's agree, YES, WE CAN SPRINT IN LIFE😗😗😗

Moves On The Margins Matter Most

 

In life, there are tons and tons of MOVES to make.  There's that trail-blazing one, the architect-focused one, the strategic one, the tactical one and WHEN we're faced with risks, we'll be swift and quick with our mitigations.  HOW's the MOVES ON THE MARGIN?  Surely, that is a discussion LESS revisited as it is more often situated along the margins, those borders, those fringes WHICH are definitely NOT in the line of sight and more often, NOT even within our awareness📗📙📘

Most common dilemma is that, WHEN we're IN THE MARGINS, we tend to lose that focus as a result of that loss of momentum.  Compare that to those times WHEN we are on a juggernaut, on a winning streak.  Problem is, during those times WHEN we seem to be IN THE MARGINs, we tend to lose touch with the need to think of something that will MOVE THE NEEDLE.  So, WHEN we are overwhelmed and unfocused, that's WHEN we will miss that opportunity to be that NEEDLE MOVER as opposed to goals.  As goals are binary, we would achieve them and feel great OR w DON'T and end up feeling down OR even lousy.  YES, we WON'T always achieve the exact result we want💚💛💜

Swing over to be a NEEDLE MOVER and expect that the result and outcome of your pursuit would have that significant impact on your success.  YES, we can break down the result into actions and once we determine that we can MOVE ON THE MARGINs and maybe be a NEEDLE MOVER, we can create that action plan to achieve the tangible results💥💥💥

YES, a NEEDLE MOVER will often lead us to excitement and even build the momentum arising from the successful results.  Looking back, I realized that MOVES ON THE MARGINS by itself may seem quite a daring OR aggressive move even to the tenacious one.  And to complicate things, for those MOVES ON THE MARGINs, we would at times have been left with very little breathing room to even envision oneself to even become a NEEDLE MOVER.  SO HOW?  I would always counsel folks in dire straits to take ONE STEP AT A TIME.  Never be over-smart enough by being 'recklessly' aggressive because instead of mitigating a risk, such an abrasive move can even raise the severity level of the risk at hand😡😡😡

Our takeaway:  Many times, I've witnessed up front WHEN even before we get in the middle of dire straights, some would even simply throw the towel way too early, even before breaching the margins.  And by the time they reach those boundaries, it's all moot and academic because they have given up way too early.  Point of contention is that, in life, let us continue pushing hard even when things are getting tougher because, much as I hardly believe in magic or miracles, they do happen NOT out of sheer luck but it all boils down through persistence and patience😊😊😊