Are You Productive? Or Efficient?

Are You Productive?  Or Efficient?

Are You Productive?  Or Efficient?  Please DON'T get me wrong.  If we stretch back what we learned in school or in our history, what propelled countries and industries is the sheer volume of productivity.  Back in school, we would be like dogs from the kernel trying to impress our school mentors.  When we were wooing our 'dream girl', we were moving both mountains and molehills again, all guided with that 'productivity mindset'.  Fast forward now. Where and who else do we hear pitching and espousing for productivity.  True, our call and contact centers are still driven by volumes a.k.a. productivity BUT what has been closely attached to it as a KPI [key performance indicator] is EFFICIENCY

Now comes EFFICIENCY which Mr Google defines as 'DOING THE SAME AMOUNT OF WORK IN LESS TIME'.  Now, most of us know the difference between effectiveness and efficiency wherein the former is DOING THE RIGHT THINGS while the latter is DOING THINGS RIGHT.  Their intersection does yield productivity.  But still, many of us tend to get confused about the difference between productivity and efficiency

Too often, PRODUCTIVITY and EFFICIENCY are [wrongly] thought as synonyms [but they're NOT].  And while they are related, but certainly, they are NOT interchangeable and in some cases, though, they couldn't be farther apart.  But in the shortest discussion possible, PRODUCTIVITY is PERFORMANCE while EFFICIENCY IS HOW WELL YOU PERFORM

Swinging over to our personal lives, during these times where there has been human diaspora of workers from the Third World, we all salute such workers a.k.a. Overseas Foreign Workers [OFW] because they are grinding and working hard to support their families back home.  And that is laudable.  What is missed out in millions of families is the 'EFFICIENCY' in raising the children 'in absentia' [although many will argue we got so many social media tools to compensate

Fast forward, how were millions of children raised when their father was the primary financier is working for 'donkey years' ten thousand miles away?  The obvious UPSIDE was that the family breadwinner was that ptoductive.  BUT, overall, were things ran efficiently?  Sadly, I can attest to so many FAILURES in families because the focus was simply on productivity.  Time to look into our efficiencies please❗❗❗

Have You Cratered [Yet]?

Have You Cratered [Yet]?

Have You Cratered [yet]?  Hope NOT yet.  But to borrow a very popular and one of the most quoted one-liners, 'NOTHING IS CERTAIN EXCEPT TAXES and DEATH'.  If there's a 'wild card' in life, that's CHANGE.  And CHANGE will undoubtedly happen multiple times throughout our life.  Some CHANGES are planned, like taking a new job or moving.  Some CHANGES are unplanned [like losing a loved one or a job].  And when unexpected CHANGES hit us hard, we often feel like life is falling apart.  That's when we more often end up cratering⏳⏳⏳

The idea of life falling apart in and of itself is very subjective and sometimes personal.  There's NO standard for what it looks like.  And if I may share, I have felt like everything was falling apart several times in my life in the past.  My [scary] experiences in the past may NOT  reflect yours though.  Because at the end of the day, everyone's experience is unique📌📌📌

So how do we take it from here?  First off, TAKE A BREAK.  BUT that does NOT mean giving up on your responsibilities and simply walk away.  Just take some time for yourself.  Once you identify what makes you feel like everything is falling apart [and eventually cratering], endeavor to STEP AWAY to clear your mind.  If work is quite chaotic, can you take time off?  If you're caring for a sick loved one, can someone else step in so you can have a weekend to refocus💊💊💊

Taking the NEXT STEP try to EMBRACE THE PRESENT.  Simply put. that's LIVING IN THE MOMENT.  A pain from the past or worries about the future often leads us down this path.  It may seem easy to be dominated by some momentary periods where you tend to 'LOOSE' the present but you know what?  The very present is a GIFT itself.  It is when and where life happens.  This explains why I'm egging you to LIVE IN THE MOMENT💎💎💎

Taking a step further, assess WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL [before things fall apart and crater].  When things are falling apart, the one single thing you may desire most is beyond your reach and that's CONTROL.  If we're honest enough, we probably want to CONTROL all.  But when life is spiraling, CONTROL is more often unattainable.  And that leads us to this possible safe conclusion that that failure to CONTROL may be the cause why things are falling apart, with us cratering✅✅✅

Who's In-charge Of Your HAPPINESS?

Who's In-charge Of Your HAPPINESS?

Who's In-charge Of Your HAPPINESS?  NOT your boss at the workplace.  NOT your partner/spouse.  NOT even your parents or guardian.  It's on YOU sirrrrrrrrrs.  Too bad that societal norms expect us to show that ear-to-ear wide grin, whether that's in school, at home, at our workplace or even in the midst of our enterprising commercial activities.  That explains this charade📌📌📌

While I am NOT a Buddhist, allow me to quote what the monks say all along, that is, THERE IS NO PATH TO HAPPINESS.  HAPPINESS IS THE PATH.   Truth is, so many people feel unhappy n their lives but they NEVER reflect on what their ownership is in that UNHAPPINESS.  In other words, they do NOT understand what they have done to contribute to that unhappiness💎💎💎

Reality is, if you are relying on anyone or anything else for your happiness, stop that right now.  If you feel like you're NOT quite doing what you want to be doing and you're NOT quite the person you want to be, let reading this be the sign that you have A CHANGE TO MAKE,  There are those who take control of their life and there are those who are life's victims.  Which do you want to be?  The type who confidently assesses their own worth or the type that complains about feeling undervalued⏳⏳⏳

BTW, no one can 'make' you feel anything.  Happy or sad, every emotion you feel you can be in charge of.  Giving away control of your feelings?  Sort it out, dude.  So, how and where do we start?  MAKE A CHANGE.  If you always do what you've done, you'll always get what you've always got.  If you always avoid difficult conversations, you'll always work with a team that isn't up to scratch.  If you always blame others, you'll NEVER take ownership📌📌📌

Everything that happens is a cyclical process that will continue until you make an intervention, that is, a change that puts you towards a new course, a new path.  Feel like you're missing something?  MAKE A CHANGE.  If what you're putting out there isn't working, or isn't manifesting the results you want, it's only YOU that can get you back on the way to be HAPPY.  And DON'T forget to evaluate yourself.  Be prepared to give yourself an HONEST [and probably RUTHLESS] feedback and DON'T forget to learn each time you mess up.  Oh, if you're comfortable with your strengths, who's in-charge of your HAPPINESS❗❗❗

How Not To Get Lost In The Woods

How Not To Get Lost In The Woods

How Not To Get Lost In The Woods?  That's Easy, promise.  Just DON'T GO TO THE WOODS period.  It's as simple as that.  We have all heard tourists who ended up in unfortunate situations in the big megacities in Asia like Mumbai, Jakarta and Manila.  And then, they start to CRY WOLF.  Why?  When you deep dive into into their very circumstances, they would eventually admit that they ventured into the slum areas of those megacities.  But I'll further ask them:  WHY in the first place you went deep there❓❓❓

Even if you fly over to the safest places in the world like Japan and Singapore, we would hear someone getting victimized by Yakuza in Tokyo.  WHY?  Simple.  They ventured and went into the clubs owned by the Yakuza.  In Singapore, when you heard someone getting cornered by a mob, the reason is simple.  That hapless victim did venture into unsafe areas in Singapore where gangs are still lording it all over the place.  Bottom-line is, it's NOT even about the country you're travelling to but it boils down to your detours in those megacities.  So who's to blame here?  It's all our COCKINESS, period✅✅✅

Let's face it.  Reality is, at some points in our life, we do get lost or waylaid.  There is just NO doubt that everyone goes through those episodes.  Not sure where we're headed to, sometimes we end up in a happy situation but that's not true to everyone all the time.  It can even sometimes appear that others around us have it all figured out but the harsh reality is that everything is NOT always as it seems💎💎💎

And although feeling LOST can be tough and difficult, it can also be seen as an opportunity to become a new and improved version of oneself.  And I can easily relate to this because this did happen to me in my not so distant past.  But hey, what and where we need to focus now is how we can navigate and wiggle ourselves from being lost📌📌📌

Now how do we fix this?  First off, ACCEPT the fact when sometimes you dp get lost [but hey, it's a RED ALERT if you're getting lost over and over again].  Secondly, never forget that you must be in control of your emotions.  Third, do develop HEALTHY HABITS and ditch those UNHEALTHY HABITS like aimlessly scrolling on social media.  Let's NOT GET LOST IN THE WOODS✅✅✅

Are You A 'Chicken'?

Are You A 'Chicken'?  

Are You A 'Chicken'?  No sirrrrs, please DON'T get me wrong.  I have nothing against chickens.  On the other hand, I love chicken, way much better than any red meat.  So today's piece is NOT about our fav dish but instead, this is more about 'chickening out', that embarrassing reaction of shying away from something or a task that seems challenging or simply to decline or refuse or avoid something due to either a certain area of fear or uncertainty.   Sounds familiar❓❓❓

So this explains why sometimes we here one allegedly accusing someone else of being a 'chicken'.    Surprisingly, studies show that a lot of 'chickening out' apparently happen at the 'LAST MINUTE'.  And researches claim that we sometimes wrongly predict our possible behavior in embarrassing situations simply because of an 'EMPATHY GAP'⏳⏳⏳

So, we got this age-old problem:  Why do we often plan to take risks [like singing onstage or even skydiving] but would back out when that MOMENT OF TRUTH comes?  And this brings us back to that 'EMPATHY GAP' which is simply defined as our inability to forecast how we will behave in emotional situations.  And the results of researches will really surprise us all.💊💊💊

The commonality across almost all studies have proven that when we are primed with negative emotions, it leads us to become much more accurate in predicting our true willingness to pursue a specific act or plan.  Whereas for those not primed to the negative emotions, they were less empathetic to their future selves and significantly over-estimated themselves💎💎💎

In the most practical ways in life, experts advised that this all boils down for us to write down our list of goals and visualize how you handle each one and then, prepare a schedule or plan and endeavor to stick to it.  NEVER MOVE GOAL POSTs.  That's a common culprit wherein we avoid confronting a problem.  Bottom-line is be consistent in being positive both in your thinking and right when in action.  JUST DON'T CHICKEN OUT, it's a NO-NO❗❗❗

Are You Smart Or Just Enough?

Are You Smart Or Just Enough?

So sorry, I'm not here to start a debate BUT Are You Smart Or Just Enough?  Oh, I snipped these two charts posted by Adam Fayed in Quora.com and to quote him farther: 'Money isn't in knowing more Money is in the execution.  If knowing more was so profitable, then all scientists and historians would be wealthy.  You can                                                                get traction with enough knowledge,                                                                experience & executional skills'💊💊💊

It's NOT uncommon for us to have just one too many ideas popping-up here and there.  But when such ideas pile up, how sure are we that we're able to revisit and review all those [ideas]?  Whereas I did see others who are so biased with quality such that if an idea pops up and if it seems doomed to fail, dump he goes💎💎💎

In our digital age now, where do these ideas pop-up?  Oh, it's all over the place.  Sticky notes.  Notepads, Digital whiteboard So, there they are born, get germinated, get nurtured till it grows enough to survive as long as the watering and nurturing do come on a regular basis.  Regardless, DON'T just dump off ideas prematurely because you deprive yourself of another chance⏳⏳⏳

If we were to approach you with two different seeds and ask you to show me which one is a weed and which one is a flower, how would you know WHICH IS WHICH?  Do you think you'll be able to tell simply by looking closely each see?  OF COURSE NOT!  The only way ito tell is by planting both seeds and allowing them to grow.  Initially, both will break the surface with a tiny sprig of GREEN and likely look very much the same📌📌📌

But eventually, the flower spring to life and you'll be able to identify and pull the weed while continuing to nurture the flower.  Makes sense right ?  You need to give the seeds time to grow before identifying which is good and which is bad.  But WHY DON'T we apply this in our life?  Think about it, if we do handle our ideas even at its raw state, we could then claim that we're SMART indeed❗❗❗

Don't Let One Wrong Scupper Yourself

Don't Let One Wrong Scupper Yourself

Allow me to quote respected American author DARREN HARDY saying 'ALLOW YOURSELF TO GO AND DO IT WRONG.  DON'T EXPECT TO ALWAYS GET IT RIGHT.  IT WILL PREVENT YOU FROM DOING ANYTHING'. That says all about our recurring dilemma and it's all because of a WRONG we might have committed.  Many times we commit a WRONG and more often than not, it becomes an impediment for us to take a step towards doing something RIGHT simply because we've done something WRONG.  But isn't it that unfair and unjust and worst, unreasonable?  To align with Darren Hardy, Don't Let One Wrong Scupper Yourself💎💎💎

One could be caught so squeezed between two warring factions, each giving an advice whether rightly or wrongly.  What is fraught with apprehension is when someone holds things in abeyance and starts to heed and hear an ill advice at that.  And I've witnessed pour souls deprived to be given to do something RIGHT simply because he did WRONG📌📌📌

Indeed, who is one to unilaterally judge something as RIGHT or WRONG if it hinges on the context and perspective.  And while this could trigger rounds of rowdy debates, let's face it.  Everyone of us is entitled to redeem himself, to recover from a slip-up, from a WRONG action.  It could be a WRONG judgment but hey, can't we give the guilty party the reprieve at least for his first infraction, as long as it DOESN'T recur⏳⏳⏳

What CAN'T be condoned is if a WRONG recurs over and over again, covered up with reasons that's just seems to be 'beyond the roof'.  I've heard 'GIVE ME A CHANCE' but hey, if that is your Nth infraction, what gives? For a repeat offender, there should be very little room to accommodate such outliers because sooner than expected, outliers will become the default common thing✅✅✅

What we need to align here is the irrational reason that once someone has WRONGED, he brings with him that stigma that will be the singular impediment to recover from that wrong doing.  Regardless, Don't Let One Wrong Scupper Yourself because that is stretching things beyond reason❗❗❗

Is Your Anger Like A Volcano

Is Your Anger Like A Volcano

No sirrrrrs, I apologize if I get misconstrued for putting down volcanoes because there are one too many world-famous volcanoes like Mount Fuji and Mount Vesuvius.  But our piece today is NOT about volcanoes.  Instead, we'd like to compare our own anger during those 'down moments' we struggle.  So, how  Is Your Anger?  It is Like A Volcano❓❓❓

The thing is, ANGER being part of our normal life, it just becomes a MUST-DO that we're aware of our ANGER MANAGEMENT.  At the end of the day, we're always reminded for us to CONTROL ANGER BEFORE IT CONTROLS US.  Point is, there are tons of anger scenarios and as to how we deal with it, a lot is influenced by our  ANGER MANAGEMENT and as to how effective it is in containing our ANGER💎💎💎

Let's face it, no matter how beautiful the volcano is, when it erupts, its beauty gets literally buried by its wrath when it erupts.  And that is NOT far different when we do vent out our anger but the worse part is if our anger goes way beyond bounds.  So how do we handle ANGER?  Please DON'T get me wrong but ANGER per se is a normal feeling and it can be a positive emotion when it helps you work through issues or problems⏳⏳⏳

Be aware that ANGER can be problematic if it leads to aggression, outbursts or worst, physical altercation.  ANGER CONTROL is important to help us avoid saying or doing something we may regret.  Before ANGER escalates, let us consider these FIXES.  Try to take a breather.  Note that your breathing becomes shallower and speeds up as your anger worsens.  Reverse that❗❗❗

And while ANGER boils up, it does simmer down, promise.  So, be patient for your ANGER to simmer down.  It's neither effortless nor too tough fpr it to simmer down.  Combine this with a 'MENTAL ESCAPE' like slipping into a quiet room, closing your eyes, and practicing to visualize yourself in a relaxed manner.  Sooner, you'll realize that managing and controlling ANGER is not that tough✅✅✅

Are You Worth The Flyer

Are You Worth The Flyer

This poster did grabbed me by my lapels because I can't further disagree with it.  Indeed, to quote:  'NEVER ADVERTISE YOUR FEELINGS, THERE IS NO VALUE FOR IT'.  Few years back, a local non-celebrity did advertise his feelings for one of the more popular local actress here.  How far did he go from that point?  Nada, Nichts.  Nothing.  On the other hand, it did boomerang back on him.  But going back to our life, let's admit it.  In some of our personal pursuits, we tend to build up that flyer.  Remember when we are out in the job market, some of us even end up doing all the 'window dressing' of our CV/Resume.  But the constant question is:  Are You Worth The Flyer⏳⏳⏳

Flipside of things, it just makes sense that before we do 'advertise' ourselves [whether we are wooing our 'dream girl' or angling for our 'dream job], we got to pause and ask ourselves this:  HOW MUCH ARE YOU WORTH?  Not financially but in terms of your upside, your capabilities, your value-add to what you're angling.  That's the basic question we got to pose for us to address even before we start considering to position ourselves for a goal we're determined💊💊💊

We're just too familiar all those commercial businesses come up with their best flyers and we're not different from the commercial initiatives.   For someone aggressive out in the job market, you'll want to showcase all your pluses in your CV/Resume to an extent that we sometimes [and maybe many times] tend to end up 'window dressing' it, which is fine by the way.  But the biggest challenge in life is how far can you match everything you mentioned in your CV/Resume?  And what happens if you're unable to prove what you're really worth [as per your 'pumped up' CV/Resume]?  Sadly, you could likely end up empty handed, no doubt about it📌📌📌

Yes, we all agree that in life, we need to PUT OUR BEST FOOT FORWARD.  Nothing  wrong about it but on one stern condition.  You got to match and prove every iota of detail you advertised [whether in your flyer, in your CV/Resume or even in those sweet-sweet notes you scribbled for your 'dream girl'].  Failing which could have serious repercussions and implication to your life.  Put yourself in the shoes of your eventual partner/spouse if you ended up NOT as per your FLYER💎💎💎

The worst of all worst things is to unduly 'pump up' expectations of others on you and only for you to end up as a 'DUD', an empty shell.  And what do we end up when we're indeed a 'DUD'?  People can just dump you and kinda throw you out in the window.  And BTW, not to scare us of the consequences but the implications are quite serious if we end up failing the expectations of people, all because we could have 'pumped up and 'window-dressed' our flyer ending up with a perception we are unable to match and prove.  Never miss out reminding yourself if ARE YOU WORTH THE FLYER❓❓❓

Scambags & Fraudsters Are Here To Stay

Scambags & Fraudsters Are Here To Stay

Much as I tried my darn best to resist from having SCAMS & FRAUDS as our piece for today, I just CAN'T resist it after coming across the ChannelNews Asia piece today, I realized that indeed, it's NOT redundant to say that Scambags & Fraudsters Are Here To Stay,  Even in the city-state of Singapore where its laws are known to be one of the toughest, the statistics are screaming loud enough⏳⏳⏳

Despite the pandemic enveloping us all, its total number of scam and cybercrime cases rose by more than 25% year-on-year.  And out of the total cases scams accounted for a hefty 94%.  And the TOP FIVE SCAMS types were PHISHING scams, JOB scams, e-Commerce scams. investment scams and FAKE FRIEND CALL scams [as per official data by the Singapore Police Force]💜💛💚

And not to our surprise, those TOP FIVE SCAMS made up more than 80% of the TOP 10 SCAM types in Singapore alone.  Now, hold your breath, guess what comes into the equation next?  And the $64 question now is:  WHY DO SCAMMERS USE ROMANCE AS PART OF THEIR MODUS OPERANDI?  Security Expert Mr Gallagher opined that in most cases, the lure is trying to draw someone into a flirtatious or romantic relationship because that affects their ability to think critically about the whole situation.  In the shortest world, when ROMANCE creeps in, it throws a 'monkey wrench in our normal thinking and judgment💎💎💎

And topping today's list of TOP SCAMS is the 'PIG BUTCHERING SCAM' a.k.a. ROMANCE SCAM which has become one of the most popular tactics those fraudsters steal cryptocurrency.  After a fraudster gains the TRUST, the scammer encourages the victim to invest in cryptocurrency trading.  The scammer then guarantees the victim will make money [either via an 'INSIDER TIP' or the investor's knowledge📌📌📌

In the U.K. alone, there are more than 150 FAKE firms with 'known ties' to China, targeting people online, 'breaking their hearts' and in the end, emptying their bank accounts.  Sadly, everything starts when a woman meets a man online.  They flirt.  After a few weeks, they being 'IMAGINING' their future together.  Fast forward months later, one of them ends up as 'heart broken' after getting defrauded with all his/her monies.  TO BE FOREWARNED IS TO BE FOREARMED.  SCAMBAGS & FRAUDSTERS are here to stay, sadly✅✅✅