I’m feeling chuffed with myself. By prioritizing must haves, I reduced the remodeling budget by 30%.
Of course, there is the cost of one month’s delay. The renovation hasn’t started. I feel displaced.
I think it was worth the delay.
Will confirm in a month’s time.
Freedom to speak up against government dissent is the surest way to maintain democracy. Prevent dictatorship. Hold people accountable.
Nothing is free. Freedom is not free. Freedom is not without costs.
We get what we pay for. Paywalls used to annoy me. Now I subscribe to my favorite news outlet. I just made a once off donation of 10 pounds to the Guardian. I wish I could do more. Give more.
The press is made up of people like us. They have bills to pay.
They need to eat. They have families.
Will you join me in supporting the press and safeguarding our freedom of speech?
Will you donate to a reputable news house of your choice? Pay for monthly subscription?
Writing has become a way of life.
Words consume me.
Words breathe life back into my soul.
I laugh out loud.
Why am I laughing?
No particular reason.
I feel happy to be me.
To be alive.
I laugh out loud.
No one can hear me.
I laugh out loud to myself and for myself.
It’s Friday.
I work late; having fun excavating and putting meaning to overlooked items. My perspective has changed. I’m not a management consultant, but I can relate to their way of working.
I’ve been programmed to add value from packaging the “so what” in ways that makes sense. How long it will take us to get from here to there. Compare the time on the watch to the rest of clocks in the office. Why is the watch slower/faster than the rest? Why is the watch worn on the wrist? Is this why the sales team always late? What is the pattern?
I don’t talk to everyone. Scanning and diving with select group that will add the most value. Ignoring the skeptics but getting them on board by asking the right questions before giving an answer. Packaging just the right information for the right people in the shortest time.
Understanding the question is the most difficult part.
The planner in me grows uneasy. I have no plans for the year.
I tried to break down my daily hours to get as much done as possible.
I refrained from my usual self after a friend advised me to not sign up for anything new.
She’s right. Life’s about to get very hectic.
I feel like I’m wasting time. I should be doing more. I could be doing more!
For now, I’ll live with this discomfort.
Discomfort means friction.
Friction means movement.
I hope I’m moving forward.
I wake up to a NY Times article on Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. I’d like to share my perspective as a consumer based on my experience in the USA, South Korea, Turkey, Mexico, Spain, China and South Africa.
USA:
Growing up poor, my family didn’t have medical insurance. No annual check-ups.
I got a degree and worked for a multi-national corporate. It provided comprehensive healthcare for $25 per month, with co-pay of $50 per visit. I was young, healthy and naive. Or, I trusted medical professionals to act on my best interest. I was wrong. Some took advantage, recommended and performed procedures that were totally unnecessary and value-eroding. Over eight years of top coverage, I saw a medical doctor once. All other times, I saw Registered Nurses (RN).
After post-grad, not yet with a job, I had no medical insurance. To see doctors without appointment cost $150 per visit. Another $100 for prescription medicine for something simple.
Life was unpredictable. Everything took longer. On average, I waited 6 hours. I couldn’t get an appointment. The COBRA coverage was expensive ($300 per month providing emergency coverage only). There was no public exchange for me to compare and choose a medical coverage right for me.
It’s surprising to hear positive perception of the American healthcare. Sure, for those with cash to burn, it sure is. For all else, not so much. A friend still works for the same multi-national corporate. He tells me the coverage has eroded and it costs him ten times more. When I hear countries like South Korea wanting to mimic the American system, a cold chill runs through my body. South Korea has an excellent and affordable medical ecosystem. While at work, I had to get emergency dental work over five visits. It costs me all of $100.
South Africa
Access to private doctors? $30 – 60 without insurance. They treat me like a human being. They don’t just see the dollar sign above my head. Registered Nurses do not exist.
$380 for comprehensive coverage: mental, physical, dental, emergency and up to $100,000 while traveling. There are at least viable 5 options here. Most all provide benefits like % off hotel, rental car, flights and consumer goods. The medical rates are set and adhered to.
Comparing the private care between USA to South Africa? On a scale of 1 to 10?
South Africa – 8
USA – 5
Healthcare value for money in the USA? Questionable.
Emergence of Urgent Cares is a symptom of a bigger and systematic issue. How can they provide us with cost-effective care without understanding our medical history? What is normal to me may be a serious issue to someone else. Instead of understanding and treating root causes, we’re given heavy doses of antibiotics that kills everything. No wonder we’re building up resistance to antibiotics.
Affordable Care Act would make medical services available to the masses. It is under serious threat, under the guise of unnecessary and costly social welfare.
It’s not.
The shortsighted and money-mongering culture has spread into the medical practice like cancer.
When will we take the first step to repair and rebuild America? When will we put America first?
To take care of our greatest assets, our people.
You have to live with yourself. Do what feels right. You know the answer. You know what to do. If you want to be good at something, practice.
Elevator pitch? Walking through your resume? Practice out loud. Talk to your reflection. Record yourself. By hearing your own voice, you’ll find natural ways to refine your pitch. When you play back the recording, you’ll pick up how you should vary your voice, pitch and volume to make a better story.
It sounds strange? It should. Ideas in your head are for you and you only; living in self-contained vacuum; uncontaminated. Unreal.
Ideas come to life in black and white, said out loud or performed through your body. A figment of your imagination co-mingles with the world. Ideas must survive alongside external forces.
Imagine yourself in front of a crowd and wonder how your message will be consumed. What seemed like a great idea in your head may sound strange, forcing you to refine or rewrite the story altogether.
Be clear on the story. What is it that you’re trying to sell? What you will do for them. Why they should care! Communicate in tangible and plain language. Demonstrate how you’ve tried to walk a mile in their shoes. Help them get to their next goal post.
It’s about them.
It should be a win-win for all, not a zero-sum game.
Smile. Make eye contact. Be human.
Nine months ago, I was thrown into the role of program manager of three software as a service (SaaS) implementations at various life cycles. I don’t have experience with IT, HR or Real Estate. I never shy away from a challenge (opportunity). I said okay and figured things out as I went.
It’s been fun. I’ve learned a lot. Amassing the confidence to know that I can manage any program in any industry, function, or complexity. Managing 30 cross-functional team members and executive stakeholders took some juggling, but I did okay.
I’ve had to swap people in and out. The ideal team size is 7 or 5. My job is to remove roadblocks and enable experts do their job. I make sure everyone is equipped with the right tools and support.
Solve problems. I get things done.
I remove dependencies (excuses) and make up stuff (assumptions) to manage uncertainty. We never have 100% of the information we need.
I’ve been managing projects and programs all my life. Creating bias towards action through structure, rigor and discipline, I bring 15 years of cross-functional project and program management experience from multiple industries: Infrastructure, FMCG, Insurance, Mining, Military and Telecommunications.
Below, key principles for on time and in-budget project delivery:
Structure, rigor and discipline brings everything together, creating and sustaining accelerated pace to establish continuous flow.
Apparently, this way of working is called SCRUM: “The art of doing twice the work in half the time” by Jeff Sutherland.
SCRUM is practical, tangible, and will help you get things done. It takes practice and dedication, but it’s worth it.
-HNG, self-proclaimed Scrum Master
We try to emulate those in power and people we respect. We imitate those who wow us, hoping to extract the secret elixir that makes them so great.
Sure, it’s admirable to aspire to be more like someone we respect and adore… but we’re not cut from the same fabric. We can never become who we aren’t meant to be. We can only be the best versions of ourselves. Most importantly, what works for them won’t work for us.
Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but the biggest sin to ourselves in dulling the uniqueness that makes us like no other.
We follow the path we avoid the most.
We surround ourselves with people we can’t stand
The more we fight, the more we’re forced to deal with the past…most of us refusing to see the purpose of the lessons left behind.
We let people in to activate our past.
Once or twice is never enough.
Multiple iterations required before we let ourselves see kaleidoscopic patterns.
Accept. Deny. Act. Repeat.
We see what we must.
We can move on only when we create new patterns.
There are no short cuts.
None, whatsoever.
Why do we try to fight the inevitable?