GOALS

Quite often we talked about dreams and goals but ask ourselves whether or not we have set important goals in all six areas of life and those are our personal life’s goals and not goals set by other people?

Have we written intangible goals such as quality of relationship with spouse and other family members? Most people focus and set only tangible personal goals such as cars, houses, education degrees, etc. As the results, there is only very little time left or maybe none for realizing the intangible goals.

Financial and career goals are absolutely important but they must be pursued in balance with goals in other aspects of life. Actually all the six aspects of life are tied together like spokes of a wheel - Wheel of Life^TM as defined by Paul J. Meyer.

To achieve all those intangible goals, we will need to set aside ample uninterrupted time to be spent with our loved ones and friends. It should actually be our ultimate purpose in life to have intangible goals such as quality relationships before anything else. But the worries of not getting enough income put them far away down the priorities list. In order to get our life under control, we need to make the priorities list based on the importance of the activities and whether or not those activities will bring us happiness and sense of fulfillment.

When we found out that we have no spare time, before we decide to stop doing some of the activities and start doing something else, first take some time to look at all of those activities as we may just need to change the priority level of some activities. Then before we make firm decision on activities that we want to discontinue to give us time to pursue other more important personal goals, look at the results of those activities especially in the areas of financial and career that we have achieved so far to see how effective and efficient we have performed.

• Do we have the knowledge and the right skills in doing the activities?
• Did our competencies support or hinder us?
• Do we have habits that are preventing us from delivering results on time?

The fact that we all spend more waking hours in doing financial and career related activities than other activities, our inabilities to carry out our responsibilities in this financial and career could be the causes of we running into problems in managing our overall time.

Once in a while, we might face a surge demand of our time in this financial and career area. It is okay but if we often do not get our work done  in the financial and career areas due to inadequate skills and/or knowledge so we will have to spend more time and that means lesser time for other areas of life, we need to fix those problems first immediately.

Bear in mind that to achieve a balanced life we need to set intangible goals in the other aspects of our lives. To be a Total Person^TM that live a balanced life needs time and it could not be achieved instantly without good and consistent practice of goal-setting and planning. Sometimes we even have to endure painful processes.

Adjust ourselves from time to time. Be flexible to the external changes and we will eventually achieve our dreams and goals although the paths and/or methods to achieve them maybe different from what we have planned.

TIME

Are we in control of our lives

or

the hectic and demanding constant flow of surrounding events are running us?  

Most people these days always think that they do not have enough time to accomplish all things they need to do.

Time is indeed our most precious resource as all activities needs time. Everything in life actually depends on our ability in managing our time.

Time cannot be saved as once elapsed it is irreplaceable. But we can have a better usage of our time by way of planning. We can choose to first carry out all activities of higher value, hence a more efficient and effective usage of our time.

People who are either running their own businesses or working as professionals and employees often think that they have too many things to do in the financial and career area to achieve maximum business results and to earn good incomes and as the consequence there is too little time for other aspects of their lives.

Instead of planning and make clear decision on what we want to accomplish, we fall into a continuous fire-fighting mode of living and just reacting to what is going on around us.

Ask the following questions to ourselves:

• Have we ever stood back and done some review about where we are going and maybe also to contemplate on who we are?
• Have we thought through what in life are really important to us that we want to accomplish?
• Have we ever evaluated our activities and think about their importance to our lives?
• Have we often faced with situations where we were forced in taking action without adequate thinking?

We are the master of our time rather than becoming slaves of the daily routines schedules that we created and sometimes even worsen by unexpected events.

People tend to forget that time management is not only required in the work and business environment. Good time management is also needed for other aspect s of life especially in the family and home as well as the social and cultural aspects of our lives. It is not only for enabling us to get more things done in a shorter period of time but it is absolutely essential in having good relationships with our families, friends and the societies in which we live.

We will always have other people in all six aspects of our lives - financial and career, family and home, physical and health, mental and educational, spiritual and ethical, social and cultural. In some aspects, e.g. financial and career, mental and educational, social and cultural, we may need to adjust some schedule of our activities with those people we work with. Often we even do not have control over how the activities shall be carried out. However, in the other three aspects of our lives – physical and health, spiritual and ethical, family and home, we have more control and freedom over how we use our time.

Take time to do planning of the usage of our time before we spend them for various activities. Planning will give us better time management and more time to do much more activities in all aspects of our lives hence improve the quality of our lives.

Everyone has the same 24-hours day so if we want to spend more time in another areas of life outside the financial and career, we need to plan for them. As external changes may impact our planned schedules, ask ourselves from time to time the following questions:

• What is really important to me?
• Which are my highest priority activities?
• What is the most valuable use of my time at the moment?

When we prioritise and schedule our activities properly, we will not only always know what to do now and next and what not to do but also when to do those activities so they will bring us the greatest happiness and satisfaction.

Organize our lives so we can achieve balance and harmony, the two mandatory ingredients for a succesful and fulfilling lives.

CUSTOMER-DRIVEN

Sam Walton said decades ago “there is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.”

Many companies aspire to becoming customer-driven companies.

So many of them talked about commitments to their customers, in their advertisements and other communication channels. However, in reality it is not so many companies really are walking their talks.

Talking the talk only does not make a company becoming customer-driven.

As in everything else, achieving results needs a concerted effort and commitment from everyone in the organization. Without commitment, talk of customer-driven service/product will be just lips service. Customer-driven services/products can only be produced when a company has full commitment throughout the organization.

We can start with an analysis of the policy, processes and/or facilities used by our people who interact directly with customers. But in order for companies to deliver customer-driven services and/or products, other employees in various support functions who serve internal customers must also be the focus of our attention. More often than not, poor interactions between departments are the main cause of failure in having customer-driven commitment delivered.

It will not be enough to have just written slogans everywhere in the office and/or manufacturing site. It is certainly also more than just an addition to every employees job description.

The role of the CEO and top management is very crucial in developing a customer-driven culture in the organization. Real examples from the leaders and managers must be demonstrated so the employees can be motivated to learn the right attitudes and practices.

Similar to other good management practices, we can have the following 5 steps in our effort to eventually produce a customer-driven culture throughout the organization:

-      

• Have a clear definition of what high quality products and/or services mean so all employees know exactly the quality they have to produce and/or deliver 
• Set S.M.A.R.T Goals^TM so all employees will pursue their respective departments goals in supporting the overall goals of the organization
• Have performance measurement monitoring matrices that would help employees to know their results on an on-going basis. This measurement then can be used as basis of giving either reward or award or both
• From time to time regularly have review sessions to check for the understanding of the definition of customer-driven products and/or services. Refresher training would be a worthwhile investment.
• Do random reality check with some customers. A candid approach will even give us better understanding of what we said we will deliver and the actual experience that our customers received

The ultimate role of every employee, including top executives, management and to some extent the shareholders, is to get new customers and keep them satisfied with the products and/or services that they bought.

Commitment to a customer-driven strategy will not only ensure but also enhance and sustain the success of the company. 

S.M.A.R.T. Goals^TM is a registered trademark in the US held by The Meyer Resource Group^(R), Inc.

Permission to use S.M.A.R.T. Goals^TM is obtained from: Copyright (C) The Meyer Resource Group^(R), Inc.

KECEWA

Ada beberapa penyebab mengapa seseorang merasa kecewa tapi pada umumnya kekecewaan akan timbul dalam pikiran seseorang karena tidak terpenuhinya ekspektasi/harapan.

 

Bahkan seorang Kofi Annan, mantan Sekretaris Jenderal Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa mengungkapkan kekecewaannya dan menyatakan mundur dari posisinya sebagai utusan khusus PBB untuk perdamaian di Suriah.

Dalam 5 bulan setelah menerima penugasan tersebut, Kofi Annan memang tidak melihat adanya hasil seperti yang diharapkan. 

Perang saudara terus bergolak sehingga korban tewas terus bertambah yang menurut informasi terbaru sudah mencapai tak kurang dari 17,000 orang padahal dia sudah menemui semua pihak yang berseteru.

Kofi Annan akhirnya angkat tangan karena dia merasa gagal menjalankan misi yang dipercayakan kepadanya.

Apakah keadaan yang semakin memburuk dimana pembunuhan warga sipil dan pelanggaran hak asasi manusia terus berlanjut sehingga misi untuk membantu solusi damai atas perpecahan yang terjadi di Suriah yang sudah menjurus pada perang saudara yang sedang terjadi di negeri tersebut, yang oleh beberapa kalangan disebut “mission impossible” yang menyebabkan Kofi Annan begitu kecewa?

Merasa kecewa tentunya adalah sesuatu yang manusiawi. Namun Kofi Annan bukanlah tipe orang yang sedikit-sedikit kecewa seperti kebanyakan orang. Kofi Annan adalah seorang yang biasa bekerja sangat keras dan dia menerima tugas berat yang dipercayakan kepadanya tentu dengan harapan untuk dapat mencapai misi tersebut.

Dia mengatakan tidak bisa lagi melanjutkan tugasnya dan mengambil keputusan pengunduran diri tersebut justeru karena dia kecewa dengan kenyataan bahwa 15 negara anggota Dewan Keamanan PBB tidak bisa mencapai kesepakatan dalam mendukung tugas yang dipercayakan kepadanya.

Kofi Annan bukan kecewa karena dia tidak mampu menghadapi tantangan di lapangan yang telah selama 5 bulan dia hadapi dengan kerja sangat keras.

Dia sudah memanfaatkan berbagai kesempatan yang diberikan kepadanya sebagai utusan perdamaian.

Dia juga sudah berusaha mewujudkan mimpi yang dia miliki tentang perdamaian dunia.

Dia sudah berjuang dengan berbagai pihak dalam mengupayakan berakhirnya konflik di Suriah tersebut.

Dia juga sudah menjalani petualangan dengan penuh keberanian karena sebagai utusan perdamaian di tengah konflik bukanlah sesuatu yang mudah.

Dia membawa misi untuk mencari solusi atas konflik untuk menciptakan perdamaian di Suriah namun menghadapi kenyataan bahwa konflik atau paling tidak perbedaan pandangan justeru terjadi antara para anggota Dewan Keamanan PBB.

Kita juga pasti sering dihadapkan pada beberapa situasi yang mirip dengan apa yang dihadapi oleh Kofi Annan namun kemungkinan besar dalam skala yang jauh lebih kecil.

Apa yang dihadapi oleh Kofi Annan memang merupakan hal yang sangat pelik. Sehingga apa yang dilakukan oleh Kofi Annan dalam kekecewaannya tidak dapat begitu saja kita jadikan dasar pertimbangan untuk mengambil langkah serupa yaitu mundur manakala kenyataan tidak seperti yang kita harapkan.

Seperti banyak situasi dalam peperangan yang telah dan sedang terjadi, demikian pula dalam kehidupan. Terkadang kita terpaksa memasuki sebuah gua alam yang gelap dan kemudian berusaha mencari apakah ada jalan keluar lain di sisi lain dan menemukan kenyataan adanya beberapa lubang-lubang terowongan yang mungkin dapat mengantar kita keluar. 

Setelah memilih salah satu dari lubang terowongan tersebut ternyata memiliki beberapa ujung namun hanya satu atau dua dari beberapa jalur tersebut yang tidak buntu.

Apabila kita ternyata telah memilih arah yang keliru dan tiba pada ujung buntu, ada beberapa pilihan yang bisa kita lakukan yaitu:

• Mencoba menggali dan membuat jalur keluar baru bila memang kita memiliki peralatan dan waktu tentunya
• Kembali ke tempat dimana terowongan tersebut terbagi menjadi beberapa jalur dan memilih alternatif lain untuk dapat menemukan jalan keluar
• Keluar dari gua seperti yang dilakukan oleh Kofi Annan dan perlu kita ingat bahwa langkah ini dapat kita ambil setelah mencoba seluruh alternatif yang ada di dalam gua tersebut. Kemudian kita akan perlu mendaki atau memilih jalan memutar atau dengan cara-cara lainnya.

Bisa saja kita benar memilih terowongan yang membawa kita keluar dari sisi lain namun apa yang akan kita temukan di ujung terowongan dari gua gelap tersebut mungkin saja tidak sesuai dengan harapan kita karena kehidupan memang adalah sebuah perjalanan dengan banyak hal di sepanjang jalan yang akan kita lalui.