First of all, let me apologise to you all dear readers for seemingly abandoning this blog. It has always been my intention to keep writing new articles, but this year has flown by and again we find ourselves on the eve of another year end. Where did 2008 go? How can it be December already?
Whilst I haven’t been able to write much, I have been extremely busy and productive! This blog has always been an outlet to describe my journey from being an Engineer to an Entrepreneur. Just because I haven’t been writing, doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy working towards my goal.
If you’re going to talk the talk, you have to walk the walk. So after years of procrastination and self doubt, I have decided to finally start living my dream and be an Entrepreneur.
Introducing Mobiusly
Mobiusly was registered on 3rd December 2008 with the Australian Securities and Investment Association as a fully fledged limited liability company. It represents my passion for creating great software to improve life and to help people do what they do better. Everything I do and every software I write will be governed by the company credo. Mobiusly will create things that:
- Get the job done: Always fulfill their intended purpose without exception or compromise.
- Make you look good: By allowing you to do amazing things with lasting effect.
- Are easy to learn and master: Thus allowing you to do things you couldn’t do before.
- Create quick and beautiful results: So that you get what you need when you need it.
- Work with you: By anticipating your needs and knowing your intent maybe before you do.
- You can really depend on: Because your life is precious and work is important.
Starting a new company these days mean you need to have an online presence. I’ve setup a website at www.mobiusly.com and have started another blog. If you’re interested in how I get on with Mobiusly, head over there to read about my journey, lessons learnt and product updates. You may of course get regular updates with your favourite feed reader.
Taking Action
I’ve talked about being an Entrepreneur for years with tips to accomplishing goals, staying focused and time management. Yet after 2 years, I still wasn’t any closer to being an Entrepreneur.
I don’t know if there is a single thing that finally triggered me into action. I do know that over this past year I realised (for various reasons) that life is precious and it is short so we shouldn’t waste it. If you’re unhappy and ever had dreams of doing something different, then you should act now! Don’t wait for the perfect moment. It will never come. If you’re unhappy in a relationship, try to figure it out or end it. If you’re unhappy at work (see Are you Happy Employee?), then change your job.
I can finally say I’m eating my own dog food. Here I am at last taking action and living my dream. What are you waiting for?
Renewing my commitment to this site
I look at my last post with mixed feelings. Whilst I’m really happy to accomplish a 6 year dream, I’m saddened by the fact that the post was dated 26th January 2008. I haven’t given this site the attention it deserves. I haven’t given you my readers the attention you deserve.
For that I apologise deeply.
Let me also announce then that I’ll also be rebooting this site, giving it new coat of paint and producing more awesome articles you have come to love and expect. It’ll be a challenge managing two blogs for sure (I have enough trouble with one already). But it feels good to be back writing. Let me take this opportunity to thank you all for your comments, emails, kind words and loyalty over this past year. Your words of encouragement truly make it all worthwhile. I hope you continue to stick around and I can earn your respect and readership again.
Stay tuned for more exciting things here and at Mobiusly.
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Wow! I can’t believe it has been so long since I last posted on this blog. Rest assured, dear readers, I have not abandoned you. I’m as energetic as ever, but unfortunately the commitments of work has again gotten in the way of everything else.
Including this blog, but most notably fun and leisure!
A couple of months ago, I started at a new client side. Because the client is new, environment is different, technology and type of work unfamiliar, I’ve had to work extra hard to get things done with my usual tenacity and productivity. Although the road has been bumpy and steep, I’ve kept my head up and have persevered through the tough times.
That’s all good, but I miss the fun times!
So how do we make work fun? Well, you can do it like my friend, who at this very moment is running rampant about Sydney doing a massive treasure hunt! From what I read on this blog, the folks at Atlassian are having a great time on their ‘Cutlassian Pirate’ day – having dressed up as pirates, kicked out of the Google offices and generally causing mayham! All I have to say to him is go Team Yarrr!
Those guys at Atlassian sure know how to have fun.
Why aren’t other companies like this? In all seriousness, most of us spend at least 40 hours at the “office”. Given that this is a significant portion of our week, why can’t it be more fun? There shouldn’t be any reason whatsoever.
So, what can we do to make work a place in which we look forward to going? For the budding entrepreneurs out there, here are some initial thoughts.
- Employees need to know they are working on worthwhile things
- Employees need to know they are appreciated
- Employees need to receive compliments on their work
- Employees need to know their input and opinion is valued
- Employees need to know their work makes a difference
- Employees need to have work which is interesting and challenging
- Employees need to feel they are learning and growing
- Employees need to feel they are making progress in their career
- Employees need to be fairly remunerated for their work
- Employees need timeout – treasure hunt anyone?
In many ways, our employers dictate how happy we are at work. A fun workplace could instigate treasure hunts, morning teas, dinners to celebrate project milestones etc. While this may be true in some instances, it’s not a very nice way of living and thinking.
I subscribe to the belief that we make our own fun and happiness. Two people working at the same place, doing the same thing could have totally different viewpoints on how much they enjoy their work. In the end, we have the freedom to choose how we perceive things. Instead of looking at the negatives, try to look for the positives. Instead of looking for problems, try to look for opportunities. Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, try to look for constructive solutions.
Ask yourself, Are you a happy employee? If not, what can you do about it?
I’m interested to hear about what your workplaces are like, especially if you have had problems and have found ways to overcome them. Leave a comment.
Oh, and good luck Team Yarrr.
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Let me first start by warning you that this is a fairly long post. I suspect most people won’t make it to the end. However, if you are serious about being happy, I hope you can at least spend 5 mins reading what I have written.
It will change your life. I promise.
I have been an independent software contractor for several years, performing all sorts of IT development services for clients about town. The agency whom I have been representing at client sites is currently undergoing a major change – they have just been sold to a big consultancy.
Boom! Scary!
As a result of the merger, lots of change is happening. Some folks are questioning where things are headed, what management have planned, how their lives will change etc. Most certainly, there will be job losses as the two companies consolidate things, in particular administrative positions.
With the chaos that’s been unfolding, I’ve thought a bit about “change” in general. What is it? Why do people resist it? Is it always a good thing? What should I do?
With some reflection, I realised that with all inspiration, creation, thought and progress, some form of change must be a precursor. Things just don’t happen on their own. You know the old scientific principle of “energy cannot be created, only transformed”? Well, I think it applies here with change too. These things need to come from somewhere – they’re not born out of the ether. Synapses fired, decisions made and actions taken before change occurs.
In my case, someone must have decided that selling the company is something worth pursuing and that things shouldn’t keep ticking along they way they have been.
So from this respect, change is a good thing, without which there is no action or result.
In my readings, I came across the Satir Change Process model, named after Virginia Satir, an American author and psychotherapist. Her model is best represented in the diagram below which describe Performance fluctuations as a result of change.
The diagram depicts several stages of accepting change. The first stage is known as Status Quo (Gray Zone), a state where everyone is generally comfortable with the way things are. The second stage is a point in time a Foreign Element, trigger or change agent is introduced. What follows is a period of Resistance and Chaos (Red Zone), personified as a result of people being scared of the uncertainties the change has brought about and how their lives will be impacted.
The level of performance generally drops off and fluctuates more greatly between the Gray and Red Zones. There are various reasons for this – people may reject the change to protect the status quo; are confused with the change and are unsure of what to do; or simply become less competent with the new tools and processes introduced.
This describes why people by nature resist change. They don’t want to become less useful than they already are.
I see this every day. In my line of work as a software engineer, I work with tools and technology which change often. You may start on a project using a best-of-breed library, but by the time the project ends, chances are there’s a new version out or even a completely alternate way of doing things. Unless you keep abreast with changes, your skills can lose their edge, even become obsolete.
As a would-be entrepreneur, I too see this everywhere. Many new startups are created each day, but few survive. In order to survive, the entrepreneurs have to develop a business model that meets the market demands and deliver an economic return. To do so, they have to change and adapt as they learn and as opportunities arise.
Most people know this, yet change is often resisted. Why? The reason is simple really. Once someone has become comfortable with the way things work (Status Quo), they naturally find it hard to embrace something different (Foreign Element). Doing so, would mean they instantly become less competent, effective and efficient.
In today’s world and globalised marketplace, being less is scary. It’s drilled into us as children. We must be better than our peers. Faster. Higher. Stronger. Only by being more than the guy in the next cubicle can we get ahead in life.
This is why change is always scary. Yet, it is the Secret to Success.
Embrace change. Override your first instinctive reaction to run the other way. Adopt an open mind. Look at the change not as a threat to your current situation, but as an opportunity to learn and grow.
If the change is justified, well thought out and has the best of intentions, eventually your performance will improve. In the Satir Change Process model, this is classfied in two subsequent stages. The first being Integration and Practice (Yellow Zone), which occur once the chaos subsides. The second being the New Status Quo (Green Zone) in which the change is fully embraced, new processes become second nature and the benefits realised.
Writing a personal development blog has put me in touch with a lot of folks who ask for help in the form of emails and comments. I also strike up more interesting conversations with people I meet, either raised as a result of someone reading my articles or simply because I have this frame of mind.
Regardless, whenever someone asks me for advice on how to improve their present situation, invariably I always say to them the following:
If you want to be happy or your life to improve in one way or another, don’t expect things to radically change, unless you do something about it. If you keep doing things in the same way you have been doing, expect the same result. If you continue to cruise along the same highway, expect it to lead you exactly where it has always done.
To change your life for the better, you have to introduce a Foreign Element, trigger or change agent. Shake things up. Do things differently. Adopt an improved mindset. Be a different person.
Your life depends on it.
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