This is going to be a first for me, though it is a discussion on 'personal' issue, it is seen through the lens of 'engaged mastery'.
Due to the recent announcement of the technical recession, several issues have been raised and one of which is the increase in fixed-line telephone subscription and call charges from January 1, 2009. To be fair, Singtel states that it has withheld any increase in charges for the last 18 years.
With regards to whether the hike should be effected now, I think it depends on whose perspective you view the issue from. For instance, as a Singtel shareholder, one would ask "why haven't the charges been revised until now?"
If from the perspective of the consumer, one might ask "if Singtel can not revise their charges for the last 18 years, why now especially that we are in a technical recession?"
With that, we will stop our discussion here about the price hike and instead focus on the comparison of a Singtel line and a Starhub digital voice.
Based on Singtel's information on the revision of the subscription and call charges, here's the facts of the increase. The $10 increase per annum works out to a 10 percent increase of the subscription ($107/year to $117.70/year). Singtel shows it is an increase of 83 cents a month, which if expressed in terms of percentage, it is still an 10 percent increase.
As for call charges, the increase is from 0.7 cents to 0.8 cents; or a 14.3 percent increase. Of course this depends on whether you are calling during the peak or off-peak hours (there is a slight change in the definition of peak and off-peak but it has little significant impact on the revision).
To entice customers to save the trees and make payments promptly (through GIRO); Singtel is offering a one-off rebate of $10 which works out to the entire year's subscription price hike. So, there's some consolation here.
A check with Starhub reveals that it is offering free Digital Voice service to anyone who is (1) a Maxonline or Cable TV subscriber and (2) porting their current fixed-line phone over to Starhub. It also offers free unlimited calls both in-coming and out-coming (valid till 31 Dec 2010) and free monthly subscription (valid till 31 Dec 2010). Based on Starhub's website, for non Maxonline or Cable TV subscribers the monthly subscription would be approximately $9.80 (before GST), which is some 18 percent higher than Singtel's fixed-line monthly subscription. Of course there is a one-off $89.88 fee for its hardware should you decide not to port your phone number.
Just like to ask my friends two questions:
(1) With these basic costs comparison, would you make the switch (that is if you haven't already).
(2) If you are already using Starhub Digital Voice, are you able to use it (a) for faxing purposes and (b) with multiple handsets?
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
What do you do when you don't achieve your goals?
What do you do when the goals you set, you failed to achieve them? There are usually one of two responses. Either we quit setting goals altogether (these stuffs don't work as well as they say it will) or we change the way in which we set them.
The first option is direct. No more goals setting for me. The second option deserves a little more explanation. Before we talk about changing the way we set goals, let's not forget the quote by Einstein, "to keep doing things the same way and expect different results is insanity". So, what exactly are the things we need to change?
To begin, let's draw a semi-circle and write the word "environment" above the line of the semi-circle. Next, on the left of the word "environment" draw an arrow with the head pointing to the top of the page. And on the right of the word "environment" draw another arrow with the head pointing to the bottom of the page.
What this symbolizes is the following; some people believe it is the environment that affects us. For instance, some of us may point to the fact that our current environment caused us to behave in a certain way. Some usual responses include, the economy is not doing well so we have less orders or my spouse doesn't trust me to do anything.
On the other hand, there is also a small group of us who believe that it is us that shape our environment. For instance, courtesy begins with me is a good example. Regardless of what others do to me, I will always be courteous to them. Or I will always respect and trust my friends regardless.
A parallel we've drawn in the school's context is the concept of rewards system and demerit points system. Some believe that values are caught and not taught and hence, we will reward students who demonstrate good behaviours. While others believe that everyone is good, until they show otherwise.
The former is akin to guilty until proven innocent, while the latter has the same principle as innocent until proven guilty. It creates a very different world. One tends to see everyone as good, while the other tends to view everyone with suspicion.
So, what relevance does this has to do with goal setting? Very much, I believe. If we believe its the environment that shapes us, then we have very little control over what can happen, and we end up feeling stressed. However when we believe it is us that shape the environment, then the only thing we need to control is ourselves. That said, mastery over self is but one of the most challenging things in life. Indeed, as there is no greater mastery that the mastery of self.
Once we understand this concept, of us being in a position to shape the environment; we will also need to understand that the only thing we can control is ourselves, and hence self-mastery must be the mother of all goals to be achieved. I'm not saying it is easy, I've spent many years and sometimes still find myself struggling to defeat the greatest enemy of all, myself.
Now, so you might think that once you have achieved self-mastery you will be able to achieve any goals! Why, that is but only half-truth. Achieving self-mastery is only one part of the story here. The other part of the story is to do with the environment. You might think, hey, you were just saying to achieve any goals we need to have self-mastery. Now you are telling me there is more to it??
We need to understand that as we work on our self-mastery, we can be a force to shape the environment. However, we also need to understand that as the environment is a function of many other influences, we cannot not ignore the happenings around us in order to help us better able to formulate winning strategies to achieve our goals.
The first option is direct. No more goals setting for me. The second option deserves a little more explanation. Before we talk about changing the way we set goals, let's not forget the quote by Einstein, "to keep doing things the same way and expect different results is insanity". So, what exactly are the things we need to change?
To begin, let's draw a semi-circle and write the word "environment" above the line of the semi-circle. Next, on the left of the word "environment" draw an arrow with the head pointing to the top of the page. And on the right of the word "environment" draw another arrow with the head pointing to the bottom of the page.
What this symbolizes is the following; some people believe it is the environment that affects us. For instance, some of us may point to the fact that our current environment caused us to behave in a certain way. Some usual responses include, the economy is not doing well so we have less orders or my spouse doesn't trust me to do anything.
On the other hand, there is also a small group of us who believe that it is us that shape our environment. For instance, courtesy begins with me is a good example. Regardless of what others do to me, I will always be courteous to them. Or I will always respect and trust my friends regardless.
A parallel we've drawn in the school's context is the concept of rewards system and demerit points system. Some believe that values are caught and not taught and hence, we will reward students who demonstrate good behaviours. While others believe that everyone is good, until they show otherwise.
The former is akin to guilty until proven innocent, while the latter has the same principle as innocent until proven guilty. It creates a very different world. One tends to see everyone as good, while the other tends to view everyone with suspicion.
So, what relevance does this has to do with goal setting? Very much, I believe. If we believe its the environment that shapes us, then we have very little control over what can happen, and we end up feeling stressed. However when we believe it is us that shape the environment, then the only thing we need to control is ourselves. That said, mastery over self is but one of the most challenging things in life. Indeed, as there is no greater mastery that the mastery of self.
Once we understand this concept, of us being in a position to shape the environment; we will also need to understand that the only thing we can control is ourselves, and hence self-mastery must be the mother of all goals to be achieved. I'm not saying it is easy, I've spent many years and sometimes still find myself struggling to defeat the greatest enemy of all, myself.
Now, so you might think that once you have achieved self-mastery you will be able to achieve any goals! Why, that is but only half-truth. Achieving self-mastery is only one part of the story here. The other part of the story is to do with the environment. You might think, hey, you were just saying to achieve any goals we need to have self-mastery. Now you are telling me there is more to it??
We need to understand that as we work on our self-mastery, we can be a force to shape the environment. However, we also need to understand that as the environment is a function of many other influences, we cannot not ignore the happenings around us in order to help us better able to formulate winning strategies to achieve our goals.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Intention, Decision, and Action
On the second day of the IAF Congress 2008, we had the honour of being trained by Christian Tissier Shihan. One of the main take-away from his session was the idea of having your Intention, Decision, and Action being aligned.
Simply put, if your Intention is to go from point A to point B, and while you are at point A with your uke holding on to your hand; the only way you can arrive at point B is to 'bring' your uke along; using a kokyu-nage technique.
Just like during our NLP training, we were encouraged to set our intention for the day at the start of each class. The main reason for doing so is so that during the course of the day, we can be more aware of our surroundings and circumstances so that we don't fall back to our old habits.
For instance, sometimes when being snapped at, we may react in an angry manner. So, if we'd set our intentions at the start of the day to be patient, seek to understand then to be understood. Then we may remind ourselves under such circumstances to respond according to our intentions set at the start of the day.
Hence, according to my interpretation of Christian Tissier Shihan's "Intention, Decision, and Action", it means that after we set our intention, if our decisions and actions are aligned to our intention, we will have a higher probability of achieving our goals.
Which brings to mind an interesting application of this Aikido concept to our daily lives. We all set goals to achieve certain aims in life, be it professional, personal, and/or in our relationships with people (let's just call it "people" for parsimonity reasons). And what actions we take will determine whether or not we will achieve our goals. Of course the basic assumption here is that our goals are not evil by nature. (It can be though, but that's a different topic altogether)
But what determine our actions is basically our decisions. Our decisions are in turn largely determined by our conditioning. For instance one can set a goal to get at least 6 hours of sleep daily so that he can rise early in the morning and not feel tired and also not having to rush to go to work. But because of his conditioning (i.e. he has been sleeping late for a long while now) he may still go to bed late (action) and hence still get up late the next morning (results).
So in order for him to really decide (decision) to go to bed early, and to have him actually do it (actions), he will need to re-organise his routine or change his habits or working style (conditioning) so that it is possible for him to retire early.
So how does one go about this "conditioning" exercise so that his decisions and actions will help him achieve his goal? The answer is through setting your intentions right at the start. In other words, to make a promise and keep it. We can start with small promises so that we don't feel overwhelmed or have too big a promise that sets us up for failure.
Perhaps we can start by setting our intentions everyday before we start our day, so that we can be more aware of our schedule and the need to go to bed on time. So, why don't we try for the next 7 days by starting each day by setting our intention to decide to take some small actions so that we can achieve our goals be it in the personal, people, or professional realm?
Simply put, if your Intention is to go from point A to point B, and while you are at point A with your uke holding on to your hand; the only way you can arrive at point B is to 'bring' your uke along; using a kokyu-nage technique.
Just like during our NLP training, we were encouraged to set our intention for the day at the start of each class. The main reason for doing so is so that during the course of the day, we can be more aware of our surroundings and circumstances so that we don't fall back to our old habits.
For instance, sometimes when being snapped at, we may react in an angry manner. So, if we'd set our intentions at the start of the day to be patient, seek to understand then to be understood. Then we may remind ourselves under such circumstances to respond according to our intentions set at the start of the day.
Hence, according to my interpretation of Christian Tissier Shihan's "Intention, Decision, and Action", it means that after we set our intention, if our decisions and actions are aligned to our intention, we will have a higher probability of achieving our goals.
Which brings to mind an interesting application of this Aikido concept to our daily lives. We all set goals to achieve certain aims in life, be it professional, personal, and/or in our relationships with people (let's just call it "people" for parsimonity reasons). And what actions we take will determine whether or not we will achieve our goals. Of course the basic assumption here is that our goals are not evil by nature. (It can be though, but that's a different topic altogether)
But what determine our actions is basically our decisions. Our decisions are in turn largely determined by our conditioning. For instance one can set a goal to get at least 6 hours of sleep daily so that he can rise early in the morning and not feel tired and also not having to rush to go to work. But because of his conditioning (i.e. he has been sleeping late for a long while now) he may still go to bed late (action) and hence still get up late the next morning (results).
So in order for him to really decide (decision) to go to bed early, and to have him actually do it (actions), he will need to re-organise his routine or change his habits or working style (conditioning) so that it is possible for him to retire early.
So how does one go about this "conditioning" exercise so that his decisions and actions will help him achieve his goal? The answer is through setting your intentions right at the start. In other words, to make a promise and keep it. We can start with small promises so that we don't feel overwhelmed or have too big a promise that sets us up for failure.
Perhaps we can start by setting our intentions everyday before we start our day, so that we can be more aware of our schedule and the need to go to bed on time. So, why don't we try for the next 7 days by starting each day by setting our intention to decide to take some small actions so that we can achieve our goals be it in the personal, people, or professional realm?
Friday, October 03, 2008
The Crossroads in Life
Have you ever been in a crossroad situation? I mean, you come to a point where you have to decide which path to choose. And each path has its glory and also its dangers. It looks as if either is just as good or as bad.
Sometimes the crossroad situation is a lot simpler, as in whether to go to a play or not. But the fact remains that, whichever path you choose can lead you to very different results.
Some people you speak to, they might even say, well, what can I do, I have no choice. Or they may even say that under current circumstances they have no choice but to do this, or do that.
In actuality, sometimes it is because they choose not to choose. Or in other words, because they allow the environment to act on them (the boss, spouse, colleagues, clients, friends, family) and decide for them what they should do, and in turn, they choose not to make a different choice.
As a result, they claim that they have no choice. Yeah, you may say its semantics or its a matter of perspective. Truth is, never had there been a better time that the availability of choices is larger than ever.
There are actually 4 quadrant of choices, its either you leave it (walk away), live with it (putting up with it), change it (try to control others or the situation), or change self (deal with it). My sense is in this new economy, where the consumer are better informed, they have the mobility, they may even have the skills, and information is readily available; the ability to 'change self' is becoming more important than ever before.
Changing self is not just about re-inventing yourself. Changing self is also about taking full responsibility for your actions. Changing self also requires certain skills set such as the ability to anticipate the impact that current (or even future) trends have on your circumstances.
The ability to change self is an idea whose time has come. And increasingly so in today's environment where new rules are being made, paradigms are shifting, and the world is getting (or already) flat.
But one may ask, what are the necessary skills for changing self? I believe it goes beyond just skills set, but it also involves the mind set.
The mind set will involve individuals seeing themselves to be able to make better choices, but to ensure that those choices are the appropriate ones; they need to be able to take personal responsibility and lead themselves. This is a fundamental shift from the previous paradigm where only people with formal authority are considered leaders. Now, everyone has the ability to become a leader, but first and foremost they must have self-leadership.
With that fundamental shift in paradigm now they can look at the skills set that are needed. 4 fundamental skills set include, the ability to anticipate; the ability to translate information into use; the ability to win with people; and the ability to find purpose in what they do.
So, how do you now choose?
Sometimes the crossroad situation is a lot simpler, as in whether to go to a play or not. But the fact remains that, whichever path you choose can lead you to very different results.
Some people you speak to, they might even say, well, what can I do, I have no choice. Or they may even say that under current circumstances they have no choice but to do this, or do that.
In actuality, sometimes it is because they choose not to choose. Or in other words, because they allow the environment to act on them (the boss, spouse, colleagues, clients, friends, family) and decide for them what they should do, and in turn, they choose not to make a different choice.
As a result, they claim that they have no choice. Yeah, you may say its semantics or its a matter of perspective. Truth is, never had there been a better time that the availability of choices is larger than ever.
There are actually 4 quadrant of choices, its either you leave it (walk away), live with it (putting up with it), change it (try to control others or the situation), or change self (deal with it). My sense is in this new economy, where the consumer are better informed, they have the mobility, they may even have the skills, and information is readily available; the ability to 'change self' is becoming more important than ever before.
Changing self is not just about re-inventing yourself. Changing self is also about taking full responsibility for your actions. Changing self also requires certain skills set such as the ability to anticipate the impact that current (or even future) trends have on your circumstances.
The ability to change self is an idea whose time has come. And increasingly so in today's environment where new rules are being made, paradigms are shifting, and the world is getting (or already) flat.
But one may ask, what are the necessary skills for changing self? I believe it goes beyond just skills set, but it also involves the mind set.
The mind set will involve individuals seeing themselves to be able to make better choices, but to ensure that those choices are the appropriate ones; they need to be able to take personal responsibility and lead themselves. This is a fundamental shift from the previous paradigm where only people with formal authority are considered leaders. Now, everyone has the ability to become a leader, but first and foremost they must have self-leadership.
With that fundamental shift in paradigm now they can look at the skills set that are needed. 4 fundamental skills set include, the ability to anticipate; the ability to translate information into use; the ability to win with people; and the ability to find purpose in what they do.
So, how do you now choose?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
