Q1

Hi,

It has been the longest time ever since I last posted anything here. I used to update this blog a few times a week, every week, then it slowly becomes once a week, then once a month, once every couple of months... 

Sounds like I'm describing old married couples here. Huh?

Anyways, updating this blog has always been burning in the back of my mind. The big question is, "What to write?". Most of the time, after the postgrad episode, my life is pretty much drama-free.. There are some interesting events that might pique people's interests, but it's quite personal to share. No one wants to listen or read my opinions on the political situations here. I can give you 2.6 billion reasons for neglecting this blog. But I better not.

To get back into the habit of blogging, i think I'll just pick some questions from a list and write the answers.

To kick off; let me answer a random question:

Who would you want as a dinner guest; given the choice of anyone in the world?

A: Given the circumstances at the moment, I really want to have dinner with my great, great grandfather, Tok Ayah Hj Hassan.

Why?

At this very moment, about 30 of my relatives (cousins and 2nd cousins) are overseas in Indonesia visiting the birthplace of my Great Grandad (GG).

Here is the story.

My GG left his hometown in Lampung, Indonesia when he was 16. He left everything behind. Leaving the village, I assume is quite normal back then. However the mystery is, why did he leave? Whenever his children (grandma and grand uncle) asked him about this, he refuses to answer. No one knows. There are a couple of stories that goes about saying that he had a disagreement with the family, while another story is that there was a tsunami and he was the only survivor. So he left, took a boat to Kelantan.

I would love to have dinner with him and ask him myself, what happened. Probably asked some other questions like; have you studied under Tok Kenali? Why did you stay in Golok instead of KB? How did you meet and married my great grandmother? How long was the sea travel? So many questions....

Reclaim Your Heart - Yasmin Mogahed in Malaysia (Part 1)

God works in the most mysterious ways (from our point of view using our limited knowledge. Of course He is The Most Knowing). A good friend of mine NinaIjan (or IjanNina; I always get confused on this cos they're interchangeable?) texted me one night, asking if I wanted to go to a Yasmin Mogahed's event an replace her seat since she wasn't able to go. So there I was, last night at Matrade Centre thanks to her generousity. May Allah SWT bless her with many rewards in this world and the hereafter.

The event was called Reclaim Your Heart, based on Sister (Sr.) Yasmin's latest book of the same title. Although the event was from 8-11pm, the talk by Sr. Yasmin only started at 930 until 11-ish. The first hour was filled with other interesting show/sessions: a Quran recitation of Surah An-Nur (35-38), a talk by the NGO director of Viva Palestina Malaysia (VPM) about Adopt A Hafeez Program, a short drama sketch by children about going to school in Gaza (which was distressing) and a lengthy video about VPM volunteers telling us about their experiences.

Part 2 will cover the content of her talk. I hope it will be beneficial for me and oher readers. Just watch this space, insyaAllah.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

2013 Resolutions

Welcome to the New Year 2013.
Every year we lament time passes quickly. The same for 2012. But that doesn't stop us from improving ourselves.

Here are the things that I hope to happen in 2013 (things that are beyond my control):
- I'll get a job soon. I really need to pay my debts (USM, cars and money borrowed from Mama)
- get to go to Umrah
- get the chance to travel to new places like Germany or Australia
- Graduation! M. Eng. Sc.

Here are the things that I want to do ( things that i can control):
- when I get a job and steady income, I want to control my investment. Short term ones and make at least 20% profit by the end of 2013
- make new friends
- try not to shake hands with non-mahrams (men)
- dress more modestly (socks and shoes), no three quarters without covering.
- learn something new OR improve my mandarin.
- be more patient while driving (no rage).


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Sitting for exams is likemgoing to war

At this point of time, almost all 17 year olds are sitting for their SPM exams, including my baby sister. I wish her all the best and I pray that she will succeed with flying colours. I know she worked hard preparing for the exams since January, so I hope all her efforts and hard work will be paid off handsomely.

I remember my SPM exams. The exams weren't that hard, the tough part was preparation. Being in an MRSM didn't make studying any easier. Everyone's a genius, but if you're not, you have to work hard to be one.

Exams are part of a student's life, like it or not, everyone has to sit down for one. Looking back at my many years of examination experiences, here's some of my advise or points:

1) Preparing for the exams is like preparing for war. You need to strategise. Five or four months before the big exams, I'd lay down a study plan and draw up a chart of all the subjects and sub topics that needs to be covered. Paste the plan on a wall and strike them out once I covered them. That way I know How is my progress and whether I need to speed up my studying pace or not.

2) Read text books first. Write notes based on text books. Then read the Reference books (buku rujukan). Write notes based on Reference books. Then cross reference both books and notes to make a summarised notes. Yeah, crazy, coz I don't have a good memory I need to go through a subject over and over again to get it tattooed in my brain. Made sure I'd write colourful notes on flashcards. My favorite thing is writing on an A4 paper folded four times so it'll look like a little book. That works for History, Biology, Chemistry, Agama, etc.

3) For subjects that requires a lot of calculation requires a lot of exercise practise. And I mean A LOT. Maths and Physics, I can't just memorise the formulas, I had to do all the long divisions and stadard deviations and integrations, a thousand times if I must, just to get the concepts in my head.

4) Find the best time to study. My most productive time to study is at late, until the wee hours of morning. Find a good place to study. I had found a secret/quiet place to study where no one could find and bother me and thank God I didn't have to share it with anyone else. Perfect solace. Find a study partner who's committed to the study plan. This is sometimes hard to find, but there's at least one person who agrees with your study plans doesn't think it's stupid or too much work or too impossible to achieve. And normally that friend is another hardworking person like you.

How do you study for your exams?



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Astronaut Public Lecture

Last month on the end of October I had the chance to attend a Public Lecture given by two astronauts, Dr Daniel T. Barry, US NASA Astronaut and Dr Sheikh Muzaphar Shukor (Dr SMS), our own very own Angkasawan.

Well, most of us know Dr SMS story, so I'll skip that and bring you Dr Dan Barry's story, which I personally think is an inspiring one.

Dr Dan Barry wanted to be an astronaut since he was a young boy. Back at that time, everyone wanted to be an astronaut, it was the 'thing' to be because man just landed on the moon some time back and that was a really big thing at the time. As he grew up, he still holds to his ambition to become an astronaut, but people kept telling him he was not smart enough, not athletic enough, does not dress smart enough, or not good looking enough to be an astronaut. So he stopped telling everyone about his dreams and ambition because of these remarks.

He started sending his application to NASA for the astronaut post when he was 23 years old. After NASA rejects his application, he would send another the next year, and the following years... and NASA kept sending him rejection letters back. While waiting for the 'good news' he did what he thought would help him with the application. He did a degree in electrical engineering, then pursued a PhD in the subject, then went on to study for a medical degree and became a professor at a university. So, this guy had two "Dr" titles, one from his PhD and the other as a medical Doctor. Awesome right? But that didn't impressed NASA because they still did not accept his applications.

He finally got a break and got 'the call' from NASA after 15 years of waiting. And boy, was he really happy. Listen to his story from the link below that I recorded at the lecture. No one tells the story better than him himself.

Dr Barry's profile on Wikipedia [link].

I think the 'take away' from Dr Barry's story is this:

• Never give up on your dreams, even if it takes 10 or 20 years of waiting.
• While in the subject of 'waiting', don't just sit there and do nothing while waiting for things to happen. Do something useful. Like get a PhD or do a second degree in Medicine or something. (lulz, ha!)
• People will tell you that you can't do this and that. Don't take advice from people who don't believe in you and your dreams.
• Do the things that you love to do.

Additional item:

Lecture and motivational speech from Dr SMS.

Help each other with good news and taqwa (recap of Muslimah Conference)

Last weekend, I was given the time and opportunity to attend a Muslimah Conference (Saturday) and also listen to a talk given by sister Yasmin Mogahed (Sunday).

Listening to insightful talks and shared experiences and interacting with sisters was really an eye (and heart) opening event.

There's so many things that I've learned over the short period of time that I think it is ever possible for me to put it all out in one blog entry, but here are some notes that I managed to jot down.

1) There is a sense of false assumption that had been taken up by women that she can only be herself when she follows the definition and standard of being a woman that is being set by man, society, fashion and media.

What women should strive to be is not to achieve those standards set by man, society, fashion and media, but is measured on a much higher scale, which is piousness, taqwa.

2) Seek the perfection that could be found in God. Completion can't be found other than Him. Never ever think that you're "incomplete" or "deficient" until you reach marriage. No prince can complete you. No knight can save you. Only God can.

3) true liberation and empowerment lies in the freeing of oneself from the standards of man and society. Only focus on being a servwnt to the true Master, that is God.

4) Imaan in our hearts could be faded like clothes that we wear. Make du'a to Allah to make it constant. Seek ways to restart your imaan.

5) believe in Allah and trust in Him. Take lessons from what you see around you and apply that lessons into your personal life.

6) Kick Syaitan away from you. Know that he is very weak and don't give him way. Making rememberance to Allah, saying A'uzubillah and replacing bad habits with good ones are the ways to keep syaitan away.

7) A knowledgeable muslimah is a smart, beautiful, storng and capable of doing anything.

8) Sometimes we are too busy chains the dunya that we forget Allah. The Quran is there to guide us back.

9) Islamic feminism is unlike feminism in the west. It focuses on the nature of the way how women are created. Being feminine, having empathy and emotion are not signs of weakness, but instead it is our strength. Islamic feminism is not about being equal and the same as being like a man.

10) Know that there is no single way of being a good muslim woman, there are many ways of becoming one. There is much more to a woman than being a mother. In the Quran and sirah, we've heard about the Queen of Sheeba (Balqis), Asiyah (Pharoah's wife), Khadijah, A'isyah, Fatimah and many more who played much bigger role in the society and nation. They are our role models.

11) A gift, given by the one we love, must be held in the hand and not in the heart. When the gift is taken away, it will create pain in the hand, but it is not as hurtful as the pain if it was held in the heart because it is something we are not dependent upon. If we felt pain in the heart when the gift is taken away, then know that it's because we have attached that to our hearts and know that we have put it in the wrong place. What is held in the hand could be easily put down, do not put Allah there.

12) Be aware to not put aside God because of the gift. Do not ask to take away air because of the necklace, which will eventually choke us to death.

13) Suffering begins when we confuse the ends with the means. Allah is the ends, the gifts are the means.

14) If the fact that our worship tomAllah feels like a burden, then it is a sign that we have not seen and love Allah with our hearts. Because naturally, serving a loved one will feel like an honour rather than a burden.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Impromptu New Year's resolution

This is a new one made at the spur of the moment decision.
I enrolled myself with a gym.

The pain in my knee is not getting any better, rather i have a feeling it is getting worse. It's hard to explain what the pain feels like. There are days I can't straighten my leg properly due to the pain. And there are days when I could straighten them. Then on top of that, on most days, there's a dull throbbing pain circling around inside the knee. One day i could feel like it's pulling some ligaments on the left side and on another day, it's on the right side. Crazy right? If i told this to a shaman, maybe he would say there's a spirit living in my knee. Ceh.

I actually wanted to go for surgery last October 2011 because I can't stand the pain and I wanted to take up running like everyone else (yes, it's a fad right now). Although was really scared about the operation, after reading about one guy's experience where he suffered a lot of pain afterwards and the thought of having a big needle poking into my back and my knee sends chills down my spine, but whatever, i was determined. But the specialist said I better not because I have hypermobility (or in other words, i'm double jointed). The surgery would make things worst than it is now. Phew, thank God!

The good doctor said the only way to improve my condition is to strengthen the leg muscle. Do exercise and stuff. So i did, diligently. For a month.
Then I got bored. Same routine. The last time i was at the gym was last december. Or november.. I can't remember. The pain is back and I'm not motivated to go downstairs and do training.

So, after talking to the some ppl inside the fitness club, they said they could arrage a physiotherapist to help me with my knee. Good. And after doing some haggling, i got 14 days free trial instead of the normal 7. But still it is expensive for me, a poor student. But for the sake of my knee, to avoid being a grumpy person and for my mobility, I have to. (walking around with a stick could be cool, maybe).

So, this three months is going to be a super busy one for me as I am going to make my money's worth (kiasu liddat ma) and hope that my knee gets better with some muscle training. Also hopefully the side effect of this is my body will look as good as Priyanka Chopra. Right.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

A supplement for the heart

'O Allah, put right for me my deen in which lies the protection of my affair and put right for me this world in which lies my livelihood and put right for me the Next World in which is my future. Make life increase in every good thing for me and make death a rest for me from every evil thing.'

O Allah! I ask You for all the good which is in the present or in the future, which I know and which I do not know.

I came across a couple of du'as on some islamic website today.

At times, we think we have full control on our lives. We are raising a perfect family, we are in a rocket on our career path, we are stable financially, we have a home over our heads, we have good friends, we eat good food every day and we laugh more than we cry.

Some or all of these things could make us forget that if it is not because Allah SWT wills it, all of these life's riches that  we are experiencing will not happen. And if He wills it, He could take it away from us at any time He wants.

We as human beings, are just merely servants of Allah SWT and if you believe in Him you must do everything that He pleases. It is not supposed to be a chore or like being forced upon us. We need to let open our hearts and take it in that we don't have full control of our lives and we depend on The Almighty.

Iman and hidayah does not come for free. We might be born in a Muslim family or a Muslim country, but nobody can guarantee that everyone in that family or country will be a good Muslim. I'm not sayin' there won't, there are a number of 100% good ones, MasyaAllah. But there are always evil beings out there who are always trying to lure us away from Allah SWT. That is why we must always ask for Him to keep us in the righteous path, make our hearts still and our will strong to keep on the straight path.

The grass always seems greener on the other side and we always think of the 'What ifs'. It's great if we think about the What Ifs when we think of the future so we could decide on which road to choose. But lamenting on the What Ifs of the past is practically cancer that slowly eats up from inside.

Therefore, I ask from Allah SWT to make me content with what I have right now and guide me making good decisions for the coming days.

Websites I Found

• Pick The Brain 

I love productivity and motivational websites. Motivation is a constant wavering thing within me. I could be fueled with positivity for a day, a week or two and feel the total opposite, fearing the bleak future in the next following day. Pick The Brain is one of them, having useful articles that I could use. I just pick one of the articles that is related to certain areas that I am lacking, and read them.Hopefully at the end of it, I'll see a silver lining.

• Bitch In a Bonnet 

This is website I chanced upon by luck of Google search terms. I am currently reading Jane Austen's Mansfield Park and was intrigued to read and understand more about the characters, mainly Fanny Price and Henry Crawford. This guy covered 3 Jane Austen books with detailed and satirical musings.

• Wondermark

Amusing piece of comics that has a feel of ye olden days of yore. The 'feel' goes together with the book I'm currently reading, Mansfield Park.

• Serenity

This is a real gem. A collection of podcasts given by sister Yasmin. Topics mainly revolves around Muslims lives. Her podcast are good and most of the time it makes me realise, masyaallah, I should have done better with my life.

• The Holstee Manifesto

Lucky Draw winner

This could be the best day since my KK trip kot.. Attended a seminar sponsored by Agilent and I won the lucky draw. WON THE LUCKY DRAW!!! #winning

It's RM50 Parkson vouchers. Better than nothing right? The main draw prize was an iPod nano and PS3.

Funny that I did prayed quietly at the back and saying '"C'mon, pick 014" a few times. Little did I know that my number 014 will be called. Was surreal when they called my name, but it did finally hit me, I WON!

Yes, Syukur Alhamdulillah. Dia lah yang Maha Pemurah.

It's a rare occasion that I win anything, even more so in a lucky draw. That is why I am so stoked!

Changing Habits

When I was young and fresh out of university, I had this big dream of changing the world (or at least my own country) for the better. Maybe everyone is doe eyed and as enthusiastic as me once in their life. But as I grow older, well, reality starts to sink in. Changing the world is not possible.

Please hold that thought, I'm not a pessimist, but I am a realist.Think of it as physical bodies having mass that will exert gravitational force in space. The larger the object is, the larger it's gravitational pull. Then imagine you, as a speck of dust, trying to change the course of the earth's orbit. Not possible.

Even though I can't change the world, the good news is I can change MY own world, which is more realistic.
 

I wanted to change the world.

But I have found the the only thing one can be sure of changing is one self.

Come, spend some time watching this 3 minutes video and be inspired.

If you've read some of my previous entries, I did try to change some of my habits (quitting coffee and facebook). One of the reason is just for fun (coffee) and the other is to stop wasting my time (facebook). That did not went down well. Mainly because I only refrained myself for 2 weeks and the change that I implemented was a big drastic change.

I am thinking of implementing a new habit in my life. There's a short list on the top of my head:

1. Exercise more.
2. Read more.
3. Eat more healthily.
4. Save more and spend less.
5. Watch tv less.

That is just some rough and general ideas. To get more things done more efficiently I must be more specific on the goals. Will get back to you on this later (ha! one more thing, No Procrastination!)

Tell me, what old habits would you like to change or new things that you would like to take up in the course of 30 days?

18_Plans/Goals/Dreams you have

I have been reminded always to keep your plans and goals *SMART. And your dreams limitless.


*SMART = Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely


Plans: Focus and get on with this project already. Solve the mysteries of The Missing Coefficient, The Mismatched Input Impedance and also Mysteries of the Frequency Tuning and Q factor Improvements.

Goals: To write a complete thesis, pass the viva and graduate by 2012. (By then I'm par with Howard Wolowitz.)

Dreams: I've had dreams (that are bordering to nightmares) about my research two nights in a row these past few days, I don't really want to talk about dream interpretations of such.

Hey, you're living my imiginary dreams

Everybody (roughly) has an idea of what kind of life they have "planned" for themselves. Myself for example, have set out a sort-of a "draft" timeline for myself starting when I was in primary school (thanks to the straight trainline track set by the country's education system and also my parents). Believe it or not, but it's scribbled/ doodled on my scrapbook.

A short summary, score the standard 6 primary school exam and go to that all girls school in town (even if it means having to sit on a bus until my backside fell asleep, yes it was that long of a journey). Work hard for the Form Three exam and get myself into a boarding school then somehow find my way to university. Well, you get the gist...  My point is, you would have in one way or another have thought up your 'ideal' life or way of living, once, at least.

If your desire to live the dream is strong enough, it will become your motivation that drives you towards that goal. And you know what they say about the Power of Attraction.

But then, what or how would you feel when you found out (after doing the math and statistics and calculating the probabilities) that you are nowhere near that ideals of the conjured up life you always wanted to live in? and what's worse, you found out that there is another person who is living your dreams and achieves the goals that you always wanted to?

Envy of that person and feeling kinda smuck for yourself, of course. Pretty normal feeling for a human being.

However, there's no reason to wallow in another's achievements. So what if that person received that Nobel Prize that you always dreamed of? So what...? Just create a new set of 'ideals', forget the past and just move on. Jump head first if you need. It is an exciting world out there with countless of opportunities and experiences waiting to be captured! It is never to late to start anew.

And wallowing is just a waste of time. You are missing a lot on the exciting things that's currently happening  around you because you're too busy focusing on things that didn't even happen. Rugi kan?

Stop feeling so bad for yourself that you forget to live in the NOW.

Eid Mubarak  =)

Alive and Well

As of 7pm today, it would be the end of my 7days off FB.

And guess what folks?

I survived!

... and my world didn't fell apart. In the course of 7 days without, I have read a dozen of technical papers, written a review paper (still in draft version) and read sooo many articles online (I'm learning to accept that reading on an LCD screen is the new way to go rather than on tangible paper). All in all, I think it's a very successful week indeed.

Like any other psychological mindtrap applications,  there was quite a lot of resistance at first, psychologically. For example:-

• I kept wondering what's going on in the lives of other people? Like I couldn't just call, email or visit their blogs to find out.
• I get restless when I'm idle. Like waiting for the traffic lights, waiting for the tv advert to finish, standing in elevators. (the evil of FB Mobile makes you connected 24-7).
• My fingers will automatically click to FB login page. I'd hover on the login button for sometime and fight against my my cravings/nafsu. (Adakah ini satu jihad? IDK.)

I've read a chapter on this book 'focus' by Zen Habits writer. You can get the free version here: focusfree. It's about the beauty of disconnection and focusing on doing things. Leo says that if you want to break a habit, find the trigger and change into something positive. So here's what I did:-

• Whenever I feel like I wanted to 'update my status', instead of going to facebook, I'd go to other websites to read some more or if I'm tired of reading, I'd do some Lolz.
• If there's still a burning emotion to 'update status' or just comment on something then I'd go to Twitter. I only have small circle of friends there. So it's still under control.
• I go make a sandwich.
• I do some workouts.

There you go. Now instead of waiting for the newsfeed page to refresh, I'm reading useful stuff, filled my tummy with a good snack and have a healthier body.

What's next?

I will not be dropping off from the surface of FB world (still need to maintain network and catch up with friends), but I won't be on it as much as I used to. Getting things done is my main priority (and then some blogging). I am also contemplating to terminate my friendster's account (who uses friendster anyway? that is sooo 2003... anyone? raise your hands plz), but that's not until I figure out a way to save all the photos from that site.

 

 (ps: if you missed it, as I mentioned before, this book is worth a read if you're thinking about changing some habits that's hard to kill: focusfree)

Tips to manage FB distraction

Well, the FB 'puasa' didn't go as well as I thought it would be (I was expecting like a one week hiatus), I only managed to keep it up for 48 hours.

And it took about 24 hrs for someone to notice I was 'absent' from FB.

From my 'very brief' experience of deactivating...

Deactivating your FB doesn't really prevents you from signing into FB. FB did take a lot of effort to deter its users from deactivating, there's actually 6 steps to deactivate. But it only took a mere one click of a button (sign in) to join back the social network and voila, everything went back to normal.

What happens when you deactivate FB? All it did was take you virtually off the FB map (people cannot search you or write on your wall - my guess lah)  and your email won't be as congested as it was before.

If you do not wish to deactivate your FB account and save the emotional war from waging within you, then maybe you could consider some tips to manage distractions from FB:

1. Many complain that they get a lot of email notifications from FB and it's really distracting. What I did was redirect all FB mails to Gmail and set up filters and labels. It is easier to have the setting done properly so that your REAL emails won't be overlooked or hidden in between FB notifications. Now all notifications goes to my Gmail and straight into a folder labelled facebook. What I will do is select all 'unread' messages and delete them (weekly or monthly) or just ignore that folder altogether. Here's how to set up filters.
2. You spend too much time scrolling through the News Feed Wall. There is something about the endless trickles of messages that keeps you waiting for more. These kind of walls are great in a way that it feels like you're listening to what your friends have to 'say' and you can chit-chat with them if you feel like it. But most of the time the writings on the wall are just noises that are supposed to be ignored (eg: Warna apakah dirimu antara 25 warna-warna gula-gula?). You can actually control the number of news feed postings and also block a person's feed from showing up (without de-friending them). There is actually an option for this at the bottom of the News Feed page. 250 is a good number to start with.
   
   
3. Keep your circle of friends small. Okay, who has 5000 friends in real life (or 300) and kept in touch with ALL of them? Keep it real. If you count the actual number of friends you actually interact with it might only be 20 (minus work colleagues, your parents and siblings on FB). Yes it's good to keep in touch with pre-school friends or a person you only met once 5 years ago, but draw a limit to it.
   
   
4. Stop playing games on FB. I'm not a fan of virtual farming or running an oriental restaurant online. I don't see the point of doing so. But some people are addicted to it. I know it's hard to kick the habit, but step by step detach yourself from the time stealing games. Go on, press 'Delete' and 'Yes'.
   
5. Be selective in posting and commenting. You don't have share every single thoughts on FB. And you don't have to comment on all you friends' posts. There are times that you feel like you wanted to share with the world about how crooked your fingers looked like, or you had the best teh tarik for the day (everyday). And there's the eternal itch to respond to every friends posts even it it's just 'LOL.' or 'er...?'. You know you are better than that. Please don't get trapped in that lame-ness. (well, unless you're lonely and have nothing better to do than engage in pointless comment ping-pong match)
   
   
6. Be more disciplined. Set yourself a limit and respect that limit. That limit could be like; check FB only 3 times a day (morning, noon and night). Do not click 'Older posts' on the News Feed, take a deep breath and just let it go. Stop stalking other people or that new hot crush of yours. Spend only 10 minutes on FB each time. Just make up a rule and keep to it.

I shared 6 tips that I tried and tested before and it did worked for me when I was working in the office. My productivity at work improved with these 5 tips implemented. Now that my daily routine has changed, I have to admit that these set of tips needs to be 'upgraded' to suit my new schedule, hence the deactivation ('extreme' I know, but I haven't gone to the most 'extreme-mest' yet - deleting my account!).

There are other good ideas shared on the web on how to curb this need-to-know-about-others-anxiety. Just try googling it up ;)

As of now, I am off that map again after rationalising with myself that I'm not missing on a lot of things and people, I believe I can go on for much longer this time around. Let's see, maybe 1 week?

I received firm support and also good news from friends who are also following my action to be off FB. Hope we won't suffer severe withdrawal symptoms :P . Good luck to us!

(ps: it has been 4 days since I deactivated FB again)
(pps: now hooked on Twitter pulak, but it's less distracting that FB, not yet.)

Oh you're so bold Dyanna

I am going to ask for a bonus.
Wish me luck!

2010.7

Let's take a break from these relentless Copenhagen posts (there's at least 1 or 2 more to go). It is almost the end of July and this means we are already halfway through 2010. In less than 6 months it will be 2011 - TWO THOUSAND ELEVEN!! Can you believe that?!! I'm still wrapping my brain around the idea (or is it the other way around? wrapping the idea around my brain).

Some of us set goals for this year. How's that coming along?

2009 Review

January 2009 I came out with a list of goals that I want to achieve this year. In July 2009, I checked my milestones and what's my success rate.

(Macam performance management review pulak. Kalau berfaedah, apa salahnya kita gunakan ia utk kebaikan).

Here's my year end summary.

1. Fail. Sebab tak bersungguh-sungguh dan takut. Hari tu buat blood screening test pun rasa lemah satu badan lepas diorang ambil sample darah. Will keep this going for next year. Face my fear.
   
2. Average. Sometimes living by it. Decisions made based on it. But sometimes everything goes down the drain to.
3. Good. Alhamdulillah dan semoga Allah SWT memberkati segala perkerjaan yang dilakukan. Buku ada baca, tp kadang2 lagi senang tengok movie dia. Made a lot of new friends, tengok la facebook. Travel -> Miri this year.
   
4. Average/Fail. I think I've told everyone, every year that I'm going to find other opportunities. And I think my colleagues hear it from me every week. But the fact remains that I'm still 'loyal' to M0t0. In my defense, I did updated my resume and I did went to a couple of interviews and even got offered to work there. But Some offers are just not good enough :/
   
5. Good. Hari tu beli phone, ada sabar 1 bulan. Hari tu beli beg kamera, langsung tak dak grace period, pakai sambar je, nah apek, amik duit aku.
6. Average. I get enough sleep. I have to, kalau tak kena heart attack mcm this one CEO in India (he's 42). Masa projek baru mula, memang balik on-time. As the project grows more mature, the longer time is needed to be spent in the office. Meeting saja pun 2-3 jam and even the whole day.
7. Excellent. Roger is No.1 and I don't need to worry so much about Nadal this year. (Tapi ni goal Roger Federer, bukan aku).
8. Average. Yes pays, macam hari tu dapat tengok movie New Moon free. Yes pains, macam hari tu kena buat kerja orang overtime tak pasal2. No pays, macam hari tu bertungkus lumus mempertahankan hak diri supaya tak diberi tugasan lebihan. No makes me feel guilty, sebab buat rasa diri macam not a team player.

2010... tahun baru. Ada goal dan target baru.

Anak Adam dan 3 perkara

“Apabila mati seseorang anak Adam, terputuslah segala amalannya melainkan 3 perkara ; Sedekah Jariah, Ilmu Yang Bermanfaat dan Anak Yang Soleh Yang Mendoakannya” Maksud Hadis

"Three things help a man after his death, and these are: a charity given by him, a good habit he taught to others and a good offspring he leaves behind, who prays for his forgiveness."

(saya ambil dr Google).

(nota kepala: betulkan saya kalau salah).

I believe most of us are familiar with the hadith above (who comes from sekolah asrama, masa kuliah maghrib mesti ada cakap pasal hadis ni at least sekali). I'd like to relate this to our rolling balance after we die. For us who believes that Allah's promise about the afterlife is true, this is a good investment. Isn't it? Would you like to have extra income coming from outside being funded into your account even after you stopped banking-in your savings?

This is a good starting point for your motivation to build a better life right now and a secured future after.

Where to start? you wonder... raise children well. Well, that's all I can say about that because, unlike the rest of us, I'm only down with the two other option, I don't have any children. But that's not a problem at all. Bagi sedekah, janganlah kedekut sangat. sedekah duit, makanan, senyum pun boleh. Kongsi ilmu yang berguna dengan orang lain. Lagi banyak, lagi bagus.

(nota kaki: betulkan saya kalau salah).

72 hour rule

When you're boxed into a certain set of living/working procedures, some of us will feel like there's a chain limiting our every move. Some of us will feel secured and safe because they have their life cut out for them. A standard format of life being set up for them. Just follow the yellow brick road, Dorothy and enjoy the repeating sceneries over and over again for the next 40-50 years or so.

This entry is not for those who are comfortable being boxed-in and cubicle-ised. This entry is meant for those who cringe at the thought of day-in and day-out routines and those who desire to break free (insert Queens' "I Want to Break Free" song here). So, where do you stand?
* Mind you, there's absolutely nothing wrong in being boxed-in.

Have you ever had a very brilliant idea about something that you felt very excited about? And you feel like you really, really, really want to do something, even though it is risky and it will mean a big and unknown a  change, but you are still willing to work very, very hard for it, just because you're confident that you can do it? Something like starting your own business. Or just simply starting a conversation with someone that you're interested in for quite sometime now. Or doing something that's not related to the subject you graduated from Uni. Or having an idea for a research proposal.

That first thought, that's when you're the MOST motivated. It's the point when the light burning in you is the brightest. That's when I'd like to suggest you to start TAKE ACTION. Immediately.

Let me tell you this, 72 hours is the deal that makes or break your dreams.
Whatever things you want to think over, you have to do it within that 72 hours. That big decisions have to be made in that 72 hours.

But wait.. maybe you want to procrastinate for a bit, go out for drinks while discussing this with families and friends.

Yeah,
it's a big leap and needs a lot of courage and thought being put into the decision. It's about your life anyway and they didn't taught you Critical Thinking skills in high school for nothing. Then you start to feel insecure after considering the risks and the cons. Somehow the opportunities and the pros seems to slowly  disappear as time ticks away.

I got that from my friend (72 hrs thing). And I think she's right. That motivated feeling that's burning in you, it's not an eternal flame. It will slowly die out with time. God knows when you'll get the same revelation again... and until then you're losing precious time and you're still in that box.

'Sikap malas' or laziness is a big pit fall filled with deadly rattlesnakes. I've fallen into that trap many times. When you've finally realise that you need to get out, you've been bitten and sometimes it's too late already, you're dead. I don't know whether laziness is defined and is part of our genetics coding. If we could extract that useless gene,  we'd all be in outer space right now instead of only sheikh muzaffar alone. If laziness is really defined in the genes, then, could blame ourselves for our failings to try? Since it is our own genetics, we are programmed to operate that way. I hope it's not. But for those who are interested, you can do a PhD research on lazy bums and perhaps  relate it to genetics. Otherwise, try to prove that it's not.

* Do you agree with the 72 hour rule?