*BOOM*
Couldn't possibly find a more apt picture to depict my 18
months in the Dynamite company that I'm currently working at - TNT! #thisisit
(Please ignore my overly enthusiastic face that also puts many Asian to shame)
There are days where it feels like you’re a superhero,
fighting battles, combating evil customers, resisting public accreditation to
stay humble and rooted, standing up for what's right even if the crowd feels
otherwise, falling down, gaining bruises along the journey to a victory that
you may not necessarily enjoy. There are also days where you just want to rest
the cape and mask, not worry about anything at all and hope that the world will
be perfect.
Well, snap. Back to reality.
Happy 18th month to me! I know it’s not the BIGGEST
milestone when there are people celebrating their silver jubilee/ receiving
award recognition for a 5 years tenure/ 20 years and so on but yes, every month
feels like it's worth popping a champagne for a hyper person like me!
It’s not that I am counting down the days to something. It’s
just that we, or rather, me speaking as a
Gen Y, I’m still figuring my way through this fresh, brand new, foreign
world we call – THE CORPORATE WORLD.
Presenting to you, Renee’s
Perfect 10 Corporate breakthroughs/ findings: -
This is all my own words and opinions and in no way relating to any negative part of the organisation that I am currently in. Take it all with a pinch of salt!
1. There will always be policies, work etiquette,
cultures, KPIs in a MNC or corporate.
We can try to comprehend and absorb in
like a sponge but this is also the part where we all need to start behaving like adults and know where
the boundaries are, how to respond to different situations, crisis management
skills that were never significant life, is suddenly applicable. A very strong heart and at times poker face to suck it up and
accept things at it is – You can’t change everything as if it’s your Lego world
anymore,it's a Lego world with a manual, and also many other creators. Of course, don't lose your authenticity and creativity!
2. It is often a struggle to punch in those hours
when we were enjoying flexi lecture sessions and study breaks almost every
other month back in our student days. There are high days and somewhat low/suckier days in the working life where during those lower days, you will suddenly feel like you’re like a magnet to everything horrible and
absolutely random. Yea, it’s days like that where I go #onlyhappenstorenee (Don't get me started with that hashtag!)
3. You don't get to choose the people you work
with.
It's not a university assignment where you
get to pick your group mates based on their looks or your super perception/assumption
that they are smart and hopefully hardworking too.
Your circle of friends will most certainly expand when you place all shields of judgement and pride DOWN, and begin to accept
everyone for who they are. You’ll be
surprised to find yourself more diverse and interesting as you’re not just
flocking with birds of the same feather, you are with EVERY and ANY bird in the
sky and you’ve suddenly gained extra cool flying styles and cuckoo tone.
4. Getting that extra one minute sleep can make/
break your Monday.
5. Comments and criticism would only cease to exist
the day you quit improving yourself.
We sometimes underestimate what we each can
do to make things happen and overestimate what others need to do to move us
forward. We MUST break this thought or we would always be pointing fingers and
not making any changes due to our foolish mind-set.
6. Be YOU. Don't lose YOU.
Experience can be gained through input of
knowledge and years of working, but your values and principles is what makes
you, YOU. Don’t let the company define you with a job title, or attitude. Know yourself and stand for what you believe in. Don't change yourself to be liked. If you're a honey, you're a honey. If you're a bitter gourd don't apply honey over it and expect people to be fooled by your outward appearance..they'll find out soon enough what's the REAL you.
7. Appreciation and Gratitude.
Smile and say thank you even when a waiter
pours you water and accidentally spills some on your favourite top. We are
human after all, we make mistakes and it is not easy to serve and please
EVERYONE. I’ve faced some nasty customers that demands attention for every
teeny weeny thing, complains about absolutely everything and sucks up all my
positive energy I’ve charged up over the night. Please, we are not a puppet or
furby toy where you huff and rant to. We have F-E-E-L-I-N-G-S, so please be
nice. Even to your colleagues and managers, gratitude goes a long way.
8. Find a reason to wake up for each day.
There’s never a perfect job or perfect
company but you need to find that light to keep you walking through the dark
tunnel, or else you’ll just give up and shut off, without a happy ending at the
end of the road (with fireworks, loved ones to greet you and cheer you on,
prince charming to whisk you off in a hot air balloon…you get my point).
Figuring out what we really want is both a
science and an art. It’s possible, but not easy; It’s solvable, but not for the
faint of heart. Like everything else in life, it takes practice, but the
answers exist so long as we make the concerted effort to chase them.
9. Don’t worry, allow yourself to be a child.
Life is simple if we allow it to be and allow ourselves to have more childlike naive-ness and innocense in us and see goodness in everything and not let our adult glasses pollute things. Oh ya, breakdown, cry. It's healthy to do so every once in awhile. #justsaying
Set your priorities right (God, Family,
Friends, Passion, etc), and everything will fall into place perfectly.
10. Never say never. And keep the dreams alive.
I ain't no thoughts catalog writer, but I am expressive in my own ways, and writes to my own liking.
It has been a roller coaster ride and I am growing every day in this fast-paced and challenging industry where there is never a day where you can say I-KNOW-IT-ALL. It feels good to have those *pat-in-the-back moments from random strangers, security guards, customers and of course colleagues that pushes me to go a lil further, hang in there a lil longer :)
Hooray.
#tntjourney
