Schazzy's 2011 Lessons Learnt

Hola! Welcome to E!News, my version. hehehe.

It's the last week of 2011! While some of us is already busy making resolutions for 2012, I would like to take a short trip down 2011 memory lane to recap some of the stuff that I learnt throughout the year.

L1: Business needs passion

i joined this network business with a goal to of course, generate more income. however, merely 2 months into the business, i learnt that business without passion is like driving a car without a destination to go to. You know you you get to see so many things along the way, meet a lot of people, maybe gain enough money but you couldnt feel the sense of satisfaction cos u r not sure whether thats what u want, or where will it finally ends. and while driving u dont feel the feeling of joy becos you know in your heart that u dont want to go to all those places, you dont belong to that kind of people and the money itself doesnt bring any meaningful purpose to you. So yeah, i fell out. it's a great loss to me considering the fact i haven't been able to sell all my products. I didnt get the returns on my investment which is a big OUCH! for me. 

Lesson: know any business in and out upfront. talk to those who succeed and those who failed (yes, we need to know why they've failed). we need to know the pros and cons, both sides of the coins, not just the good part, especially so if we are newbies. weigh all the options and resources available and most importantly, take a  moment to really ask ourselves, 'is this what we really want?'. becos in the end, if it is not our passion, somehow what we thought can make us extra money for extra comfort, becomes instead an extra burden for us.

L2: Always take the high road, be forgive-ful

This year has been the most challenging year for my career. chewah, career tu. :P. it's been a challenging year in my worklife. i learnt that people can be really be mean to you when they hold the higher position. byk2 tahun rasanya tahun ni juga yg paling byk org yg saya kenali resign from the company i'm working with. and tahun ni jugak merupakan tahun yg paling byk saye berfikir utk resign jugak. mcm2 saya buat termasuk solat hajat mohon petunjuk dr Allah. i can handle the stress of the work but i cant handle the emotional outburst of the people. i cant control them. luckily, i had plenty of time to think abt what i should do when i was given a one-month medical leave. i asked those who has quit/resign, i search for other available options if i decided to end my current job,  i re-evaluate my financial standing, i 'hinted' for advices from my family if i choose to quit (i never told them my intention directly..nak kena sembur??? hahaha) and like i've mentioned before, i seek guidance from Allah. and Alhamdulillah, eventho in the end i choose to stay, i feel more at peace knowing that i've done what i needed to do to come to the decision. and yes, it means i still have to face those mean people. like i said, i cant change them, but i can change how i feel towards them. so now, whenever they're being mean i just have to remind myself that, there a re other things worse than this and they are only mean because that's just who they are. at the end of the day i'll just forgive and try to forget. And THAT, feels good. Forgiving ppl feels good :).

Lesson: As quoted by Harriet Nelson, 'Forgive all those who have offended you, not for them, but for yourself' :)

L3: Consistency is the key

Let me tell you an open secret. I'm not a good financial planner. I suck at budgetting (this is proven), I hate accounting. I'm an impulse buyer, but luckily i dont go shopping that often. So yes, all these resulted in me not handling my money dgn sewajarnye. I hate going to the bank becos they took forever @ the counter to process whatever needed to be processed. So in the end, mana yg x masuk dlm savings lama2 hilang terus dr account. hehehehe. So, sbg langkah berjaga2, i potong gaji siap2..mana yg supposedly masuk savings, zakat, tabung haji, semua terus dah potong direct from gaji. ada yg i buat standing instructions tru cimb clicks. oh yea. speaking of SI. I did SI to deposit some of my salary monthly to Hafiz & Alya's Yippie. Now, this has been going on since last year. Cuma this year i terasa nak check balik all my online transactions. and guess what??? rupe2nye, standing instruction from CIMB to Maybank dikenakan charge sebanyak RM 7 per transaction. RM7!!!! So that times 2 (Hafiz & Alya), i hilang bodoh2 RM14..cesss sungguh. and i only realized this after one year...huwaaaaaaa..byk jugak tu..korang darab la sendiri. huhuhu. Anyhow, i terminate the SI, now i juz consistenly transfer the money online every month. still kena charge RM 1 per transaction. murahlah dr RM 7 considering saye mmg malas nak gi bank ni kan. kekekke. kalau bole semua nak online bab2 duit ni. tak suke gi bank! tatau kenape...:P. So lepas discover about the exorbitanty charged service charge, i make it a point to consistenly bank in anything that needed to be transferred from my account to other banks every end of the month. ini also langkah utk mengelak dr membelanja dgn berlebihan. So before even 1st of the next month tu, duit gaji mmg cukup2 mkn je...semua dah masuk bank2 yg xder Kad ATM bg susah payah skit kalau nak kluarkan..huhuhu..and Alhamdulillah, nampaklah hasilnye hujung tahun ni :)

Lesson: Know your weakness (& strength, of course) and work around it.

L4: Let it out 

As mentioned earlier, tahun ni is a very challenging year @ my workplace. stress tu mmg selalu terbawak2 ke rumah. ape taknyer, kerja pun kena buat kt rumah, dgn bersengkang mata, sakit badan and everything. pagi2 masuk ofis kena marah lagi. so yes, it was very stressful. but i learnt that i have many supportive friends around me. my previous bosses, who are always willing to lend an ear, my new & old officemates yg kepala gile2 and tahap stress lebey kurang sama jugak so we share all our ups and downs together eventho lain2 department, my email buddy, kawan2 kt communicator, miss che ah yg selalu kena kaco kt email dgn cerita2 stress saya and oso my newfound facebook buddies..hehehe..not forgetting another support system who never fail to support me, this blog! walaupun tahun ni jarang dpt update blog :(. all these support system has helped me through my darkest days. it feels great to have some channel to let out my feelings to. selain tu i also did a lot of blog hopping. and join forum2. oh, sumber stress tahun ni bukanlah di ofis semata2. byk benda membuatkan terasa stress. tp x bole lar nak citer kt sini kan. hehehe. ape yg penting, saya tau mcm mana pun teruk sesuatu tu, kite kena sentiasa igt ader org yg lebih teruk dari kite..and yg lebih penting lg, jgn terlalu pikirkan sgt benda2 yg di luar kawalan kita..

Lesson:

L4: My body is aging & I should start taking better care of it

This year i got pregnant with my 3rd baby. I realized that my body tidak sekuat dahulu lg. senang je rasa sakit2 dan sengal2 di sana sini. and that is why towards the end of my pregnancy (when suddenly mendapat cahaya kesedaran) i started taking supplements. I took a set of Shaklee products from my good friend, Along and so far mmg best. Ada Vit C, B Complex, Alfalfa and Mealshake. mealshake tu cuma time rajin je saya buat (blend dgn ice lg u..tp time berpantang ni minum camtu je..) but the rest tu mmg religiously mkn everyday. The main reason i took the set is for my breastfeeding supplements.  Other than these i also took calcium tablet since I dont drink milk. I believe B Complex byk membantu handle my stress during confinement (i'm one stressful person, aint I?) . but seriuosly i think the B Complex does its job well. mmgla ader jugak breakdon sekali sekala, I'm only human afterall tp kalau nak compare, i lagi senang cool down, tak cepat merajuk dah. hehe. ye ke? my hubby might not agree with this (but hey, mmg dia suke buat i merajuk sape suruh kan..:P hehehe), but i think i'm a bit cheerful now. chewah. So Ms Along, wait for my next order yea..

Lesson: Be kind to your body & brain, give them the nourishment that they need..

Eh, mcm pjg giler la plak entry kali ni...hahhaa...byk lg pengajaran tahun 2011 ni sebenarnye.. tp ni antara yg major impact lar..yg baik jadikan teladan, yg buruk jadikan sempadan..hehehe...oh yea, ada satu lg pengajaran yg sgt terkesan di hati saya. Ni hasil dr sesi borak2 dgn sedara PIL, nama dia Pak Nal..topik borak2 haritu ialah tentang menjaga parents apabila kita sudah berkahwin. 

1. tanggungjawab seorg anak perempuan selepas berkahwin adalah suaminya. suami dia tetap no. 1 walau apepun. tp kalau situasi memerlukan, dan seorg anak perempuan perlu menjaga ibubapanye, maka itu satu bonus utk dia. kerana dia diberi peluang utk berbakti pada kedua org tuanya. tp mesti, mesti dgn keredhaan suaminya. suami mesti setuju utk sama2 menjaga ibubapa perempuan itu. selagi suami redha, maka tidak timbul masalah. 

2. ikhlas tak bole diukur. tak bole disebut. tak bole dinilai. ikhlas tu Allah je yg tau. sbb tu kite kena sentiasa berlapang dada bile memberi. senyum shj. jgn ungkit. dan jgn mengharap balasan apa2. mcm bila kite jaga parents kita. jgn anggap kita dah balas jasa mereka walaupun sedikit. sbb byk mana kite buat pun kite takkan terbalas jasa dan pengorbanan mereka membesarkan kite. takkan terbalas hatta dgn harta benda sekalipun. dan saya sendiri sbg ibu jugak, jgn mengharap satu hari nanti anak2 saya akan 'membalas' titik peluh saya membesarkn diorg, sbb anak2 tu dah mmg amanah Allah pada kita. we brought them into this world. maka mmg tanggungjawab kite memberi didikan, kasih sayang dan segala kerperluan dan kelengkapan utk mereka hidup sendiri bila kita dah takde nanti. so dont ever2 rasa anak2 perlu membalas 'jasa' kite sbb if kite didik dia dgn betul, insyaAllah, it will all come naturally. anak2 tetap akan sayang kite walau setua mana kite nanti.. :) 

i'm still learning utk ikhlas dlm perbuatan. tipulah kalau saya kata tak pernah terdetik rasa nak ungkit je ape yg saya dah buat utk suami, anak2, parents both sides, etc. tp bukan ungkit utk mintak dibalas. mungkin sekadar mintak utk difahami. perasaan tu kadang2 dtg masa tgh sedih, tgh marah, tgh penat. i'm only human, remember? tapi saya cuba. cuba sedaya upaya. saya baca artikel2 tentang  benda2 yg relate dgn ape yg saye alami. saya dgr ceramah2 ustaz di youtube (favorite is of course, ustaz azhar! :) and ustaz don)... it helps a lot. sbb saya rasa, walau apa pun tanggapan masyarakat, atau apa pun yg org ckp and fikir pasal saya, hanya Allah je yg tau isi hati saya. 

kaylar..makin pjg la plak..hahaha..sampai tahun depan baca pun x habis nanti..so that's all in the year that was...hopefully 2012 akan membawa byk lg pengajaran2 yg lebih bermakna!! 

oh, i cant hardly wait for Jan 1st, 2012!!! 2 more days for my confinement period to end!!!!!!!!!! yahooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!