A few days ago, I watched a group of ladies playing with a baby. The baby was only a couple of months old and could not crawl nor do much by itself. As I watched, I was reminded of noneother than ... myself!
No, I'm not saying I am a baby. I was reminded of how I used to be. I was reminded of my childhood days at the age of 5, 9 years old, 11 years old, 12 years old etc. Talk about your life flashing right before your eyes! :-)
I realised how much I had grown physically. I tower over the baby in height. I then asked myself a question, "Had I grown in wisdom and capability?"
Boy, that was a scary question. I would have liked to say "YES!" immediately. However, I paused and reflected before I answered "YES!". Why the pause?
I just wanted to be sure. We read so much bad news in newspapers today and I can't help but wonder whether we have really grown up at all.
As the baby grows, we see so many physical changes in height and size. We see changes in attitude and capabilities such as speech and thinking/reasoning capabilities. Up to a certain point (like when a person reaches the age of 21 or 31 or 41), this growth somehow doesn't seem that apparent anymore.
We see limited physical growth or if we do notice, its called aging. It is the inner-self that we do not notice. While we grow physically, it is imperative that we continue to also grow mentally and in our capabilities to make ourselves whole.
How do we grow our capabilities?
Reading a book helps. Taking action and doing something that takes you closer to what you want or want to be, is a definitely a surefire way of growing capabilities. As I had written earlier, taking action will produce a result. If its the result you want, great. If its not, chalk it up as a learning experience. You will be richer with the experience and continue to move on, take the next step. This is how we grow.
What can we do now?
Well, take the first step. For example, as you read this message, pick up a piece of paper and pen now, and write 3 things you need to do today and go do it. This is a simple first step to help you cultivate the habit of writing things down. If you can't do a simple step like this, how do you expect to take on the world?
So continue to learn, continue to have experential learning, GROW!
Bernard
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Copyright © Bernard Ong, 2006,2007.
All Rights Reserved
How to Rescue Failing Software Projects: Practical Proven Methods That Work
My book is finally available as an eBook, on Amazon Kindle and on Amazon. I wrote this book to share my experience in how to rescue failing software projects. When I was going through such a situation, I had no one to turn to. My hope is that the information in this book will be useful to those in similar situations. Although the information in the book pertains to software projects, I have come to realize that the techniques can be used in many other situations. I have personally used these techniques in business and technical projects.
You can read more about it here.
My book can be purchased here at Amazon.com.
Amazon Kindle version is available here at Amazon.com
