Wednesday, 14 May 2008
i'm always surprised when pple are affected by gradings and marks, whether in school or at work. in school we know becos we either didn't try hard enough or we simply dun have the flair... at work, besides performance, there's also biased supervisors, jealous colleagues, incompetent calculative HR or simply a lousy boss. then of cos there's Ourselves... if we're not good enough despite trying our best, then we're obviously in the wrong job. staying 5yrs isn't likely to change that if u've been around for 1.5yrs. what are grades or grading gonna do for u? justify pay increments of a paltry $300-400? so what if u're doing 3 jobs whilst colleagues do 1 job? does it really matter 3yrs down the road when u've learnt 15 things and they've learnt 5, whereby your value and options is much better than theirs! who's counting the number of pats u get on your shoulder? in school i'm so used to getting Cs and Ds. those who get As and Bs get a pat and are told what a great future they will have... i quietly gave myself an A-Grade for being myself and becos i believe i will have an A-Grade life. What's the difference u may ask.... Well - the A-graders believed what teachers and others told them without having to really believe in themselves. C-graders like me have only myself to believe in. Forward that 10-20yrs later and u realise the grades others give u Dun Matter more than the grade u give Yourself. btw, u make a career for Yourself, and not in this organization or any companies. u make your name, u make your reputation and u make your credibility by Yourself, and not have to fall back on a reputable company name. dun throw your letter out of despair that others dun give u the recognition. Instead, throw it becos u want to give yourself better recognition. But u jolly well make sure u're worth your salt. dun be one of those pple who think they are so Impt to a company when all they do is perform a function. looking back, the list of pple tat gave me a D,E,F grade goes from maths teachers to physics, chemistry, chinese etc etc... yet i am using less than 10% of all the subjects combined to get a grade-A pay and life. worklife i did grade-c jobs and got grade-c assessments, but i gave them all a grade-F becos they were not of Good-enough character to grade me. they only grade me becos they are older and in the company longer... so who cares??? i gave myself grade-A and continued to believe i will have an A-grade life. throw your letter when u've learnt enough, then move on to the next phase. YOU plan your own path and life, not them. to them, u are just another employee... to them a C-grade is wat u're getting... u are C-grade in their eyes. so what? If u know u're A-grade - why let others convince u that u're not?? fact is, u're gonna come across alot of incompetent pple in your life, some of whom shouldn't even be there had it not been some myopic HR hiring on nice misleading resumes, or bosses who believe in the wrong qualities, or simply becos these fellas stay in the company so long tat they eventually take up upper-management roles. So? if u know u're good. why be affected by the eyes of those who aren't?
***************************************************
after tertiary when most embarked on their respective careers, my peers and lecturers were wondering why i was being a sales assistant selling women's products, shoes/garments/accessories. something u might expect o'levels or 'others' to find employment in... to them i am not using my diploma which everyone thinks is the most marketable possession i had. to me, i was simply continuing my education in sales - no one to grade me, but i grade myself by improving my selling techniques. it was a skillset tat i felt was absolutely crucial in life. so really, if u know wat u want - u dun really have to care wat others think... they do not have the capacity to understand the importance of salesmanship becos They think just paper and grades can have a good future. my last check, alot of these pple are not even making a 5-figure salary. not everyone becomes a doctor or dentist leh (which grades are absolutely important since we're talking human life)... weird pple... dun they realise the top-earners in the world do not have what they think is important? and They are trying to tell and sell us the idea that THAT is the way to make money... when they dun make money themselves. this is sort of my very tongue-in-cheek summary of the propaganda behind grades, assessments, and this constant pressure to please others and garner approval and validation. of cos i must stress it is vital for us to know where we belong and where we perform at our best. basically ALL of us are capable ot performing to our optimum and achieving a Grade-A life - we just need to find the place where we are in our elements. like how Fandi Ahmad made a million being a footballer as opposed to trying to make 2k a month with maybe an O'level cert (example - i didn't check wat his paper is). i can imagine Fandi in an office environment getting crap grades and assessments by his peers... i can imagine him feeling dejected and demoralised. But if i was his fren and i see him playing soccer, i'll tell him to put aside the o'level or whatever level he has and try to play professional soccer. it may not pay alot back then, but certainly better than an office job for him. ok ok i have a tendency of talking abit too deep into these things, so it's more of a Perception and Concept that i am sharing... pls dun take purely at face-value. It MUST apply to our Individual scenarios but using this perception as a guide. in short, dun believe in what others think of u unless u know they are credible. likewise, always put yourself in a position where u will not doubt yourself and made to feel shitty like a fish out of the water or a eagle forced to walk instead of soar... in our elements, we Are Someone. just find that element and u'll find Yourself and your Self-worth.
Composed at 5:11 pm |
link |
home