Cobwebs in my head

I think the corporate world has really gotten into me…because for years I’ve neglected the social scene (read: clubbing, bar hopping and the like), let really good movies pass, completely forgot to exercise and try to lose weight. All these I’ve done (or have not done) for a long time. Then on Friday night, I got to go out with some friends and went to that club I used to frequent back in my younger days.  They still play old school music (though now with current tracks), serve the same booze, and still patronized by the same crowd. I guess we all outgrow some things, places and people, but once in a while, it doesn’t hurt to reminisce a little. You realize that somehow you have matured, and that your views now are far different from before. ‘Fun’, as you knew it, has gradually taken a new form.

Then yesterday, I spent the whole day out…walking aimlessly in the mall and beating through the 3-day sale crowd. I still have not gotten over my principle that I should be spending my weekends in this manner because I owe it to myself after days of hard work. More than one-third of my weekday (sometimes even more) is dedicated in the office. I go home tired and drained and only looks forward to sleep.

So today I woke up with cobwebs in my head…filled with confusion, inhibitions and apprehensions. What will my life be after years of this routine? Where does one start to alter his lifestyle? How do you spend your days in the virtual world? One by one I will be clearing these cobwebs, and soon figure out the intricacies of online living…

Emotional Detachment from ‘Talents’

This realization just hit me…some bosses and business owners are having a hard time letting go of some employees. Is it because they are sad to see them go? Or angry perhaps to be leaving them at such a critical time? Or sorry that they have not put much effort to make them stay? Whatever reason/s they may have…is it proper to give the employee the cold shoulder upon tendering his resignation? I think not…for one thing, employment is a choice. Actually, everything in this world is a choice – happiness, relationships, status, jobs (this topic alone deserves a new post). Point is, to stay or not to stay in one company is entirely up to the employee…and oh…let me correct my term…an employee is a ‘talent’.

In one of the four Tom Peters Essentials, entitled ‘Talent’, he could not emphasize more that lifetime employment is out and lifetime self-invention is in (again for future post). Thus, bosses and owners alike should learn how to detach from talents that come their way. Be glad that they have contributed something…that they have been part of the organization…but let them move on. Emotional detachment is key, though this is not to say lose your compassion for them. It’s more of being happy for them, especially if they so choose to be on their own…

Corporate Slave No More

Day 1 of my life as a blogger.  I created this account not knowing what to put here.  Then I got to talk with a former colleague who’s been ‘online living’ (as he coins it) for 5 years now.  He gave me ideas on how to begin this journey…on how to live online…on how to utilize my knowledge and skills.  This is a new chapter in my life…gone are the days that I breathe and live by company policies…that I try to go up the organizational ladder…that I beat myself up by becoming a corporate slave.  I would like to believe that something will come out of this – that somehow with my limited online experience I will be able to share my thoughts, my ideas and my learnings to the outside world.

For 7 years I have been secure by having a job – from the hotel & restaurant to the IT industry.  Now I am faced only with hopes – that my ‘wired’ team will work out, that we will land various gigs, that I will be successful online.  But nothing is certain in this world, thus I am only relying on what the online community has to offer and what I can give back to it.

At least now I am my own boss…I’m a corporate slave no more…and I intend to live this way.  Join me in this endeavor!