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April 2024
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MISTAKEN NOTIONS11/14/2023 As a new instructor in a university way back circa 2000s, I was mistaken to be a student trying to attend a faculty orientation training program. When I told the nun I am an instructor, her eyeballs grew big. As a consultant in a room of community service providers, they think I was there trying to get their monies out of their budget into my pockets. People have stereotypes of consultants. I told them, " I'm just here to help." As a Filipino immigrant, I was always perceived to be a caregiver or a nurse by way of just knowing my ethnicity, they could guess my employment or occupational interest somehow. I usually told them otherwise. As a minority writer and author of a commercial book, my publisher was perceived to be more partial and welcoming of unheard and non-mainstreamed voices in the sector. What's wrong with that? As a job applicant before, I was told that they are looking for a senior professional who had previously taken executive-level positions. I had to do a short litany of what I had accomplished at a younger age. Age is not a defining factor of competence. As a diaspora in Canada, some people assume that I have married my husband to get permanent residency and citizenship. My husband is quick to correct that notion. As an instructor, I was told that my stories tend to convince them that I am an expert in the course. Yes, I'm really the expert. That's why they've better listen up. As a social enterprise, I was told that I'm very entrepreneurial. I had to be. I'm running a business not a charity. Even charities must be entrepreneurial to survive. Mistaken notions perpetuate when you don't enlighten them in that moment. Surely, we all have the fair share of these on a regular basis. What matters is what we say and do when we catch them. You may only have one chance. Do it well.
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REVIEWING THE REVIEWERS11/8/2023 I get some really nasty reviews from time to time. Because of the anonymity factor, they tend to get too overly negative or too overly positive which defeat the purpose of constructive feedback. Overly negative is downright vindictive. They have the beef. Maybe I caught them cheating, gave a zero mark for tardy submission or something else. If I am speaking, maybe I left an important point - tapping them on their backs for a job well done rather than challenging them with their paradigms and mentalities. I can't fake this. The President of the club told me to challenge the members to think different. I did with gusto. After the presentation, he reverted to saying that I missed the mark in giving them lots of praises. What in the world was that? If I will review each of those reviewers and commenters, I would surely get back to them with some great reviews about them. Tit-for-tat, right? No. As always, we win some, we lose some. But we need to be prepared for both at all times.
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DESTINED TO PROGRESS10/16/2023 We are all destined to progress from one step to another. Yet this destiny or destination is not well explored by a lot of people because that next step is over-analyzed, overthought, and under-taken. We debate, try to justify our next moves with excuses, and then after all the talking, the action part is less stellar. There is no tutor, mentor, or coach for stalling progress. If you don't get the tough love from them, fire them away and get someone more strict and that should be YOU! Personal accountability goes hand-in-hand with public accountability. You can't rely on the faceless crowd to power up your discipline. It comes from within. The distance between your thoughts and your actions should be very narrow. If this is not the case, you won't get anything accomplished or end up with more failure work to your disadvantage. What are moving to progress today? If it's just making your bed and cleaning the house, great! And if more than 50% of your today's priorities, well done! It's not the volume of the action, it's taking advantage of the compounding benefits of acting now that will do you good. |