Books : Thing I learned from reading more than 100 books in a year

I read more than 100 books in 2018. 

I never thought I would reach that many books in a year - the last time I read that many was probably when I was still a student. Although this year I got a lot of help from Scribd (listening to audio books while working) and rereading my all-time favorite books (it's easier to read books that you know you'll enjoy). 

I can't help but to ask myself, what did I learned from consuming more than 100 books in a year?  The truth is, I didn't feel like I've read that many, I think I've learned to become more aware of the things that will stay in my mind. Most of the things I read were probably books that I can't relate to, or not-so-important-in-my-life during this phase, or just things that I do not care - so I tend to forget those books. But some books stayed, some stories embedded in my mind. 

Probably when I'm discussing about the hardship in life with my siblings (especially in pursuing our passion), I can mention about Bryan Cranston's life experience throughout his early career, because I read his biography. Or I can mention about the high achievers (Elon Musk / Jack Ma), those stories when most people have doubts in them but they persevered and just pushed through the pain and  endless humiliation. I read Barack Obama's books (about hope) and Jane Goodall about the earth and the animals (I love), or Jon Krakauer's essays on self-exploration. A lot of biographies, essays and motivational books.

I have this library of stories in my mind with anecdotes, reminders, lessons, and personal thoughts. I'm not sure how to explain to people about the things that I've learned in bullet points. I just know that in certain phases when I need some guidance or reminder, I might probably remember these little stories from people all over the world. These books that left invisible marks in me. 

A reminder that I'm not alone, I'm not worthless, even how small it might be, my stories are worth your time. 

Pheww, what a nerd :F

Little Thing 34 : Dad's Saying 2

Today while reading this, I found another quotation my dad used to repeat many times :

“If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.” - Albert Einstein.

My dad used to asked us, siblings, pop questions on random things that we've learned at school. Being us, we were as nervous as house mouse, we usually squeak when my dad asked anything and we just mumbled away anything.

My dad said many times that IF we can't explain in our own words the definition or process of something, that means we don't understand it enough. Despite getting an A in Science, or memorize word-by-word definition of something from the text book.

He said in most of job interviews he held to find new staffs, his favorite question is "What is science? Explain it to me". *he is a science researcher. He will then rejects people who can't answer it *harsh. So he can judge the potential interviewee's understanding by that simple question. 

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Almost 6 years ago, I told my dad that I want to continue my study in IT : Graphic & Multimedia. The first question he asked was : What is graphic? Yes, I stumbled and mumbled things about pictures, computers, editing, animations and stuff. He wasn't satisfied with my answer. 

Dad : If you don't even know what is graphic, then how come you want to have a degree on graphic?
Me : I don't know well enough, that's why I want to learn it.
Dad : I didn't know you draw, you can draw? *only my oldest sister draw during that time. 
Me : Yes, I can, I guess. *who would have thought that I'll be known for doodling now! :D

How innocent. I really thought I'll be doing graphic & multimedia during my studies, little did I know, majoring in Information Technology means programming & coding! I've never heard of Creative Multimedia when I was applying for college. Shesh..

Anyhow, I did finished my degree on IT.
Not regretting it.

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PS :
Information technology is the use of technology to manipulate, save or store, produce, send and spread the information. Bingo!

Little Thing 32 : Dad's Saying

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Dad loves to say this to us :

Kalau tak boleh jadi pohon cemara di atas bukit,
jadilah rumput paling cantik di tepi jalan. 

Emphasizes on "paling".
I feel guilty for not being the best in anything.

Little Stories 14 : Last weekend

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I spent last weekend helping my mom with her new shop. I even spent 8 hours of painting the wall straight with maximum rest of 30 minutes in those 8 hours. I was exhausted. My body is currently aching all over. I slept at 8.30pm and woke up at 4am, early in the morning. And I am super famished. I am still waiting for my housemates to go to work so that I can make a sandwich and a nice hot Milo without any small conversations.

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Little Stories 9 : Chewing Gum

This man loves to stick used chewing gum under random table. Every time he does that I felt a little annoyed.
He asked me :

Why does it matters? It is so small, no one cares.

I do. I tried to explain about why small things matter to everyone. IF we put 1,000,00 people with the same attitude together, the small problem will eventually turns into much bigger problem. Imagining much bigger picture will help, because we can't change everyone's attitude, we need to change ourselves first. It is the closest we can get to help anything. 

The small chewing gum, or the small tissue paper and candy wrapper, everything matters. It shows how you see and approach life, how you care about environment and how you tell yourself who you are. So it matters.

Because I see these little things and I care.

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Several days later, we saw something on the roof top of his car. I asked him :

What is that? 

Later on, we found out that someone stuck used chewing gum on his car.
That is exactly what I was trying to explain to him before. Sometimes God gives you much clearer way to explain stuffs so you can see better, that is by metaphorically speaking : in your face!

Karma. Ha.

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Lesson : Walking Away

If people hit you, don't hit back.
You'll learn something much bigger when you choose to walk away.
You can't change human. But you can change yourself.

When people judge you, when people criticize, when people hurt you with words, learn something from it. You should know that if you fight back with the same manner, you are exactly like them.

Lick your own wound.
Walking away is not because you are weak.
It is just because you have better ways to handle it.

Lesson in my Life : 3

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Cure the disease, not the pain.

My dad said, if you have a problem, solve it. Avoid running away or ignoring it. Eventually it will come to haunt you again.

Example 1 :

You know for a fact that you are not really that good in English. So you avoid using the language from the start. You won't make an effort to solve it. You put yourself in the same place, ignoring the obvious fact that you can change if you want to, it takes a little effort, but you choose not to do anything about it. You whine about it. You mock people that try to use the language.

But you choose to ignore your incompetence.

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Avoid running away from problem.
I need to remind myself this.

Lesson in my life : 3

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My dad said ;
"Sometimes in life, we need to do what we had to do. No matter you like it or not."

Although my dad seems to be one of detestable man I've ever known, I can't deny the fact that he is the most hardworking and work-commited man I can think of. He deserves the credit.

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Lesson 3 : Search for Happiness

< Continuation from previous post >

I'm currently reading Hector and the Search for Happiness by Francois Lelord.

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Taken points from his book, I'm going to share his findings :

Lesson 3 :

Many people see happiness only in their future.

This is a lesson I need to learn. I always, always, always, think I can be happy when I achieve my dreams, so I am working hard for my future. Instead of living in my current life, I am working for my cloudy future. 

Well almost everyone does that, aren't we all? We spend of daily life, weekly life, monthly life, yearly life, to have a better future. Money for marriage, money for new house, new car, future children, their education, travel expenses, more entertainments, etc. You drag your feet every day to work, doing jobs that you are not even interested in. For things you want in the future.

I guess putting my happiness in future Paris was a mistake. I should live my life, today. Not tomorrow, not the week after, not in next June. 

*So, I should pack my bag and go to Paris exactly right now! 

Aha. I wish I have the guts to be that reckless.

*Back to work*

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Lesson 2 : Search for Happiness

< Continuation from previous post >

I'm currently reading Hector and the Search for Happiness by Francois Lelord.

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Taken points from his book, I'm going to share his findings :

Lesson 2 :

Happiness often comes when least expected

People love surprises. I used to think that I dislike surprises, because I've never really experience it so I chose to assume it doesn't feel that good. But it feels reaaaaally good, I can assure you.

Imagine, you walk in a store for window shopping like you normally do, and then someone drag you to the counter and say : " Congratulation, you are our 100th visitor for today, you will receive a RM 100 voucher to spend on anything in the store. Have fun! ". *That is the most random thing I can possibly think of right now, and it is super cliche'. But there you, a possibility of having something unexpected. It can lighten up your day!

When we are least expecting something to happen, and it happened, "Boom!", adrenaline flows fast, your heart races, you will blush/laugh/smile/cry, those are the FUN part.

PS : But gimmick, for me, is a mood spoiler. I hate gimmicks.

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Lesson 1 : Search for Happiness

It's still new year and I'm aiming for 25 books to read by the end of 2012. I'm putting reading slot for my daily routine, in hope of giving some chances to reading once again - no matter how occupied I am with works. 

I just finished reading Jodi Picoult's - Sing You Home last night, after keeping those last 2 chapters for a month. Now, I'm currently reading Hector and the Search for Happiness by Francois Lelord.

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Taken points from his book, I'm going to share his findings :

Lesson 1 :

Making comparisons can spoil your happiness.

I think it's obvious, when we keep on comparing our lives with others, our achievements, money, fame, houses, phones, cars, and all those things - we will feel less fortunate in life. Sometimes it is hard to remember that we have to be thankful all the time. And comparing yourself with others will only make us feel bad. 

Creating happiness should be personal. You don't have to share it with others if you don't feel like it. Because it's different and subjective for each people. It can't be measured. So, stop comparing. 

If you feel happy living in a small flat being surrounded by all your action figures and comics, don't let anyone else make you feel bad about it. It's your way of being happy.

If you feel happy spending hours every night watching Korean dramas, then it's okay.

If you feel happy learning foreign language without any specific reason other than improving your knowledge on languages, then be it! 

Ignore those people that say : you are not living your life. As long as you are happy, then that's good enough. Don't spoil it by comparing it with anyone else.

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Lesson in my Life : 2

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18 years ago, I was 7 years old. 

On my first day of school, I kissed my dad's hand and he left me with my older sister. She held my hand and brought me to my class. She asked me to find a place to sit and left me alone almost instantly. No tears, no whines. 

If you cry, you are weak.

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Things I learned from Books 1

I learned about Osteogenesis Imperfecta from one of Jodi Picoult's book : Handle with Care.

It is also called 'brittle-bone disease'. It causes your bone to crack so often, even if you just sneeze in wrong way. You bone will be so fragile, you can't do any active activity. Major symptom would be multiple bone fractures from young age *compared to osteoporosis that usually attacking elderly. 

Not only it is genetic disorder, it is also autosomal dominant disease, that means you will get the disease even if you carry only one copy of the gene. 

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PS :

I love the way it sounded. 

Imperfecta obviously means 'imperfect' and osteo means 'bone'.
So it is imperfect bones? I can't think of what genesis means in the name.

While osteoporosis is the combination of 'bone' + 'porous'.

What you should know : Fresh Graduates

Hey, fresh graduates!

One thing you should take note before you accept job offers is your salary. Although I am sure as fresh graduates, you are lack of skills & experience, but you shouldn't be too naive too long. There are fishes in the sea, grab one and it will tell different stories. 

Can you imagine, currently to buy a semi-D house in Sri Kembangan area, it will cost roughly RM 500k+, the least. 10 years ago, it costed around RM 200k. Yes, it's 10 years ago. But do you know, that the salary for 10 years ago hasn't changed much? The cost of living is getting higher by day, but it doesn't really match with what we've been paid. 

I found it hard to believe when I see offers to work as Mydin's supervisor or money changer's assistant in IOI mall, or yogurt seller *also in IOI mall will pay you around RM1,500 a month. Without the need of any diploma or degree. 

But, there are still so many companies in Jobstreet offers below RM1,500 to fresh graduates to work with them. How do fresh graduates survive, I wonder? With education loan to pay, not including daily expenses, house rental, car's loan and all. 

One of the worst rumor I've heard is, some company pays more to other races than to Malay. How can you compare someone's capability by their race? 

So, please fresh graduates, make a research on how much you are worth in working field. At least, if you hold a degree, find works that are suitable for what you've been trained to do. Stop living in comfort zone. Improve your communication skills, working skills, and be someone important for your society.

And Melayu, stop living in your comfort zone. Wake up.

KUALA LUMPUR, 15 Dec (Bernama) — A Recent Survey By JobStreet.com May Have Shed Some Light Into Why Fresh Graduates Are Deemed As Asking For Unrealistic Salaries.

From the total of 1,830 fresh graduates who took part in the survey conducted in November 2011, 63% from Klang Valley and 58% from outside Klang Valley said that they required an average of RM700 or more to meet their basic daily expenses. These included food, rental, transportation and entertainment.

There were even 29% that rejected a job offer because the salary and benefits offered did not meet their expectation.

In general, what they expected was a salary level between RM1,800 and RM2,600 for the bachelor’s degree holders (73%). For the diploma holders, they expected a salary level between RM1,200 and RM1,800 (67%).

However, in reality only 54% of the bachelor’s degree holders received the expected salary level of RM1,800 – RM2,600. Another 35% received a salary below RM1,800.

A total of 37% of the diploma holders received less than RM1,200 salary, far below their expected salary level.

Graduates stated that the reasons why they were not hired was because of “stiff competition” (32%) followed by “lacked of certain required skills” (31%).

However one thing for certain, 23% of the fresh graduates themselves also felt that it was also due to their poor command of English language that deterred them from getting hired. Another 22% also stated “poor communications skills” as one of the reasons that they were not employed.

In terms of securing employment, 74% of the 773 fresh graduates who are currently employed managed to secure a job in less than 3 months after their graduation, with an impressive 16% who were even offered a job prior to graduation.

It was also interesting to note that for those graduated in 2011, 65% of the bachelor’s degree holders and 59% of the diploma holders were currently unemployed. 70% of them however just graduated 3 months ago or less.

A total of 1,830 fresh graduates that comprise diploma and bachelor’s degree holders, ages 19 – 24 years old, took part in the survey conducted by JobStreet.com in November 2011.

SOURCE : JobStreet

Inspiration : No Choice

No Choice by Seth Godin :

"I had no choice, I just couldn't get out of bed."

"I had no choice, it was the best program I could get into."

"I had no choice, he told me to do it..."

Really?

It's probably more accurate to say, "the short-term benefit/satisfaction/risk avoidance was a lot higher than anything else, so I chose to do what I did."

Remarkable work often comes from making choices when everyone else feels as though there is no choice. Difficult choices involve painful sacrifices, advance planning or just plain guts.

Saying you have no choice cuts off all options, absolves responsibility and is the dream killer.

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PS : How many times did you use those excuses? You keep on finding someone/something else to blame. Should stop making excuses. Start living responsibly. 

Travel : Bandung 2 : The Food

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The foods were nice & heavy. I guess that's one thing I didn't like being in a tour. We just had to finish up everything on the table. I'm not used to eating a LOT of foods for days. 

PS : Eat carefully. I'm the only one affected by the food. The only thing that differs between what they ate & what I ate was just Hot Latte from J'Co with empty stomach. So, don't drink Hot Latte when you are hungry, even if you are having mild fever, haha, lesson learned.

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Travel : Bandung

Hey, I'm back!

It was a short 5 days trip to Bandung with my family. The twelve of us went from the busy city of Bandung to a far journey in Bogor. Despite some problems occurred along our journey, we had such fun and joy together. 

I've learned several lesson along the way. 

What's important in every journey are the lessons learned & experiences, yes ? 

10 Things that I've learned :

1. Don't trust people too easy, being innocent will only make you be the victim. 

Lesson learned. I was cheated at Tangkuban Perahu in buying thing that I don't want to buy just because I was persuaded over & over again. In fact, we were all cheated. *on the first day! Days after, we didn't even look twice in saying "no" to the street sellers. 

2. It's all about tolerance.

When you are in a group, you decide for a group. You can't act selfish, you must learn to tolerate. You must understand that being in a group means every plans and decisions are for the welfare of everyone.

3. Money talks a LOT.

Money can buy happiness. Can buy respect & status. Can buy things, foods, any items & services. 

People do anything for money. But my little heart doubts the sincerity in every nice things along the way. It might not look like a big deal, but I keep having my doubts.

4. Eat carefully!
Okay, I had an awful diarrhea on the last day, and mild fever. Food poisoning for sure. I've been in and out from the toilet so many times in one whole day and I was shivering all the time. They left me at the hotel while they went out to go for another shopping spree on the last day. Hmph..

5. Bring thick sweater and socks , bring wear sandals *in the plane.
Air Asia didn't provide any blanket for our ride, and for me with mild fever, it was quite uncomfortable. The seat is small, you can't even lower down the seat much, imagine having to sleep in odd sitting position. Imagine a 9 hours ride to Paris!

6. Free WiFi is quite hard to find.
I had to sit in the Lobby before breakfast or late night after we finished our tour, so there wasn't any updates much. For an internet junkie like me, it was quite a desperation to find free Wifi, unconsciously searching but it wasn't that bad.

7. You need to pay for everything.
So bring your umbrella, tissue, water, plastic, iron! Be ready.
You can bring 2 clothes, 1 jeans and 1 sleeping cloth are enough. Buy other clothes while you are there, quite cheap :D

8. Buy local number, it is much much cheaper.
Don't use your number, you can just buy local numbers at the airport, or anywhere. It helps a LOT! You can communicate easier between your group members especially when you went separate ways.

9. Don't wait! 
We missed the biggest ride in TransStudio because we wanted to keep it to the last. But it rained badly afterwards :D And yes, you should go on weekdays, it is much cheaper and there wasn't many people as rumored. We didn't even have to queue, it's like our own private cool playground. Super awesome experience. We played on the same water ride several times in a row. Taking turn to change places each time.

10. After a joyous holiday, back to reality.
Work work work! :D

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Photos will be posted soon :D