“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!” ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

They said something good might come from something you least expect. I come to this workshop with less expectation. Gotta admit I am not really excited about it because the workshop will make me miss my mom’s bday. But I really have issue to say the big N and O to people. So instead of saying it, I just nodded my head and said OK when my boss asked me to replace my friend who is not available to attend the workshop about Warehouse Receipt System.

I am a lil bit tired with my traveling activities lately. It’s like I am being tested for all my conscious prayers everytime I asked God for chances to travel abroad or Indonesia. I am not saying I hate it. I love being busy. It stimulates my brain to do multi tasks and I find joy in forcing myself to the limit.

So what’s so special about the day?
In the beginning of the workshop, the consultant invited a motivator as a starting point for the participants before we learn deeper about warehouse receipt systems and stuffs.

At first I don’t recognize the person. His name is Iwan Setyawan. I have heard about a book called “9 Summers 10 Autumns: From the City of Apples to The Big Apple”. I remember Anggie bought this book as a gift to her friend. But I never pay attention to the writer and I haven’t read the book.

Iwan (@iwan9S10A) is coming from less fortunate family in Batu, but none of this hampers him to reach the dream of being someone who is better than just an ‘angkot’ driver; a profession of his dad. It’s great to hear true life story from the person himself. Something I am always interested about. He left his job in NYC with the last position as Director of Internal Client Management of Nielsen Consumer Research NY to go back to Indonesia.

Here are some of his sharing in the class. I am using my own words to formulate the session with Iwan as a reminder for myself.

1. Indonesian people has issue with confidence. We often value ourselves lower than those foreigners when in fact what makes us all different is the intellectuality. We can compete with anyone if we work harder than other people. Determination holds the key of success.

2. We are afraid of getting failed even before we try something. Success is something you build on daily basis. Life investment is done each and every day. We can not expect to be success over the night. The shit we have to go through to be successful will make us more thankful and satisfied when we finally reach it.

3. Totality is one important word in doing any kind of jobs. A farmer have to be total in doing his works, so is a doctor, angkot driver or government officer. Totality will bring personal happiness and satisfaction. Something which is lack nowadays. More and more people work and earn lots of money but end up being depressed and unhappy with their life. They failed finding the meaning of their job. Money is not always the source of happiness.

4. Think creatively. Be a person with value added. If your friend finished a job in 4hours, do better than him. Be more effective and solve issue quicker. Be ready to accept challenges.

5. At certain time of your life, understand your parents. They are just human being. They made mistakes and they are not perfect.

6. Read, write and explore! Broad your mind with books. Explore the world. Be well-traveled. Be well-cultured. Please yourself by making yourself intellectual.

7. Surprise your parents. We often ignore simple things like writing a thank-you note to our parents or buying their favorite foods. Do it sometimes. See how little things we do make them happy.

8. Respect life by doing something meaningful. Look back and shout: “This is what I have done in my life”

9. Surprise yourself and touch people’s life. The true motivator is inside you.

10. You can not always please people. There is always limitation. Learn to say NO. There is always a risk when you say NO. However, Practice saying it. You need to start listen to your body. Find out what it wants. Make your own decision. To be a good decision maker, we need to practice it started from small decision. Everyday’s practice is powerful.

Those are some of the lessons I learned from our sharing. I already have an idea on what to write in my next update. It’s about my difficulty in saying NO. I learned that sometimes it’s okay to always say YES. Because opportunities come to those who say YES to challenge.

Thank you for the inspiration and sharing, Sir:)

Bandung, Dec 7, 2011.