Friday, July 14, 2006
TY's Reply To CW's Question
There was a question CW asked me that I found rather interesting and would like to share it.
She asked......
Say... u havent planned la.. n u r deciding on a possible future occupation... would u rather do sumthin dat u r damn sure u can do damn well or do sumthin which u find interestin but have not a clue how to even start?? The former u have experience in. THe latter u find intriguing and deserve a go. Which would be ur pick?? Would mr Rational pick d latter?? My Answer:
I summarize what CW asked into 2 cases:
First: An occupation that I can do well in.Second: An occupation that I may not do well, but I find interesting and deserve a go.
Solutions:
1. General Solution:
Know the first rule of economics ?
"People face tradeoffs"
This problem is very closely tied to that.
The way I look at it, both cases are not ideal cases. Going for the first will yield a more assured result while the second MAY have better results but I cannot tell at the moment because of my lack of skills to perform in the second case. An unseen tradeoff in the long run.
But, here's the thing, the word "MAY" refers to a possibility of a better return in the long run due to more opportunities in that job.
So, in order to make a decision, I would have to do some analysis on both cases. The "Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threads" a.k.a SWOT analysis works well here.
Knowing the market, advice from people, experiences also help in the analysis.
Of course, gut feelings also plays a role. Not to mention it being one of the strongest determining factor.
At the end of the day, the final decision is always based on a combination of analysis. And the choice that has a better opportunity is obviously chosen.
SO......... it's now a question of "opportunity".
And the question of "how to identify opportunities ?" is a question that can only be answered by the decision maker himself. People can only tell you where the opportunities are but NOT how to identify it. So, that part will have to be thought of VERY carefully.
2. TY's solution:
In a battlefield, a good general knows that turning the tide of war in his favor will ultimately lead to victory. This involves a lot of planning, anticipation, considerations, advices, analysis, support...... and a very simple philosophy of "thinking ahead even before the problem arises".
Same thing applies to above 2 cases.
In order to make things happen the way you want it..... You have to be in the "tactical position".
How to be in the tactical position in the field of "occupation" ?
First, set an ULTIMATE goal you want to achieve in the field of "occupation". Then, start planning today. Simple eh ?
Since both cases mentioned above are not ideal, but with enough planning, you can MAKE them ideal (Turning the tides).
That way, you can avoid the later problem of having to choose between 2 non-ideal cases because you have already thought of it and prepared for it earlier.
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Well, I hope that what I wrote above was useful to all of you treasured readers.
If you do have a question, or want to know more about the topic, feel free to ask :)
I left out quite a number of factors because of 2 reasons:
1. Writing down everything is going to be VERY VERY looooooooong.
2. I left some parts open to interpretation, it leads to new ideas.
"May all of us prosper in our future."
- By Tseng Yang a.k.a "Eye In The Sky"
