The HEART of SUCCESS ~ Making it in business without losing in life

I found this little treasure among the books in our family mini library. The short review on the back cover of the book said, ‘it is very hard to put down’, and I totally agree with the review. I spent the entire night reading this piece cover to cover. It was a page-turner indeed.

Truth be told, kebanyakan point-point penting dalam buku ni are no rocket science pon. Come to think of it, they are common sense tapi somehow in our busy and hectic life we lost touch with our common sense. I completely agree with his point on the importance of having a work-life balance. Kebanyakan kita hari ni disebabkan desakan hidup, both men and women of the house can’t afford but to have their own career to make ends meet. Nak harapkan pendapatan seorang suami saja kekadang tak cukup jadi si isteri pon has to chip in by staying in the work force. Ramai la ibuayah sekarang yang keluar rumah seawal subuh dan sesetengahnye bile malam menjengah baru la pulang ke rumah. What happens to the children then? Tinggal lah anak-anak in the care of others.

Saya tertarik dengan the author’s statement about the time we actually have as parents with our children, “the number of days in the first 18 years of my children’s lives is 6,575”, bunyinye macam banyak kan 6 ribu lebih hari tapi cube kite renungkan. Kebanyakan kite bekerja 5 hari seminggu dan ade yang keluar seawal subuh, pulang lewat senja. Tibe di rumah, do we actually have the time to spend whatever waking hour left to “really be” with our children? To listen to their story? Pasti ada hari yang kite pulang keletihan that we do not want to do anything else but climb in bed and rest before the dawn breaks again for yet another day to hit to work. Ape jadi untuk hari itu? We lost one day of being in touch with our children and “those days are irreplaceable”. Walau banyak mana pon duit yang kite kumpul sepanjang hari yang kita tak dapat bersama dengan anak-anak, tak akan dapat beli semule those days that were long gone kan?

Many companies are aware of the need of striking a balance between work and life. Tapi adakah the awareness sekadar ungkapan? (Forgive me if I got the scenario wrong as I've left the work force 36 months ago, perhaps I have lost touch with the current trend). According to the author, some bosses who are considered successful live by the following order: First In, Last Out. Mungkin ini tidak berlaku di negara kita where the bosses with higher remuneration package biasenye spend the least hours in the office and most of his other tasks are delegated to others. Tinggal la clerks and other admin staff yang bergaji kecik ni sampai lewat malam untuk siapkan for the bosses. Despite that ade jugak di kalangan mereka ni yang speak with pride about the things they do at work or the fact that they have to stay back late just to finish up that presentation slides for their respective bosses. What many failed to realise is how dispensable and easily replaceable they are. Cube fikirkan sejenak, after devoting many years of service for the company, when you left the company, would you be remembered? Would any of your former colleagues or bosses telephone you just to ask how you’re doing? By the time the reality hits, you’d realise how much you have missed out in the lives of your children. Seperti kata penulis, masa kecil anak-anak kita sangatlah sedikit sebenarnye. To my fellow readers, “tell your children every day that you love them” cause we don’t know how much time we have with them. We keep saying to ourselves, “esok masih ada”, tapi masih adakah hari esok untuk kita?

Go on! Grab a copy of The Heart of Success or loan it from your local libraries to know more about the keys to making it in business without losing life in the pursuit. It’s definitely an eye opener. You’ll perceive life, success and achievement differently.