I'm Busy. Bullshit, You Are Just Not Important Right Now!

I am busy you fool!

How many of use rang up someone and you got a reply back saying "Sorry, I'm busy right now, call back later" or "In a meeting, call back later"? I bet everyone has this moment. 

How about when you invite someone for a function and they say "Sorry, I have another appointment" or "Sorry, I am not too sure whether I will be able to make it"?  I use this all the time. 

How about the time you sent out a meeting invite which you have plan for fews weeks ahead, book the meeting room, prepared the coffee, got the projector working, printed our the handouts and the day come no one shows up. Why? Because the CEO called everyone in your invite list for an urgent meeting.

This got met pondering, it's not people are busy. It's how they prioritize their circles. Take for instance Google+. Once you sign up, the first thing you have to do is create Circles and add your friends in each respective Circle. Here you are actually determining who is important in your life. 

Google Circles

• Close friends, go into the Friend Circle
• People who you just met on the street, Twitter or Facebook, goes into Acquaintance Circle
• People who annoys you go into the Blocked option
• Important client goes into Very Important Person Circle
• so on and on..... 

The Mistress Calling

You see, any part of our life we subject our attention to what is most important to us. If the wife calls during meeting, you say "I'm busy with work, call back". Now, what if the mistress calls? What is responds like? :)

No one is really busy in their life, it's just people responds differently depending on the situation and the people they are interacting with. If the boss calls over the weekend, highly likely you will answer the call because, your job is at stake. If friends call over the weekend, you can decide whether to answer or not. If we do answer, then we still have the option of saying busy or otherwise.

What if your are waiting to close a major deal which your life depends on or a recruiter to your dream job says he/she will call you on Sunday between 9AM - 10PM. I bet the handphone is glued to your face 24 hours right? Because the particular is call is important and nothing else matters during that period. If someone else calls during the period, we would say "I'm waiting for important call" and click Cancel button because our fear that VIP call would not go thru.

We prioritize all the time and most time we make one party important and another less important.  We tend to break promises because of importance as well. Sometimes we make our work more important than anything else. I am guilty of this and I'll write about this in an upcoming blog post soon.

So what constitute busy? If your mother, wife and mistress calls you and you give the same answer, then you are busy.

So, next time someone says I'm busy, just know that he/she is bullshitting. You are just not important at the moment.

12 Tips on Art of Networking

I got this email from Wendy Lim who is a Professional Image Consultant from Chapter One. This email couldn't come in a better time as I am brushing up my networking skills. Perfect!

How to Lose Friends and Make Enemies?

Got this in a newsletter.

Over the past few years an epidemic of rudeness has swept America. Here's how to perpetuate the disease.

1) Ignore people. Don't return phone calls. Never answer the phone. Don't listen when people talk to you.
Talk on your cell phone when with others, especially in restaurants or other public places. Don't acknowledge
that others exist. The greatest insult that you can give someone is to ignore the person. If you excel at this skill
you can skip the next four paragraphs.

2) Show disrespect. Make fun of others. Assign stupid nicknames or deliberately mispronounce names. Make
people wait for you. Laugh at other people's mistakes, struggles, and fears. Use sarcasm and cynicism freely.
Treat people like idiots. Disrespect is powerful because it strips people of their dignity.

3) Criticize. Find fault in everything. Spread gossip. Complain about anything and everything. Remind people
about mistakes they made, even if decades ago. If possible, embellish your complaints with exaggerated
descriptions of failure. Keep a written log of faults, flaws, and fumbles so you can grind on them daily. Develop
a whining tone to your voice. Critics reduce everything to dirt.

4) Be negative. Master pessimism. Attack every change or new idea. Always focus on failure. Expect the
worst to happen. Never accept or approve anything. Refuse to participate or cooperate in any endeavor.
If something appears to work despite your efforts, cause delays so you can prepare fresh arguments against it.
Aggressive gloom creates perpetual hopelessness.

5) Get mad. Throw tantrums. Scream. Yell. Shout. Slam doors. Hit walls. Throw things. Act violent. Use
accusations, insults, and threats to disrupt conversations. Tolerate nothing. Insist on retribution. Always attack
first. Blame your anger on others. Unpredictable, insane behavior keeps other people off balance.

Caution: Application of these tactics guarantees that the need for lawyers will increase.

Jangan Menyusahkan Orang Lain

This picture was taken last Friday after performing the Friday prayers at Masjid Tengku Kelana in SS 6, just beside the MAS building. There was this inconsiderate person who parked his car on the curb of the road and blocked a bus from going through. You can’t really see in the photo here, but look at the distance from where I took the shot and the traffic stopped.

Imagine all the traffic clogged up behind? Especially after prayers. Tolong lah, kalau ye pun nak solat Jumaat, janganlah menyusahkan orang lain. Parking kereta betul betul. Jangan pikir diri sendiri sahaja. Datang awal ke masjid. Aku yang sakit lutut pun boleh parking jauh dan jalan semata-mata tak nak double parking, tak kan u tak leh buat? Some people… what’s the point of praying when you can’t even meet your social obligation?