a groovyweb

I’ve lost track the number of times a friend or a peer told me: “I’m too old to study”, “I have no time and I won’t be able to complete the program”, “It’s too much hassle”, etc. Indeed, each of these are genuine concerns when considering taking up formal adult learning. I know, because I embarked on my own higher education at the good ol’ age of 29. It was certainly an overhaul of lifestyle, and in my case, a complete change in career, industry and colleagues. In short, I changed my world.

Three years later, I achieved what I wanted academically. I will share with you my personal strategy on keeping motivated and ways to build a base of confidence to pull you through your adult learning life. As with any long-term project, you really need to start by building a solid motivational storehouse as a foundation to keep you anchored along the way.

These are my five key sources of motivational energy.

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A while ago, while reading Peter Drucker, I came across his philosophy that was, at first, a little disconcerting to me:

Forget ‘success’? ‘Contribution’? Like Mother Theresa?

Then it all made sense.

All our lives we’ve been told to be ‘successful’ and ‘over-achieve’ (a default if you’re a Singaporean). Our success is measured on the kind of education that we receive, the grades we hauled home, the jobs we land, the lifestyle we adopt and the property we live in. A very singular pursuit indeed.

Nothing wrong with personal wealth and accolades (perhaps some of you contributed a few million dollars to your company’s bottom line that enriched the lives of your colleagues.) But can we do more? Can we make a daily difference to the lives of others? Can we help others achieve and replicate our own success stories? Can we contribute meaningfully?
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Here is something different on this blog. My experiences, thoughts and learning over the last week.

#BarCampSG4

Last Saturday (21 Nov), I attended BarCamp Singapore 4, organised by Preetam Rai and Kelvin Quee. Sponsored and held at IDA Singapore (also co-sponsored by Yahoo! SG and Hackerspace.SG), BarCamp was open to all. This being my first attendance at a BarCamp, I was not too sure what to expect although I had some ideas, having read some accounts on previous BarCamps.

What is BarCamp? Read on Wikipedia.

BarCamp is Crowdsourcing

Just like the concept of crowdsourcing in social media, most of the topics of the day were suggested by the attendees (pasted on IDA’s wall as shown on photo to the right), then voted by attendees and eventually presented by the attendees. Anyone was free to present on any topic they fancied (technology, social media, creative arts, culture and social sciences) and there were really off-the-wall submissions including ‘How to Present Difficult Concepts to Lesser Beings’ by Coleman Yee (which I thoroughly enjoyed) and one that I rued I missed: Adrianna Tan’s ‘How to Hack Your Own Travel Channel Life’ (thank God for Slideshare). All in all, I enjoyed the sessions I attended, the learning and the impromptu discussions.

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I am currently finishing up on the BA studies, majoring in Marketing Management (I’ve just realised how little they actually teach you in college.) Part of the final dissertation/professional project submission is to assess my learning styles and the personality that comes with this person. Very interesting results. Major points to consider about self:

• I am exceedingly multi-modal, which means I use a complete combination of  visual, aural, kinesthetic and read/write to learn.
• My dominant personality functions are: Extraverted Intuitive and Introverted Feeling. Not bad for this geezer.
• In Belbin’s Team Role Test: I’m a Plant, Specialist and Evaluator Monitor.

Of course, there are dark sides to all of this. You can find out below. Bottomline, with all these tests, I am much better able to judge myself and certainly capitalise on all my strengths and work on those niggling deficiencies. It will help in the long run.

You may also wish to experience the slide set below in its ‘glory’ via .pps.