Good Deeds: Should We Think Twice?

How many times you can get second chance to help others in one day?

Seriously, this is might be a silly question. But I started wondering about this matter few months ago.

One day, around 1 am at the airport in Jakarta, I was just get back from my trip, and there was this young lady, stewardess, she was looking for a transportation to get home or something. And I was waiting for a taxi as well, and she was a little bit nervous because she's expecting to get regular taxi, not the premium one. While I was there about to put my luggage to the taxi trunk. I asked her, "where you going?". And she said Bekasi (a place that is really far from the airport). I said to her I'm going to the city.

I was so stupid I didn't offer her any ride, well at least until I arrive to the city so we can split the bill and she will pay cheaper price then she would be able to continue her trip to home. I knew I could just say it to her, but I didn't! From the airport to her place probably could cost her around Rp 230.000 something. While from airport to the city could cost around Rp 100.000. She could just pay Rp 130.000! For the whole journey to home, I felt guilty and regret because I didn't offer her any help or whatsoever.

After that moment, I wouldn't think twice If someone else around me need help. When someone needs help you can't reconsidering few minutes, because sometimes the moment just passing by in a split second.

In London, people are walking so freaking fast and not really paying attention to what happen around them. But if we slow it down little bit, probably, there are senior citizens need your help to bring their luggage when they are using a normal stairs. If you think twice to give a hand and you will miss that chance to help them.

So, what I'm trying to say here, you will probably facing this kind of situations every day. Where your help is needed at that moment. Read the whole situation in one second, and don't think twice, the chance for you to give a little help probably wouldn't come twice as well. Do it before it's too late.

I don't need to explain why we need to do good things. It's not sunday class for kids. But pushing yourself to react spontaneously to help others is shaping your character. When you expected to give support, initiatives and help, you won't have to rethink it. It's in your blood. God use you to become useful for someone else. You are probably favour or blessing to others. Or superstar. Like the old lady on the Bond Street underground stairs said to me. I'm her superstar of the day. :p

Not Just Another Campaign

I finally able to wrap up all activities that 3 Little Angels did for the whole February in one video. The amazing thing about this movement is we are able to collect more than 75mio rupiah in one month to distribute to kids with serious illness in Indonesia.

We started the campaign at the beginning of February, and now people still keep ordering the tshirt as their contribution to help others. We are not selling tshirt, this is why sometime people come to us and donate more than Rp 150.000.

Those people who amazed me are those who work behind these projects. They are volunteers with great heart. They don't expect any money, since we don't use donation money to our daily cost. They don't expect fame or to be recognised by public. They just doing it to serve others, and it comes from their heart. For me they are truly angels.

I do believe that this AngelsHeart Campaign is just the beginning. I'm sure God will be still using us in future to reach others and help those who need.

Write Down Your Aspirations

Kalau flash back ke belakang lagi, semua yang di achieve saat ini adalah aspirasi dari masa lalu. Suatu sore gue pernah nemuin buku coret2an 5 tahun lalu gue yang isinya aspirasi karir, pendidikan, traveling, rumah dll. Dan pas dilihat lagi.. wow.. amazed aja. Ternyata semuanya kesampean. Walaupun keringet darah dan basah ketek untuk ngelwatinnya.

Ternyata punya aspirasi itu bisa ngebawa kita kemana-mana ya. Mungkin tanpa sadar pikiran kita ngebawa tingkah laku kita dan aiming ke aspirasi aspirasi tadi. Nah kenapa gak coba bikin aspirasi2 kita dalam sebuah catatan, tulis di blog, print gambar nya kalau perlu tempel di samping layar komputer.

Seperti yang gue lakuin sekarang ini; writing down my goals.

1. Car:

Walaupun memang khayalan tingkat tinggi, tapi sebenarnya mobil ini cukup affordable di UK. Tinggal dipilih aja warnanya yang mana.. :p

2. Home:

Apartment at The Grove

Dua minggu lalu ke show unit nya , damn... keren banget. Walaupun harganya mencekik leher, tapi spacious dan well designed banget. Ya namanya juga show unit. Tapi daripada punya rumah yang ngurusnya ribet, mungkin apartemen lebih simple.

Hmm.. ternyata so far itu doang aspirasi gue.

Walaupun terlihat sangat superficial, tapi memang perlu punya aspirasi. Nanti coba lihat lagi 5 tahun kedepan. Pas nyadar udah tercapai jadi bisa lebih bersukur.

Indonesia – The country branding puzzle

by:
Martin Roll(Business & brand strategist):

http://www.venturerepublic.com/resources/Indonesia_–_The_country_branding_puzzle.asp

Asia is a global economic hotspot. Asian countries are fast emerging as global economic super powers. If the Asian Tigers ignited the economic boom in the 90s, the Asian giants – China and India – are powering the Asian rise in recent years. Many factors make Asian markets more lucrative for quantum growth than many of the highly developed, sophisticated Western markets. Asian markets offer a huge captive market of more than 4 billion people, majority of whom are young, gradually making the transition to middle class, with high disposable income and craving for branded products. Such a combination has not only made home grown companies take advantage of the tremendous market potential, but the Western companies have also made a grand entry over the years.

In spite of the dominant Asian trading mindset, Asian companies have started to make strategic investments in building brands in order to attract and retain customers, and to earn better margins. In addition to demands for branded products, Asians and Westerners alike have unanimously supported Asia’s thriving tourism industry. Such demand has further propelled the tourism industry to invest heavily in building strong brands. The last decade has seen cities, islands and even countries very aggressively branding themselves in order to create a resonating identity among the customer base and build sustainable life time customer relationships. This article examines that very topic of country branding in the specific context of an Asian country, Indonesia.

Country branding refers to a process in which a country claims a distinct positioning in the minds of its citizens and the global customers. To claim such a positioning, the country does a lot of coordination and integration of a multitude of activities. Take for example Germany. The country is known across the world for precision engineering, and quality, so much so that German cars such as the BMW claims German engineering as one of its strong advantages. To achieve this global positioning, Germany ensured that it trained the best engineers, invested in developing the required research and development facilities, cutting edge technological infrastructure and the government also facilitated regulatory assistance for Germany to emerge as the leader in precision engineering. As is evident, claiming a distinct position is almost the end of an entire process whereby all the constituents of a country – the government, public and private corporations, the people, the many institutions, investors and others – are aligned to achieve an all encompassing goal. As such, branding a country is highly challenging.

Any country that has a strong brand also benefits the products and services that come out of that country. The country, from which a company (product/service/brand) originates, has an effect on the company’s perceived quality and likeability in the minds of consumers – this is the country of origin effect (COO). Swiss watches, French wine, Danish designs, Thai hospitality, Italian fashion, the 100% pure New Zealand are some of the well known examples. Research has proven that COO has a very strong influence on customers’ willingness to purchase products and the price level they are willing to consider.

Given this introduction, what is the position of Indonesia? Even though many other Asian countries seem to have captured a very strong brand position in the minds of customers worldwide, Indonesia does not readily conjure any particularly strong images and connections. Singapore: state of the art technology, Thailand: exotic beaches and cuisine, Malaysia: Truly Asia, and South Korea: Thriving cultural movement, world class electronics and scenic beauty. None of these connections are automatic. These countries have invested millions of dollars in building such a brand identity and then have ensured that the identity is consistently communicated to all possible stakeholders through all possible touch points worldwide.

In spite of being surrounded by such global branding jewels, Indonesia does not seem to have realized the value of developing a strong country brand for itself. Even though it might seem surprising to an onlooker, for a branding expert this is not very surprising. Branding trajectories are closely tied to a country’s economic situation, regulatory frameworks, dominant cultural roots and the customer mindsets. But given the strategic importance of branding countries, Indonesia should be very aggressive and proactive about building its country brand. Below are some suggested actionable guidelines.

To be successful in branding their countries, the following four steps can be strategically important:

Create an overall positive brand image: The fundamental step for countries is to create a very positive brand image. This not only ensures that tourists, customers, investors and corporations are attracted, but also projects a positive facet of the brand to prospective stakeholders around the world. This can be achieved through a phased system of creating basic awareness, creating excitement about the many facets of the country and then offering these many stakeholders a memorable and enriching brand experience (such as special showcases of the country, brand visits etc).

Establish brand associations through alliances: Some of the best country brands – Germany, New Zealand, and Switzerland – were not created in a vacuum. All these countries created an intricate network of alliances with their cities, their unique cultures, their people and cuisines, and their unique national heritage and exotic places. Such a thing can be achieved through consistent communication strategies, comprehensive tourism packages and showcasing of Indonesia to tourists who visit the country. Such moves will allow Indonesia to achieve the first step of creating an overall positive brand image and a unique position among all the other countries competing for attention.

Offer credible tangible product features: Once Indonesia is successful in creating positive brand image and associations, it will have to back them up with strong tangible product features. In this case, such features could be a well implemented public safety program, a world class infrastructure that would continue to awe the different stakeholders, a robust regulatory environment that would protect intellectual properties, and an overall enriching brand experience. Such tangible measures would reduce the gap between the brand vision and the brand experience, thereby allowing Indonesia to create a consistent and resonating brand identity with all the multiple stakeholders.

Manage the holistic brand experience: The final and most important step is to proactively manage the holistic customer and stakeholder experience. The government, public and private corporations, many other service providers, and the general population of the country together should take consistent steps to ensure that tourists, businesses and investors are offered enough opportunities to enjoy, grow and prosper. Further, any and every interaction that these stakeholders have with the outside world should be monitored to gain valuable feedback. An integral part of managing experiences is to constantly evolve the processes and procedures to ensure that the customers gain a reasonable rate of return on their investment.

Conclusion

There is no denying the fact that branding countries has become a strategic issue for most countries. Gone are the days when only global tourist locations invested in building brands. But given the ever changing global competitive landscape and the ever increasing choice set for investors, customers and tourists, creating a resonating identity and offering excellent opportunities become a matter of survival for countries, especially for developing countries that strives to carve out a strategic position in the competitive landscape. It is high time that Indonesia takes some concrete steps to build a global country brand and showcase all the assets Indonesia has to offer. The guidelines offered in this article will provide an excellent beginning towards that goal.

Purpose

Everything that exist in this world have a purpose. There's no way a thing suddenly shows up in front of us without meaning or a reason behind it. And God created human on earth with a purpose too, even before we born.

"Your eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect; and in your book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them." Psalm 139:16

So there's no doubt that even if we live in our own will, God gives us purpose before we become a flesh and bone. That means, there is no one born on earth without having a purpose in life at all. I think they just lost, and they haven't found it yet. But how do we know what is God purpose for us?

What you believe about your origin will determine what you believe about your purpose in future. But how do we know our origin?

Look at your blackberry. How do we know about all details and feature that this device have if we had never read the manual? For sure you will know when you trying to push this and that button, and there's a possibility you will get your blackberry error or spoiled, because you change the setting randomly without knowing it from the manual book first. You make your blackberry as an experiment. And there's always a geek friend of yours or an ITC ambassador who will fix up your problems. But life is not a blackberry. You can not make an experiment in life. Because when you do a big mistake at the time you experimenting your life, no ITC Ambassador or geek friends will fix you up easily.

So read our manual book. A holy bible. Open it, you can always find something interesting there. I read this book before; Life's Missing Instruction Manual : The Guidebook You Should Have Been Given at Birth written by Joe Vitale. But this is nothing compare to the Bible. Seriously.

There are so many people live their life out there, by clicking the autopilot button, just remember my posting about life in autopilot. We do same things everyday. If someone ask them what is your purpose in life. They are going to say; "Well I just let my life flow like a wind, go wherever it is..". Sadly to say, I think more than 50% people that I know, having this kind of mindset. Have you ever wonder, do we live only to become what we do right now? Don't you intrigued by thinking that is so much more than we have now. As we know, people are evolving.

Again, blackberry, with GPS, push email, browser and many more features, will be very useful if we are able to use its full functionality. But if we only use this device for sms and phone, it will degrades the value if it. I mean why not buy a flexi phone or something less expensive than that? It's the same for us, if we're not maximizing our abilities and skills, we will make ourselves less valuable than we should be. Think Big about yourself. This thought will bring you to achieve the next level of your life.

Remember Genesis 1:26 "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."

We are meant to be conqueror. Remember that.

A questions that pops up when we ask about our Our Value.

1. Are we valueable to Society? Are we matters to our working place?

2. How many people under our influences?

3. how many people affected and inspired by us?

4. how many people listening to your words? Read your tweets?

5. How many people will miss you when you die?

The life after we know Jesus should make ourselves reach many people's lives, not making our life solitude. So that people will see God's Glory in you.

When God gives us purpose, sometimes, to achieve that purpose we have to face many temptation. But when we face the temptation, don't ever complaining and whining that the temptation coming from God. James 1:13 "let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God never tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man."

But who are we kidding, we human, make mistake, and the temptation is coming from our flesh too. This is the real battle of life. The true battle is with our own flesh. And how do we know which one is God's purpose in us and which one is not? Should we doing praying or fasting for 40 days? Or should we meditating in the dark to know the God's purpose? But don't worry, I believe we have our own way and time to connect and feel very close to God. Some of them feel connected with God when they drive alone, some of them takes one week vacation to get the real connection. But if you really close to God, you will have an automatically response and you will know what wants you to do. It's like relationship, when you close to someone and very intimate, for sure you will get connected easily.

So few things that we should ask to ourselves about the purpose in life:

• What do you want? He will give you desire of heart. Just do something that you like. Don't do things that you hate, otherwise you will never stop complaining for the rest of your life.
• Why do we want this? Don't do it for your own glory. Do it for God's Glory. And people will see Jesus in you.
• What do you need to do to make it happen?
• Are we living in the purpose of God?
• Can we be the salt of the world and light to the world? Check your fb and twitter. Do they bring salt and light?
• When people mention your name. What do people remember the most about you?

Let's think about it. Make a purpose to Glorify God's name, and God will bring you to anywhere you want, anything you can be.

CoB-01

Life in Autopilot

Just this morning I realized that I've been driving my life in autopilot. On my way to the office, I should have taken the fastest way since there was no more 3 in one instead of taking my usual way with all the traffic and crazy buses. It's funny coz I only realized it half way to office. I knew something wrong was happening to me. That was not the first time.

I used to be the guy with a lot of guts and had no fear in doing different things in my life. I didn't mind traveling with strangers. I was not afraid of wandering alone in a city where I knew no one. I can say "I want to resign today" without making any sense at all. I even go fishing! Now, those things would not happen spontaneously. Even if I want to take the chance, there are so many considerations. Work that I can't leave, partner to worry about, car, dog, wet ceiling, plant to shower, and so on, and so on.

Maybe, I'm trap in my own web so called comfort zone. The ironic thing is my thoughts about comfort zone really happen to myself. Am I losing my freedom? The word of freedom is not as simple as it used to be. Now life brings so many responsibilities much much more than it had. Sometimes, it's okay to press autopilot button, but I hope the pilot will still be able to control his airplane before same things happen to adam air.

Soundtrack of Your Life

Imagine life without music. The train station would be so boring. The go-out-from parking space moment would be so empty, and yes, bit scary if I go home at midnite. Sunset would be just yellow light in horizon, night jogging would be more into jail-escaping, sitting alone in coffee shop and watch people pass would more like sitting in coffee shop, coz I'm deadly thirst and I dunno why so many people passing by.

Having a soundtrack of your current moment is amazing. Two hour train ride from London to Portsmouth with music from Passenger and Kings of Convenience feels like romantic gateway, even you are alone. Traffic jam from my office to home in Jakarta feels like a splash of city light, what you have to do, put the John Mayer, Neon. Or even if you try to burn some fat at the gym, you can always put on some beats from Keri Hilson. It's necessary to bring your iPod/iPhone to the gym, (yeah not iPad)... just to make sure that you run away from the never ending approach from Personal Trainer, the gossiping noise from chatty chatty sissies in the lobby or steroid scream from Bulgy-over-protein guys in weight-lifting area.

Having a soundtrack while you doing something, it's like you are the star of the movie. It's like everybody is watching you from cinema. Music gives you added value of your activity. Jerk off is included.

Comfort Zone

Nggak terhitung banyaknya jumlah job hoppers di Jakarta. Pindah dari satu agency ke agency lain, dari bank satu ke bank lain, atau dari lokalisasi satu ke lokalisasi lainnya.. Banyak. Sebenarnya apa yang dicari para job hopper tadi? Tawaran gaji yang naik terus setiap mereka pindah? Atau benefit-benefit lain seperti insurance yang unlimited atau bahkan housing loan? Atau outing ke luar setiap tahun? Apa semua pekerjaan itu harus dihitung dari jumlah angka-angka tadi?

Mungkin nggak semua orang berpikir seperti yang tadi. Sebagian job hoppers ada yang bener-bener pure ngerasa bosan dengan tempat kerja lama mereka. Alasannya bosannya macem-macem. Ada yang berpangkal dari kerjaan yang nggak challenging, itu-itu aja setiap hari. Ada juga yang ngerasa suasana kantornya bikin mereka 'tumpul'. Bahkan ada juga yang beralasan tempat makannya itu-itu aja.

Hal bagus dari seringnya pindah kantor, jenjang karir pasti lebih cepat. Iya dong. Mana ada orang yang pindah kantor untuk di posisikan di jabatan yang lebih rendah kecuali kalau soal gaji. Dan positifnya banyak hal baru yang challenging. Banyak hal baru yang bisa di pelajari juga. Tapi kredibiltas dan loyalitas para job hoppers perlu dipertanyakan. Apa sebab dia keluar dari perusahaan tempat dia bekerja sebelumnya. Kalau ternyata memang pattern, wah bisa-bisa hrd kantor kerepotan, 6 bulan setelah dia masuk mesti siap-siap cari pengganti. Yang ini malah bikin repot orang-orang.

Dan lain lagi kasusnya dengan orang-orang yang bertahan stay di suatu kantor untuk jangka waktu yang belasan tahun. Mereka ngelakuin hal yang sama setiap hari, duduk di tempat yang sama setiap hari dan ngerasa nyaman banget dengan kondisi mereka. Mereka tipe orang-orang yang cari aman. Cari aman dari kondisi di luar kantor yang sebenarnya susah untuk cari kerjaan baru. Cari aman dari kebijakan kantor lain yang mungkin punya kebijakan yang beda. Kalau dilihat dari kualitas orang-orang kayak gini, orang yang gak merasa dirinya tertantang untuk ngelakuin hal-hal baru berarti mereka orang yang nggak mau belajar. Dan seumur hidup, mereka akan bertahan dengan kualitas yang sama. Jadi orang yang terlalu nyaman dengan comfort zone nya adalah mereka yang mediocre. Mereka yang nggak mau maju. Bukan berarti salah juga sih orang yang seperti ini. Untuk urusan kantor yang dari tahun ke tahun ini aja sih mereka adalah orang yang tepat. Tapi untuk perusahaan yang ingin maju dimana setiap bagiannya orang-orang kayak gini yang jadi penghambat. Dan nggak ada jenjang karir untuk mereka.

Kenapa nggak kita, yang walaupun punya comfort zone sendiri, coba keluar sebentar dari comfort zone tadi. Coba hal baru. Lakuin project luar kantor (kalau seandainya urusan kantor yang bikin bosan). Renovasi rumah. Travel! Kalau nggak libatin diri dengan project-project sosial atau ikut quiz, di internet, tv, radio kek... Atau kalau mau gila lagi. Resign dari kantor! Well yang terakhir nggak di recommend kalau belom pasti sih.

Ada baiknya juga punya comfort zone, tapi sesekali keluar dari lingkaran nyaman ini juga perlu. Untuk tahu kualitas diri kita. Dan harus tahu jalan pulang balik nya.

Mind Travel

Alam pikiran itu luas. Dan luasnya tergantung dengan imajinasi kita. Buat gue, tenggelam dalam pikiran itu luar biasa. Masuk ke dalam setiap memori yang pernah terekam di otak, memainkan ulang kembali, dan sedikit membumbuinya dengan berbagai macam imajinasi jadi sebuah mind-blowing experience. Suatu kali saat pulang kerja, diantara macetnya senja dan himpitan gedung, lagi-lagi gue tenggelam dalam pikiran. Membayangkan naik vespa di antara jalanan oberoi, berdua, sambil menunggu sunset. Suara angin pelan-pelan terdengar di balik earphone iPod, Crush into Me, Dave Matthews band. Kemudian sedetik kemudian pindah ke jalan shinjuku, autumn wind, tersesat dalam ucapan-ucapan yang gak gue ngerti, udara malam yang dingin dan sebuah peta kecil di tangan. Sedetik kemudian pindah lagi di sebuah public space di raffles place, berteman dengan yoghurt dan sandwich mexican roast chicken, dan pisang. Ngobrol berdua, sambil ngelihatin manusia yang lalu lalang, one of the best place to chit chat till' the last train come.

Tin tin!! Bunyi klakson. Shit, lagi enak-enaknya. Ternyata balik lagi ke Jakarta yang senja hari, yang macet dan penuh polusi dan polisi. Polisi cepe yang asik asik minta ribuan, dan polisi lalu lintas yang malak puluhan ribu. Well.. kapan aja gue butuh kabur dari Jakarta, segampang gue mind traveling.

Synergy of The Universe

Pernah dengar gak apapun yang ada di semesta ini sebenarnya saling berhubungan, bahwa sebenarnya isi semesta adalah titik-titik dots yang berserakan di sebuah kanvas besar, dan kalau kita lihat dan kita sambung ternyata membentuk sebuah gambar, seperti di buku TK dan playgroup. Gue jadi inget temen gue dulu yang nggak naik kelas 1 sd, gara-gara nyambungin titik titik di soalan essay ujiannya.

Anyway. Pernah denger nggak soal air yang kalo kita kasih energi positif di airnya, molekul airnya juga berubah jadi bagus. Ini sih menurut temen gue yang baca buku The Power of Water. Begitu juga sebaliknya. Make sense. Dan ngejelasin juga secara logic orang yang ngedoain air untuk kesembuhan. Karena air diberi energi yang positif itu tadi, maka air akan mengandung energi kesembuhan.

Memang omongan gue tadi agak lompat-lompat dan berserakan. Ini teori yang beberapa hari lalu gue pikirin dan di benarkan oleh seorang teman yang baru aja ikutan training di kantornya. Bahwa kalau kita punya keinginan akan sesuatu, kita teriakin, say it out loud to people. Dengan begitu mind set kita akan termotivasi untuk dapatin yang kita inginkan karena udah terlanjur ngomong ke orang-orang. Dan berusaha mungkin untuk dapatin keinginan itu sedaya upaya mungkin. Nah ketika will nya gede banget dan kita beraharap dengan berdoa, terus termotivasi, dan semua daya upaya kita, maka semesta akan bersatu dan mengupayakan itu terjadi, tentunya selain diri kita sendiri yang gak berhenti berusaha. Sama halnya saat kita berikan energi positif ke air, maka air pun akan mengandung energi yang positif. Energi hope dan will tadi akan menyatu dan berbalik ke kita lagi. dan somehow, it will happen.

Berarti semesta akan bersinergi saat energi-energi baik itu positif dan negatif dilepaskan, dan sebagai bagian dari semesta, kita pun juga akan terkena pengaruh sinergi tadi. Entah itu dampak positif atau negatif, akan berbalik ke kita. It's just like karma.