#99 - The end of chapter three
This is my 99th blog posting. After being three months in Sri Lanka I wrote a posting "End of chapter two". Now it's a good point to reflect back on how life has been during the past nine months and close the third chapter (that turned out to be a bit longer than the previous ones)
Finns. As I found the other Finns in Colombo my life changed a bit. I saw how they are living in much more luxurious way, though not that far away from my semi-jungle dwelling. I saw how they are sticking to their own language while I'm spicing up my English with normal Sinhalese expressions. I realized they can afford AC while I'm quick-fixing my fan. I envied a bit their living conditions while I had to put up with the smell in my room where I still felt like home. I heard them planning their summer vacation in Finland whilst I thought I'm stuck here for the whole 18 months.
That triggered a change in my thinking. I realized I can also go back home for a while; and I did. I realized I can also lead a posh life every now and then; and I did. But most importantly, I realized I'm just fine with a simple life; I don't need all that glitter and comfort. All I need is people who I care about around me.
Growth & doubt. Hearing the positive feedback from our clients and seeing how hard it is to find "someone like me" to work at Unleash Talent, I understood how much I've grown professionally. I now understand my value in what I do, in what I'm passionate about. In case someone would want to employ me, they would have to pay a lot... and I'd still refuse. Of course I could go and work for someone else and collect money to have more stable basis to start my own business, but why would I postpone? The decision to become an entrepreneur is now so clear. That is what I want to do, yes, but I've also realized it's something I'm capable of. We have an excellent product and I'm ready to take up the challenge. Still, I doubt at times but mainly because of some practicalities.
Cross-cultural management. However, everything has not been that easy. The hardest part so far has been getting things done through others in a culture where a promise don't mean a shit. I hate pushing people all the time and reminding them of what needs to be done. Back home if you promise to do something, you do it. Here, you can choose not to. I have been really poor in "managing the third parties" outside our company. It seems that I'm powerless. I feel weak. I don't know how to get them to deliver. So many times I've heard people saying "I'll do it tomorrow", knowing it means that it might not ever happen but still hoping that something happens. So many times I've felt relieved that someone has said "yes", though it just meant "maybe" or "definitely not" and the person didn't want to hurt my feelings by telling the truth. The skill of cross-cultural management is yet to be developed. Oh boy, it's so different than in the university case studies...
Love confusion. I have been confused if my relationship is going to hold. I have been wondering if it's really worth waiting a common life somewhere in the future that might not ever actualize. I have been mulling over this same thing so many times just to go back to the original reasoning: "In case our relationship lasts over this period of time, it lasts everything". That has helped me always. Lately I've come to realize how much I actually love my significant other, and how much she misses me. No matter how independent lives we lead we belong together. It might be possible that we get to be together sooner than expected...
Book. Though lately I've been lazy finalizing the book I've been writing, it still is one of the major achievements during my time here. Somehow it just came together: a page after page the story just appeared on the paper (or screen actually). Maybe one day someone wants to publish that and maybe someone gets inspired or gets something out of it. The key point, however, is that I have proven myself that I have the discipline and capacity to write a full novel and not just random scribblings here and there.
posted by Tomi Astikainen @ Friday, July 13, 2007
1 Comments:
Maybe you should publish it chapter after chapter as in HTML/PDF format somewhere in Internet. You would get some feedback and you would have more pressure to get things done :-)
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