ICT

Going to blog about my ICT here. Hope this post will not offend anyone...

Anyway, just completed the third day of my ICT, so far it's still not as bad as I imagined. Before the ICT, I applied for deferment twice, and was rejected twice. Tried again on Monday, but the commander told me chances not high. Then finally today I received a phone call from the HR, and while the clerk was telling me the results of the deferment, I was thinking to myself, "Pls, pls, don't let the deferment be successful...".

This thought surprises me, especially since I have fought so hard to explain my case. But after spending 3 days in ICT, I came to the conclusion that
1) I have already spent 3 days in ICT. Only 8 more days to go..
2) It's very hard to apply for deferment, meaning that I will most likely have to complete at least 10 cycles anyway, so might as well clear this one.
3) This ICT is not very siong, so oh well, just do loh..
4) I can use this time to recover. Still haven't fully recover.
5) My project seems to be doing well without me, and I can still provide them off-site support,
6) Heck, army paying me anyway...

A few things I observe is that no one would choose to come to ICT if given a choice, meaning that everyone has the same mentality, so don't have those siao on people (which is a good thing).
Pace of life now is really slow. Man, have to ram up my processor once I return to my project. Sux, just when I am starting to perform at my level. But nevermind, shall take this as a challenge. On a side note, this project is definitely going to be one of the turning point in my career. My first project absolutely sux, because of poor proj management, lousy leadership and disalignment of career objectives. My second proj was much better, but still I didn't really achieve anything outstanding, maybe because transition phase; too many people in the project and not much ownership of anything. Also didn't have a chance to interface with client, and hence was in the background most of the time. I think the reason why I am finally starting to perform to my expectation is because firstly, I have more project experience to bring to the table; secondly, I know what the whole proj is about; thirdly, this could be my last project; and finally, it's an overseas project so it breaks the previous vicious cycle.

A few things I have learnt about myself from this project are:
1) I still enjoy working on projects, as compared to a daily job,
2) I am able to contribute if I make an effort to; good to know I'm still in the zone. :)
3) It is important to be working with someone who understand what you are doing and appreciate your efforts,
4) To perform, just putting in the regular hours is not enough. You will be twice as likely to be outstanding when you are putting in more hours than other people, than when you are just more effective/efficient that others.
5) Monetary incentives are definitely something that is a big factor for me. The allowances in Malaysia is one big reason why I am still ard, and why I am putting in so many hours. (the ugly truth of what motivates me... shit.. I'm cheap...)

8 more days to end of ICT. Having IPPT tomorrow. Hope I can clear it so that don't need go again for this window. Think if I can clear my 2.4, it's going to motivate me to go for standchart again this year. But not going to think too much about it, since I haven't run for a few months..

Oh well, logging off, need to wake up at 5am again tomorrow. But compared to staying in, I definitely prefered being an early riser. :)