Your Own Boss

The past 2 weeks have been hectic. Ever since the release of the books, I've had so many errands to do... a lot of them dealing with the sending out of the books to the respective groups of people, including the people who made it very possible - the contributors.

And in between, I fell ill. Then just 2 days back, the printer spoilt. This hardy All-in-one printer just keeps reading 'error', and refuses to print. The print load of hundreds of papers the past 2 weeks may have taken its toll.

All this coming in the crucial time.

The printer has since been repaired and is as good as new now... but that is not what I would like to share here.

Challenges Are Not New
Actually, such challenges is not new. In fact, while in the process of producing the book, there were a few very challenging 'obstacles' we faced:

1. Designer's computer breakdown
Can you imagine, just when we were near our deadline, her computer had to 'take a rest' for a few days. That got me kinda worried and of course, I was quite anxious. We were finally on track to our delayed timeline, and then this...

So, all we could do was to wait & she running to use her friends' computers when possible.

You could imagine, that was quite a stressful period.

2. Over exceeding number of pages
Guess due to over excitement to fill in every bit of detail on Malaysia and as many photos from the contributors (the photos really are too beautiful to discard), we exceeded the number of pages by 50%!

When I found out, I was in a big shock. That was way beyond budget... and the thing is we were so ready to send it to the printers already.

But without a choice, we had to trim the pages back. That meant an overhaul of all the layout & the trimming of the words - all 300 pages of them.

That took the book a back seat of a close 2 weeks, and again, pressed us for time (I had to negotiate time with the printers).

Flashbacks
So when the printer brokedown, I once again, felt a lil setback, as it would mean some delay once again. And I guess because of the overwhelming workload (of this project & a new one I'm embarking), it just got a lil 'heavy' on me...

Then all the conversations I've heard/ have been hearing like
"It's not easy", "Don't know if it's worth it", "Other people are doing/ earning xxx"... all just came flowing into my head.

But, unlike last time when I first started, these words are now just words. Yes, they do come into my mind but they 'go in the left ear, goes out on the right'.

And then, I heard those 'magical words' from some relatives - the people I believe are usually your hardest critics, who will keep you on your toes & running! Yes, they are finally seeing what I'm doing, and acknowledges them (whew!).

Y.O.B.
More interestingly, I've just met an overseas aunt and she mentioned, YOB.

"Y.O.B"... I was thinking I've heard somewhere before... yes, I remembered there is this M.Y.O.B. (mind your own business)..., but YOB?

"Your Own Boss" she clarifies.

She was encouraging me that YOB is the way to go... Now I see it. And her words came exactly the day the printer broke down - what a coincidence! :)