Volunteerism can help to cure your stress and depression

A FEW weeks ago, I witnessed one of my dreams being realised - the birth of our volunteer portal, Do Good Volunteer (www.dogoodvolunteer.com).
This volunteer portal matches people like you and me, who desire to help and volunteer but never know where to look for volunteering opportunities, with organisations that need help and resources.
For years, I longed to see this “connection” happen, and finally, our team at Leaderonomics, with help from the team at The Star, has managed to pull off this magical portal.
But why was this so important to me and my team at Leaderonomics? Because volunteerism is how our nation can be transformed. More than that, volunteerism is the under-utilised secret weapon that individuals and corporations can leverage to take your organisation to greater heights.

The weapon

For some strange reasons, in many corporations, volunteerism and CSR get branded together and are usually thrown to HR leaders to manage. Most business leaders view it as an activity that organisations need to occasionally dabble in. And for HR, there are usually more pressing issues like ensuring employee productivity, retention, and enabling their talent to grow and develop new skills and abilities. Volunteerism is thus thrust to the backburner as a nice to-do. What most leaders fail to understand is that volunteerism enables HR to achieve all their goals. Additionally, it provides a vehicle for the business to reach a lot of its strategic goals. And it is free.

You want to live longer?

We know volunteering is good for your soul. But do you know that volunteering drives up productivity in organisations? Study after study show that volunteers actually live longer and have lower rates of disease than their peers who don't volunteer, no matter what age.
Research from both the Mayo Clinic and the University of California conclude that there are significant health benefits to volunteering, including lower mortality rates. Another study concluded that retirees over 65 who volunteered had less than half the risk of dying compared to their non-volunteering peers. “We found that volunteering remains a powerful predictor of decreased mortality among retirees, even after extensive adjustment for possible confounding factors,” wrote the study's authors. “Yes, volunteers live longer”, chimes Dr Gary Kennedy, who was one of the doctors who led another study in San Francisco.
In yet another study, people with chronic pain who volunteered as peer counsellors found that theirheart diseases, disability, chronic pain and feelings of depression all lessened from volunteering.
A Duke University study found that individuals who volunteered after experiencing heart attacks reported reductions in despair and depression two factors that that have been linked to mortality in post-coronary artery disease patients.
Imagine the implications for HR from ensuring volunteerism is a key agenda in your organisation: lower medical bills, fitter employees, more engaged workforce, people happier and more productive and you would have employees that lived very long and happy lives.

Combating depression

In fact, the most common workplace issue is stress and depression. And what is a possible cure? You guessed right volunteerism!
Volunteering combats depression. When we volunteer, our bodies produce oxytocin, which counters stress hormones associated with depression, such as cortisol and epinephrine.
A key risk factor for depression is social isolation. Volunteering keeps you in regular contact with others and enables you to develop a firm support system, protecting you against stress and depression in challenging times.
“People who are socially engaged will have a better quality of life and better survival,” reinforces Dr Gary Kennedy.
In fact, employees who volunteer have higher self-confidence levels than those who don't. Volunteering provides a healthy boost to your self-esteem and life contentment. Doing good for others and the community provides a natural sense of accomplishment and purpose. It also gives you a sense of pride and identity.
And the better you feel about yourself, the more likely you are to have a positive view of your life and perform much better at work and at complicated tasks.
But the most important benefit that volunteerism brings to organisations is that it is a proven way to develop leaders.
Leaders are developed by experiences. A number of years ago, I led the volunteer organisation at General Electric (GE) and observed many careers developed through volunteerism. One such case was Sheela Chandran, who rose from an administrative assistant to a regional leader. Even as a secretary, Sheela got involved in organising volunteer activities for everyone at the office. She learned to influence people to support her causes and learned to mobilise groups of people.
At volunteer events, she would project manage, lead and give instructions to all of us to follow. She learned numerous leadership skills (for free!) by volunteering and leading volunteering efforts.
Her developing ability as a leader was noticed and she was promoted to more senior roles in the organisation.
Volunteering can also help you build upon skills you already have and use them to further your career. Just like Sheela, who improved her public speaking, communication, marketing and influencing skills, HR leaders should leverage volunteerism as a great leadership development tool. And in many cases, especially for young people, there are not many leadership roles available in your workplace to practice leadership. Volunteering provides your young people opportunity to practice leadership.
Another interesting research fact: 90% of successful corporate leaders were involved in some form of community work whilst they were young, enabling them to practice leadership at an early age. Yet many of these leaders have forgotten that this same means of their development should now be leveraged for their employee's development.
So, why do organisations not reap the benefits of volunteerism in a bigger way? Part of the issue is the perception that volunteering requires heaps of time.
But for you to live longer and benefit from the great side effects of volunteerism, research shows that you would only need to invest about 100 volunteer hours a year.
That breaks down to two to three hours a week. Just two to three hours a week and you experience higher productivity, live longer and have better self-esteem.

Final thoughts

Volunteers are often the glue that holds a community together. Volunteering allows you and your organisation to connect to your community and make it a better place. There is much power in businesses engaging their workforce to volunteer on a regular basis.
Research suggests another advantage for self-sacrificing volunteers - the ability to get dates. Surprisingly, women rate such altruism high on their list of desirable traits in a mate.
So, go ahead and volunteer. It's easy and if you don't know where to start, login to: www.dogoodvolunteer.com and start your journey to a long life.
Roshan Thiran is CEO of Leaderonomics, a social enterprise. Roshan believes there is a time for everything, including volunteering.Roshan also hopes more HR leaders uncover the power that volunteerism brings to organisations.

keep doing it...never give up....

3.29 petang...21hb February 2011... aku kembali menulis...eh menaip....arghhh lebih kurang la tu....hmm sedar x sedar, sudah hampir 7 bulan aku berkerja di company ini.... 5+2 (practical n' Kerja)... Alhamdulillah, so far ok... yup, ianya memang sangat mencabar...betul, itu yang aku mahukan... yeah!!!

(To be Continue.............

-Reality itu adalah kenyataan-

25hb disember 2010, mungkin orang lain sedang tunggu hadiah dari santa ataupun tengah memikirkan cara untuk memasak megi hot cup.  Tetapi tidak oh tidak.  Aku kembali mengupdate blog dan ianya sesuatu yang pelik.  Mungkin deman yg merencat segala aktiviti aku selama seminggu ni mengakibatkan aku menulis post ini.  Sahabat-sahabat lain sudah pun sama tamat belajar. HOoorey da abes belajar.  No more assignment, Classes or stupid freaking results yang perlu di cek selepas tamat semester.  Hahaha.  But it's Was Fun kan?  and What next??...

Bagi yang normal musti la mengimpikan kerja dan mostly payment or dalam malay minded DUET!!...  Yups, kami sume ni bachelor Degree Holder. eh2 plus HONS. lagi.  Apabila mengimpikan sesuatu kerja, musti meraka nk gaji berasas (basic) dengan dorg punya kelayakan.  I tell you what, nothing is f**king wrong when you demanding something like that.  Yups, basic Gaji itu penting kan?.. paling kurang 2K korg mahu betol?.. nnti dapat gaji boleh barang ni, barang tu, baju mahal2, jeans, beg and all the a**hole you wanted to.  Then terpikir plak nak de transport at least a car la.  Hmm let me guess paling buruk2 pn Myvi or stupid Saga BLM or Viva paling cikai kot. Mcm xde taste tp itulah reality!

But lets faces the reality, yes i said again REALITY!!!!......

 

Malaysians are getting married at older age. Why?

Malaysians  are  getting married at older age. Why?

Say  you are a fresh graduate at that age of 23, a male,starting a carrier with a salary, say RM2000 per month.

 Monthly, extracting your expenditures on foods, transportation (public or motorcycle), electricity, water, phone, house rent and other
 expenses, say you can save about RM800 the most.

Then, because you are a good son, you send some money to your parents or relatives about
 RM300 per month. This will give you a balance of RM500  of  saving.  For  the first year, maybe you are  very discipline with
 your budget, so you save about RM5000.

 The  next year at the age of 24, you meet a girl of your dream. Both of you
 plan  to  get  married after one year or two. Ok, that's fine, it gives you
 time  to  save  some  more  money  and  some more time to prepare the basic
 necessities  for a 'happy' family? a car and a roof to live under. That year
 because you are a hard worker, you get a raise of 10%.

 Since you are also a gentleman,  you  make  sure  some  money is put aside to spend on dates and
 gifts for your girl, so 10% goes for her. Like the previous year, after
 much sweat and Meggie-eating months, you save another RM5000. You are paid 2 months bonus. So, another RM4000 is
 added to your saving. So, your total saving now is RM14,000.

You decide to spend about RM8000 on a brand-new RM40,000 car down payment. So, you
 net saving that year is RM6000.

 The next year at the age of 25, you are doing fine at work. But because
 now you have to pay for car every month, your total monthly saving is
 cut down to about RM400. You save roughly about RM5000 that year. No
 bonus that year because your company is doing poor. So, your total
 saving in the bank is RM11,000.

 Then, you decide to get engaged with
 your girlfriend. She said OK. So, need to buy an engagement ring.
 RM1500 is spent on ring plus 'hantaran pertunangan'. So, your net
 saving that year is RM9,500.

 The next year at the age of 26, you get promoted. Your
 salary now is 1.5 of your  starting salary at the company.  Good news! You think. "Ok, this year
 I will get married". You also are 'gersang' already.  :)

 So, you ask your fiancée "how much is the dowry  (hantaran)? "
 She say, "berapa-berapa yang u sanggup".
 You ask,"RM5000 ok?".
 She replies, "I okay je. Tapi my mom tu. Dia kata grad oversea macam I
 ni mane boleh letak rendah-rendah. Paling kurang RM10,000 tau!".

 Your eyes  'terjegil', air liur  'meleleh' and you faint on the spot.
 "Where else in the world can I get extra money?", you say to yourself.
 But, because you are very determined to get married with your dream
 girl and in the name of love, you work really really hard that year
 until you are awarded "The Best Employee of The Year". You get 3 months
 of bonus. You also do some side business to supply ayam pencen. So,
 roughly your net saving at the end of that year is RM20,000.

 Ok, now you are 27 years old with enough saving in the bank to pay for
 the dowry. But then, come your mom saying,"Anak mak nak kawin ni mesti
 la buat grand grand. Kita sewa khemah besar-besar, jemput penyanyi ke
 artis ke sorang dua datang buat persembahan. Lauk pauk kita cater aje
 la ya? RM10 je sekepala. Baju kawin ko, kita sewa yg cantik-cantik
 dan mahal-mahal sket. Kita jemput dalam 1000 orang datang ok?"

 You  did  a  quick  in-the-head-calculation,
 "1000xRM10=RM10,000, penyanyi lagi,  khemah  lagi,  buta-buta  je  RM15,000!!! Tu tak masuk cincin kahwin lagi!!"
 You say,"Mak, nak buat apa membazir-bazir duit ni?"
 Your  mom replies,"Apa pulak membazirnya? Kau kawin sekali je seumur hidup.
 `Biarlah buat betul-betul." You insist,"Tapi mak?"
 Your mom says, "Dahlah, kau jangan nak buat malu mak. Cik Tipah jiran
 kita tu buat kenduri kat hotel siap dato, datin, tan sri puan sri lagi
 datang. Mana la mak nak letak muka kalau buat kenduri kecik kecik?".
  Anyway, you finally get married. But, a beautiful happy life after
 marriage that you dream of with your wife does not last long. You have
 debts around your waist, interest gets higher every month, cannot
 afford to pay them, you wife gets tired of you asking money from her,
 she accuses you of being irresponsible husband for not being a good
 provider, blah blah blah? At the
 end, you two go into separate ways? You get divorced.
 Problem  breeds  problem?  Sometimes  we wonder why marriage institution is failing  in  our  country.
 The above example may not represent the whole phenomena in our culture,
 but perhaps it gives us some ideas of the problems young couple these
 days are facing in getting married from my perspective.
  The Root Cause of The Problem...
 There is something wrong in our culture. I really think there are some
 practices in our culture in Malaysia (Malay culture specifically) that
 do not make sense and especially they are contrary to the teaching of
 Islam. These practices are well-rooted in our culture that
 unfortunately because of them, many people are 'afraid' to get married,
 or simply feel like they cannot afford when they are actually can
 afford. These are some of my observation and summary analysis:

 (1) Marriage should be done in the most modest way but in Malaysia, it
 is ought to be done in the most lavish way. Competition on whose
 wedding is the most grandeur is almost unavoidable. Fame is usually the
 reason why people spend unreasonable and wasteful amount of money for a
 wedding.

 (2) The "price" of a woman is measured according to her perhaps
 educational status not according to her knowledge and understanding of
 Deen and piety as suggested by the religion. The saddest thing is that
 "price" is put on women, who are supposed to be, if God-loving,
 kind-hearted and pious ones, "priceless"! 'Dowry' system is adopted by
 the Malays from perhaps the Indians who came to Malaysia long time ago.
 When the 'dowry' is put too high and men can't afford to pay, marriage
 is usually delayed or cancelled. An effort to build another small brick
 unit of this Deen is delayed or perhaps destroyed only for this reason.

 (3) Marriage should be a quick and easy process for the couple not hard,
 which eventually becomes a burden. These days, we make marriage so
 complicated that people are afraid of getting married. When I was in
 the Sydney, I saw Muslim brothers and sisters getting married at the
 mosque, with just some sweets as the main course for the guests. The
 guests who were invited to witness the ceremony were usually whoever
 prayed jemaah at the mosque  or  some  close  relatives  and friends. There
 is no point of being extravagance.  We  should  focus  on the life after wedding not the wedding
 itself. Wedding is only a door to the marriage house. Why should we
 spent a lot of money to decorate the door so beautifully, when the
 inside of the house is then left empty, dark and unattractive?

 ...and the pressure is on men...

for newspaper today - utusan 22nd june 2009

Masa rehat penting elak tekanan mental

KUALA LUMPUR 21 Jun - Rakyat Malaysia disaran memperuntukkan sedikit masa dalam sehari untuk berehat bagi mengelakkan daripada mengalami tekanan dalam diri sehingga boleh mengakibatkan sakit mental.

Timbalan Menteri Kesihatan, Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin (gambar) berkata, setiap masyarakat perlu tahu bahawa kekurangan masa berehat antara punca seseorang itu mengalami tekanan mental.

Orang ramai, jelasnya, tidak boleh membiarkan tekanan terhadap perkara tertentu menghantui diri dalam tempoh yang panjang kerana ia faktor utama menyebabkan fikiran menjadi sedikit terganggu.

"Masyarakat sebenarnya perlu mengimbangi masa rehat dengan masa bekerja.

"Kita hanya manusia, dan manusia memerlukan had dalam setiap perkara yang dilakukan. Tetapi zaman sekarang manusia dikawal sepenuhnya oleh bebanan dan tekanan pekerjaan," katanya.

Beliau berkata demikian kepada pemberita selepas melancarkan Kempen Anti Denggi anjuran Reckitt Benckiser (M) Sdn. Bhd. dan GCH Retail (M) Sdn. Bhd. di sini, semalam.

Beliau mengulas jumlah pesakit mental di negara yang terus meningkat 400,227 kes pada tahun lalu berbanding 346,196 kes tahun sebelumnya.

Menurut Menteri Kesihatan, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, lebih membimbangkan, jumlah kes bunuh diri turut meningkat dari tahun ke tahun ekoran ia berkait dengan penambahan pesakit mental.

Rosnah berkata, selain masa rehat yang diperlukan oleh orang ramai, makanan seimbang juga faktor penting untuk menangani tekanan dalam diri.

Sehubungan itu, menurutnya, kerajaan sering menasihati masyarakat supaya mengamalkan gaya hidup yang sihat supaya bebas daripada masalah tekanan dalam hidup.

"Mulai saat ini, orang ramai perlu mendidik diri dan keluarga untuk meluangkan masa dengan beriadah kerana kajian mengatakan peredaran masa dan globalisasi akan menjadi cabaran hidup kelak," ujarnya.

Sementara itu, dalam ucapan perasmian, Rosnah menasihati masyarakat untuk mengambil masa selama 10 minit dalam seminggu bagi membersihkan kawasan kediaman daripada menjadi tempat pembiakan nyamuk aedes.

Katanya, 10,916 kes dengan 57 kematian dilaporkan di seluruh negara bagi tempoh awal tahun hingga 6 Jun lalu.

"Justeru, kementerian merayu kepada orang ramai untuk bersama-sama dengan kerajaan menjayakan kempen perangi denggi yang kini menjadi agenda tetap kerajaan ekoran ia merupakan wabak paling bahaya," jelasnya.