I Love Being Resourceful

Kata ini termasuk baru di telingaku. Pertama kali aku dengar saat pelatihan bahasa inggris di Pertamina Learning Center.

Mrs. Joyce, selaku pengajarnya yang memperkenalkan kata ini. Dan cukup menggelitik telinga untuk mengetahui maksudnya, karena dia selalu mengucapkannya sepanjang waktu untuk memotivasi murid-muridnya. Be resourceful... be resourceful... begitu kata-katanya setiap hari selama pelatihan.

Sebenarnya apa sih maksudnya Resourceful ini?

Resourceful memiliki kata dasar ‘source’ yang memiliki arti sumber. Kalau menurut pengertianku bahwa orang yang resourceful adalah orang yang mau secara mandiri / proaktif untuk mengembangkan dirinya sendiri dengan mencari berbagai ‘sumber’ informasi bermanfaat yang berupa apapun, darimanapun, kapanpun, dari siapapun dan bagaimanapun caranya, dan tidak terlalu bergantung dengan satu hal saja.

Fungisinya bisa jadi adalah untuk mengumpulkan informasi sebanyak-banyaknya untuk menyelesaikan suatu masalah. Karena byak masalah tidak memiliki panduan solusi untuk menyelesaikannya, dan sering kali pula tidak ada orang yang akan dengan baik hati untuk menjadi kamus berjalan bagi kita, Kita sendirilah yang harus jadi kamus kehidupan untuk diri kita sendiri

Dari salah satu sumber yang kubaca di situs tetangga (gak usah ditranslate ya... udah pada pinter kok hehehe), ada beberapa langkah menjadi seorang yang resourceful, check these out :

1. Be prepared

You can't anticipate everything, but you can anticipate many things, and the more you can prepare ahead of time, the more resources you'll have to draw upon when faced with a problem. Also find ways to curb future problems if you can. ‘Prevention is better than cure’.

2. Assess the situation

When a challenging situation does arise, try to clarify and define the problem as best you can. Don't spend too much time worrying about the problem. Rather focus on finding solutions. This can be learnt by training your mind each time you start worrying.

3. Assess what is available to you

Being resourceful is, above all, about clever, creative use of resources. Don't forget that resources aren't all objects. Do you have access to, or could you obtain, any of the following?

4. Work backwards

Take stock of what you have available, then consider how you can apply it to the problem.

5. Break the rules

Don't go around carelessly disregarding the law, but do use things in unconventional ways or go against conventional wisdom or societal norms, if it will help. Be prepared to take responsibility, redress wrongs, or explain yourself if you do overstep your bounds.

6. Be creative (think out of the box)

Think of crazy possibilities as well as obvious or practical ones. You might find inspiration for a workable solution in one of them.

7. Experiment

Trial and error might take awhile, but if you have no experience with a particular situation, it's a very good way to begin. At the very least, you will learn what does not work.

8. Use the situation to your advantage, if you can

If you missed the bus and the next one doesn't come for another hour, could you enjoy a cup of coffee or browse a store nearby while you wait? If the weather is freezing, could you use snow as shelter or ice as a building material?

9. Improvise

Don't box yourself into thinking that only a permanent solution will do. Use what you have at hand for a temporary solution. Fix your bike enough to limp home and do a proper job later.

10. Be an opportunist

If an opportunity presents itself, do your best to take it. Don't overthink and don’t ever thwart it or you’ll regret forever. Chance will not come twice.

11. Act quickly

Often an effective solution hinges on a speedy response. Be decisive, and once a decision is made, don't analyze, act.

12. Learn from your mistakes

If you had to scramble to correct a problem, take steps to make sure that it doesn't happen again. If you tried something that didn't work, try it a different way next time.

13. Be persistent

If you go away before the problem does, then you haven't solved anything. Try again, a dozen or a hundred different ways, if that's what it takes. Don't give up. Never consider not succeeding immediately as a failure - consider it practice. See the positive in every situation.

Ada juga tips-tips tambahannya yang bisa membantu :

1. Don't panic. Pressure may be a good motivator, but not if it's clouding your thinking. Think about why you can't just give up on this and that will give you the edge for the persistence you need to succeed.
2. Practice being resourceful before the pressure is on. Try cooking a meal with whatever is on hand in the pantry rather than going out to the store. Invent what you need instead of buying it. Build or create your own, even if something is ready made and available.
3. Don't dwell on the past. If the root cause or original problem is something you can't fix, simply work to recover as best you can.
4. Human contacts, like physical tools, can be collected in advance of when you need them. Networking, formal or informal, is one way to go about that collection. Also, if possible, offer others favors before you need to ask for any.
5. Being resourceful is an ultimate source of knowledge. Sometimes you can always look at a successful person who has many useful experiences that helped him/her get to where he/she is and you can try asking them simple questions that you might be curious about.
6. Also researching, reading is also very helpful. Being updated with important things can help you in the future. Focus on something you like and look for different links that are related to the topic or idea so that not only do you learn about it, but you can master it.

Untuk mengimplementasikan hal-hal di atas sebenarnya gampang-gampang susah, tapi bisa jadi susah-susah gampang (kalo gampang gak seru dung ya, kan gak ada tantangannya hehehe). Tapi menjadi seorang yang penuh informasi ‘resourceful’ ini insya Allah sangt bermanfaat, disaat orang lain hanya melakukan hal yang biasa-biasa saja.

Dan aku tahu satu orang yang sangat aku kenal yang menurutku cukup resourceful. Itu adalah Mi.

Kenapa begitu? karena Mi menurutku sangat resourceful jika sudah memiliki rencana, berbagai macam informasi bisa diperolehnya dengan mudah, terbantu juga dengan adanya internet. Apalagi kalau sedang ON FIRE ( lagi full mood maksudnya), tapi kalau udah moodnya ilang. Hehehe langsung 180^o deh.

Sifat resourceful Mi ini bisa menjadi contoh buatku untuk improvisasi diri. I love being Resourceful. Amien.

*) Knowledges are everywhere, but oftenly people don’t know how to looking for due to their selfish perplexity. Take deep breath, calm and a cup of warm tea, you’ll be surpised.

Pi