Do Something for the Person You will be in 5 Years

As a nation, we Filipinos are still trying to get there.
I know THERE is a bit vague. First World sounds good too.

Let's start with something simple.
How about going from Poor Sight to Foresight.
If more Filipinos made better choices, we might collectively
make a dent on the Things that Need to be Fixed List.

So, if the act of planning for the next 5, 10 or 20 years is too daunting.
Try what this wise professor is suggesting.
Do something for the person you will be 5 years from now.
Makes sense.

The 3 Powerful Steps to Phenomenal Success

http://www.flickr.com/photos/showmeone

I will not bore you with my commentary on Bo Sanchez's
latest inspirational message. The article speaks for itself.
Read it and live a phenomenal life!

The 3 Powerful Steps to Phenomenal Success
by Bo Sanchez

"Friend, do you want to be successful in life?
Remember that success doesn’t happen overnight.
Success is a journey.
In fact, you’ll have to pass via three landmarks in this journey.
Between where you are now and where your success is are three landmarks.
Here they are:
Landmark 1: When you discover your talent
Landmark 2: When you develop your talent
Landmark 3: When you deliver your talent

1. Discover Your Talent
A lot of people ask me that question: How will I discover my talent?
Kids ask me that question a lot. Teens ask me that question a lot.
Amazingly, even adults ask me that question a lot.

Let me be frank with you.
One of the biggest reasons why you haven’t discovered your talent
is because you haven’t been saying a lot of Yeses to life.
You’ve been habitually saying No.
To opportunities. To learning. To experiences. To stretching.

You’ve been saying No because you’re afraid.
You’re afraid of making mistakes.
You’re afraid of being laughed at by people.
You’re afraid of falling flat on your face.
You’re afraid of being humiliated.

Discovering your talent is like discovering buried treasure.
Treasure hunters don’t dig in one spot and automatically find
the treasure.

Treasure hunters go through a lot of surveying the area.
They dig in one spot, find nothing, dig in another spot again,
find nothing again, dig in another spot again, find nothing again…
until they dig in this one spot and find the treasure!

God has called you to serve Him with your talent.
So serve Him and be willing to make mistakes.
Be willing to fail.
Be willing to be a fool for Christ.
All you’ve got to do is say Yes to God!

2. Develop Your Talent

But I didn’t stop in the discovering of my talent.
I developed my talent.

Some people discover their talent, but they don’t develop it.
They’re good mechanics, farmers, speakers, writers, thinkers,
listeners, musicians, engineers, mathematicians, administrators—
but they don’t develop their talent.
They don’t hone their craft.
They don’t sharpen their saw.
They don’t expand their expertise.
They don’t increase their initiatives.
They don’t grow their gifting.

How did I develop my talent?
Simple.
I used it.

I said “Yes” to every single invitation given to me to speak.
Tiny prayer groups invited me to speak; I said yes.
Prisons invited me to speak; I said yes.
Hospitals invited me to speak; I said yes.
Poor dilapidated schools in far-flung barrios invited me to speak; I said yes.
I had to cross three rivers before I spoke; I said yes.
Only twenty people showed up; I said yes.
Only ten people showed up; I said yes.
Only three people showed up; I said yes.
In my early years, I would preach every single day.
I didn’t know it, but saying “yes” to every invitation was fulfilling Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 Hour-Rule of Greatness.

Sometimes, young preachers come up to me and tell me,
“Brother Bo, I want to preach as good as you do.”
“Great!” I say. So I ask him, “How often do you preach?”
“Oh, about once a month…” he says.

I want to strangle him.
“Once a month? By the time you’ll be any good, you’ll be 150 years old.
You should be preaching every single day!
Create opportunities for you to speak!”

Here’s the truth: The only way to develop your talent is to use it.
Let me say it again. If you don’t use it, you lose it

3. Deliver Your Talent
One of the things I’ve found out about this world is that
you don’t get rewarded for discovering your talent;
you don’t get rewarded for developing your talent;
you only get rewarded for delivering your talent.
In other words, do you have the ability to launch?

Planning to launch is not enough.
Preparing to launch is not enough.
You have to actually launch.

There are those who like tinkering with their work endlessly.
So they delay. And delay. And delay.
And they never launch.
It’s the sickness of corporate world.

Again, the reason why people don’t deliver is fear.
It’s same old enemy.
They’re afraid of failure.
They’re afraid of rejection.
They’re afraid of public humiliation.
So they want everything perfect before they launch.

And there lies the mistake.
There’s no such thing.
They don’t understand that perfection doesn’t exist.
What you need to do is launch and re-launch and keep on re-launching
until you get it right.


Give your talent to God.
Just say “Yes” to Him.

May your dreams come true,
Bo Sanchez"

Giving It Your All

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vshioshvili

"Once upon a time, I asked this question: Why is God so demanding?

Just look at the greatest commandment. Why does God want you to
love Him with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your
strength. (Matthew 22:37)

Shouldn’t He be satisfied if you loved Him with half your heart,
¾ of your mind, and 58% of your strength?

Why does God want you to give your all?

Helloooooow.

God doesn’t need your time.
He’s the owner of eternity. He invented time.

God doesn’t need your talents, definitely.
He can just snap his finger and ten thousand battalions of angels
kneel before him to serve.

And obviously, God doesn’t need your money.
He’s owns the universe.

So why does He want you to give your all?

Here’s why: When you give, you create a vacuum. An empty space.

When I was a kid, my Grade 6 science teacher said, “Nature abhors
a vacuum.” Nature wants to automatically fill vacuums. That’s why
vacuums are powerful magnets. That vacuum—that empty space—
attracts blessings. What blessings? The stuff that you gave away will
be returned to you, only of far better quality and greater quantity.

Listen carefully. The more you give, the bigger the vacuum you create.
The bigger the vacuum, the stronger the magnet—and the more
blessings you’ll attract into your life.

That’s why giving your all is the secret of big returns. There’s magic
when you give your All. Because you also attract All that God wants
to give to you." - Bo Sanchez

This is powerful stuff! Lately, I've been dreaming, planning, praying,
hoping, and moving to accomplish one too many stretch goals. This
is a great affirmation that all my efforts will one day bear fruit.

All in God's good time!!!

Perfect Timing

God's timing is perfect - it's never too early; it's never too late, it's always
on time.

A few weeks ago, T and I were at a function. I asked her how their recent
family trip went. The kids had loads of fun! And that was that... or so I
thought...

I found myself up and about at 3:00ish in the morning. Not unusual as
Baby M feeds at the oddest of hours. And then it hit me... Just as I was
about to crawl back into bed, I suddenly got a clarity of purpose; an
answer to a question I didn't even know I had...

Suddenly, I found myself with renewed energy and strength. Suddenly,
I had courage. Suddenly, I knew what I needed to do and why it needed
to be done.

Sometimes we ask if God is listening. Maybe we should be asking ourselves,
"Do we listen to Him?" I believe He speaks to us in many ways, sometimes
all we need to do is LISTEN.

The Cab Driver

"One of my favorite encounters on this book tour was my driver in San
Francisco.

As you can see he was very elegant and practically oozed self-confidence,
dignity and pride in his work.

I love people who show pride in their work, regardless of the job.

This man's car was spotless, his shoes were shined and he knew exactly
where he was going. He wasn't dressed like that for me, he had no idea
who I was, this was just another day and just another ride done in his
own stylish way.

I've said this so many times before, and recently in the intro of my book.
Even though this blog is about fashion I don't really think about fashion
when I look at this photo. I think about how he is communicating his sense
of pride and self-worth; not by how expensive his clothes are but by how
he wears his clothes, his posture and his politeness. This man is pure style."

~ The Sartorialist - October 26, 2009


I was rather impressed with the driver in this picture!

Kudos to all who do ordinary things extraordinarily well!

What can you do with a paper clip?

A few eons ago, I came across this question in a “psych” test. It was
supposed to be an exercise at creativity. Due to my lack of time – or
imagination??? – I didn’t get to list down much.

Here are some interesting uses for a paper clip: homemade compass,
flashlight part and camera tripod...

Pretty mundane right? Except that someone used a red paper clip to get
his dream house.

Moral of the story: Sometimes, with a little creativity, the impossible
can suddenly become possible.

My 090909 Day

Day to day life has it's regular rhythm and pace. Okay, that's a nice
way of saying that life can be one big routine. But routines are good,
they provide us with some semblance of order. However, every once
in awhile, doing something different can do one some good.

Yesterday was 090909. It was an auspicious date for some. Fo me, it
was a chance to check off something from the 101 Things to Do in
1001 Days List. 090909 was a chance for me to look for something
extraordinary from an otherwise ordinary day.

The day started where the previous day ended. H decided to work until
really late. At around 1:45am, H decided it was time to hit the sack.
Oh man, I had to get up as I was "resting". I had to do my night routine
as I was too lazy to have brushed my teeth earlier. Then I noticed that
the toilet did not want to flush; no problem, it just needed a minor fix.
And then, our roof started to leak from the heavy rain; no problem,
nothing paper towels couldnt fix. So before you know, it was 2:45am.
Okay, this day was not turning out the way I was expecting it to.

H and I were celebrating a birthday so we decided to take the day off.
We were supposed to just pass by the office. "Passing by" rarely or
never happens. So, I was not surprised to find ourselves there until
lunch time. For lunch, we decided to try the new Jollibee Chicken
Barbeque. Not bad. I have to hand it to Jollibee, they're R&D is pretty
good.

Tsk tsk tsk, half of the day had already gone by. We decided to spend
the rest of the day doing what needed to get done. Unfortunately, my
doctor did not pass by the clinic. H, on the other hand, couldn't have
his haircut as the guy had his day off. So, H worked on his paper. I
then decided to just kill the next few hours searching for a new baby
book. Before you know it, it was 6pm and we were off to mass.

Our day ended with a nice dinner at Crustasia. Boohoo, I forgot my
camera. We had Tom Yum Soup, Shrimp Pancakes, Singaporean
Chili Crab (Wow! Was that crab huge!) and Pad Thai (complimentary).
Yum yum.

As a whole, I'd say nothing extraordinary really happened in 090909.
But as a whole, it was a good day. H and I are in great shape. Sure, we
have our fair share of joys and "challenges/opportunities". But at the
end of the day, I'm glad everything is under His control.

Things to do this September

Today is September 1, 2009. In the Philippines, the start of the
"BER" months used to signify the start of the Christmas Season.
However, due to more financially difficult times, the Christmas
Season now starts at around November or December; depending
on whether it's a good year or a bad year.

Last year, I started preparing for Christmas as early as September.
It was our first Christmas as a couple. Suddenly, I had to learn
how to shop for 2! Of course, I had to make a "career" out of it!

As serendipity would have it, the 2008 Ramadan Season started
on the 1st of September. It was a Legal Holiday and I decided to
grab the chance to check out department stores in Makati.

I can still vividly remember the Christmas displays at Rustan's!
The Christmas decors just lifted my spirits and put me in a
holiday mood.

In the end, I made the right decision as I was on bed rest the
entire month of December. By that time, I was already done
with my shopping and was not stressed out over Christmas
preparations.

Here are a few things I picked up from last year's experience.
Spoiler Warning: this is not for those who enjoy the adrenaline
rush that comes when doing things last minute!

Things to do this September:

1) Start your "Spring Cleaning".

Spring Cleaning is not really a part of Philippine Culture. The
closest thing we have is the tradition of cleaning up the house
before Christmas and/or New Year's.

Starting this early will give you ample time to really assess your
home environment. Something you will not be able to properly
do if you start on December.

Do yourself a favor. Don't just do some cleaning. Go do some
clearing! If it doesn't work, doesn't fit, will never get used, etc
do dispose of it! If it is still in a decent condition, donate it to
family, friends or a charitable institution. Otherwise, throw
it away! Don't unnecessarily burden other people with your
junk!

2) Finalize your Christmas Shopping List.

Last year's Christmas Shopping was a breeze. It didn't feel as
"painful" as previous years. Firstly, my expenses were spread
out over a period of 3 - 4 months. Also, instead of buying things
at regular price, I was able to wait for sale events and bought
things at sale price.

I also had a "tea box" theme for a few relatives and friends. I
found a bazaar stall, with reasonable prices, to buy quite a
number of items from. This worked to my advantage as I was
able to bargain for wholesale prices.

3) Work on THAT SCRAPBOOK.

I have a few scrapbooks that I need to get done before the baby
comes. They're scrapbooks on stuff H and I did together. I'm
sure if I don't get these done within the year, these scrapbooks
will never see the light of day.

Each year has its own fair share of memories. You may want to
work on "documenting" this year's precious moments within
THE YEAR. Trust me, next year, you too will find yourself too
busy with other "more important" things to do. And do count
on next year to have its own share of adventures and
misadventures, wanting to be documented.

Let me know how things work out for you...

I hope these tips will help you experience the Holidays in a
a more enjoyable way!


I love lists... There have been so many that I can't
recall them all...

This is my ode to the humble list...

The Tinkering School

I came across the The Tinkering School while browsing through TED.
I'm not sure if a similar concept is available here. I hope to either find
something similar or TRY to recreate the experience for our child someday.

Happy Viewing!

Let's Talk About Money

"Oh, here’s another reason why I talk about money: I believe that
Christianity isn’t just about going to Heaven, but about bringing
Heaven down to earth—especially to those who are experiencing hell
in this world—the poor, the oppressed, and those far from God.

So I don’t want you to play small. Dream big. Be the best that you
can be. Reach your highest potential. Earn as much as you can so you
can give as much as you can! I believe that there’s nothing wrong
with having money—as long as money doesn’t have you."
- Bo Sanchez

Thanks Bro. Bo for the affirmation!

One of the "causes" dear to my heart is Financial Freedom / Financial
Success for everyone. I am just an average Pinay so the everyone here
is no grand audience. It is generally composed of people I encounter
in my everyday life.

I know some people don't get it. Sometimes people mistake this passion
for a "love of money". But to me, it's just a case of wanting to be blessed
more so that I can use the blessings to help others and serve others more.

It is quite sad that the Philippines, the only Christian nation in Asia,
has the majority of its population living in poverty. I'm sure there is
no easy solution to this problem. But I do believe that our God is a
generous God. With His grace and with human cooperation (I'm a
firm believer that sometimes this is the problem in one too many
circumstances... but that's another story), I'm sure things will one
day be better.

"Cross-functional" Information

I briefly told L that my family and I recently had an animated discussion
on the future education of the baby. She was mildly amused as my family
had all these ideas. She thinks we're all excited as the baby is the first
grand child in my family.

She and her husband are a bit more relaxed when it comes to bringing up Z.
I am the type to make a "career" out of things. So naturally, I am doing the
same with the baby hahaha...

I really just want what's best for our child. I think every loving parent does.
We all just have different ways of going about things. We all have different
personalities, attitudes, cultures, information, experiences, upbringing etc.
I guess all these factors will play a role in how we will be as parents. No
right or wrong here. All we can do is try our best.

I still consider myself as a student of sorts. No I do not currently study in
a school (except I do take Mandarin lessons in a language center). What I
am is a student of life. I've been like this probably since my grade school
days. People have different ways of dealing with information that come their
way. I get a kick out of discovering information that have "cross-functional"
applications in life. I'm such a nerd! hehehe...


Today, I'd like to share 3 "cross-functional" examples with you:

a. Always bring a notebook with you.

It has been said that writers always have a notebook with them. One never
knows when inspiration will strike.

I decided to adopt the practice. But my notebook is not just for ideas. I also
use it to jot down facts, information, questions, quotations, computations,
recipes, etc. Anything and everything that MIGHT be useful. I emphasized
MIGHT because it's possible something in there might not get used. But
that's okay. What's more important to me is that the information is there in
case I have a need for it.

In the beginning, I only had one notebook. Now, I have one for my day to day
activities, one for the pregnancy, one for recipes I pick up here and there, and
one for my blogs. I'm sure I'll one day have a notebook dedicated to the baby.

The multi-notebook system just helps me organize my life better. The day to
day notebook is always with me. The others are by my bedside and get brought
around on a "as needed" basis.

Just a side note. I used the pregnancy notebook for both pregnancies. As both
pregnancies have been delicate ones, the information from the first pregnancy
helped me manage this pregnancy better.

b. Failing to plan is planning to fail.

Planning activities are part and parcel of corporate life. You plan for strategies,
budgets, targets, policies, events, activities, etc.

I feel it is equally important that we make plans for our life. H and I have an
annual goal setting activity of sorts. We also discuss our personal and project
budgets. On our fridge you will find our list of goals, list of expenses, menu
plans, shopping lists, etc.

This year, I also made a 2 year Calendar of Activities. I am anticipating a
busier life when the baby is around. I have planned to do some things earlier
than usual for them to be accomplished on time.

Planning has also come in handy in our community service. We have been
involved in the different activities of CFC. Sometimes we're just attendees, but
sometimes we help organize things. As such, the general principles on planning
still apply.

c. Measure to manage.

Schools have report cards. Companies have progress reports. We too can make
our own report of sorts.

There are different ways of going about this. Our personal reports vary; it
depends on what it is we're trying to measure.

The personal "business" is under Project Management. It has a budget, gantt
chart plus plus. For this, H and R check if we're on budget and on schedule.
There is a database for expenses related to this. In this area, I just take note
of the "executive summary".

For budgets, H and I generally discuss a) are we up or down, b) by what
percent, and c) the justification for variances.

For certain tasks, I make tables. The first column contains the tasks I am
tracking. The other columns contain the time periods. I then put a tick mark
when a task is accomplished. A blank spot or an "x" signifies that the task
was not done.

For other tasks, a simple to do list will suffice.


As you can see. I am not the type to just take things easy. I sometimes have to
make a conscious effort to stop and relax. I have also learned that sometimes
things will not go my way. Sometimes, God has better plans. At the end of the
day, what's important to me is that I know I did my best. Sometimes, life reminds
me that I need to practice faith; "to let God and to let go." If I did my best, then
it's easier to let things be.