Of the Choices We Make

Life is all about making choices.  It is not like what others tell you;  that your destiny has already been laid down even before you were born.  Because if it was, where would your sense of responsibility be?   I think, and this is my own opinion, that the grand design was that we were given the “free-will” to choose the life we want to live.  Having that privilege makes us think responsibly and act with dignity and integrity.  I also think that the ultimate design was to make us accountable for the lifes we live.

Choices makes us human.  It separates us from all other creations.  Plants don’t think.  Animals act because of instinct.  But humans, are capable of thinking, feeling, making choices and acting on those choices – independently.  We do not eat because we are hungry but because we know we need to to satisfy our hunger or sometimes because we want to.  The point is: we do not go to work because we have to but because we opt to.  I think that saying that everything happens because of faith is really hard to believe and sometimes reach the point of being illogical and nonsense.

If you screwed up in life, in one time or another, would you blame that to some grand design or to other people?  Of course not.  You know you always have the choices.  You have the options.  It is not because “it simply happened” ” I was not prepared.  And “I ‘ve got no other choice.”    Remember, things didn’t just happen for a reason.  Things happen because we let it happen.

In life, there are things we can control and there are things we cannot control.  Sunrise and sunset, rain and sunshine, earthquakes, lightning, thunder, the blowing of the wind… these are things that occur in nature.  There’s nothing we can do about it.  But here within ourselves, we have controls over it.  Well, maybe not totally, like the graying or falling of our hair or the wrinkling of our skin as we grow older, but what we think, do, or say, these are what we can control.  There are choices we can make regarding those things.

When I was still a child and I didn’t know what I wanted to become when I grow up so my father used to tell me that I should become a CPA.  I must tell you, he is a visionary.  He saw what I would become even before I knew what I wanted to be.  But as I grow up and now that I am of age, I cannot say that I don’t have a choice.  I could always turn away from what my father wanted me to become.  But I didn’t.  Was it because I have no other option?  No!  I am what I am now because I chose it to be.  As I grew older, I was fascinated by this profession until I became what my father wanted for me.

Now that I have grown older, I made my choices in life.  I choose where I want to work.  I choose the kind of work that I want.  I choose the friends that I want.  I choose the kind of life that I want.  Even if the situation appears to be something like a “no-other-choice” situation, I know there are at least two choices.

I remember a story that’s been going around in the internet for a while now.  One night, the husband came tired from work and asked his wife what’s for dinner.  ”There’s food on the table, make your choice” said the wife.  When the husband lift the cover he saw two cold and fried dried fish.  Infuriated, the husband shouted to his wife, “What choices do I have, this is the only food on the table?”  ”To eat or not!”  she replied.

I feel sorry for people who were left with no choices in life – at least of what they perceived it to be.  I also pity my self for thinking like there are no other choices.  Of course there are other choices.  To be or not to be.  To do or not to do.  To have or not to have.

It is true that we are what we are because of the choices we made in the past.  But that’s just one side of the equation.  The other side is God’s nod.  I don’t mean, God agrees with every choices we make.  What I am saying is that, things won’t happen without the go signal from the heavens.  Take for example, I could have burnt all the midnight oil I could burn, read all the books I could read, study to the point of not stopping, but if God had not allow me to pass my exams and everything, I would still be studying hard in school right now.  But I wasn’t.  Was it because “I simply chose to finish schooling, pass the board, and land a job?”  Absolutely not!  But because there’s Someone who supported the choices I made.

Moreover, not because my choices came true does it mean that God agreed with all of it all time.  Our choices were granted to let  us know its consequences, to help us learn more so that in the future we could be wiser in the decisions we will make.

As I end my note, I would like to say that “Of the choices we make, ensure that it came from the heart, carefully evaluated and analyzed, and communicated.

Conflicts and Competition

What’s the difference between the two?

Just about a week ago, I heard a young lady professional mentioned these two words.  Here’s what she said that really caught my attention:

Conflict brings out the worst in you.  Competition brings out the best in you.

Admittedly, I, at first, thought that the two words mean just the same thing.  But after giving it some thought, I think that woman is right.

You came to the office one morning, then, you were summoned to your boss’ office.  He demanded about your report that was long overdue.  You’ve talked about this thing long time ago.  You’ve said that the project couldn’t be done hence the report could not be prepared.  Instead of solving the current situation, the two of you took turns blaming each other and proving how idiot each one is.  That’s conflict.

People went to war.  That’s conflict. Killings, famine, starvation, death, pain, torture.  All the bad things in life usually came from conflicts.  Have you talked to someone you love today?  What did you talk about?  Was your conversation about compliments or conflicts?  A little misunderstanding every now and then?  As much as possible, avoid or resolve those teeny-mini-issues.  Don’t let it evolve to become a conflict.  Conflict is an acid to your heart.  Move away from it.  Avoid and Resolve.

What about the other “C” – Competition?  Competition usually brings out the best in people.  You don’t go out and compete to make enemies.  You make friends through competition.  You find lessons when you compete.  You build relationships.  You learn the best practices.  You benchmark when you compete.

I remember when I was still a student.  I have a friend whom I would often compete with.  In some lessons or subjects he’s better than me.  In some other subjects, it was the opposite.  There was a healthy competition between us.  It doesn’t matter to me who’s more successful between the two of us, rather I was inspired to give my best  shot, and in the end we graduated with thoughts that had not been because of that competition, we could have just been complacent.

Competition is not bad in itself, neither it is good.  It all depends on the people involved – the competitors.  Competition does not know which is right or wrong, it is the object of the competition and the means to achieve it that would tell you if your in the right or wrong competition.

Google and Yahoo! are competitors.  Mac and Android are competitors.  Apple and Microsoft.  Nike, Reebok, Puma and Adidas are competitors.  Because of these competitions we enjoy the good things in life.  We get the highest quality services and products they could offer.  They make our lives easier and more enjoyable.

Remember, conflict often puts into trouble but competition will always push your efforts to double.

Find a healthy competition.  Seek a good competitor.

Finally, My First Ebook On Amazon.com

FINALLY!

After almost a month after I have completed the manuscript of the book The Five Successful Ways to Fail, I have submitted it directly to amazon.com’s Kindle Direct Publishing. In just 12 to 24 hours from now, if everything goes well, it will be published. I will be a published author! I am so excited about this and I want to share the excitement with you.

In just a short time, it will be available for sale worldwide at a very affordable rate. My words seem to be without sense right now, maybe it’s because of the excitement I’m feeling or may be it is the feeling of fulfillment that I have completed one of my goals – to have my work published.

Hummm… what do I feel right now? Pure Excitement!

What am I thinking? A lot of things! When will I publish my second ebook? Will this book be able to sell? I don’t want to dwell on the negatives right now. But I do hope that amazon.com will be generous enough to have my works published immediately.

I can’t really explain how I feel after taking that step of conquering my fear of rejection and mockery. I know I don’t write as well as the others. It’s just my experiences and my thoughts that I’ve shared in this book.

Once published, I will give you an update in this site and on the other sites where I write so keep posted.

God Bless Everyone!

P.S. If you are too excited about this book as much as I do, send me a private message. You may never know, I might give you a surprise.

Be YOUnique

Earlier today, I had the opportunity to have a brief but meaningful discussion with a colleague in the profession.  I wouldn’t give so much details as I  did not have the chance to ask for the other person’s permission.  I just thought of writing it here so that one day I could go back and review and at the same time I could share it hoping that somehow it could spark a change, hand a lesson or two or just be an interesting read.

It was exchanging ideas, really, about the profession and the workplace.  I did most of the talking for about the first 30 minutes or so.  Then when it was my turn to ask question, I find it hard to think of a relevant question that would somewhat at the level of his inquiries.  So I asked if his chosen career is satisfying.

According to him, he consider his job as a good career move  as he is currently working in a specialized area in his company.  In essence, he said that it pays to be specialized.  Because when you specialized, you remove the competition or at least move away from countless competitors.

Here’s my take on it.  If one works in a specialized field, be it in career or in business, he creates a higher demand for himself, or as Jim Rohn would say, creating more value that you can deliver to the market place.

It is one of the laws of economics working in here.  The lower the supply and the higher the demand, the higher the price.

But does it takes to be above the rest or even if not above, different?  It is your continuing effort to learn your trade.  If you will remember, I’ve mentioned in another article about a story where the pigs rule the farmhouse.  The story tells us that in order to succeed, you have to find your Factor X and play to your strengths.  And by playing your strengths, I mean harnessing your inner abilities.  What happens when you harness you inner strength, you set yourself above the others who enjoys being in the company of the many “average” and “mediocres.”

 

2012: Year of The Dragon

Dragon, a mythical and powerful creature that breathes fire.  More popular in the Asian setting.  Whenever I see or hear the word dragon, one thing comes into my mind, China.  I associate China with dragon and dragon with China.  For me, these two are interchangeable.  Why?  Because I noticed that most Chinese merchants have been using the image of a dragon in most of its establishments, businesses and product logos.

But what’s the relation between a dragon and financial freedom?  Well, let’s see.

Have you noticed how China had prosper over the last few years?  It is now so close to being the number 1 economy of the world.  It belongs to the world’s superpowers.   But such was not the case so long ago.  Take a look at your history book and notice that the Great Empire was once defeated by the “Land of the Rising Sun,” a country much smaller than China.  During that time, China was even called as the Sleeping Giant and Japan was the Energetic Dwarf.

Now, why am I telling this?  Because 2012, according to Chinese Astronomy, is the year of the dragon.  If it is the year of China’s rise to superpower, I don’t know.  But here’s what I think.  I think that 2012 is the year for everyone to become a dragon in his own right.  Let this  year be the year that the “sleeping giant” that you are will wake up.  Be the dragon that you are and “breathe fire!”  Like China, let us wake up from our deep slumber and live like dragons.

Let 2012 be the year that we all rise to our fullest potential, including the financial aspect of our lives.  As we have mentioned before, the first step to financial freedom is to change our beliefs.  Now is the time to do it.   Believe that this year, God has stored abundant blessings for us.  We don’t say that for the year 2012 we should only be thinking about being wealthy.

What we are saying is this…

I am sure you will agree with me that each year, we make promises to ourselves that we will be changing for the better as new year comes.  But when the holiday spirit was over, we went back to our old selves and forgot about our promises.  Come year end, we list down the same things we want to change or do, much more similar to what we’ve written the previous year.  And the cycle goes on and on. I think we should be stopping it right now. I think that we should take that LEAP!

This year, let us challenge ourselves to become the dragons that we are. Let this year be different as make ourselves different as well.

Here’s what I am thinking.  I want to start a new challenge for myself in the field of personal finance.  I want to be a dragon in that area.  I will be laying out my plans and hope to share it with you in the next posts under this category.

If, like me, you want to be financially free, I dare you to make your own personal challenge.  Share your ideas as I will be sharing mine.  Let us hope for the best and pray to God that He will grant us His blessings in this journey.

To our success, Dragon!

LEAP! Year End Message

Before the year 2011 finally say goodbye, I would like to share with each of you a quote that I have selected to be my guide for the year 2012.

It came from Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, a.k.a. Desert Fox, of the Nazi Army.   Here’s what he said:

“Be an example to your men, in your duty and in private life.  Never spare yourself and let the troops see that you don’t in your endurance of fatigue and privation.   Always be tactful and well-mannered and teach your subordinates to do the same. Avoid excessive sharpness or harshness of voices, which usually indicates the man who has shortcomings of his own to hide.”

How about you, what’s your philosophy for the coming year?

***

May the new year bring us new hope, fill us with grace and abundance, and shower us with overflowing Love, Peace and Happiness from the Lord.

Stay safe in your celebration of the New Year.  It’s the time for merry-making, grab this chance.  But above all, set a little time to reflect on the year 2011.  Pray.  I say, there is no better time for the four (4) Rs than this time of the year:

• Reflect
• Reconsider
• Redirect
• Retry

May you have a safe, prosperous and meaningful New Year everyone!  Thank you to everyone who paid a visit to this site during the year.  God Bless us all!

In Quest for Greatness

Not so long ago,  a little farm boy walked more than a mile to reach his school.  With his firm belief in God and in himself and the steady guidance of his beloved parents, he finished his schooling with flying colours.  He made his parents and teachers proud.  Everybody expected him to be “great” someday.

 

After a few years, this farm boy finished his college education on top of his class.  Again, his parents and friends, mentors and detractors thought that he was really vying for greatness.

 

With his diploma in his pocket, the farm boy took his adventures into the concrete jungle – the city, a territory unfamiliar to him.  He sought greatness within the glass covered skyscrapers.  Achievements and recognitions fell upon him like white manna from the heavens.  Soon, his quest for greatness was engulfed by pride and envy.  The farm boy got lost.

 

The farm boy with a humble beginning, took pride in his accomplishments.  How he conquered unknown territories.  How he became great in front of countless individuals. He forgot about the people who helped him not so long ago.  He forgot the true source of his achievements.

 

Then one night, in the silence of his room, darkness seized him.  He couldn’t breathe.  Could it be his end?  Would his quest for greatness end at that moment? His life flashed upon him like a movie being rewind.  What has he done?

 

In prayer he asked, “Is greatness all there is in this life?  Is success all that matters?”

 

This is not a very different story from yours and mine.   One day in our lives we encounter this experience of questioning our self.  ”What have I done?”   “Is this all there is?” “Is this all that matters?”

 

This is an unfinished story because I want you to complete it.  What happened to the farm boy?  What are the answers to his questions?

 

There is no doubt that all of us can be great in this lifetime.  All of us can be achievers, champions and winners.  That I firmly believe.  We may fail sometimes but we always have the capacity to bounce back.   For some, it may take some time, for others, it could happen in a shorter time span.  But no matter how long or how hard it will take, as long as we keep on searching, greatness can be at hand.

 

Life is a journey.  Like every journey, we will experience bumps on the roads and some detours.  But if we keep our mind and heart on our goals, we could reach our destinations.

 

Greatness is defined in many different ways.  Billion people mean billion definition of greatness.  What could be great for some may not be great for others.  But there is one thing I know for sure.  The true measure of greatness is being humble before God.

 

Today, in our quest for greatness, let us take a little time to be in silence and ask ourselves: “Greatness, is this all there really is?”  And then, let us continue to move on.

 

To our greatness, let us take the LEAP! and Be More!

 

 

Be More, Have More!

In our previous article, we talked about the universal law to financial freedom.

 

As a reminder, here it is:

 

Income – Savings = Expenses

 

But we have a problem now; what if you can’t afford to reduce your expenses because you are already spending on what truly matters,  what you really need?  What will you do?  Increase your income.  But how?

 

Actually, I don’t know exactly how.  But because I am also in my quest to financial freedom, let me share with you what I do know.

 

Be more to have more. 

In the book “Conversations with Millionaires,” Mike Litman and Jason Oman wrote about the interview with motivational speaker Jim Rohn on what changed his life and his philosophy.  Below is an excerpt from the book.

 

“My mentor asked once why I wasn’t doing well.  I showed him my paycheck and I said, ‘This is all the company pays.’  He said, ‘Well, that’s really not true.  With that philosophy, you’ll never grow.’

“I said, ‘No, no, this is my paycheck.  This is all the company pays.’  So he said, ‘No, no, Mr. Rohn.  That is all the company pays you.‘

“I thought, ‘wow, I’d never thought about that.’  He said, ‘doesn’t the company pay some people two, three, four, five times this amount?’  I said, ‘well yes.’  He said, ‘then this is not all that the company pays. This is all that the company pays you.’

“For your money to multiple three, four, five you can’t say to the company, ‘I need more money.’  You’ve just got to say to yourself, ‘I need a correction in my philosophy.  I can’t blame circumstances.  I can’t blame taxes.  I can’t say it’s too far, too hot, too cold.  I’ve got to come to grips with myself.’

“That is really where it all begins.  It’s corrections of errors in judgment and in your own philosophy.”

 

Later, Jim Rohn said, “You have to work harder on yourself rather than you do on your job.”  Doing so will increase your value and eventually your income.  I don’t know exactly how it works.  But I believe that it does. Who would not pay an employee who has increased his value to the company?  What is the main reason why employees got promoted or given a raise?  It is because they have shown excellent performance in their jobs.  What makes them excel is their continuing struggle to learn how to master their job and their untiring efforts to gain new knowledge and skills.

 

Well, I think that by trying to be more than we are, we become more and we achieve more.  Not only financially but on every areas of our life.

 

From now on, our battle cry will be “Be More!”

 

What’s Your Net Worth?

A funny thing happened to me this morning.  On my way to work, I was thinking, “what’s is a man’s real net worth?” It must be the effect of what I have been reading the day before, Forbes’ richest.  Trying to find the answer to that question occupied my thoughts until I reached the office.   Arriving at my desk, I flipped the little calendar with inspirational quotes and to my surprise, here is what is says for the day:

November 23

“The most delightful surprise in life is to suddenly recognize your own worth.”

-Maxwell Maltz

Isn’t it amazing?! “See,” I said to myself, “law of attraction must be true after all, isn’t it?”

But before we go any further, let me tell you who Mr. Maltz was.  Maxwell Maltz was an American cosmetic surgeon who was also an author.  He wrote the book Psycho-Cybernetics which is considered as one of the forerunners of the self-help books.

Now going back to my question what is a man’s real net worth, I tried to find the answer this morning and here’s what I realized:

It depends.

As an accountant, net worth to me means what’s left after you deducted all the liabilities from the assets.  In most cases, it is also the same definition for other people.

But for some, it could mean a totally different thing.

What is a man’s real net worth?

It is a question each of us, I think, should be asking our selves.  ”What is my net worth?” Applying the accounting formula, it could be translated into, “what’s left on me after I removed all the unnecessary and unimportant things in my life?”

As a person, my definition of net worth is this:  ”It is the sum of all the assets I already have and all that I’ve earned in my lifetime less all the unimportant and unnecessary things in my life.”

My net worth could not be measured in dollar or peso amount.  My net worth is the sum of all the inherent talents and capabilities that I was born with, the experiences that I have, the people I consider important in my life, the learning experiences, the future I am looking at and the things I believe in.  It is the result of the continuing downpour of blessing that I received from my God every day of my life.  My net worth is what will be left in me after all the material possessions are gone.  My net worth is what I am inside.  It is not the possessions that I have while I am still alive but the impression that I will leave to the world when I’m gone.

Find your true self-worth – your net worth – and you can never be happier and at peace with your self.

To the better you,

***

In our next article, the quest for personal excellence.  See you next time.

Universal Law of Financial Freedom

There are certain rules and laws that we cannot simply ignore.

Take for example the laws of physics, the constitution, the law of sowing and reaping, and of course, the  Laws of God.  In personal finance and financial freedom, there are also certain laws that we have to abide.

The universal law of financial freedom has been documented, taught and preached all over the world, regardless of one’s belief, philosophy, nationality or religion.

That is “Save before you Spend!”

The most common equation for every income earner is this:

Income – Expenses = Savings

This only means that whatever we received as income, either from active or passive sources, we tend to allocate first for our expenses.  Whatever remains, we keep it as savings; making savings a mere option.

But over and over again, it has been said by countless number of financially successful people, that if your thinking about money is just like that, you have to change it.  And you have to change it immediately.

“Now, what is the universal law of financial freedom, again?”

It is this:

Income – Savings = Expenses

What does it mean?

It means that you should first of all reward yourself from the fruits of your labor.  And you do that by setting aside savings which you can use in the future.

The tendency for us is that when the money arrives, we spend it to the things we perceived as need.  However, we did not realize that most of these are mere wants – things that we can defer or set aside.

We remained ignorant of the real concept of wants and needs.  That is because we don’t know which to prioritize.

Mr. J is an average employee.  Christmas time arrived and his company gives Christmas bonus to the employees.  Mr. J was so happy he could now buy the iPad he has been dreaming of every night. He’s iPod is already one-year old so he thought it needs replacement.   After receiving the money, Mr. J went to the shop and buy the gadget of his dream.  When he got home, his mother was there waiting for him.  He’s grandfather is sick and needs immediate medical attention. Mr. J is the only member of the family who is working.  But the money just turned into an iPad.  He can give nothing to his mother.  So that night, Mr. J called Mr. P, an office mate, to borrow some money.  Mr. P hasn’t spent his bonus yes so he said “Okay.”

Mr. J’s grandfather was taken to the hospital and recovered.  Mr. J is happy again and with his iPad of course.  One day, Mr. P came to his cubicle and asked for the return of the money Mr. J borrowed from him.

Mr. J was shocked because that time he has nothing left from his bonus.  They celebrated Christmas and spent everything that remained.  In fact, he is just waiting for the next pay-day.  More so, he has already borrowed from another office mate to support him until the next pay-day.

Mr. J doesn’t know the difference between needs and wants.  He spends everything he earns.  He doesn’t care much about the future or any unfortunate events that may happen.

How many of us are like Mr. J?

It’s time to wake up.  It is time to act responsibly.

The only way to do this is to change our mental attitude about money and ourselves.

According to Bo Sanchez, we have to expand our psychological wallet.

We have to believe that we can save in spite of our current earnings.  If we cannot save because we earn too little or we spend too much, the solution isn’t a rocket science.  Either we increase our earnings or we reduce our spending.

Believe that no matter hard or difficult it may be, you are capable of achieving it.  Unless you believe, nothing will happen.  Remember the parable of the new wine into the old wineskin in Luke 5:37?  You can’t put the new wine to an old  wineskin, otherwise, the wineskin will break and the new wine will be wasted.  So, the first thing you have to do is to change your mental attitude – which is the wineskin – before you can accept the changes – which is the new wine –  that is going to take place.

You will say that it is too difficult especially now that prices of basic commodities are rising and earnings remain low.  I know, I feel that too. So what are we going to do?  Live each day like this? No.   We can do something.  We have to do something!

Set how much you want to save from your income,  10%, 20%, whatever, even 1%.  Start with it.  Set it aside. Consider it as something that was lost.  Then live on whatever remains.  When yo get used to it, increasing the amount of savings will be a lot easier.  

It doesn’t matter how much you earn, what matters is how much you save.

In the long run, you feel good about yourself, increase your self-esteem and your self-confidence.  And that, my friend, is something money just can’t buy.

***

Again, our goal here at LEAP! is to share information which we believe are of help to each one’s journey towards financial freedom and personal development.  We do not guaranty immediate or drastic changes as it all depends on the person and if he applies the concepts.  Much of these information are available to everyone so readers are free to choose which to believe and which are non-sense.  All it takes is an open-mind.