I had been on a writer's block the past 6 weeks whereas come to think of it, my wife and I had been in 3 countries and there is really so much to tell. So much to tell but so little time. Well at least that's what I thought..
Until I got to sat down and pondered on an email Mr Jomar Hilario, an online entrepreneur guru, had forwarded me. It got me to clicking this Kindle thing and how I could earn passive income from it. Kindle? Well I (and probably 96% of Filipinos) are so used to reading pdfs as ebooks instead of kindle books so why bother?
That's when I began checking out this link he sent me and within an hour I was truly convinced that kindle books are the more user friendly ebooks in the market. I was amazed with its functionality..Just by touching a word a little longer in any of its text, a menu pops out giving you its definition and asking you either if you want to highlight such or take extra notes of or share it thru twitter or FB. It's an interactive book!(Nope, Amazon did not pay me to say kind words about this haha).
What caught my interest all the more was that the opportunity makes any interested writer make his own kindle book easily and have it published online in the Amazon stores for selling instantly entitling the author or publisher lifetime royalty income. Hmm, something which I had dreamed when I was in high school and thought as impossible (imagine National Book Store or Rex book store approaching you and asking if they could publish your work and put it in their stores...hmm far out!) is now something which I can now do at home and be seen and sold everywhere. :)
So having studied it well and watched Mr Deiss' videos, I was truly convinced to make the investment and dive into this. Of course, I investigated and checked some third party reviews on the site. It's not actually a walk in the park.. I paid a hefty sum (Philippine standards) to get enrolled and be in the club and get the course & necessary special softwares (let's just say it's much like our college tuition fee). But my heart is into it and in order to commit to it, I should not place myself once again in analysis paralysis again. I TOOK ACTION. Now that it takes extra effort & resource to do such...I have no excuse to fail.
I had searched online for solutions how to get rid of writer's block and the common suggestion is just observe & observe then write & write. Now to hurdle the most difficult task, "What will be my topic and title?"...... Please feel free to comment or suggest. Thank you!
What about you, what drives you?
Do what you love. Know your own bone; gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw it still.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American naturalist, poet and philosopher.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Eighty twenty
I think I might have done too much rest (that is, from blogging) thanks to my previous post. My other side had been quite filled up, it's really sick season these past few weeks both in the clinics and in the hospital. Actually had just been back from a seminar and some respite, I might as well post on the same topic as promised.
The world literally had trained us to keep busy if we want to go up the ladder of success. Tim Ferris puts this in a graphic tone as follows: "If you want to move up the ladder in most of our corporate world, and assuming they don't really check what you're doing (let's be honest), just run around the office holding a cell phone to your head and carrying papers from 9 am to 5 pm. Now that is one busy employee". Unfortunately ( or quite fortunately), that's not how you increase your results and attain objectives.
Being effective is different from being efficient. Effectiveness is doing the things that get you closer to your goals. Efficiency is performing a given task ( whether important or not) in the most economical matter possible. Sadly, being efficient without regard to effectiveness is the default mode of the universe.
It is no different to you to see so many people working in a company or more so in the government, when you visit their offices. It would surprise you why even with so much manpower, you find yourself with so much people waiting like you in a queue where the service staff seem to have no regard for your personal time. Then observing them closely, some of them just chatting with each other, some just having their eyes fixed to their documents not even looking at you when they talk to you, and most just running around in circles. All for the routine of just to consume their 9 to 5 regimen. It is a wonder why it takes months just to get some simple government permits done. The society is infected with AIDS (As If Doing Something).
Applying this to your life, there are two truisms to take note of.
1. Doing something unimportant well does not make it important.
2. Requiring a lot of time does not make a task important.
Enter this principle of a renowned economist who lived from 1848 to 1923, Mr Vilfredo Pareto. The principle he conceived and presented then is now one of the secrets of the most successful people in the world. His Pareto principle is more popularly called the "80/20 principle".
His principle originally describes how uneven the income distribution was in all parts of the world. "80% of the wealth and income was produced by 20% of the population". But this proportion is found actually in almost all aspects of human life.
So with this in mind, here are two basic questions which you should work on to free your precious time (as recommended by Mr Tim Ferris in his book "The Four Hour Work week)".
1. Which 20% of sources are causing 80% of my problems and unhappiness?
2. Which 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness?
Just set an entire day to ponder on these questions and write and record your answers in each aspect of your life ( family, business or career). Your goal is to find your inefficiencies in order to eliminate them and to find your strengths so you can multiply them.
Being overwhelmed with things to do is often as unproductive as doing nothing and is far more unpleasant. Being selective- doing less- is the path of the productive. Focus on the important few and ignore the rest.
It;s easy to get caught in a flood of minutiae, and the key to not feeling rushed is remembering that lack of time is actually lack of priorities. Take time to stop and smell the flowers...
"One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but decrease. The height of cultivation runs to simplicity. - Bruce Lee
The world literally had trained us to keep busy if we want to go up the ladder of success. Tim Ferris puts this in a graphic tone as follows: "If you want to move up the ladder in most of our corporate world, and assuming they don't really check what you're doing (let's be honest), just run around the office holding a cell phone to your head and carrying papers from 9 am to 5 pm. Now that is one busy employee". Unfortunately ( or quite fortunately), that's not how you increase your results and attain objectives.1. Doing something unimportant well does not make it important.
2. Requiring a lot of time does not make a task important.
Enter this principle of a renowned economist who lived from 1848 to 1923, Mr Vilfredo Pareto. The principle he conceived and presented then is now one of the secrets of the most successful people in the world. His Pareto principle is more popularly called the "80/20 principle".
His principle originally describes how uneven the income distribution was in all parts of the world. "80% of the wealth and income was produced by 20% of the population". But this proportion is found actually in almost all aspects of human life.- 80% of the outputs result from 20% of the inputs.
- 80% of the results come from 20% of the effort and time.
- 80% of company profits come from 20% of the products and customers.
- 80% of all stock marketgains are realized by 20% of the investors and 20% of an individual portfolio.
So with this in mind, here are two basic questions which you should work on to free your precious time (as recommended by Mr Tim Ferris in his book "The Four Hour Work week)".
1. Which 20% of sources are causing 80% of my problems and unhappiness?
2. Which 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness?
Just set an entire day to ponder on these questions and write and record your answers in each aspect of your life ( family, business or career). Your goal is to find your inefficiencies in order to eliminate them and to find your strengths so you can multiply them.
Being overwhelmed with things to do is often as unproductive as doing nothing and is far more unpleasant. Being selective- doing less- is the path of the productive. Focus on the important few and ignore the rest.
It;s easy to get caught in a flood of minutiae, and the key to not feeling rushed is remembering that lack of time is actually lack of priorities. Take time to stop and smell the flowers...
"One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but decrease. The height of cultivation runs to simplicity. - Bruce Lee
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Hurrah to rest :)
It seems a little bit odd for me to be sitting here at the balcony of our hotel typing on Blogger thru my iPad right on top of and almost beside the blue clear resort pool and the gushing waves of the blue sea. My wife is attending her lecture, the kids are already having their classes so they were left home, and here I am alone in the room just pondering on what to do.
It's a bit odd coz just days or even hours ago, my mind is filled up with so many things to do and self guilt as to why I'm not accomplishing everything as planned out. Is it my old habit of postponing things again at the helm? Hmmm, let me work at why I don't think so...
So far, I was already able to take a step forward as far as medical pursuit is concerned. Had already fulfilled & submitted the requirements to be a member of the prestigious American College of Physicians. And as of last week, I had received an official email from them confirming me now as an official international member. :).
It was not just the title I was after. What lured me was the perk of being able to access all the full text journals of the Annals of Internal Medicine (whether past or present) and their other resources which certainly would help me a lot with my practice and in my teaching. So far the past few days I had been actually been busy downloading some PDFs which some I had come to and were indeed very good material. I hope that as I intend to share them with the medical residents, they would have the enthusiasm to appreciate them and use them in their training.
As for my online marketing ventures, I was able to get involved with a low entry network marketing company with good products which is also backed up with huge online resources to boost its marketing and pay plan. I felt it was a good fit for my brother in law and my wife's secretary whom my wife and I are trying to help. So we got them in and in the past few days had managed to enroll too my other 2 sis in laws and placed them in my bro in law's downline. I missed attending their online marketing seminar this Saturday and missed clinic too but in exchange was able to attend my niece's daughter's birthday and saw our son dance with her.
Enough mumbling.....it's now time to go back inside, rest so I could clear my mind for the following days and be more in tune with my life purpose (or maybe in tune with the latest hits on Myx or what's up at HBO). I believe I should take heed of what Tim Ferriss says, "Less is not laziness". Doing less meaningless work so you can focus on things of greater personal importance, is NOT laziness. Focus on being productive rather than busy.
I have a full week ahead once we get home but for now it's rest time......... :) Why slave, rest, and retire when you can do the mini retirements and enjoy things at the moment . The next few posts will be about achieving results by not necessarily being busy.
Hurrah to rest!!
"By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be a boss and work twelve hours a day..." - Robert Frost (tsk tsk tsk)
It's a bit odd coz just days or even hours ago, my mind is filled up with so many things to do and self guilt as to why I'm not accomplishing everything as planned out. Is it my old habit of postponing things again at the helm? Hmmm, let me work at why I don't think so...
So far, I was already able to take a step forward as far as medical pursuit is concerned. Had already fulfilled & submitted the requirements to be a member of the prestigious American College of Physicians. And as of last week, I had received an official email from them confirming me now as an official international member. :).
It was not just the title I was after. What lured me was the perk of being able to access all the full text journals of the Annals of Internal Medicine (whether past or present) and their other resources which certainly would help me a lot with my practice and in my teaching. So far the past few days I had been actually been busy downloading some PDFs which some I had come to and were indeed very good material. I hope that as I intend to share them with the medical residents, they would have the enthusiasm to appreciate them and use them in their training.
As for my online marketing ventures, I was able to get involved with a low entry network marketing company with good products which is also backed up with huge online resources to boost its marketing and pay plan. I felt it was a good fit for my brother in law and my wife's secretary whom my wife and I are trying to help. So we got them in and in the past few days had managed to enroll too my other 2 sis in laws and placed them in my bro in law's downline. I missed attending their online marketing seminar this Saturday and missed clinic too but in exchange was able to attend my niece's daughter's birthday and saw our son dance with her.
Enough mumbling.....it's now time to go back inside, rest so I could clear my mind for the following days and be more in tune with my life purpose (or maybe in tune with the latest hits on Myx or what's up at HBO). I believe I should take heed of what Tim Ferriss says, "Less is not laziness". Doing less meaningless work so you can focus on things of greater personal importance, is NOT laziness. Focus on being productive rather than busy.
I have a full week ahead once we get home but for now it's rest time......... :) Why slave, rest, and retire when you can do the mini retirements and enjoy things at the moment . The next few posts will be about achieving results by not necessarily being busy.
Hurrah to rest!!
"By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be a boss and work twelve hours a day..." - Robert Frost (tsk tsk tsk)
Friday, June 15, 2012
No excuses please!
One of the common reasons why people fall back from their plans and promises is that it's easier to just let things happen, stick with your old habits, and hope and believe that something better will just come by.
Alcoholics anonymous define insanity as " continuing the same behaviour and expecting a different result. Nope it's not going to happen. If you're an alcoholic and you keep on drinking, your life is not going to get any better. In much the same way, if you continue your current behaviors, your life is not going to get any better either.
People are so used to believing they should be getting all the good things in life but they could not take in the thought that they should take action for it. Jack Canfield in his big white book "The Success Principles" puts out as Principle #1: Take 100% responsibility for your life.
He likens most people as this man who was on his knees looking for something on the street under the streetlamp. A passerby asks him what he was looking for and he answers that he's looking for his lost key. The passerby offers to help, bends on his knees too but after an hour of searching, nothing was found. "Are you sure you really lost it here, asks the passerby. The man replies, "No, I lost it in my house, but there is more light out here under the streetlamp..(Tsk tsk tsk, toink!).
It is time to stop looking outside yourself for the answers as to why you haven't created the life and results you want, for it is you who creates the quality of life you lead and the results you produce.
As you take 100% responsibility of your life, you have to give up all your excuses, all your victim stories, all the reasons why you can't and why haven't until now, and all your blaming of outside circumstances. Mr Canfield brought out this life formula:
E + R = O
( Event + Response = Outcome)
The basic idea is that every outcome you experience in life (whether it is success of failure, wealth or poverty, health or illness, intimacy or estrangement, joy or frustration) is the result of how you responded to an earlier event/ events in your life.
He says there are only two basic choices you can make if you don't like the outcomes you are currently getting.
Choice A: You can blame the event (E) for your lack of results (O).
Choice B: You can instead simply change your responses (R) to the events (E) - the way things are - until you get the outcomes you want.
Examples:
Common Event: Traffic is at a standstill. Two 10 wheeler trucks collided with each other at NLEX causing a traffic jam. Your usual 2 hour trip turns into 3 hrs.
Response A: "Nakakainis talaga, buwisit! ( What the f...., I hate this!!! Grrrr!). " Then the guy opens his window and shouts curses.
Outcome: 1. A very bad day. The bad mood shortens his life quality 3 notches lower.
2. He created equally hot headed people by inviting other people to join him in the "Ain't it awful" club...
Response B: "Well ok, at least I have some more time to eat my snack in the car, listen to inspiring audio CDs, and maybe even do some leisure reading..good thing knowing traffic can happen anywhere, I had prepared a traffic survival kit. :)"
Outcome: 1. A great day. I was able to finish my snack.
2. I learned new skills and ideas from the audio CDs and entertained myself with the book which I planned to read in weeks.
Everything you experience today is the result of choices you made in the past.
Examples:
Event: You are given a P20,000 bonus.
Response: You spent in a casino thinking you'll win a million the easy way.
You spent it with the guys drowning yourselves with beer and gin.
Outcomes: You are broke!
Event: You are given a P20,000 bonus.
Response: You invest it in mutual funds or a well thought off business.
Outcomes: You had an increased net worth!
You only have control over three things in your life --- the thoughts you think, the images you visualize, and the actions you take (your behavior). How you use these three things determine everything you experience.
Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.
- Dale Carnegie -
Alcoholics anonymous define insanity as " continuing the same behaviour and expecting a different result. Nope it's not going to happen. If you're an alcoholic and you keep on drinking, your life is not going to get any better. In much the same way, if you continue your current behaviors, your life is not going to get any better either.
People are so used to believing they should be getting all the good things in life but they could not take in the thought that they should take action for it. Jack Canfield in his big white book "The Success Principles" puts out as Principle #1: Take 100% responsibility for your life.
It is time to stop looking outside yourself for the answers as to why you haven't created the life and results you want, for it is you who creates the quality of life you lead and the results you produce.
As you take 100% responsibility of your life, you have to give up all your excuses, all your victim stories, all the reasons why you can't and why haven't until now, and all your blaming of outside circumstances. Mr Canfield brought out this life formula:
E + R = O
( Event + Response = Outcome)
The basic idea is that every outcome you experience in life (whether it is success of failure, wealth or poverty, health or illness, intimacy or estrangement, joy or frustration) is the result of how you responded to an earlier event/ events in your life.
He says there are only two basic choices you can make if you don't like the outcomes you are currently getting.
Choice A: You can blame the event (E) for your lack of results (O).
Choice B: You can instead simply change your responses (R) to the events (E) - the way things are - until you get the outcomes you want.
Examples:
Common Event: Traffic is at a standstill. Two 10 wheeler trucks collided with each other at NLEX causing a traffic jam. Your usual 2 hour trip turns into 3 hrs.
Response A: "Nakakainis talaga, buwisit! ( What the f...., I hate this!!! Grrrr!). " Then the guy opens his window and shouts curses.
Outcome: 1. A very bad day. The bad mood shortens his life quality 3 notches lower.
2. He created equally hot headed people by inviting other people to join him in the "Ain't it awful" club...
Response B: "Well ok, at least I have some more time to eat my snack in the car, listen to inspiring audio CDs, and maybe even do some leisure reading..good thing knowing traffic can happen anywhere, I had prepared a traffic survival kit. :)"
Outcome: 1. A great day. I was able to finish my snack.
2. I learned new skills and ideas from the audio CDs and entertained myself with the book which I planned to read in weeks.
Everything you experience today is the result of choices you made in the past.
Examples:
Event: You are given a P20,000 bonus.
Response: You spent in a casino thinking you'll win a million the easy way.
You spent it with the guys drowning yourselves with beer and gin.
Outcomes: You are broke!
Event: You are given a P20,000 bonus.
Response: You invest it in mutual funds or a well thought off business.
Outcomes: You had an increased net worth!
You only have control over three things in your life --- the thoughts you think, the images you visualize, and the actions you take (your behavior). How you use these three things determine everything you experience.
Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.
- Dale Carnegie -
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Enforcing life changing habits into your own "comfy" life
It was almost 11 days ago when I last posted here. Tsk tsk to think that I plan posting daily as much as I could when I made this blog a month or so ago.
To ensure this, I changed my Yahoo homepage to blogger (it has been Yahoo since I "discovered" the internet about 12 years ago). This is to constantly remind me that when I begin to surf (which I do daily), I would get subconsciously "forced" to write a short piece to share to the world before I get lost in my emails, Twitter, and FB...
Apparently, starting a new habit is really hard. Life always get in the way. There is this call (referrals/ admissions) from hospital A, then hospital B. There is this habit of patients to come in your clinic when you are about to have your lunch ( clinic time is 10-12 in am, not much to see when you arrive early but a throng arrives at 11:45am) so you finish almost 2 pm very hungry. And when you are to come home for dinner ( clinic time in pm is 4:30 to 7pm, the gang cluster of patients arrive around 6:45pm) so you finish almost 9pm and when you come home, the kids are usually asleep and you take your dinner watching the last batch of telenovelas for the day and you're so poofed right after, you lost consciousness the moment your back hits the bed.
Beyond the medical life, there are too many distractions also. Your wife who is equally busy with her patients suddenly asks you to bring the kids to the dentist for their dental appointment (Yep, I have a 2 hr window to travel from Dau after my morning clinic to Bacolor to have lunch, bring the kids to the dentist in Angeles, wait for them to finish, to bring them back to our home in Bacolor and then catch my 4:30pm clinic in Dau....whew). If not dental appointment, maybe their singing and painting lessons and of course, our tutoring them on their classroom assignments, etc. Yep, life is SO SO filled up and busy for me......... Well, that's what it appears to be..... but I chose NOT to be.
Yes each of us have 24 hours a day to spend on what we think will make us feel good (well not really everything is spent actively, take off at least 6 hours for sleep, so 18 hrs). But honestly, many of us spend at least 3 hours of television everyday. 18 hrs of awake time, 3 hrs of TV time..that's 1/6 of our lives awake infront of the TV ( about 85 hours of TV a month!). And I can't understand why many of us (me included) could not spend at least 20 minutes a day writing down what you want to do with your life (believe me it should not be just work and FB!) for the next 5, 10, and 20 years. Or spend the same amount of time learning something new beyond your daily routine/ work, Or sharing what you already know to others so you can make a statement in the world (like what I am supposed to do with this blogging). 18 hours a day for each of us human beings...whether very poor or very rich...and it's how it is properly spent that makes a man poor or rich.
They say if you want to start a good habit right and regularly, set a fixed time of the day to do it. Some prefer the moment they wake up, some right before sleeping. Sigh, I know too much principles but I still have to work these principles into my life.
I would be reading self discipline and time management articles/books this week and would share them to you thru blogging in my next posts (which I hope would be just a few days from now. Ciao!
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, that is why they call it the present.“ –
Kung Fu Panda
To ensure this, I changed my Yahoo homepage to blogger (it has been Yahoo since I "discovered" the internet about 12 years ago). This is to constantly remind me that when I begin to surf (which I do daily), I would get subconsciously "forced" to write a short piece to share to the world before I get lost in my emails, Twitter, and FB...
Apparently, starting a new habit is really hard. Life always get in the way. There is this call (referrals/ admissions) from hospital A, then hospital B. There is this habit of patients to come in your clinic when you are about to have your lunch ( clinic time is 10-12 in am, not much to see when you arrive early but a throng arrives at 11:45am) so you finish almost 2 pm very hungry. And when you are to come home for dinner ( clinic time in pm is 4:30 to 7pm, the gang cluster of patients arrive around 6:45pm) so you finish almost 9pm and when you come home, the kids are usually asleep and you take your dinner watching the last batch of telenovelas for the day and you're so poofed right after, you lost consciousness the moment your back hits the bed.
Beyond the medical life, there are too many distractions also. Your wife who is equally busy with her patients suddenly asks you to bring the kids to the dentist for their dental appointment (Yep, I have a 2 hr window to travel from Dau after my morning clinic to Bacolor to have lunch, bring the kids to the dentist in Angeles, wait for them to finish, to bring them back to our home in Bacolor and then catch my 4:30pm clinic in Dau....whew). If not dental appointment, maybe their singing and painting lessons and of course, our tutoring them on their classroom assignments, etc. Yep, life is SO SO filled up and busy for me......... Well, that's what it appears to be..... but I chose NOT to be.
Yes each of us have 24 hours a day to spend on what we think will make us feel good (well not really everything is spent actively, take off at least 6 hours for sleep, so 18 hrs). But honestly, many of us spend at least 3 hours of television everyday. 18 hrs of awake time, 3 hrs of TV time..that's 1/6 of our lives awake infront of the TV ( about 85 hours of TV a month!). And I can't understand why many of us (me included) could not spend at least 20 minutes a day writing down what you want to do with your life (believe me it should not be just work and FB!) for the next 5, 10, and 20 years. Or spend the same amount of time learning something new beyond your daily routine/ work, Or sharing what you already know to others so you can make a statement in the world (like what I am supposed to do with this blogging). 18 hours a day for each of us human beings...whether very poor or very rich...and it's how it is properly spent that makes a man poor or rich.
They say if you want to start a good habit right and regularly, set a fixed time of the day to do it. Some prefer the moment they wake up, some right before sleeping. Sigh, I know too much principles but I still have to work these principles into my life.
I would be reading self discipline and time management articles/books this week and would share them to you thru blogging in my next posts (which I hope would be just a few days from now. Ciao!
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, that is why they call it the present.“ –
Kung Fu Panda
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Giving back part 1
Since it's Sunday anyway, I want to share a very nice story I'll always remember, including what Mr Bo Sanchez has to say about being God's good business partner. :)
The rich man looks kindly on the beggar and asked, “How did you become a beggar?”
The beggar said, “Sir, I’ve been applying for a job for a year now but haven’t found any. You look like a rich man. Sir, if you’ll give me a job, I’ll stop begging.”
The rich man smiled and said, “I want to help you. But I won’t give you a job. I’ll do something better. I want you to be my business partner. Let’s start a business together.”
The beggar blinked hard. He didn’t understand what the older man was saying. “What do you mean, Sir?”
“I own a rice plantation. You could sell my rice in the market. I’ll provide you the sacks of rice. I’ll pay the rent for the market stall. I’ll even give you food allowance every day for the next 30 days. All you’ll have to do is sell my rice. And at the end of the month, as Business Partners, we’ll share in the profits.”
Tears of joy rolled down his cheeks. “Oh Sir,” he said, “you’re a gift from Heaven. You’re the answer to my prayers. Thank you, thank you, thank you!” He then paused and said, “Sir, how will we divide the profits? Do I keep 10% and you get the 90%? Do I keep 5% and you get the 95%? I’ll be happy with any arrangement.”
The rich man shook his head and chuckled. “No, I want you to give me the 10%. And you keep the 90%.”
For a moment, the beggar couldn’t speak. When he tried to speak, it was gibberish. “Uh, gee, uh, wow, I mean, huh?” He couldn’t believe his ears. The deal was too preposterous.
The rich man laughed more loudly. He explained, “I don’t need the money, my friend. I’m already wealthy beyond what you can ever imagine. I want you to give me 10% of your profits so you grow in faithfulness and gratitude.”
The beggar knelt down before his benefactor and said, “Yes Sir, I will do as you say. Even now, I’m so grateful for what you’ve done for me!”
And so that was what happened…
He Forgets Where The Blessings Came From
Each day, the beggar—now dressed a little bit better—operated a store selling rice in the market. He worked very hard. He woke up early in the morning and slept late at night. And sales were brisk, also because the rice was of good quality. And after 30 days, the profits were astounding.
At the end of the month, as the ex-beggar was counting the money, and liking very much the feeling of money in his hands, an idea grew in his mind. He told himself, “Gee, why should I give 10% to my Business Partner? I didn’t see him the whole month! I was the one who was working day and night for this business. I did all this work! I deserve the 100% profits!”
A few minutes later, the rich man was knocking on the door to collect his 10% of the profits. The ex-beggar opened the door and said, “You don’t deserve the 10%. I worked hard for this. I deserve all of it!” And he slammed the door.
If you were his Business Partner, how would you feel?
Friend, this is exactly what happens to us…
God Gave You Everything
I’ve got an announcement to make: God is your Business Partner. And your Business Partner gave you everything.
God gave you your life—every single moment, every single breath, every single second… God gave your talents—your ability to talk, to create, to earn money… God gave you your body—your eyes, your ears, your mouth, your hands, your feet, your heart… God gave you your mind—your imagination, your emotions, your reasoning, your language…
In the Old Testament, your Divine Business Partner only asks that you give 10% of your profits.
But I’ve noticed that many don’t want to tithe. Because they feel they own everything they earn.
Big mistake.
Some Christians believe that they don’t need to tithe because it’s an Old Testament Law. They say that in the New Testament, God tells us to give as the Spirit of God leads us to give.
I totally agree. But does that mean we should give less than the Old Testament?
The story I gave you above is the Old Testament Version.
Let me share with you my second version…
Here’s The New Testament Version
In the New Testament version of my story, it begins in the same way. The rich guy tells the beggar that he wants to do business with him. And after the beggar gets flabbergasted, he asks, “Sir, how will we divide the profits? Do I keep 10% and you get 90%?”
Instead of the rich man saying, “Just give me 10%,” he says, “You decide how much you want to give me. Give according how grateful you are.”
Wow. Tell me. Will that guy just give 10%?
Here’s my interpretation: Giving 10% is the starting point of grateful giving. A lot of people think that 10% is the maximum. I don’t think so.
I believe 10% is kindergarten. 10% is like a kid’s bike with training wheels—it’s for someone who doesn’t know how to be generous yet but would like to learn. And as you learn to give 10%, God will teach you to give more generously.
Do You Want Blessings To Flow?It’s easy to give once in a while.
Even a selfish man can do that.
But for happiness, life, blessings, and abundance to flow into your life, you need to give faithfully.
More to follow on the next charity topic post...
Opportunites to give back:
100% of your support will go to ANAWIM, Mr Bo Sanchez's work for the poorest of the poor, Tahanan ng Pagmamahal Orphanage, Pagasa ng Pamilya Scholarship Fund for Poor Children, Grace To Be Born Half-Way House for Pregnant Women in Crisis, He Cares Streetkids Ministry, Shepherds Voice media evangelization, Light of Jesus Family and Counselling Center, and other KERYGMA FAMILY work.
http://www.kerygmafamily.com/modules/subscriber/donations.php
World Vision invites people to share the same kind of love that can change lives—lives of children in need. With a very small act of kindness these children will be able to look ahead to better lives with better opportunities, all because you willingly opened your heart and share love! Start saving someone for as little as P20 a day.
http://worldvision.org.ph/
UNICEF Champions for Children is a community of individuals whose regular contributions enable a growing number of Filipino children to enjoy the right to education, healthcare and nutrition as well as protection from neglect, abuse and exploitation.
http://www.unicef.org/philippines/supportunicef.html
The Story Of A Generous Business Partner
One day, a very wealthy man was walking on the road. Along the way, he saw a beggar on the sidewalk.The rich man looks kindly on the beggar and asked, “How did you become a beggar?”
The beggar said, “Sir, I’ve been applying for a job for a year now but haven’t found any. You look like a rich man. Sir, if you’ll give me a job, I’ll stop begging.”
The rich man smiled and said, “I want to help you. But I won’t give you a job. I’ll do something better. I want you to be my business partner. Let’s start a business together.”
The beggar blinked hard. He didn’t understand what the older man was saying. “What do you mean, Sir?”
“I own a rice plantation. You could sell my rice in the market. I’ll provide you the sacks of rice. I’ll pay the rent for the market stall. I’ll even give you food allowance every day for the next 30 days. All you’ll have to do is sell my rice. And at the end of the month, as Business Partners, we’ll share in the profits.”
Tears of joy rolled down his cheeks. “Oh Sir,” he said, “you’re a gift from Heaven. You’re the answer to my prayers. Thank you, thank you, thank you!” He then paused and said, “Sir, how will we divide the profits? Do I keep 10% and you get the 90%? Do I keep 5% and you get the 95%? I’ll be happy with any arrangement.”
The rich man shook his head and chuckled. “No, I want you to give me the 10%. And you keep the 90%.”
For a moment, the beggar couldn’t speak. When he tried to speak, it was gibberish. “Uh, gee, uh, wow, I mean, huh?” He couldn’t believe his ears. The deal was too preposterous.
The rich man laughed more loudly. He explained, “I don’t need the money, my friend. I’m already wealthy beyond what you can ever imagine. I want you to give me 10% of your profits so you grow in faithfulness and gratitude.”
The beggar knelt down before his benefactor and said, “Yes Sir, I will do as you say. Even now, I’m so grateful for what you’ve done for me!”
And so that was what happened…
He Forgets Where The Blessings Came From
Each day, the beggar—now dressed a little bit better—operated a store selling rice in the market. He worked very hard. He woke up early in the morning and slept late at night. And sales were brisk, also because the rice was of good quality. And after 30 days, the profits were astounding.
At the end of the month, as the ex-beggar was counting the money, and liking very much the feeling of money in his hands, an idea grew in his mind. He told himself, “Gee, why should I give 10% to my Business Partner? I didn’t see him the whole month! I was the one who was working day and night for this business. I did all this work! I deserve the 100% profits!”
A few minutes later, the rich man was knocking on the door to collect his 10% of the profits. The ex-beggar opened the door and said, “You don’t deserve the 10%. I worked hard for this. I deserve all of it!” And he slammed the door.
If you were his Business Partner, how would you feel?
Friend, this is exactly what happens to us…
God Gave You Everything
I’ve got an announcement to make: God is your Business Partner. And your Business Partner gave you everything.
In the Old Testament, your Divine Business Partner only asks that you give 10% of your profits.
But I’ve noticed that many don’t want to tithe. Because they feel they own everything they earn.
Big mistake.
Some Christians believe that they don’t need to tithe because it’s an Old Testament Law. They say that in the New Testament, God tells us to give as the Spirit of God leads us to give.
I totally agree. But does that mean we should give less than the Old Testament?
The story I gave you above is the Old Testament Version.
Let me share with you my second version…
Here’s The New Testament Version
In the New Testament version of my story, it begins in the same way. The rich guy tells the beggar that he wants to do business with him. And after the beggar gets flabbergasted, he asks, “Sir, how will we divide the profits? Do I keep 10% and you get 90%?”
Instead of the rich man saying, “Just give me 10%,” he says, “You decide how much you want to give me. Give according how grateful you are.”
Wow. Tell me. Will that guy just give 10%?
Here’s my interpretation: Giving 10% is the starting point of grateful giving. A lot of people think that 10% is the maximum. I don’t think so.
I believe 10% is kindergarten. 10% is like a kid’s bike with training wheels—it’s for someone who doesn’t know how to be generous yet but would like to learn. And as you learn to give 10%, God will teach you to give more generously.
Do You Want Blessings To Flow?It’s easy to give once in a while.
Even a selfish man can do that.
But for happiness, life, blessings, and abundance to flow into your life, you need to give faithfully.
More to follow on the next charity topic post...
Opportunites to give back:
100% of your support will go to ANAWIM, Mr Bo Sanchez's work for the poorest of the poor, Tahanan ng Pagmamahal Orphanage, Pagasa ng Pamilya Scholarship Fund for Poor Children, Grace To Be Born Half-Way House for Pregnant Women in Crisis, He Cares Streetkids Ministry, Shepherds Voice media evangelization, Light of Jesus Family and Counselling Center, and other KERYGMA FAMILY work.
http://www.kerygmafamily.com/modules/subscriber/donations.php
World Vision invites people to share the same kind of love that can change lives—lives of children in need. With a very small act of kindness these children will be able to look ahead to better lives with better opportunities, all because you willingly opened your heart and share love! Start saving someone for as little as P20 a day.
http://worldvision.org.ph/
UNICEF Champions for Children is a community of individuals whose regular contributions enable a growing number of Filipino children to enjoy the right to education, healthcare and nutrition as well as protection from neglect, abuse and exploitation.
http://www.unicef.org/philippines/supportunicef.html
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Why marketing may be a divine act
I had always been dreaming of succeeding in a business ( online or offline) that would provide real value to many people while making good. But behind this would certainly be a tremendous amount of marketing and selling. I initially hate the idea really of chasing your friends and relatives to present some product and make them feel guilty if they would not buy from you.
I came across this article by Ms Pamela Brunner on Mother Teresa which changed my perspective on this. I would now be sharing this with you word for word. :)
Was Mother Teresa a Marketer? By Pamela Bruner
Do you transform lives, and the world, with the work that you do?
If your dream is to make a difference in the world with your work, and you've made that work a business, then yes, you're a transformational entrepreneur. (Just to be clear - this includes coaches, healers, artists, authors, speakers, trainers, service professionals, and more...)
And marketing probably feels like the worst thing in the world to you. After all, it's manipulative, pushy, inauthentic, and only designed to benefit you, right?
Not if your work benefits the world.
Consider the path of Mother Teresa. She raised millions of dollars for her work. She was one of the most successful marketers of all time, spreading her message, raising money, and making a difference.
But she wasn't raising money for herself, right? She was raising money for others, so it's completely different.
Consider this:
1) When you run a successful business, you will hire people to help you. These people benefit from your successful business.
2) When you run a successful business, you have the ability to give away more money. (Last year I donated more money to charity that I earned in my first year of coaching!)
3) When you run a successful business, you raise the level of the economy all around - that's something the world needs.
4) When you run a successful TRANSFORMATIONAL business, you change more lives than you do if you run a struggling business. Those people go out and make the world a better place - that's a significant ripple effect!
So market like Mother Teresa - be relentless in sharing your message. Tell the world what you do, and why you do it. Change lives. Make money. Keep some, invest some to help your business grow, and give some away. Some people will criticize you, and some will bless you. Your mission is to keep sharing, and keep transforming lives.
Here's an assignment:
Set a goal for how many people you want to reach with your transformational work this month, and this year. Now 'chunk it down' - how many people do you have to talk to this week to be on track with your goal?
When you market, things happen. When things happen, you change the world.
I'll let Mother Teresa have the final word:
"People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people may accuse you of selfish motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you may win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable.
Be honest and transparent anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People who really want help may attack you if you help them.
Help them anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you may get hurt.
Give the world your best anyway"
I came across this article by Ms Pamela Brunner on Mother Teresa which changed my perspective on this. I would now be sharing this with you word for word. :)
Was Mother Teresa a Marketer? By Pamela Bruner
Do you transform lives, and the world, with the work that you do?
If your dream is to make a difference in the world with your work, and you've made that work a business, then yes, you're a transformational entrepreneur. (Just to be clear - this includes coaches, healers, artists, authors, speakers, trainers, service professionals, and more...)
And marketing probably feels like the worst thing in the world to you. After all, it's manipulative, pushy, inauthentic, and only designed to benefit you, right?
Not if your work benefits the world.
Consider the path of Mother Teresa. She raised millions of dollars for her work. She was one of the most successful marketers of all time, spreading her message, raising money, and making a difference.
But she wasn't raising money for herself, right? She was raising money for others, so it's completely different.
Consider this:
1) When you run a successful business, you will hire people to help you. These people benefit from your successful business.
2) When you run a successful business, you have the ability to give away more money. (Last year I donated more money to charity that I earned in my first year of coaching!)
3) When you run a successful business, you raise the level of the economy all around - that's something the world needs.
4) When you run a successful TRANSFORMATIONAL business, you change more lives than you do if you run a struggling business. Those people go out and make the world a better place - that's a significant ripple effect!
So market like Mother Teresa - be relentless in sharing your message. Tell the world what you do, and why you do it. Change lives. Make money. Keep some, invest some to help your business grow, and give some away. Some people will criticize you, and some will bless you. Your mission is to keep sharing, and keep transforming lives.
Here's an assignment:
Set a goal for how many people you want to reach with your transformational work this month, and this year. Now 'chunk it down' - how many people do you have to talk to this week to be on track with your goal?
When you market, things happen. When things happen, you change the world.
I'll let Mother Teresa have the final word:
"People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people may accuse you of selfish motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you may win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable.
Be honest and transparent anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People who really want help may attack you if you help them.
Help them anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you may get hurt.
Give the world your best anyway"
Saturday, May 19, 2012
On leadership and dreams
Now, I would like to share some highlights of Dr Sanjiv Chopra's lecture during our annual PCP convention held May 6-8, 2012. Dr.Sanjiv Chopra is a Professor of Medicine and Faculty Dean for Continuing Medical Education at Harvard Medical School, and Senior Consultant in Hepatology at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts. He has several publications and five books to his credit and we were lucky enough to have him personally speak to us.
Based on a talk that he has given to more than 60,000 people in at least seven countries, Dr. Chopra explains in depth what leadership by example is about.
It is based on this mnemonic:
L - listen well
E - empathy
A - attitude
D - dreams and decisiveness
E - effectiveness
R - resilience
S - a sense of purpose
H - humility and humor
I - integrity and imagination
P - principles, and willingness to pack other people’s parachutes ( willingness to help)
He had spiced up the talk on the lives of the great leaders of history as he goes along each letter. There were short excerpts from Mahatma Gandhi and his salt march, Mother Teresa, and many other personalities. I would strongly recommend his latest book which had just been released for publication this May 2012 and which is where his talk is elaborated on.
But one thing that made its mark was on his story about a boy's dreams and decisiveness (D). There was a classroom teacher who gave out an assignment to his grade school students. They were told to make a short essay on "What I would be doing in 15 years".
There was this boy born from hired laborers in a farm who made his piece, the composition was so illustrated and well thought of.....I would own and be managing a 30 hectare farm, I would fill it with about 100 apple and mango fruit bearing trees, in my farm is a ranch with a huge stable where about 50 horses are taken cared of, in the farm is a huge picnic and playground where kids from nearby schools could visit for a trip and frolic around, there would also be a huge mansion and it went on and on complete with colors and even the scent of the grass etc.
The next day, he submitted it to his teacher. The teacher stared at the home work for about 30 minutes frowned and shook his head. When the paper went back to the student, he saw a glaring red F mark on it. Determined, the kid went back to his teacher and asked why. The teacher reminded him to take his assignment seriously and not "play" with it.
The kid gave the paper back to his teacher and said, "You can keep the F sir, but I will keep my dream..."
Many years had passed and the teacher who was still working in the same school was now handling a group of children excursionists in this famed 50 hectare farm. The day was almost about to end but they still barely reached 1/4 of the lot area in their tour. But they would be lucky enough to get to meet and talk the owner before they leave. The teacher was dumbfounded to discover that it was the boy he mocked 15 years ago. He was now in his early 30s. The boy who immediately recognized his teacher gave him a tight hug and said, "I hope sir you enjoyed your stay here". The teacher was in tears and he just could say, " I am so sorry for what I said to you many years ago, I would never again become a dream stealer"...
Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars. - Les Brown
Based on a talk that he has given to more than 60,000 people in at least seven countries, Dr. Chopra explains in depth what leadership by example is about.
It is based on this mnemonic:
L - listen well
E - empathy
A - attitude
D - dreams and decisiveness
E - effectiveness
R - resilience
S - a sense of purpose
H - humility and humor
I - integrity and imagination
P - principles, and willingness to pack other people’s parachutes ( willingness to help)
He had spiced up the talk on the lives of the great leaders of history as he goes along each letter. There were short excerpts from Mahatma Gandhi and his salt march, Mother Teresa, and many other personalities. I would strongly recommend his latest book which had just been released for publication this May 2012 and which is where his talk is elaborated on.
But one thing that made its mark was on his story about a boy's dreams and decisiveness (D). There was a classroom teacher who gave out an assignment to his grade school students. They were told to make a short essay on "What I would be doing in 15 years".
There was this boy born from hired laborers in a farm who made his piece, the composition was so illustrated and well thought of.....I would own and be managing a 30 hectare farm, I would fill it with about 100 apple and mango fruit bearing trees, in my farm is a ranch with a huge stable where about 50 horses are taken cared of, in the farm is a huge picnic and playground where kids from nearby schools could visit for a trip and frolic around, there would also be a huge mansion and it went on and on complete with colors and even the scent of the grass etc.
The next day, he submitted it to his teacher. The teacher stared at the home work for about 30 minutes frowned and shook his head. When the paper went back to the student, he saw a glaring red F mark on it. Determined, the kid went back to his teacher and asked why. The teacher reminded him to take his assignment seriously and not "play" with it.
The kid gave the paper back to his teacher and said, "You can keep the F sir, but I will keep my dream..."
Many years had passed and the teacher who was still working in the same school was now handling a group of children excursionists in this famed 50 hectare farm. The day was almost about to end but they still barely reached 1/4 of the lot area in their tour. But they would be lucky enough to get to meet and talk the owner before they leave. The teacher was dumbfounded to discover that it was the boy he mocked 15 years ago. He was now in his early 30s. The boy who immediately recognized his teacher gave him a tight hug and said, "I hope sir you enjoyed your stay here". The teacher was in tears and he just could say, " I am so sorry for what I said to you many years ago, I would never again become a dream stealer"...
Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars. - Les Brown
Friday, May 11, 2012
How to dispose off your money
Had just attended our annual convention for internists and the three days had been quite a stretch with all the lectures & sessions presented. I made it a point to attend some sessions which are non- medical in nature. Two of such were this lecture from Ms Susan Bigay, a very astute yet feisty CPA practitioner who shared some tips on how to build your finances & Dr Sanjiv Chopra, a medical practitioner who became an international hit with his numerous publications on success and leadership.
I would like to share some highlights of their lectures. Mrs Bigay reminded the audience, many of which were also young doctors, not to rush into buying expensive flashy cars and building their dream house in the first 10 years of their practice. Well aside from it would certainly attract our friendly government revenue collectors, it is not a wise decision in the long run since you would only be working HARD to pay your debts to something which will just let you lose more money ( the car and house maintenance costs, the gasoline, the decoratives/ fixtures you have to add to your house, the food and time expenses you let out being the gracious host that you are since your house will be a magnet for reunions, meetings, etc.). That would be stressful just to maintain that lifestyle early. Kiyosaki calls them doodads or liabilities in his book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad".
For the first few years of your earning life, build assets (things that will help you earn money) so that after a decade or two, you have them assets (e.g., rental properties, stocks/paper investments, businesses manned by others) to help you EASILY build that dream house/ buy that yearned car. Live it simple and do not rush...
Mrs Bigay, on another point, emphasized the idea that we should not keep all our money and savings in the banks. The time deposit interest which goes to about 2-3 % per annum is substantially less than our current inflation rate which is about 5%. So in the long run, you are literally losing money ( the buying power of the money you kept in that TD is slowly dripping away). What more in case of bankruptcy, the bank thru the Philippine Deposit Insurance Company (PDIC) can only guarantee P500,000 to each depositor no matter how many accounts or TDs he has with the bank. And to make it more inconvenient, the time frame to retrieve the lost money is about 6-8 months.
She advised to keep only your emergency fund in the bank ( like the amount equal to the basic family expenses you would incur in 6 months assuming you lost your job and you're without any pay in the same time period). Money in the bank should be mainly for safekeeping. She recommended diversifying your investment portfolio into UITF, mutual funds, stock market, stocks in time tested companies and promising businesses and real estate. Relative to this what came to my mind was this very useful video resource series "Pesos and Sense" by Mr Aya Laraya which I strongly would recommend to the average Filipino saver/investor.
On my next post, I would share Dr Sanjiv Chopra's talk on leadership and steadfastness to a dream.
The greatest invention the world had ever known is compounded interest - Albert Einstein
I would like to share some highlights of their lectures. Mrs Bigay reminded the audience, many of which were also young doctors, not to rush into buying expensive flashy cars and building their dream house in the first 10 years of their practice. Well aside from it would certainly attract our friendly government revenue collectors, it is not a wise decision in the long run since you would only be working HARD to pay your debts to something which will just let you lose more money ( the car and house maintenance costs, the gasoline, the decoratives/ fixtures you have to add to your house, the food and time expenses you let out being the gracious host that you are since your house will be a magnet for reunions, meetings, etc.). That would be stressful just to maintain that lifestyle early. Kiyosaki calls them doodads or liabilities in his book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad".
For the first few years of your earning life, build assets (things that will help you earn money) so that after a decade or two, you have them assets (e.g., rental properties, stocks/paper investments, businesses manned by others) to help you EASILY build that dream house/ buy that yearned car. Live it simple and do not rush... Mrs Bigay, on another point, emphasized the idea that we should not keep all our money and savings in the banks. The time deposit interest which goes to about 2-3 % per annum is substantially less than our current inflation rate which is about 5%. So in the long run, you are literally losing money ( the buying power of the money you kept in that TD is slowly dripping away). What more in case of bankruptcy, the bank thru the Philippine Deposit Insurance Company (PDIC) can only guarantee P500,000 to each depositor no matter how many accounts or TDs he has with the bank. And to make it more inconvenient, the time frame to retrieve the lost money is about 6-8 months.
She advised to keep only your emergency fund in the bank ( like the amount equal to the basic family expenses you would incur in 6 months assuming you lost your job and you're without any pay in the same time period). Money in the bank should be mainly for safekeeping. She recommended diversifying your investment portfolio into UITF, mutual funds, stock market, stocks in time tested companies and promising businesses and real estate. Relative to this what came to my mind was this very useful video resource series "Pesos and Sense" by Mr Aya Laraya which I strongly would recommend to the average Filipino saver/investor.
On my next post, I would share Dr Sanjiv Chopra's talk on leadership and steadfastness to a dream.
The greatest invention the world had ever known is compounded interest - Albert Einstein
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Where do we fit in?
As what Mr Kiyosaki said in his book, "most of us have the potential to generate income from all four quadrants (see figure below). Which quadrant you or I choose to earn our primary income from is not so much what we learned in school; it is more about who we are at the core- our core values, strengths, weaknesses, and interests."
Regardless however of what we do professionally, we can still work in all four quadrants. Coincidentally he cites a medical doctor as an example.
As an "E" - he may be employed as a staff of a large hospital or work for the government in public health service or become a military doctor or join the staff of an insurance company needing a doctor on its staff.
As an "S" - he may start a private practice, setting up a clinic, hiring staff, and building his private list of patients.
As a "B" - he may own a polyclinic or laboratory or hospital and have other doctors on the staff, then he may hire a business manager to run the organization. He could also decide to own a business that has nothing to do with medicine.
As an "I", the doctor also could generate income from being an investor in someone else's business or in vehicles like the stock market, bond market, and real estate.
Making use of other people's time (OPT) and other people's money (OPM) is the main secret of the rich. OPT and OPM are found on the right side of the quadrant. For the most part, people who work on the left side of the quadrant are the OP (Other People) whose time and money are being used.
So the better trend to get most of your income from the B and/or I quadrant with time. If your only source of income is from your job ( the E side), there is a setpoint limit as to what you can earn ( your company or boss dictates it) and you are the most highly taxed by the government. All you get is after tax money.
It is quite frustrating to see hordes of laborers complaining about minimum wage and making noise about them deserving more. The legendary success mentor Jim Rohn says " You don't get rich by demand, you get rich by providing value". So yes, you can provide more value if you do your best as an employed but better value can be given as a business owner (entrepreneur) or as an investor (e.g., providing very good residential solutions at a very reasonable price like when you're into real estate investing).
If you are solely the S quadrant type (they are also called the do-it-yourselfers), being successful here would mean more work as you get more clients, so it would be virtually impossible to take a day off.
So now I invite you to take the time to plan and make a gradual extension and/or shift to the right side. Be it in the next few months or years, it is really possible. Nope you don't have to resign your day job right now, create something of the B or I quadrant on the side. You just have to expand your mindset. This is where the real wealthy are...
"Try to work very hard on yourself than you do on your job.
If you work hard on your job, you'll make a living..
If you work hard on yourself, you'll make a fortune..." - Jim Rohn
Regardless however of what we do professionally, we can still work in all four quadrants. Coincidentally he cites a medical doctor as an example.As an "E" - he may be employed as a staff of a large hospital or work for the government in public health service or become a military doctor or join the staff of an insurance company needing a doctor on its staff.
As an "S" - he may start a private practice, setting up a clinic, hiring staff, and building his private list of patients.
As a "B" - he may own a polyclinic or laboratory or hospital and have other doctors on the staff, then he may hire a business manager to run the organization. He could also decide to own a business that has nothing to do with medicine.
As an "I", the doctor also could generate income from being an investor in someone else's business or in vehicles like the stock market, bond market, and real estate.
Making use of other people's time (OPT) and other people's money (OPM) is the main secret of the rich. OPT and OPM are found on the right side of the quadrant. For the most part, people who work on the left side of the quadrant are the OP (Other People) whose time and money are being used.
So the better trend to get most of your income from the B and/or I quadrant with time. If your only source of income is from your job ( the E side), there is a setpoint limit as to what you can earn ( your company or boss dictates it) and you are the most highly taxed by the government. All you get is after tax money.
It is quite frustrating to see hordes of laborers complaining about minimum wage and making noise about them deserving more. The legendary success mentor Jim Rohn says " You don't get rich by demand, you get rich by providing value". So yes, you can provide more value if you do your best as an employed but better value can be given as a business owner (entrepreneur) or as an investor (e.g., providing very good residential solutions at a very reasonable price like when you're into real estate investing).
If you are solely the S quadrant type (they are also called the do-it-yourselfers), being successful here would mean more work as you get more clients, so it would be virtually impossible to take a day off.
So now I invite you to take the time to plan and make a gradual extension and/or shift to the right side. Be it in the next few months or years, it is really possible. Nope you don't have to resign your day job right now, create something of the B or I quadrant on the side. You just have to expand your mindset. This is where the real wealthy are...
"Try to work very hard on yourself than you do on your job.
If you work hard on your job, you'll make a living..
If you work hard on yourself, you'll make a fortune..." - Jim Rohn
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The awakening
After I had finished my residency training in Internal Medicine year 2000, my blueprint for success was to start a good practice in a place where I grew up (so that people already knew me), accumulate patients with time ( yes, when people like you they refer others to you), and in a decade or two, enjoy the good life. It's that simple...Besides, it's what I see with my colleague mentors in their 50s while I was training. They are literally flocked with so many patients, they drive with flashy cars, and their kids are mostly also taking up medicine. Yes, that should be a doctor's status quo.
My first few months in my practice was spent more on reading pocketbooks and playing cellphone games. I would arrive early and sit down in my cubicle, wait for patients to come. I thought it's as simple as placing a signboard infront. Anyway my veteran partners in the clinic (who happen to be an OB-Gyne and Pediatrician) are being swamped with so many patients, maybe 3 or 4 might get "lost" and knock on my door. It was hard, it was depressing counting the nailheads on my ceiling while waiting for my lunch hour and "go home" time while my partners are counting their patients (and their pesos at home). It's a good thing I was single then and got to keep some savings while I was a resident MD with a fixed stipend. Literally I was a bum and I still depended on Dad.
To cut a long story short, I accepted a teaching job in the college while sitting in my clinics on the side. In 2-3 years, my practice began to build up, I was able to build up my savings, got married & got kids. And the patients began to come by.. Yes, two important virtues came in...patience (for me) and the patients' trust on me. My income stream was becoming more steady and we were being more comfortable...at least that's what we thought..
It was my 4th year of private practice as an IM then, I was relatively doing well. Yep, I had some money in my savings account in the bank and my wife who’s a newly graduated pediatrician was just starting out her practice, when it suddenly hit me early dawn of December 16, 2004. I had atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular rate, was confined in a local hospital (AUFMC), stayed there for a week, had CT angiogram and other expensive tests in Manila, and was placed on “house arrest” by my cardiologist for roughly more than a month. There were frequent withdrawals from the bank account then and by the time, I was able to resume my practice, there were many backlogs with our credit card payments and we were below the minimum balance.
Though some may not relate to my experience, the fundamental truth remains….if practicing as a medical doctor/ specialist is your only bread and butter, you’ll eventually realize the pitfall of this glamorous (yet noble) profession especially when you get sick…….. NO WORK, NO PAY.
My wife and I were blessed to discover thru my brother an eye opener book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki 2 months after that awful experience and indeed, our perception of wealth changed and suddenly after all these years of “work hard, earn, save, and spend to look rich” would definitely be a thing of the past for us.
Since that time, I had been reading lots of books and articles on building true financial and personal wealth and had been setting and tweaking goals with my wife. Our objective is to have multiple sources of income from other avenues not only to secure ourselves’ and our kids’ future but more so, to pay back to GOD and forward to fellows in need. Eventually, our practice in the future as doctors would then be mainly for what it is intended to be as a noble profession, as charity work for the sick. Being “ma kwenta on your PF” should be something we should leave behind.
So with respect to this, I learned from Mr Kiyosaki from his book "Cashflow Quadrant" that there are basically four different methods by which income or money is generated.
As quoted in his book" Different methods of income generation require different frames of mind, different technical skills, different educational paths, and different types of people. DIfferent people are attracted to different quadrants. While money is all the same, the way it is earned can be vastly different. If you begin to look at the four different labels for each quadrant, you might want to ask yourself, "Which quadrant do you generate the majority of your income from?"
My first few months in my practice was spent more on reading pocketbooks and playing cellphone games. I would arrive early and sit down in my cubicle, wait for patients to come. I thought it's as simple as placing a signboard infront. Anyway my veteran partners in the clinic (who happen to be an OB-Gyne and Pediatrician) are being swamped with so many patients, maybe 3 or 4 might get "lost" and knock on my door. It was hard, it was depressing counting the nailheads on my ceiling while waiting for my lunch hour and "go home" time while my partners are counting their patients (and their pesos at home). It's a good thing I was single then and got to keep some savings while I was a resident MD with a fixed stipend. Literally I was a bum and I still depended on Dad.
To cut a long story short, I accepted a teaching job in the college while sitting in my clinics on the side. In 2-3 years, my practice began to build up, I was able to build up my savings, got married & got kids. And the patients began to come by.. Yes, two important virtues came in...patience (for me) and the patients' trust on me. My income stream was becoming more steady and we were being more comfortable...at least that's what we thought..
It was my 4th year of private practice as an IM then, I was relatively doing well. Yep, I had some money in my savings account in the bank and my wife who’s a newly graduated pediatrician was just starting out her practice, when it suddenly hit me early dawn of December 16, 2004. I had atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular rate, was confined in a local hospital (AUFMC), stayed there for a week, had CT angiogram and other expensive tests in Manila, and was placed on “house arrest” by my cardiologist for roughly more than a month. There were frequent withdrawals from the bank account then and by the time, I was able to resume my practice, there were many backlogs with our credit card payments and we were below the minimum balance.
Though some may not relate to my experience, the fundamental truth remains….if practicing as a medical doctor/ specialist is your only bread and butter, you’ll eventually realize the pitfall of this glamorous (yet noble) profession especially when you get sick…….. NO WORK, NO PAY.
My wife and I were blessed to discover thru my brother an eye opener book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki 2 months after that awful experience and indeed, our perception of wealth changed and suddenly after all these years of “work hard, earn, save, and spend to look rich” would definitely be a thing of the past for us.
Since that time, I had been reading lots of books and articles on building true financial and personal wealth and had been setting and tweaking goals with my wife. Our objective is to have multiple sources of income from other avenues not only to secure ourselves’ and our kids’ future but more so, to pay back to GOD and forward to fellows in need. Eventually, our practice in the future as doctors would then be mainly for what it is intended to be as a noble profession, as charity work for the sick. Being “ma kwenta on your PF” should be something we should leave behind.
So with respect to this, I learned from Mr Kiyosaki from his book "Cashflow Quadrant" that there are basically four different methods by which income or money is generated.
As quoted in his book" Different methods of income generation require different frames of mind, different technical skills, different educational paths, and different types of people. DIfferent people are attracted to different quadrants. While money is all the same, the way it is earned can be vastly different. If you begin to look at the four different labels for each quadrant, you might want to ask yourself, "Which quadrant do you generate the majority of your income from?"
I'll be going into this further on the next post.
"Watch, listen, and learn. You can't know it all yourself...Anyone who thinks they do is destined for mediocrity." - Donald Trump
Monday, April 30, 2012
The day after I arrived back
One thing I do not like with being away from your normal work routine ( in our case, out from the clinics and hospital) even if to take a short vacation (as side trip with your out of town seminars) would be the accumulated load you are facing head on once you've arrived back.
I had actually requested a colleague with the same specialty I have to relieve me in my clinic to make it easy for my patients to cope in my absence (especially to aide them with their medical needs while I was away). I arrived late Sunday.
I was however still deluged yesterday (Monday) with patients in my OPD consults that I finished quite late (past 9 pm). I asked my secretary why this is so, "Didn't the patients who came in during the days I was gone consult my reliever?" Her answer was a "no", they said they would just come back when I arrive.
I felt quite flattered with this due to their overwhelming trust but then again I began to sigh, "What would I do, it'll be our annual convention in Manila next week (for 4 days)? We are also like students, we are having our attendance checked for our CME units, and being delinquent will deter our chances to secure that certificate of good standing which we need badly as a requirement for accreditation as a Philhealth medical provider (Philhealth happens to be the National Health Insurance Program here in the Philippines). So being absent there and staying in our clinic to see patients ( yep our patients would prefer this) and earning too ( yep I would like this :) ) is really not an option.
That's what makes us doctors (some employed, especially the government workers and most the self-employed specialist) different from the enlightened entrepreneurs and the investors when it comes to providing services and building wealth. We may have comparatively greater income/ professional fees than a laborer and maybe some professionals but we do have to be always physically present to earn our daily bread. And the image patients have of their doctors are that they should be and look well-to-do.
Many patients would even equate the doctor's clinical competence with how he/she dresses, the car he uses when he comes to the clinic/ hospital, and even where they live. It would be rare for a class A or B patient to entrust their medical condition to a dude who rents and lives in a socialized housing community and who commutes to his clinic with a plain T shirt and jean type trousers to boot. Nope, that's why physicians also invest in their appearance and over all appeal so they make good impressions too to everyone. And yes, that involves spending for it.
In my next post, I would like to share something I read a few years back with regards to the four different groups of people with regards to wealth generation. Why did I bring this up when we are talking about the noble profession of medicine? That would also be answered in my next post...
" A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone."-- Henry David Thoreau, naturalist
I had actually requested a colleague with the same specialty I have to relieve me in my clinic to make it easy for my patients to cope in my absence (especially to aide them with their medical needs while I was away). I arrived late Sunday.
I was however still deluged yesterday (Monday) with patients in my OPD consults that I finished quite late (past 9 pm). I asked my secretary why this is so, "Didn't the patients who came in during the days I was gone consult my reliever?" Her answer was a "no", they said they would just come back when I arrive.
I felt quite flattered with this due to their overwhelming trust but then again I began to sigh, "What would I do, it'll be our annual convention in Manila next week (for 4 days)? We are also like students, we are having our attendance checked for our CME units, and being delinquent will deter our chances to secure that certificate of good standing which we need badly as a requirement for accreditation as a Philhealth medical provider (Philhealth happens to be the National Health Insurance Program here in the Philippines). So being absent there and staying in our clinic to see patients ( yep our patients would prefer this) and earning too ( yep I would like this :) ) is really not an option.
That's what makes us doctors (some employed, especially the government workers and most the self-employed specialist) different from the enlightened entrepreneurs and the investors when it comes to providing services and building wealth. We may have comparatively greater income/ professional fees than a laborer and maybe some professionals but we do have to be always physically present to earn our daily bread. And the image patients have of their doctors are that they should be and look well-to-do.
Many patients would even equate the doctor's clinical competence with how he/she dresses, the car he uses when he comes to the clinic/ hospital, and even where they live. It would be rare for a class A or B patient to entrust their medical condition to a dude who rents and lives in a socialized housing community and who commutes to his clinic with a plain T shirt and jean type trousers to boot. Nope, that's why physicians also invest in their appearance and over all appeal so they make good impressions too to everyone. And yes, that involves spending for it.
In my next post, I would like to share something I read a few years back with regards to the four different groups of people with regards to wealth generation. Why did I bring this up when we are talking about the noble profession of medicine? That would also be answered in my next post...
" A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone."-- Henry David Thoreau, naturalist
Sunday, April 29, 2012
The two things in life amigo..
My sincere apologies as I was not able to post the past three days while I was away due to problems on internet connectivity and my device. Well here I am, recharged and ready to zoom :)
I'd like to share first this funny string of words with logic, this was delivered perfectly by Tessie, one of the best local tourist guides we've met. Yep there will always be two paths..
TWO things in life amigo..
It's either you live or die...
If you live, well and good.
If you die, there are two things..
It's either you become soil or fertilizer..
If soil, well and good.
If fertilizer, it's either you become a tree or a vegetable..
If a vegetable, well and good.
If a tree, it's either you become wood or paper.
If wood, well and good.
If paper, it's either you become a writing paper or toilet paper.
If writing paper, well and good.
If toilet paper, it's either you are used by a man or a woman.
If by a man, well and good.
If by a woman, it's either you get used in the front or the back.
If it's at the back, well and good.
If it's at the front, you will gladly say "I have not died in vain..." :)
Let's relax a bit, see you tomorrow....
I'd like to share first this funny string of words with logic, this was delivered perfectly by Tessie, one of the best local tourist guides we've met. Yep there will always be two paths..
TWO things in life amigo..
It's either you live or die...
If you live, well and good.
If you die, there are two things..
It's either you become soil or fertilizer..
If soil, well and good.
If fertilizer, it's either you become a tree or a vegetable..
If a vegetable, well and good.
If a tree, it's either you become wood or paper.
If wood, well and good.
If paper, it's either you become a writing paper or toilet paper.
If writing paper, well and good.
If toilet paper, it's either you are used by a man or a woman.
If by a man, well and good.
If by a woman, it's either you get used in the front or the back.
If it's at the back, well and good.
If it's at the front, you will gladly say "I have not died in vain..." :)
Let's relax a bit, see you tomorrow....
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Committing to wealth building
Missed last night blogging session due to my hectic MD schedule but nevertheless, got the chance to sit and type again. It's really hard too to start a new habit especially when all your previous activities are like clockwork. But giving in once and especially twice in a row would be the precedent of the lackadaisical mode of failure.
A good chapter I read from Jack Canfield's book, the Success Principles ( Success Principle 35 ) says “99% is a bitch; 100% is a breeze.” When you make a 100% commitment to something, you eliminate exceptions. Unfortunately, many people think that they are fully committed to their dreams, when in truth, they allow exceptions that slow their momentum and derail their success.
If you had committed yourself to do something, by all means do it (NO EXCUSES). A man who walks the talk ( does what he says) is a man of integrity. He brings forth an image of respect that people will look up to and also develops a high regard to himself. And it starts by committing to what you told yourself you would do.
I've been trying my best to apply this too with my wealth management. Here in the Philippines, the norm of most people when it comes to savings would just be to pur your money in a time deposit. From a high rate during the 70s (as much as double your money in 5 years), the interest rates in the banks nowadays had flunked to a LOW low 3 to 5% per annum! Inflation beats you so you actually lose your money gradually when you just leave it there.
I learned about 3 years ago the concept of investing safely in the Philippines stock market and doing online brokerage to do so. Way back, I thought investing there is for the big boys and you should know your terminologies and contacts when you talk with a stockbroker, now you can do it online. Thanks to Bo Sanchez' Truly Rich Seminar, I learned about peso cost averaging ( citiseconline's peso cost averaging).
In a nutshell, it's investing as little as P5000 ( $120) monthly in a choice company (one that had been and will always be there in the long run and will certainly be growing in profits) irregardless of the stock price. In about 5 to 10 years of doing so, the performance and earnings/interest go on the average as high as 58% . I started with Jollibee, SM, and BDO about 3 years ago though honestly had missed some months putting in. Nevertheless, had already earned about 33% interest with the money I had put in. Of course, you have to know your companies really well (in my case, I had been given a review of fund performance by the company).
Now I had to commit to this new discipline of building my wealth thru this monthly without fail. More on this on the next posts.
PS: Will be out of town tomorrow till Saturday so the posts would be shorter as I'll be doing this thru my mobile and email.
A good chapter I read from Jack Canfield's book, the Success Principles ( Success Principle 35 ) says “99% is a bitch; 100% is a breeze.” When you make a 100% commitment to something, you eliminate exceptions. Unfortunately, many people think that they are fully committed to their dreams, when in truth, they allow exceptions that slow their momentum and derail their success.
If you had committed yourself to do something, by all means do it (NO EXCUSES). A man who walks the talk ( does what he says) is a man of integrity. He brings forth an image of respect that people will look up to and also develops a high regard to himself. And it starts by committing to what you told yourself you would do.
I've been trying my best to apply this too with my wealth management. Here in the Philippines, the norm of most people when it comes to savings would just be to pur your money in a time deposit. From a high rate during the 70s (as much as double your money in 5 years), the interest rates in the banks nowadays had flunked to a LOW low 3 to 5% per annum! Inflation beats you so you actually lose your money gradually when you just leave it there.
I learned about 3 years ago the concept of investing safely in the Philippines stock market and doing online brokerage to do so. Way back, I thought investing there is for the big boys and you should know your terminologies and contacts when you talk with a stockbroker, now you can do it online. Thanks to Bo Sanchez' Truly Rich Seminar, I learned about peso cost averaging ( citiseconline's peso cost averaging).
In a nutshell, it's investing as little as P5000 ( $120) monthly in a choice company (one that had been and will always be there in the long run and will certainly be growing in profits) irregardless of the stock price. In about 5 to 10 years of doing so, the performance and earnings/interest go on the average as high as 58% . I started with Jollibee, SM, and BDO about 3 years ago though honestly had missed some months putting in. Nevertheless, had already earned about 33% interest with the money I had put in. Of course, you have to know your companies really well (in my case, I had been given a review of fund performance by the company).
Now I had to commit to this new discipline of building my wealth thru this monthly without fail. More on this on the next posts.
PS: Will be out of town tomorrow till Saturday so the posts would be shorter as I'll be doing this thru my mobile and email.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Getting that focus
It's summertime here in the Philippines and the temperature goes to as high as 35 C. Our kids had been pretty much confined at home, their eyes glued over their respective game devices with their fingers on the keypads and their focus almost 100% to their preferred game/ movie. So much so as when you call them, you pretty much would have your voice to a loud 10/10 before you could at least make their head turn and ask "what?".
Times had been so different when we were kids, our games were pretty much more physical and more social. Who wouldn't miss our hide and seek games, "What's your name...Orange juice (huh)", tumbang preso (hit the can), syoto, and pasi (top)? Instead of us hitting each other's tops and having the last top turning as the winner, my kids are now into the commercialized "Beyblade" game, each mini top with its metal cover cost almost P500! ( ~ $10!). That money could buy me a dozen tops, problem is I think they are nearly extinct nowadays.
Whatever the game is (whether circa 1970s or 2010s), one thing is for sure with kids.... that ability to focus and play into the game.
Sad to say, as adults since we are all so exposed to different situations / faces / predicaments (in short, stimuli) in life, we fall victim to distractions and get lost with the ongoings around us. We lose focus as we start our day, we most of the time do not fulfill our worthwhile goals/ agenda because "things happen" and we do this, we do that, we go astray our purpose.
Sooner or later, the attitude degenerates into the "come what may" attitude.....just wake up in the morning, wait for things to happen and simply react to them. Whoa, we are not plants, we can move and think!
Indifference and laziness are the main ingredients of a complaining, uncontented, and miserable life. The best cure for grief and frustration is action.
And kids are the perfect example of the indefatigable spirit. Just watch them closely how persistent they are when they want something. You're watching TV and your tot scratches your back and say, "Dad, I wanna watch Barney". "No, I'm watching the news" , you say. But then he goes again, "Daddy, I wanna watch Barney". You resist again but there he could go on and on until you give in....
Talo ka sa bata! " (You lost to a kid!).
Times had been so different when we were kids, our games were pretty much more physical and more social. Who wouldn't miss our hide and seek games, "What's your name...Orange juice (huh)", tumbang preso (hit the can), syoto, and pasi (top)? Instead of us hitting each other's tops and having the last top turning as the winner, my kids are now into the commercialized "Beyblade" game, each mini top with its metal cover cost almost P500! ( ~ $10!). That money could buy me a dozen tops, problem is I think they are nearly extinct nowadays.
Whatever the game is (whether circa 1970s or 2010s), one thing is for sure with kids.... that ability to focus and play into the game.
Sad to say, as adults since we are all so exposed to different situations / faces / predicaments (in short, stimuli) in life, we fall victim to distractions and get lost with the ongoings around us. We lose focus as we start our day, we most of the time do not fulfill our worthwhile goals/ agenda because "things happen" and we do this, we do that, we go astray our purpose.
Sooner or later, the attitude degenerates into the "come what may" attitude.....just wake up in the morning, wait for things to happen and simply react to them. Whoa, we are not plants, we can move and think!
Indifference and laziness are the main ingredients of a complaining, uncontented, and miserable life. The best cure for grief and frustration is action.
And kids are the perfect example of the indefatigable spirit. Just watch them closely how persistent they are when they want something. You're watching TV and your tot scratches your back and say, "Dad, I wanna watch Barney". "No, I'm watching the news" , you say. But then he goes again, "Daddy, I wanna watch Barney". You resist again but there he could go on and on until you give in....
Talo ka sa bata! " (You lost to a kid!).
Monday, April 23, 2012
Eliminating a bad habit
Speaking of diet, I had read of an article in Medscape stating that red meat intake increases mortality risk. From the study, it was estimated that 9.3% of deaths in men and 7.6% of deaths in women could have been prevented if all participants consumed fewer than 0.5 servings of total red meat daily. Estimates were 8.6% in men and 12.2% in women for deaths from cardiovascular disease (CVD). You may read the article here...http://bit.ly/IkxYaB.
Tsk tsk tsk, it gets harder and harder everyday. Sooner or later with the researches they keep on bringing up, all the good and savory foodstuff that makes you pig out with the gang will soon be prohibited.
Joking aside, there are so many supposedly bad habits we have to get rid of or correct and we do know that if we succeed in eliminating them, we could have reached our goals earlier. Let's take smoking as an example, whenever I talk with my patients and discourage them from smoking again, they would automatically tell me it would be very hard to impossible coz they had been smoking for decades and they would end up crazy if they did this.
But when my chain smoker patients end up in the ICU for an acute MI or an attack of COPD ( chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), it's so clear that they could not touch even a single stick of cigarette for the next few days/weeks while in the hospital and...they will still keep their sanity. No wonder those discharged from medical confinement are more likely to succeed in quitting smoking than the outpatients. My observation is that it takes a strong situation or an intense emotion to make a radical change in one's habits.
A technique I learned in eliminating a bad habit is not by focusing and thinking about it. Even if you say "I will not eat carelessly red meat in large amounts" a hundred times and concentrate on avoiding it, at the end of the day, these two words will still stick with you.....RED MEAT.
Rather, we should affirm something positive (when out of the way from indulging in red meat). Something like "I enjoy eating green leafy vegetables and fresh fish and salmon", " I eat wheat bread and lots of fiber", "I grow leaner and leaner everyday", "I begin to look fit and attractive", "I have good endurance and health because of the food I eat". Creatively visualize each scene...savor the taste of the veggies, salmon, and the freshly baked wheat bread...run a kilometer in your mind without catching your bread...make the opposite sex look and admire you when you walk amongst them. This affirmation technique should be done 5-10 minutes 3x a day and live by them. Focus on the good benefits of the alternative route.
A bad habit is the by product of loneliness & lack of trust in God's love and is really a poor exchange for something bigger, better, and right for you. - Bo Sanchez
So put your habits in alignment with your goals and dream it.
Happy dreaming!
Tsk tsk tsk, it gets harder and harder everyday. Sooner or later with the researches they keep on bringing up, all the good and savory foodstuff that makes you pig out with the gang will soon be prohibited.
Joking aside, there are so many supposedly bad habits we have to get rid of or correct and we do know that if we succeed in eliminating them, we could have reached our goals earlier. Let's take smoking as an example, whenever I talk with my patients and discourage them from smoking again, they would automatically tell me it would be very hard to impossible coz they had been smoking for decades and they would end up crazy if they did this.
But when my chain smoker patients end up in the ICU for an acute MI or an attack of COPD ( chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), it's so clear that they could not touch even a single stick of cigarette for the next few days/weeks while in the hospital and...they will still keep their sanity. No wonder those discharged from medical confinement are more likely to succeed in quitting smoking than the outpatients. My observation is that it takes a strong situation or an intense emotion to make a radical change in one's habits.
A technique I learned in eliminating a bad habit is not by focusing and thinking about it. Even if you say "I will not eat carelessly red meat in large amounts" a hundred times and concentrate on avoiding it, at the end of the day, these two words will still stick with you.....RED MEAT.
Rather, we should affirm something positive (when out of the way from indulging in red meat). Something like "I enjoy eating green leafy vegetables and fresh fish and salmon", " I eat wheat bread and lots of fiber", "I grow leaner and leaner everyday", "I begin to look fit and attractive", "I have good endurance and health because of the food I eat". Creatively visualize each scene...savor the taste of the veggies, salmon, and the freshly baked wheat bread...run a kilometer in your mind without catching your bread...make the opposite sex look and admire you when you walk amongst them. This affirmation technique should be done 5-10 minutes 3x a day and live by them. Focus on the good benefits of the alternative route.
A bad habit is the by product of loneliness & lack of trust in God's love and is really a poor exchange for something bigger, better, and right for you. - Bo Sanchez
So put your habits in alignment with your goals and dream it.
Happy dreaming!
Sunday, April 22, 2012
The struggle to build good habits
Just woke up at about 7:30am and realized that I've missed a pretty important event. I had been invited by Dra Dizon 2 nights before to join in the "Ta Run Na Abe" ( Come on Let's Run), a 2.5, 5 ,10, & 21 km marathon/ fun run organized by a medical organization (group of Family Med MDs) which supposedly had started at 5 am this morning....
Nah, running is not for me, and yes to support that, my companions here at home are still in cloud 9 snoring. I would just get a tiger look if I woke them and forced them to go with me. I've been telling them esp my better half about the event and what if we join in just for fun. Yep my invitation entered their left and exited their right ear.. :( . It looks pitiful if I alone would set off for it in Clark so I rested my case.
Though well rested I still feel I've missed a lot and so I turned on that threadmill machine & in spirit, joined them marathoners while watching David Foster (The Hitman and Friends DVD). The music is superb and keeps me to the beat, it distracts me from being tired though I just have to stop at 2.8 km in 30 mins ( a pre set program). I'm not an endurance conditioned man. Besides I don't have a cardiac monitor attached on me...
It was always my goal to remain healthy but I just had an attack of an irregular heart (atrial fibrillation) December 2005 after having had a drink in our Christmas party. A series of tests while being confined showed that I have a bicuspid aortic valve, a 28% stenotic obstruction in my right coronary artery, and hypertriglyceridemia. My world literally stopped during that time as I always limited myself from doing physical activities, just walking gives me chest discomfort. I felt depressed not being able to help my wife with our daily bread. Yep, one sad thing about being a doctor is you may earn much bigger while working but when you stop (like when you get sick), nothing will go in.
But then I recall my good friend-colleague Edgar telling me, "Hey, you're still too young and you have small kids to look out for. Don't let this control you.". When this got into me, I suddenly realized the truth in what he said. Though I've been on maintenance since then, am glad to be almost always symptom free for the past 7 years. I've been "fortunate" enough to have fatty liver, GB stones (had a laparoscopic cholecystectomy in 2009), & kidney stones (had shock wave lithotripsy in Dec 2011) but what the heck, I remain committed to reach a ripe old age of 90 so I could still meet & even play with my grand kids.
I'm formulating an exercise plan despite my toxic schedule as a practitioner, my patients are not quite benign nowadays (have had 4 intubated ICU patients this week :( ). It's hard but will be using some tools to achieve this, I'll be sharing them in the next posts (tools I learned from success mentors). Yep, there's the diet thing, I eat like a true blue Kapampangan, salty and fatty foodstuffs are really hard to resist especially when all the people in the household crave for them and that our helpers are great cooks. That's an extra challenge to use tools upon.
Good luck!!
Nah, running is not for me, and yes to support that, my companions here at home are still in cloud 9 snoring. I would just get a tiger look if I woke them and forced them to go with me. I've been telling them esp my better half about the event and what if we join in just for fun. Yep my invitation entered their left and exited their right ear.. :( . It looks pitiful if I alone would set off for it in Clark so I rested my case.
Though well rested I still feel I've missed a lot and so I turned on that threadmill machine & in spirit, joined them marathoners while watching David Foster (The Hitman and Friends DVD). The music is superb and keeps me to the beat, it distracts me from being tired though I just have to stop at 2.8 km in 30 mins ( a pre set program). I'm not an endurance conditioned man. Besides I don't have a cardiac monitor attached on me...
It was always my goal to remain healthy but I just had an attack of an irregular heart (atrial fibrillation) December 2005 after having had a drink in our Christmas party. A series of tests while being confined showed that I have a bicuspid aortic valve, a 28% stenotic obstruction in my right coronary artery, and hypertriglyceridemia. My world literally stopped during that time as I always limited myself from doing physical activities, just walking gives me chest discomfort. I felt depressed not being able to help my wife with our daily bread. Yep, one sad thing about being a doctor is you may earn much bigger while working but when you stop (like when you get sick), nothing will go in.
But then I recall my good friend-colleague Edgar telling me, "Hey, you're still too young and you have small kids to look out for. Don't let this control you.". When this got into me, I suddenly realized the truth in what he said. Though I've been on maintenance since then, am glad to be almost always symptom free for the past 7 years. I've been "fortunate" enough to have fatty liver, GB stones (had a laparoscopic cholecystectomy in 2009), & kidney stones (had shock wave lithotripsy in Dec 2011) but what the heck, I remain committed to reach a ripe old age of 90 so I could still meet & even play with my grand kids.
I'm formulating an exercise plan despite my toxic schedule as a practitioner, my patients are not quite benign nowadays (have had 4 intubated ICU patients this week :( ). It's hard but will be using some tools to achieve this, I'll be sharing them in the next posts (tools I learned from success mentors). Yep, there's the diet thing, I eat like a true blue Kapampangan, salty and fatty foodstuffs are really hard to resist especially when all the people in the household crave for them and that our helpers are great cooks. That's an extra challenge to use tools upon.
Good luck!!
Saturday, April 21, 2012
What's with this blog??
It's my first day to blog again in about 2 years! My previous blogs were more of the cut and paste type, heck mainly to create an advertisement filled page for others to click on and for me to earn (how sad). Well mainly it's because I barely have the time to write. Too much preparation gets you into analysis paralysis. Now I just know I have to place my fingers on the keyboard and let it flow...
Why did I create this blog? What's with the title? There are billions of super blogs out there, who would take the time to glide their eyes on my piece? Well I can't answer all these. I just have to share what I learn, see, experience daily and just write, write, write.
What to expect here? My hopefully daily journal 1. as a father 2. as a medical doctor-internist ( nope, no medical lectures here!! But yes to tips and uncanny experiences) 3. as an aspiring online entrepreneur ( delving into internet and online affiliate businesses worth exploring, the very good ones will be share with you), as a network marketer (lots to spill on the groups I've joined in), 4. as an inactive licensed realtor ( I'm still updated on the good projects, thanks to my local realtor society), 5. as a traveler ( the world is a colorful and strange place!), 6. as an investor ( thanks to Mr Kiyosaki of Rich Dad, Poor Dad who I virtually met in 2005 thru his book, money is not evil and scarce as I thought it was), and more importantly 6. as a life and success learner ( I actively strive to be taught by mentors like Jim Rohn, Jack Canfield, Brian Tracy, Bo Sanchez, Jomar Hilario, Larry Gamboa, etc and even pay subscription fees to learn from them. And yes, in my following blogs I'll just lay some for you to take in.
When a candle is lit, it should be placed far out in the dark to fulfill its purpose. That's what our life's lessons are supposed to be, to be a lightpost for others.
Feel free to comment and give suggestions! We are all learners here.
PS: To avoid spamming and VERY violent counter comments (I hope none :), I will have to moderate them before publishing.
It's the start of a new adventure!!
Why did I create this blog? What's with the title? There are billions of super blogs out there, who would take the time to glide their eyes on my piece? Well I can't answer all these. I just have to share what I learn, see, experience daily and just write, write, write.
What to expect here? My hopefully daily journal 1. as a father 2. as a medical doctor-internist ( nope, no medical lectures here!! But yes to tips and uncanny experiences) 3. as an aspiring online entrepreneur ( delving into internet and online affiliate businesses worth exploring, the very good ones will be share with you), as a network marketer (lots to spill on the groups I've joined in), 4. as an inactive licensed realtor ( I'm still updated on the good projects, thanks to my local realtor society), 5. as a traveler ( the world is a colorful and strange place!), 6. as an investor ( thanks to Mr Kiyosaki of Rich Dad, Poor Dad who I virtually met in 2005 thru his book, money is not evil and scarce as I thought it was), and more importantly 6. as a life and success learner ( I actively strive to be taught by mentors like Jim Rohn, Jack Canfield, Brian Tracy, Bo Sanchez, Jomar Hilario, Larry Gamboa, etc and even pay subscription fees to learn from them. And yes, in my following blogs I'll just lay some for you to take in.
When a candle is lit, it should be placed far out in the dark to fulfill its purpose. That's what our life's lessons are supposed to be, to be a lightpost for others.
Feel free to comment and give suggestions! We are all learners here.
PS: To avoid spamming and VERY violent counter comments (I hope none :), I will have to moderate them before publishing.
It's the start of a new adventure!!
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