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 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.

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

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"

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
  

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

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

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?" 

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