Truth About Responsibility

Spiderman once said, "Great power comes with great responsibility." The higher one goes up the success ladder, more responsibilities will come. Although most of the time, it may seem he or she is doing "nothing" but when the organization falls apart, that person is to be blamed. We love responsibilities when everything goes smoothly but when everything is not turning out right, we blame others.

A good leader takes responsibility whether the situation is good or bad. He or she is, most of the time, the troubleshooter in each situation and should keep a cool head. Most of the time a good leader is being mocked by a lot of people because they can't seem to find anything wrong about him/her. And, if he/she did something wrong, the people around him/her will be treated as if he/she did a henous crime. Well, that's what life is all about...it's already our nature that we envy people who are ahead of us and we try to bring them down.

This is a lesson that hit me hard today. I had some misunderstanding with one of our sales people about our sampling date. It could have been easier for me to blame him by not clarifying the date with me but since I'm a Christian and also one of the leaders, I have to swallow my pride and take responsibility. I know that in one way or another, I'd hear some people around me making a big deal out of this but I have to keep my word. I'll just make a solution out of it rather than sulk about the problem. Besides, we all learn from our mistakes and failures are healthy tools for a successful career. Therefore, my quotation now would be: "Great power comes with great responsibility and failures make us a successful person."

Old Dogs vs. Young Eagles

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." 1 Timothy 4:12

It's really hard to be the youngest in an organization especially if most of your colleagues are at least 10 years older than you. The normal treatment would always be: they look down on you. Whether you did the right thing or not, you will always be wrong in their sight. They can't stand the fact that someone younger than them can be way ahead of them and can achieve more than what they had in their stay in the company. The root cause of office politics is, almost always, about jealousy. They are probably jealous of all the benefits and training you're getting. Or probably, the big boss favors you more than them because you are still flexible to learn.

Having that first hand experience, it affected my working capabilities. On one hand, I want to give up and just go with the flow. But on the other hand, I will continue to do my best in my job regardless of what they will say. However, most of the time I'm just caught in the middle don't know what to do. I have also met a lot of my friends who are in the same situation as I have. Or probably, it's just the era of the 20-something where in we're in the hype of our career and wanting to learn but the "old dogs" would just not allow us to "spread our wings". A good freind of mine once told me that if I want to grow in my career, I need to resign from my current job. Well, that friend of mine has a point...because if I don't resign and stopped allowing myself to learn, I will just end up like a "dead wood". Then again, as long as I am employed, I will continue to apply 1 Timothy 4:12 and in God's time, He will just let me spread my wings and "soar like an eagle".

Dream the Impossible Dream

This morning, I met with a few students who will make a feasiblility study in their school. It was nice to see that they have programs like this to challenge them to create new ideas especially in the business world. I'm sure that most of the students are doing this for the sake of their grades. Well, maybe if I will be in their shoes, most likely I would have the same mentality too. But I was given the opportunity to meet these students so that I'd be able to share with them some of my insights and recommendations in putting up a business. Although I myself don't have my own business yet, my meeting with them challenged me to have my own business. We'll never know what will happen next in my life but maybe, just maybe, in the near future, I'd be able to put up something I can call my own.

Here are some guidelines that I learned during my two yars of stay in my current company that would help me and maybe, you in putting up a business:

1. Never Stop Dreaming. Dreaming is for free and no one can take that away from you. Try putting your dream on your business plan just like how kids imitate their favorite cartoon characters. The problem with us adults is we are so negative and we take too much reality in our plan. I don't see combining both dream and reality together as long as they are mixed properly.

2. Cost Everything. This is the reality part of your business. Money talks. You want to put up a business because you want to earn. But make sure to separate investments and expenses. A balanced costing will help your business grow. A growing business has to spend more but the return of investment will be doubled or tripled.

3. Take the First Step. This is the risk most people are afraid of. Just ask yourself, how will you know that the water is cold if you haven't dipped your foot in?

4. Research. Do a lot of research before putting up a business. Talk to people. Look at it from different perspectives. Ask questions. And as the brilliant philosopher, Socrates once said: "The only real wisdom is knowing you know nothing."

5. The Customer is Always Right. This is very self explanatory...therefore, when putting up a business, be a consumer first. Always ask yourself, if I'm the customer, would I come back? Why or why not? A simple question but will help you troubleshoot any problems and improve your business. If you know how to relate to them, they will be loyal to you and sales will come after.

These are just simple guidelines. But I do hope that this will help you on how to start your own business and probably, mine too. And, this blog might also be our key to success!

10,000 Rule

"Practice makes perfect." It's a common saying for all of us. Malcom Gladwell in his book, "Outliers", described that a lot of people became successful because of the 10,000 Rule. He wrote that these people practiced their skills at least 10,000 hours to reach the success that they have today. One example he gave was The Beatles. They were not really the best when they started but they were very hard working in exploring different kinds of music in different bars. They were rejected and not appreciated but this didn't stop them from playing more music. When they became "The Beatles", they have already consumed 10,000 hours of practicing and up until now, we still continue to sing their songs.

This morning, I was talking to a friend about this and since he is a photographer, he told me that he realized that the pre-nup shots was his "10,000 hours". He didn't realized it until he listened to Outliers - Audiobook. This also made me think, what is my "10,000 hours"? I'm glad that my friend opened my eyes and told me that my "10,000 hours" is my learning and gathering of new information. Come to think of it, it's really true. Ever since I was a kid, I love to explore and learn new things. I've always loved trivia games and I secretly like watching documentaries. So, I have decided that from now on, I will focus on my "10,000 hours"....to read more and do a lot of research then post my learnings on this blog. Now I understand why I can't stand being idle. Once I stop feeding my mind, then that's the end of my line. Well, this might be my hidden passion after all...maybe I should follow the career path of doing research.

Humans: Social Beings of the Real and "Unreal"

Our world becomes smaller because of the advanced technology today. People will be able to interact with everybody by just a click of the mouse. Giordano is right in putting the tagline that says, "World Without Strangers" because someone can socialize with anyone around the world. Eventually, every stranger we meet might be someone we have already talked to via the internet.

As you can see, we have been bombarded with different social sites...from Friendster to MySpace to Facebook to Twitter (if you would consider that one). These are just a few of the many social networking sites today. We are also upgrading our communication via emails, chat servers, cellphones etc. These are great technologies in the 21st century because it helps us to keep in touch with our families, friends, and business partners just underneath our fingers. Even I myself am hooked to this kind of technology. However, the downside of this is that all relationships became shallow and possible "not real". Why? Because one can easily manipulate his/her own identity and everything can be filtered already.

For the past few weeks, I've been doing a lot of work and my social life was going down. So, I just catch up with my friends via Facebook and email. After a few weeks of being in the virtual world to socialize, I realized that it's becoming "un-human". I missed to see the reactions of their faces, the hugs, the conversations without much filtering, the wrong grammars, the laughing out loud and all the emotions that I sense when I'm with my friends. I'm glad because early this evening, I had a dinner with a good friend and we just talked almost about anything. If it was not late, no problems with transportation and no work the next day, we might be talking all night long until we felt sleepy. Nothing beats a night out with friends and talking to someone who is physically there with you. Relationships can truly go deeper when you see the real person and when you are connected through the five senses. Well, at least I can proudly say that I'm still human afterall because I can still find some time catch up with friends by being with them.

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Success Beyond Your Expectation

No matter who you are or what you do, you strive hard to reach a successful life. I was able to receive a quotation that says, "the only way to fail is to please everybody, and the way to success is to keep your eyes on Jesus". Well, this is true afterall.


I was a people pleaser especially during my younger days. I thought that if I please them, they would accept me but I was wrong. The more I please them, the more they became unhappy with me, I became frustrated and unhappy with my life. I have never lived my life for myself but for the people around me. Until one day, I get sick and tired of it to the point that I didn't want to be with people anymore...I became a loner. But I'd say that that was my best moment. Ironic? But it's true. Because, that was the time when God spoke to me. He reminded me that I have to  "work willingly at whatever I do, as though I were working for the Lord rather than for people." (Colossians 3:23; New Living Translation). Although, at first it was hard to do it but eventually, I get the hang of working for the Lord and not for men.

From that day on, I learned to stand up for what I believe and be honest with what I feel without worrying about what others will say. Of course, as long as what I was fighting for is right and would not compromise my beliefs in the Bible. I have also learned how to look at a situation from different perspectives. My point of view and knowledge became wider to the point that I now know how to appreciate even the small things. Yes, there are still some people who are criticizing me because I don't conform but just like what my good friend told me, I just dared to be different. Even though I "stay away from the crowd", I can now proudly say that I am successful beyond my expectation because it's Jesus whom I now please.

What on Earth is Going On???

We heard the news. Earthquakes. Storm. Snow Storm. Tsunami. Flood. Drought. Famine. Have you ever wondered, "what is going on nowadays?" It's bad news all over the world. When will these stop? What will the future be? We all want answers to these questions. In Matthew 24, Jesus told His disciples about the signs of the end times:

Matthew 24:3-8
3As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"
4Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,[a]' and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains.

Do these verses sound familiar and something we see on the headlines? Well, I guess we're now really living in the end times as the signs are already showing. Come to think of it, we have more calamities these days than the days of our forefathers. Why is that? I believe this is God's way of telling us to repent and turn back to Him. All we have to do is to accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior and have a relationship with Him. It's not about how good we are nor what our religion is...it's all about having a relationship with Him. It's about time that we re-evaluate our lives and repent of our sins. Being a Christian does not mean that we'll have a smooth sailing life but it's is going to be a life with peace amidst of the storm. Jesus is the ONLY answer in our life's troubles. Think about it...