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Monday, July 14, 2014

Bible Reflections of a Recently Renewed Faith

I don't consider myself a very religious person.  Well, none of the people who know me will say that they know me to be a religious person.  Sure, I've been Catholic all my life; I studied in catholic schools for fifteen years of my life.  I go to mass -- at times. Almost regularly when I was younger then sometimes when I was getting older and then rarely until never.  Frankly before yesterday, I can't remember the last time.  But since joining the Truly Rich Club by Bro. Bo Sanchez, my faith has blossomed anew.

This post was originally published in The Truly Rich SAHM.



BIBLE REFLECTIONS FOR TODAY


I’m a member of the Kerygma Family which is an online community of people for prayer and spiritual support.  Part of my blessing as a member is to receive Daily Bible Reflections (all for free!) which has three parts: first is the Didache which contains personal sharing and stories which are related to the readings of the day. Second is the Companion, which contains all the Mass readings of the day (First Reading, Second Reading, Psalm and the Gospel) with brief explanations. Third is the Sabbath which contains reflections of a priest about the Gospel. It’s actually like listening to a homily.
didache_2007_1small_large phpThumb_generated_thumbnail Sabbath 20143 cover
I joined Kerygma 5 days ago and have already received five Daily Bible Reflections. But because of the Gospel yesterday about the Parable of the Sower made me realize that it’s not enough that I read these, I need to reflect on them too.
Today’s 1st Reading from Isaiah 1:10-17 made me realize that it doesn’t really matter if we do religious things for God if we are not able to do anything to correct injustices in our own backyard, especially if we are responsible for or take part in those injustices. even if we worship God every week or even everyday, if we are spiteful of the people around us, if we shout to a service crew at a fast-food place, if we know of a relative who’s in need but do nothing about it, if we have a house helper but treat them as someone inferior, if we mismanage our subordinates, if we prefer to throw food away rather than feed a hungry kid because he looks dangerous…everything else doesn’t matter.  It doesn’t sound easy but it makes total sense. 
If anyone else would want to receive the Daily Bible Reflections too, with the Didache, Companion and the Sabbath, I’m inviting you to be part of the Kerygma family. It is ABSOLUTELY FREE to join and its purpose is to let everyone know that wherever you are in the world, you have a whole family or support system to help you through anything.  You have access to counselors anytime of the day from wherever you are.  You’d know that wherever you are, there are people praying for you too. You can check their website here






Sunday, July 13, 2014

FINANCIAL PLANNING and GOAL SETTING WORKSHOP at the WEALTH ACADEMY

Series 2 of the training series at the Wealth Academy is the "Financial Planning and Goal Setting Workshop." I was finally able to attend it yesterday at the IMG office in Chino Roces Ave. in Makati.



This training series focuses on having a financial "check up."  First, the speaker will guide you in assessing your assets and liabilities to find your net worth.  After that, you will also evaluate your monthly expenses against your monthly income to come up with your cash flow value.  If you have a positive net worth and positive cash flow, then hats off to you! You're doing great! However, still try to find ways to make sure that you will be able to continue managing your finances and not overspending.  Make sure you know how to make that last all throughout your retirement.  If you do not have yet a retirement fund, start researching about how much money you need for this and how to go about setting it up.

If you have a negative net worth and positive cash flow, it means you lack investments and you have not prepared for the long term.  It's not too late, though! Since you have a positive cash flow, it means you have some money to put into investments.  Look for ways on how you can start investing and minimize risks by increasing your financial IQ.  However, be careful when investing because it is very important to have a solid financial foundation.

If you have a positive net worth but negative cash flow, it goes to show that you are living withing your means.  You need to reevaluate your spending habits because sooner or later, you will be needing to tap into your assets just to provide for your monthly needs. And if this continues on, there is a possibility of ending up with a negative net worth as well.  Also, find some ways of increasing your cash flow by getting another source of income.  You can get freelance jobs or better yet, start your own business.

However, if you have negative net worth as well as a negative cash flow, then it's high time you make some drastic changes.  The first thing you have to do is to cur down on your expenses.  Analyze how you spend your income and from there, learn to prioritize. It will also be a good idea to look for additional means of income to increase your cash flow and avoid debt.

These things can definitely be challenging.  But if we increase our financial IQ and study about financial planning and management, we can get on track sooner and more efficiently.

The training and seminars at the Wealth Academy can address all these concerns by educating people about the importance of financial literacy, as well as providing platforms to apply what you have learned.

If you want to know more about the Wealth Academy, you can check these links:

A Blessed Sunday at THE FEAST PICC

It was our family's first time to attend The Feast at the PICC today.  The Feast is a weekly Catholic prayer gathering of the Light of Jesus Family founded by Bro. Bo Sanchez.  Being a relatively new member of the Truly Rich Club and the Kerygma Family as well, my desire to be able to attend The Feast has grown until going was no longer a question.

The truth is, I haven't been to mass for a long, and I mean, a looong time.  It's not that I have lost faith; I still pray several times a day; but for the longest time I've made myself believe that, that was enough.  Going to The Feast today with my family made me admit to myself that what I was doing before wasn't enough; that there were some thirsts that needed to be quenched.  And I'm very happy that I was there with my whole family.  Just upon entering the PICC, seeing the number of people leaving (from the earlier sessions) and the people coming in for the 10:30am session, you can already feel the atmosphere that is The Feast's claim: the happiest place on earth.  It was more of a party atmosphere and it electrifies you.



Also, it was my first time to listen to Bro. Bo preach live in person.  Sure, I've read some of his books, read his newsletters, articles and magazines, watched videos of him.  But listening to him live, right there in front of you was something else.  I have realized that it is really beneficial to have someone to look up to and listen to; someone to guide you in your faith and in all the aspects of your life.  I'm glad that it is Bro. Bo for us because he encourages people to grow in all aspects of their lives: spiritual, emotional, physical, mental and even financial.  He wants everybody to achieve their goals and finds way to teach us how to do all of those.




Today, he preached about the TWO KILLER MOVES to make you win in life: first is to KNOW WHO YOU WANT TO BECOME; and second, KNOW HOW TO GET TO WHO YOU WANT TO BECOME.  Everything was so simple yet so perfect in their simplicity.  Truly, The Feast will not only bring you closer to Jesus, but closer to your inner self as well.  I got teary-eyed several times the whole session for the fire that was burning in me the whole time.  I also didn't pass up the chance to shake Bro. Bo's hand and get his autograph.  Also I told him, "Thanks, Bro. Bo, for the Truly Rich Club!" And he said to me, "Great! Keep on investing!"

 It was really an amazing experience and I can't wait to be back next Sunday!





Friday, July 11, 2014

FREE FINANCIAL LITERACY TRAINING

Here in the Philippines, financial literacy is definitely not a priority of the common Filipino.  It is not in our culture to think about the future.  We are used to taking each day as it is.  While some cultures say that having this "positive" outlook is one of our strengths, we fail to realize one important thing: we are not prepared for the challenges of retirement.


We are so scared to think about retirement like you are willing bad things to happen. We don't want to talk about insurance or healthcare or investments. Usually we think all these are a waste of time and money.  Besides, we are earning well now anyway. But what we don't realize is that high income does not equate to wealth.  Having a high income is not a guarantee that all our financial needs will be met.  A question we should ask ourselves is that, "If I lose my job today, how long can I live without having to look for a source of income?"

There are two scenarios in life that we don't really think about but is actually disturbing: dying too soon and living too long. Why?

If I die too soon, who is going to take care of my family?  Can they survive?
If I live too long, who is going to take care of me?  Can I survive?

If our answer is doubtful, then we can do something about it to make it crystal clear.  We can educate ourselves to secure our future and our family's future.  There are a lot of programs around that can help us analyze our financial goals and give us a solid plan to achieve them.

The Wealth Academy of the International Marketing Group is one of those programs. Their aim is to educate people about financial literacy and them build a solid financial plan.  They hold a series of training and seminars that tackle different topics about financial management.  By educating ourselves, we can be our own financial experts.

If you want to be your own financial expert and secure your future, you can register for one of the training sessions here:

IMG WEALTH ACADEMY PRACTICAL MONEY MANAGEMENT and INVESTMENT STRATEGIES TRAINING.

Friday, October 4, 2013

LEARNINGS FROM TRAINING: THE MAKINGS OF A MOTHER TURNED TRAINER

“The moment we stop learning is the moment we start failing.”

            When I saw the opening for a trainer in VCC-Link, I was not really looking for a job.  As a mother of two, I was happy then working from home for a year as an English tutor.  But something sparked in me that day and I just could not set aside that sort of “calling” I felt when I saw the posting.  It had always been my dream to train; it was the same reason I entered the call center industry way back in my College days in the first place.  I remember looking at my past trainers in the call center thinking, I can do that; someday I will do that.  And so, that posting made me feel that maybe, after a lot of reroutes, that was it. That was the chance.

            To be honest, I really thought my chances were slim.  I really thought, in my own assessment, I kicked ass (sorry for the expression) during my interview, but Sir Paolo did not seem convinced.  He had a lot of rebuttals, and no matter how hard I tried to rebutt his rebuttals, his face still did not look pleased.  I remember him saying, “If we call you, then good. If not, we found someone else.” I told my husband then, well at least I tried. But I had not even left Cityland then when Ms. Marianne called and told me that I had to do a demo class.  And so after several more processes, the mother/tutor became a trainer.

            Training was everything I hoped it would be and more.  I was in my element.  I felt alive. It was the opportunity to meet a lot of people from very different walks of life; to know their stories, their experiences, their goals and dreams and seeing them slowly reach their dreams.  It was seeing the changes in them, and for some, the complete metamorphosis, from a dreamer to a go-getter.  It was far more rewarding than I have ever hoped for; the endless gratitude, the appreciation, the tokens of thanks, the new friendships, the privilege of having a hand in changing someone's life.  I got all these from being an in-house trainer in Bayan Academy for VCC-Link.

            During my last class, I had my trainees write a paragraph on why they chose to stay in training.  It was all the same great reasons that made me strive to work hard for seven months, only that time it was different because it was going to be the last time that I can get to do that, the last group I was going to watch achieve their dreams.  That was enough to make me a bit emotional. Even yesterday, towards the end of the day, fixing my things, it made me emotional because I was not just leaving a job, I realized I was closing a chapter of my life that meant so much to me.

            So I guess, my greatest learning from being an in-house trainer is this: it is not just a job that you do to earn a living, it is in fact, sharing what you know and then influencing others to get to a goal, or to improve and enhance themselves.  The rewards that I will bring with me as I leave is not the material sort, not the self-serving benefits of finding better careers or opportunities.  It is the sort that will stay with me long after everything else is gone, which is the privilege to have influenced others even in the simplest of ways. My Facebook page has been brimming with thanks lately, whether it be through a public greeting or a private message, from trainees past who learned about me leaving. Some of them went out of their way to visit (actually, they often do). These are things that I definitely did not expect, but because of these, I am leaving with joy that I succeeded in aspects that truly matter to me.

            Each trainee I have met enriched me in different ways.  Whether they be young or old, I learned from each and everyone of them because they all have their experiences, they all have their strengths to share.

            That brings me to another great learning which is RESPECT; respect for anyone no matter the age, educational attainment, social status, or any other demographical make up there is. Each one of them deserved my respect because they would always have something that they are better at than me.  A way to practice this is through listening; I have to make it a point to listen to everyone when there is something they want to say.

            Also another learning that I want to impart is this and this is important: We should not count what we have already done and then expect returns equivalent to what we have counted.  Often, this rouses issues because people would often think, I deserve this, I don't deserve that. I have observed this a lot from different people, not just in this company.  This often leads to thinking that they deserve more but they are not getting it so they would NOT DO more.  This is disastrous because it veers us away from doing what really matters, and that is to deliver excellent performance each and every single time, not because you will be paid or rewarded for it, but because it is your job and you're proud of it.  I apologize but I would like to quote a previous employer from whom I also learned a lot, our client, Accenture, “High Performance Delivered.”  Doing a great job all the time not for anything else but because it is your job to perform.

            And so I say goodbye. Though sad to leave training, I feel like I have my own small personal wins as well.  I am happy to have been able to contribute in my own simple ways.

            For that, I thank everyone from the bottom of my heart.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Kids in Paint

Recently, I've been having a lot of fun with apps (don't blame the stay at home mom; she never gets to go out  and have fun! haha!).  Yesterday, my younger brother paid us a visit with his new Samsung Galaxy Note II.  I just wanted to share these pics he made of my kids via the S Paint.




Saturday, January 19, 2013

Lovin' this App

I took a lot of pictures today.  Why?  Well aside from the fact that moms really love taking pictures of their kids or food (or some of their housework for pete's sake), I am really enjoying this camera app that I downloaded from Google Play the other day. 

I mentioned before that I just got my first smartphone some days ago and most probably, a lot of you are already users of Camera 360.  This app in itself is nice... it's okay but what I'm really hyper about is an extension called Fantasy for Camera 360 which was inspired from Ben Heine's work, 'Pencil vs. Camera.'

Here are some of the pics I took:





All of them are just for testing/fun purposes so forgive the poor/non-concept of my pics.  I haven't had the chance yet to really put this app to good use but I hope I'll get the chance to soon.

As for Camera 360 in itself, I liked how it made my chicken fingers look really golden with the use of the HDR effect.


I'm actually going out of town soon so I can't wait to use these apps to take pictures.

What apps are you enjoying right now?