Category: the writer

I am now a real estate blogger broker. In the past year, I managed to secure a license, quit my day job and along with serving in the ministry, practice my real estate license / profession.

It’s no mean feat but it allows me to use what I have learned – and still learning – in digital marketing.

So, as way to link to my new blog, and in order to inform you also, please do visit — www.pangarapkobahay.com — my own site on how you can own your dream home. It contains different projects and I promise, to also include relevant articles and posts about real estate.

Thank you!

via Daily Prompt: Better

Things are going to get better. That’s what I always tell myself when things get rough. An optimist, I choose to look at the brighter side of things always most of the time.

It’s also about accepting the things that I cannot change. Changing the ones I do can. And knowing the difference between both.

That has been a wise quote recently reminded to myself to which I look how it can be applied to my current situation. There’s just so many things I want to do; so many things I want to change that sometimes the sheer magnitude is overwhelming and often, paralyzing.

As I strive to improve and make things better, I end up unable to move or do anything at all. I end up lost and drowned in my heroic attempts and end up questioning the relevance of it all.

But all is not lost. I tell myself. I can always pick myself up, do a breather as is often advised and move forward. The road to becoming better is not an easy one but something that must be tackled.

A friend once said that his greatest fear is mediocrity. That has struck me deep and resonated to my core. I strive for excellence. I push myself to be better. For I fear complacency and being in a plateau with nowhere else to go.

There’s always room to be better.

I have always wanted to take this leap of faith. To move from one cashflow quadrant to the next. This time, I am finally able to make it.

I learned from Rich Dad, Poor Dad (and since I got engaged with networking) that the best kind of life is to become financially free. The road to financial freedom means moving from being an employee to a business owner and eventually an investor.

I have been stuck in the employee quadrant for close to 7 years now. I promised myself that when I hit 30, I have to be able to make it on my own. I must have my own business.

However, because I didn’t possess the financial discipline, I have been a slave to the employee rut with close to zero savings to show despite the 7 solid years of working. I did get promoted and learned a lot and though I earned decently, I never managed to save enough.

This has prevented me from taking the leap because I also had to be practical. You cannot just give up on a job and move towards the next quadrant without enough savings.

That is about to end this year. By God’s grace, I am able to confidently make the leap. With enough to sustain me for 2 months should I still not be able to earn enough. I have learned financial discipline. I have learned to become a good steward. Armed not just with knowledge but actual financial results, I am able to take the leap.

But of course I am not taking the leap blindly. I have my options. I have my opportunities.

CALL IT FAITH

When I answered God’s call to apply as a full time ministry worker for our church, I was not sure if I will be able to really sustain the current life I lead – much less pay the bills I currently pay.

But I knew He will never fail me. So I took the leap and declared my resignation from the company and my intent to become a ministry worker.

But this also involved wisdom.

God did not ask me to do it all in one go. It was not a sudden transition. There was a time to prepare. And during the past 6 months, my confidence grew that I can really do it.

I have seen the other opportunities I can take to finally say I am moving forward. I am saying goodbye to employment. Moving on to owning my own job. Eventually, I’ll make it to the other quadrants. But at least, now, I am making a step.

There are times when I am still afraid. When I still feel the fear of moving out of my current comfort zone into the unknown. But these moments I attribute to like that moment when doing extreme sports. When you are about to jump off a high place, you get all nervous but you know there is nothing wrong with the wires holding you. So eventually, you take the plunge and you’re in for the ride of your life.

NEXT STEPS

In the coming months, I will finally be taking this blog down. I will be more active online which means I need to build my brand online. I have some ideas but this smorgasboard of a blog that I had since I began will not be part of it. The age old posts of a young (and immature self) may prove to be detrimental.

So this may very well be my final post.

How I live my life after this – I cannot yet tell. But I am excited for it to happen. So stay tune. Soon, there will be a MOVING SOON sign here.

As they say, a journey of a thousand miles begin with a small step. Achieving a bigger goal consists of achieving several small goals that ultimately build up to this bigger goal.

I have recently been introduced to Nerd Fitness. It was by accident that the blog site was introduced to me through an email subscription. It was lauded for having really cool “hand drawn” graphics.

The site’s background / appeal is to superhero “geeks”. Basically anyone familiar with gaming, anime, Marvel/DC comics, etc. But the mission is to get these geeks to use their geekiness towards achieving physical – and eventually overall – fitness.

As I browsed through the site I was introduced to many unconventional wisdom i.e. breakfast is not the most important meal of the day. The site encourages people to join the “rebellion” towards the mainstream fitness advice the Internet and world in general gives out. It encourages people to ask these best practices and find out what works well for them and to enjoy the process of getting fit.

As I have been recently inspired (thanks Arrow!) to become fit and made fitness goals when 2016 started, finding the site was like a match made in heaven. In the past weeks, I have immersed myself into crafting the ultimate workout for me.

I have embraced a  life of regular workouts and healthy diet. And my diet is unconventional at best. It’s a Paleo-inspired diet. I say “inspired” because I am not a purist and basically I just follow Paleo principles in eating. So far, so good. I like the results.

As to workouts, I am preparing my body to be ready for Parkour. 🙂 Such a lofty goal I know but as I said, big goals are achieved by accomplishing smaller ones and thus far, I know I am on the right track.

How do I know for sure? The Nerd Fitness Rebellion Forums has been a tremendous help. I have spent most of my online “social” time there and as a result slashed on my FB social time which I have recently deemed as a waste of time. I caught myself being sucked into the depths of the FB News Feed scrolling it for hours on end. So I slayed the beast and now enjoy a more fruitful online time.

As a sample of how geeky I am right now, I am currently a member of the Assassins Guild. I am part of the sub-team Teen Titans currently training in 3 super powers – Regeneration, Invulnerability and Super Toughness. Last week, I was at the Leaderboards for Super Toughness. This week, I am holding my fort at Invulnerability (currently leading in this superpower).

Geeky right? But every one of those aspect is connected to my real life overall fitness.

What do I get out in the end? Well the achievement of  my Epic Quests as I have outlined here: Epic Quest Character.

I imagine my next days to be filled with more adventures as I tackle this big game called Life with these simple and easy daily steps.

This post is an entry for the ShopCoupons X Lazada PH Blogger contest. Being hosted by ShopCoupons. Lazada voucher sponsored by Lazada Philippines.

Online shopping has never been my cup of tea. I was always wary of the platforms and mostly afraid that I wouldn’t get the product I want. I had a bad impression that what was displayed was not what the actual product would look like or that after I paid, the product will not get delivered on time.

However, in recent days, I have become drawn to online shopping. The hectic schedule at work plus the horrendous Metro Manila traffic makes visiting the malls to shop a bit tedious. I would rather spend my free time relaxing at home with a book than walking aisle upon aisle in the department store in search for a dress or a pair of shoes.

My friends and officemates swear by Lazada. I’ve witnessed them receive in the convenience of their homes and our office the products they ordered online. Amazingly, it looks the same as what is advertised in the website and the products all arrived on time.

So with ShopCoupon‘s on-going promo contest where they are giving away P1,000 Lazada Gift Certificates, I have another reason to finally give shopping in Lazada a try.

Browsing the Lazada website, I was thrilled to see so many good items below P1000. And to think most of them originally cost more than P1000 but thanks to Lazada’s good discount deals, their prices has been reduced to almost 50%! Shopping suddenly got addicting!

So here are my top 5 picks for must-have items this summer at under P1000 (take note, they are all on sale).

1 – Toprank Women Sunglasses

Summer is just around the corner and what’s the best accessory this summer? Why, sunglasses of course! And right now, Lazada has a cool promo for a really cool sunglass for women. This Toprank product has a cat eye style that is perfect for my round-shaped face. The retro vibe is also a perfect fit to my quirky personality.

2 – Lacy Summer Cocktail Dress

At P650, this dress is a steal! Who said you can’t wear black during summer? With its lacy trimmings, the dress promises to be airy and cool making the evening cocktail events surely enjoable.

3 – Stitch Classic Pointed Toe Stiletto Heels

Having nude pumps is one of the must-haves in any women’s wardrobe. A good pair of heels is a staple product in any women’s arsenal and I simply cannot live without one. Being an office girl, wearing heels gives me confidence and allows me to cinch that all-important deal.

4 – Sunweb Sexy Swimwear

Since it’s summer, I decided to look for a new swimsuit. The choices were extensive and amazing! The one I loved was this blue polka dots one piece bikini that on sale at 40% off! Hello Summer! I’m headed for the beach with this cool swimwear.

5 – DNJ 6670 Clutch

I’ve always wanted a clutch bag that I can use for those formal occassions I frequently attend. This classic black with silver accents clutch bag is the perfect one! It’s made of crystal and satin so it’ll definitely be a stand out and will exude class when I use it.

Browsing through the Lazada website as I looked for items I wanted to buy made me excited to get to try online shopping finally.If I win this contest, it’ll definitely be a huge boost to finally conquering my fears of online shopping and getting that first product delivered!

While the author meant this for Duterte, I believe it applies to any of the political candidates.

God did gave standards on who we should elect as “elders” or leaders among us ) as stated numerous times in the Bible. However, He did say that we must submit to the authority of this world – regardless if they share the same faith or not – for ultimately it is Him who is in control of our history.

For that reason, I believe that whoever wins the Presidency, God appointed that person – even if that person is Binay (who I really pray doesn’t win). In the end, the question is, how do I submit to His overall plan even when that plan doesn’t seem to make sense to me.

However, I was also given free will. Free will to vote who I believe is the right candidate and free will to elect the person who I believe can represent our country best. And for me, that choice is Mar Roxas. Again he is not the perfect candidate but he is the better choice.

As blog tradition here’s the year ender post for 2015 which should also kickstart 2016.

Hopefully, I get to do more blogging this year – which is what I tell myself every start of the year. It’s just that there has been so many things I wanted to say but found so little time to say it.

With Facebook competing in the blogging space, sometimes, I find myself posting in that tiny status box what I wanted to say. And with Twitter equally making short posts convenient, I find myself posting in that 140-character limit the very, very short versions of long opinions I have.

So yes, there has been a lot of competition with WordPress and good old blogging. But at the end of the day, I will still draw myself to that good old feeling of having no limits to write something.

So how was 2015 in a nutshell?

It was great though a huge chunk of it I cannot post nor write about for it’s still under the covers so to speak.

Essentially it was a year of learning to trust God for his provisions and learning to focus on Him and His purpose for my life. As I learned to focus on Him, I saw how He provided for everything I needed.

Financially – I did not just get by, I soared. Even without all my sidelines, I was well provided for. I received promotions one after the other at work. My freelancing saw me not seeking clients but being the one sought after. And then the last one – a business I can call my own.

In the ministry, He also opened doors. As I learned to step out in faith, He used me to lead a group and opened an outreach for our church.

It was an amazing year. A year that made me believe that with Him by my side, everything is possible and there is nothing I need to worry about.

So what’s in store for 2016?

A lot actually. There’s  the real estate broker exam I am set to take in February which I believe I will pass (claiming it this early) and which I know will change a lot. When did I ever imagined myself becoming a real estate broker?

There’s the increase in my net worth – and more I declare. An increase in cash inflow means an increase in what I can do. Money, I have learned, is a tool we use to achieve our dreams and bless others.

And of course there’s the partnership. Something which promises – PROMISES – a lot of changes in 2016.

Am I excited?

Of course! Who wouldn’t be? A new year always heralds a new beginning. And as I have learned, happiness is a choice we make – everyday.