Long Term Opportunity

The main conversations about today’s situation seem to be –

• How many people HAVE DIED?
• How many people WILL DIE?
• How to protect ourselves?
• Is there a cure for this?
• Who will be the “tribute” to make the grocery and palengke run for the family?
• By default, the “tribute” is the one who has the quarantine pass. But in some places, as we head to 1 month in quarantine, the pass is not yet issued
• What is the appropriate protective gear for us to use when we venture outside as tributes?

One of the tricky things about coronavirus according to experts is that unlike other viruses, the incubation period is long and without symptoms. This makes it hard to stop because before someone shows any signs of having the virus, they may have infected numbers of people over many weeks.

The most vulnerable to COVID-19 are the elderly and those with weak immune systems. That is the reason why my daughter and I have quarantined ourselves and have not been with my parents who are both close to 70 years old. Out of necessity, we met with a frontliner right before the community lockdown.

“Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them”
-Epictetus

It is weird to look for opportunity in the middle of the crisis. With time in our hands here is what we can do –

UPGRADE YOUR MIND
Who you will be 5 years from now will depend on the people you meet and the books you read. I have finished 4 books so far. One of which is Dra Michelle Alignay’s book Family Goals, embracing the imperfections of family life

UPGRADE YOUR HEALTH
COVID-19 kills unhealthy people. You need to stay healthy with a strong immunity. Fight the virus with a healthy immune system! To have a strong immunity –
• Let food be your medicine, not medicine be your food. Eat healthy!
• Take nutraceutical supplements that support a strong immune system. True nutraceutical supplements are natural purified extracts that have been studied for safety to the liver, kidney, heart, and effectiveness in supporting the structure and healthy function of the human body
• Get good quality sleep. This should be no problem at this time
• Exercise. I miss playing basketball, but as a work around I have to make do with body weight exercises like push ups and planks
• Drink 8 to 12 glasses of clean, healthy, purified water every day. During this difficult time when the tiniest exposure may infect the water delivered to your homes with COVID-19, it is best to invest in your own water filtration system at home

UPGRADE YOUR ABILITY TO EARN
In just a few weeks the novel coronavirus has undone a century’s worth of our economic and social habits. Many people are losing jobs and short-term income opportunities.

Economically, most of society has been split across two lines – the salaried, full-time employee who can work from home (income continuously coming in); and the non-salaried, no work, no pay freelance artisans (no income, but whose expenses has to be continuously paid for).

From whichever side of the fence you fall, imagine this quarantine period as your retirement days – no work, no pay. Your income stops, but your expenses continue.

A wise man once told me that the best time to fix the roof is if the sun is still shining. If you fail to upgrade your ability to earn now, you would probably suffer in the future.

Drop me a message if you would want to upgrade your ability to earn.

CRISIS reveals CHARACTER. When you look back at how you acted during this time, will you be proud of yourself?

Phone, Wallet, Keys… Yea

Checking in at the hotel… Sir you got luggage? Nah… Al I have is my phone, wallet, keys

Yea

Now that’s from today’s pop culture, Adam Sandler on his Netflix special. I got this special classic wisdom from Lao Tzu too – “To attain knowledge, add things everyday. To attain wisdom subtract things everyday.

Constraints are the obstacles that hold you back. Whatever you do – do meditation, do yoga, do tai-chi, surround yourself with successful and positive people. But if you do not remove the obstacle, if you do not remove the constraint – you will never ever move forward.

Do not take it from me, take it from my friend Jessica. She just removed an obstacle that hounded her the past 15 years.

Would not get into the details, but Jessica, sobbing, relayed me her story, their story, as she drives her oft white Hyundai on SLEX.

“It has been quite a journey, I thought friendships like this last forever. (Duh, walang forever. Sa utak ko lang yun, did not say it out loud, hehe). I really thought Danica was my best friend.”

To back track, Jessica and Danica were my friends back in one of the companies I used to work for. They were inseparable, as in.

When Danica goes to the restroom, Jessica is with her. Jessica goes off shopping at Greenbelt, Danica is with her. For awhile there, I thought one was the shadow of the other.

If Danica is in the club, Jessica is her wingman (think Top Gun, for the younger set, Google is the key).

Oh well, some good things must come to an end. To cut the long story short, Danica sucks, hehe.

Here’s a bit longer version – Jessica after 2 years at that firm, started to climb the ranks. She got promotion after promotion. Danica on the other hand, did not get any.

At first we thought all is well in Jessica-Danica land – but the tip of the iceberg was what we were seeing. Hidden under is a vast sea of lies, deceit, heartbreaks and pain.

As we approach the Sucat exit, Jessica, whose eyelashes are just perfect amidst all the sobbing, glanced right to were I was sitting – “those were tears of relief Donald, I am just so glad that it was all over.”

With Taylor Swift singing in the background, she gripped her hand on the stick and slid the D to the P as we prepare to sit out to wait at the queue to pay the toll at the exit.

Just like me, Jessica does not have RFID, hehe.

Sometimes life throws us curveballs, and all we need to do, is just see the exit.

People sometimes, in their, I don’t know what they call it vanity? (I am out of words, the waves of the ocean are just oh so lovely in my ear) Just don’t see the exit. Oh wait, they do see it, they just do not want to pay the price.

Do you?

I think I do.

Looking back as I bask in the glory of the afternoon sun, as I listen to the not so calm waves of the ocean – I can sum up my 2018 in one word – “Redemption”

Switching the spotlight to me. 2018 in summary is when my daughter and I went through hell with heaven on our sights.

We got through hell with some scars, but them scars built our character. Now I understand the meaning of Rome was not built in a day.

Rome was built with condescending talk, pussies (yep, that’s plural) trying to push me, haters loving to hate, wannabes who don’t do shit but talk at me condescendingly.

We went through hell with heaven on our sights. And 2019, as we close out this 2018, appears to be a lovely one.

Cheers

Now let me go back to drinking this lovely drink. Lean my back in, having my right thumb on the phone, chat up a name for Siri to call, and follow up on some “one minute eyebag be gone” remover inquiries.

Looking for something to kick start your own “Redemption”? Join us in this event where you get to ponder your options in life.

Get Rich Quick? Nah…

This is soooo sad, people getting duped in get rich quick schemes. You know what is sadder than this? They will fall for this again.

Gotta hustle people to earn that money. There is no substitute for hard work.

Do you remember the law of the farm? You only reap what you sow.

Would you want to know the solution – on how to get rich?

Answer: Create Money Machines

Bo Sanchez (a very good mentor of mine) and his team have put together a virtual gathering of mentors in one event to share their expertise in building money machines. Yes, it’s still hot from the oven…the very first Truly Rich Club Online Wealth Summit 2018 is finally here! This event is happening on Sept. 22, 2018, 8 am to 12nn.

The good news… Online access is only Php 100.00. Such a small price for a huge learning experience. There’s just no excuse not to share and invite everyone you know who wants to make that big change financial lives.

Go to this link to register to the Truly Rich Club Online Wealth Summit.

Act now, go to this link and register. Unless you want to get duped in get rich quick schemes.

Death gotta be easy, because life is hard

Death gotta be easy, because life is hard.” Sabi nga ni 50 Cent. “It will leave you physically mentally, and emotionally scarred”, dagdag pa niya.

The recent year madaming rakista ang pumanaw – Chris Cornell, Dolores O’Riordan, Anthony Flores Jr. (RIP bro!).

Yung huli kong nabanggit, ka batchmate namin sa Busko, ang malungkot (dati masaya), yung mga anak namin batchmates din sa St Paul.

Life is short, so make sure you tell the people you care about you love them every day. And take care of your body. Sabi nga eh – if we don’t care for our body, where else are we going to live?

https://www.facebook.com/donaldhenri.jalbuna/posts/1837134522982677

All Programs are NOT Created Equal

How are you going with your New Year’s resolution?

Diet after diet, fad after fad, we’ve become obsessed with a number on the scale. We weigh ourselves every day hoping the number will go down—and cringing when it goes up.

It’s time to lose our dependence on the scale and embrace a better approach to the way we look and feel. Because the key to a lean and healthy body is not about the number on the scale, it’s about redefining your body composition to build a healthier, leaner you.

The term “body composition” is used to describe the percentages of fat, bone, and muscle in human bodies. Because muscle tissue takes up less space in the body than fat tissue, both body composition and weight determine leanness. Experts agree that one key to improving body composition is to promote lean muscle through nutrition.

An effective weight management system promotes muscle build-up and eliminates excess fat – resulting to a leaner body, better metabolism and a healthy lifestyle.

Drop me an email or SMS for questions on how to improve your metabolic engine. (donaldhenri@hotmail.com, 0917-143-3366)

Photo credits to owner.

The Boring Investment Principle

Once upon a time, Bro Bo Sanchez met a 25-year-old woman who said she has P100,000 in her bank account. Bo told her to transfer the money into the stock market—and add P3,000 every month.

By the time she hits 60, he told her, after tapping into the calculator function on his trusty phone— “You’ll have a cool P22 million—if you grew by a conservative 12 percent a year.”*

Bo was all excited talking about her future retirement money, but she interrupted him and said, “Bo, what if I don’t add P3,000 a month?” “Huh?” Bo looked at her quizzically.

She continued, “I’m not sure I can. There are so many things I want to buy. So what if I just invest my P100,000 now—and not add anything to it anymore? I’m sure that will amount to something, right?”

Bo did his computation in his trusty phone and showed it to her. “Instead of P22 million, you’ll have P5.2 Million. Only.” Her face dropped. “Oh. Okay, I’ll add every month.”

Wise girl. I hope you’re wise too. Investing one time-big time is what you call the Buy & Hold strategy. It’s good but it’s not great. You need the regular monthly investing to make the growth humongous.

Happy investing!

Would you like to invest in the stock market but do not know how? Go to this link to give you an awesome start. Let Bo Sanchez, the guy who taught his maids how to invest in the stock market, be your guide too!

*But if she followed our TrulyRichClub’s Strategic Averaging Method, I’m betting she won’t just get 12 percent—she’ll get more. Even if she just improves her average growth to 14 percent a year, her money won’t be P22 million, it’ll become P38 million.

Excited? Go to this link to know how.

 

Do You Know One of the Keys to Happiness?

I could not get a job after more than 300 job applications.

You really got nothing left to do after those rejections.

One of the flaws in the school system is that they did not teach us how to handle rejections. Being the nerd that I am, I think I was able to handle it quite well though.

How do I say I handled it well? I listened to audio books. And I stumbled upon this gem.

Apart from him being a stout Trumpian, I did not know that Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, was a best-selling author as well. Guess I have overrated my nerdiness.

In his book How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life, he said given the choice between high income and job flexibility, choose job flexibility.

Scott says the latter is one of the keys to happiness. The former, is very overrated.

A few months after I found myself up at 2 in the morning, writing this. Because I followed that advice.

For some reason my creative juices pop between 11 pm to 4 am. If I hold a regular job, there is no way I could have taken advantage of that.

From where I live, 4 am is when you wake up. You need to be up early to avoid the more than 2-hour travel in rush hour traffic. Then sit in a prison cubicle for 8 or more hours, before heading home to endure another 2-hour travel.

The 4 hours wasted on the road could not be taken back. The writing made at 2 in the morning will last forever through clicks and reads.

If you opt to go through your Dilbert career experience do not join me in this event.

But if you wanted out, I can show you one of the keys to happiness.

So what have you got to lose? You are losing 4-hours daily in rush hour traffic anyway.

Join me in this event at the Ortigas Business District on Feb 11, Saturday.

Or you can just watch a movie. Your future. Your choice.

As Morpheus from the movie Matrix will tell you – You may either take the blue pill or the red pill.

 

Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal

Photo Credit: Factory at Horto de Ebro, 1909 by Pablo Picasso

One of the tenets of knowledge management, when I joined the field 10 years ago is “there is no need to reinvent the wheel.”

Great minds spanning from various centuries took a different spin to it. But the essence is the same.

Charles Colton, an 18th century English cleric, once said – “Imitation, is the sincerest form of flattery.”

One of the great artists of the 19th century, Pablo Picasso said – “Good artists copy, great artists steal.”

Fast forward to the 21st century when we were witness to the genius of Steve Jobs – “We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.”

I am not sure which came first though – when Steve Jobs first said the above, or when my high school crew and I were a bunch of skinny 15 year olds.

A friend from high school, who is now a successful professional in the investment banking industry, has this mantra – “It is better to cheat than to repeat.” Our crew, shamelessly (albeit in hushed tones), has adapted this mantra, and we have built ourselves successful careers in consulting, medicine, and other industries.

The titans of industry call this – the imitation strategy. And let me “steal” this one, with permission, from Bro. Woody Quiroz, who shared this in one of his talks at the Feast.

“South Korea became an economic power by resorting initially to an imitation strategy. They eventually introduced innovations in their products that made it more superior than the products they imitated.

This is true in the case of Samsung which early on imitated the products of Sony and Sharp. By eventually introducing their own innovative ideas to their products, Samsung has overtaken Sony and Sharp to become a global leader in home appliances.”

Wow! In a macro perspective, copying do have an upside. (Pardon the economic terms, I am an economist by training.) In a micro perspective, I can tell you it does.

There was a time when I was in high school, during an exam, I copied 80% of the answers of my seatmate, who was my seatmate by design because he was our salutatorian. And you know how this story ends – I got a higher grade.

Going back to the Samsung story, the 20% was my “innovation”. The essay part of the examination has always been my strongest point. And I got a better score there than my seatmate. That is why I got the higher grade.

As what was shared by Bro. Woody at the Feast – “If you want to win, you need to copy winners.”

But, we need not copy mindlessly. We need to be smart about it.

“Do not copy proclivity, copy perspective. Do not copy personality, copy productivity.”

To end, copy winners – and create your own version of success!

 

Mornings be like

6:00am, on a cool December morning. I am at Taal Vista Hotel in breezy Tagaytay, overlooking the ridge. Taal Lake, the volcano, and sunrise is looming on the horizon.

Typical morning. Wake up. Say your prayers. Do your affirmations. Reflect. A wise man once told me that these (and mobile data) are one of the elusive keys to happiness.

Not that elusive at all – you can do it every day. But every day people wake up and unhappily drag themselves to work. (Guilty too!)

From the ledge I transferred to a nearby bench. If I do not hold my laptop the wind would blow it away.

The clouds are now giving way to a glorious sunrise. The rays blind my eyes, and I shift my gaze to the Ferris Wheel at Sky Ranch.

My nose twitch, I took a sip of my hot brewed coffee. And I type away.

In a few hours 7.4 billion people around the world would celebrate the New Year. One mass of land celebrating one hour after the other. Champagne popping, panties dropping (stole the latter line from a rap artist).

Resolutions are in vogue. Goals are set with dreams wanting to be realized.

Clouds, fog, whatever you call it, is about to hover over me. The person in a white shirt and orange walking shorts who is taking pictures of the sunrise tries to get away. But the clouds eventually envelope him. I sit still (payakap nga Lord!)

Humans are creatures of habit. A new year signifies new hope. Of new habits wanting to be systematized.

Our habits are the tools for us to engineer our happiness. We first make our habits, and then our habits make us.

Charles Dickens said “I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time.”

Robert Kiyosaki, who co-authored a couple of books with President-elect Donald Trump coined the acronym FOCUS.

F – Follow
O – One
C – Course
U – Until
S – Successful

Hope you get to pick that one course for yourself for the new year.

 

36

Three out of five adults cannot swim. I am part of the non-swimmer statistic.

I do not know how to swim.

Interestingly two days ago, when the province of Batangas is under storm signal number 2 – my wife, my daughter, and I went freediving. On Christmas Day, during the calm before the storm, we were chasing fishes underwater and enjoying the sea.

Tomorrow would be my birthday. Much has happened during the past year.

There were lots of challenges, but there were also so many lessons learned.

The challenges came from various sources – those from the outside (other people, outside circumstances) and the thoughts inside my head. I found out that the latter was a more dangerous adversity.

It is true that we are our worst critic. It is true that we have the ability to put a noose around our necks.

It is also true that our inner world shapes our outer world. Unfortunately for us, there is both an angel and a demon inside of us. Fortunately, it is up to us who we would choose to listen to.

The bad news for me is I tend to listen to the demon inside. The good news is that for next year, I could choose to listen to the angel more.

I am still not 100% comfortable in the open sea. For the love of God I still could not do the survival float.

Being a non-swimmer, the road to being a certified skin diver appears to be a thousand nautical miles apart.

But the way I see it, it is just another challenge that has to be overcome. And I know that I have a couple more in store for me in the next year.

As I continue to reflect on the year that has passed, I noticed that the saying is so true – “We would be the same person a year from now, the difference will come from the people we meet and the books that we read.”

I wish that 2017 would be your best year ever. I hope that you would meet amazing people who will bless you and make you grow. I pray that you would pick the right book at your favorite book store that would give you the seed of thought to make 2017 your best year ever.

Happy New Year!!