When You Dabble Through Life

Nothing fulfilling works when you dabble through life.

When you don't have any goal or purpose.  When you don't have anything you're looking forward  to; and you're not working towards accomplishing anything. When you don't have any drive or internal motivation to be the best you can be.

I met a lady. She's in her mid-sixties. The scent of the liniment on her body goes ahead of her. She's still working the graveyard shift instead of sleeping. But there were times she was caught nodding-off at work. 'Forced to work for a meager salary.

I met another lady. Her co-workers would rather prefer her to be absent. It's nothing personal...just because when she's present, she'd pull down the metrics of the team.

Both dabbled in their earlier years. Both ladies are educated but did not make wise choices. Hence, they are forced to work beyond the prime of their lives. Both are guilty of dabbling. 

Living life without purpose can be frustrating and unproductive. Regret will come when your strength is replaced by weakness as your hair turns gray.

There are different seasons in life. If you're still young, you can work now to be able to start saving and investing. Don't settle for anything less. Make time to think creatively and live your life fully to your last breath.

Don't play it too safe. Don't hide under a rock. Because this same rock, it can crush you.

Knowing Myself Better

Recently, I was asked to describe myself. Here's my answer:

I learn much better when I am motivated than pressured.

When I look in the mirror, I like what I see. I am physically fit.

I take care of myself by working-out four times a week.

I am powerful beyond measure. I work hard and fast at what I want to achieve.

I have laser-sharp focus.

I align my emotional state to my goals. I am wildly passionate and obsessed in fulfilling my goals.

What I share, I share with excitement. 

I believe in hard work.

 Courage and determination are my strengths.

I believe in delayed gratification.

I believe in the power of compounding.

I create opportunities to make money.

I love shopping for houses.

How about you, how will you describe yourself?

On Being a Lifelong Learner 

    One must become a lifelong learner to continuously become relevant, mentally vibrant, and productive. 

    There are skills you can learn to help you make the most out of life. Knowledge gained and applied for good purposes makes you a better person. And if you happen to be a generous and benevolent human, that means you'll be touching hearts and changing lives by sharing what you know.  

    After schooling, I've continued to learn and apply my personal interests: economics, leadership,  financial management, effective communication skills, character development,  and  writing children's books. I have devoted countless hours deep diving and have unearthed wisdom which I share with others. I have other interests aside from these but they fell on the wayside come application time so I only prioritized a precious few.

Before I learn anything, I ask myself, "Why do I want to learn this?" and "What's in it for me if I learn this?" These may sound selfish but if I do not find value and good use knowing about something, then I consider that rubbish and don't bother learning about it at all. My brain is like a disk and at times I feel, "it's almost full".  😁

    Once you decide what you want to learn and possibly be an expert at, you'll make time to learn them. I learned things with practical application, things that I can utilize as part of my day-to-day existence. Among them were: saving in a bank, riding a bike, driving a vehicle, organizing events, cooking, writing speeches, scripts, stories and lesson plans. I also learned how to become an emcee or host in corporate events. I also learned Spanish, and French. Now, I am learning Korean.

    Some people may find continuous learning challenging at times because of new technology. It's not second nature or instinctive to understand how certain apps work and figure out tools that are not analog in nature. On the other hand, digital natives are savvy at navigating but sometimes lack the passion and interest to learn more. Regardless on which side of the boat you are in, if you have a compelling reason to know something - that should get you up and running. 

    Over the past years, I have been learning, applying, sharing, and teaching. There were times I needed to unlearn too because a lot of things change; the old is replaced by the new.  I have been incessantly finding ways to bring value to the people I come across with in life by sharing and teaching what I know. This is my small way of making this world a better place.

 

Good Habits

    

William James was right when he observed that we are "walking bundles of habits." What we have gotten used to is difficult to get undone. Everything we do builds up into our storehouse of habits from birth until now.  

    How can we do away with poor habits? First, we have to know the reason why we are making the change. For me, this happened when I needed to change my eating habits. What was my reason? I will get diabetes if I do not cut down on the carbs like cakes, white bread, and doughnuts, as well as ice cream, milk teas and soda.  When I got my lab results, I was deeply bothered as I imagine the consequence if I do not make any change. I will die the way my father died.  I was convicted to make a turnaround and consciously replace junk food with unprocessed food, and gradually, the shift in my health took place. It was excruciating at first but after a few days, the good habit will became the new norm. 

     To make a new habit a part of your life, look for someone you can do this with. An accountability partner can join you in this journey. Knowing that there is someone who has succeeded in replacing the bad habit with a good one helps you during weak moments. This can be a person or a community who you can confide in about setbacks or bumps you encounter along the way. They can also provide valuable feedback. 

    After the good habit becomes second nature to you, you can celebrate your success. You exerted a    lot of effort and the results show that it's worth it!

Biased Towards Action

"Seize the first possible opportunity to act on every resolution you make, and on every emotional prompting you may experience in the direction of the habits you aspire to gain."  - William James

I love making things happen. I have the tendency to be impatient when nothing is happening to bring me closer to my goal. I am intentional and results oriented. This is what led me to write children's books. 

It may look easy but there was a lot of hard work involved. I had the conviction that I have stories in my heart that are yearning to come out in the form of books. I am an advocate for promoting love for reading at an early age. Reading with understanding takes a person to places he's never been and give him profound wisdom to live  a better life. 

Writing for kids is definitely worth it.

Purpose and Work

To pour out everything into doing things excellently leads to satisfaction at work. Regardless of being rewarded for it, knowing that you have exceeded the standard reaffirms your purpose in life. So whatever you purpose to do, do it with all your heart, because you are working for God and not for men. As Mother Teresa said, "we can do small things with great love."

Act on It

Action and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, we can have our desired feeling.  So be strong-willed and you will end up heart-strong thereafter.  One good example is when I exercise daily. I disregard what I feel. I just step on the treadmill. After twenty minutes of running and sweating, I begin to feel good about myself - and I'm always glad every time I do it.