2011 was so far the worst. I have failed left and right. The worst failure was not being able to sell any of products for more than 6 months. Monthly expenses such as utility bills and salaries were eating me alive. That is why I do not have any choice but to cut some of  those expenses by minimizing electricity and water consumption, as well as downsizing.

A number of people in my workforce resigned because even though they like their job, in the end it is about the food they provide on the table. They were greatly affected by delayed issuance of salaries.

I accept failure and only get myself affected by it. But to see people suffer because of my failures, that’s the worst feeling ever. I have to stand for my people but I also have to protect the company. The least I could do was to let go of people who wants to go and treasure those people who are willing and loyal to the company despite the situation. I will surely make it worth for them.

I understand we, entrepreneurs, managers, leaders are only human and is bound to commit mistakes. We are just about 60-70% to make good decisions. But what matters most is how we react on bad decisions.

I may let 10% of my employees down. I’m sorry.

But I will work harder for the 90%.

He is a kid who’s not yet good with failures.

But I believe Sean’s behavior is completely normal. I too sometimes is guilty of that.

There is a game in Nintendo DS called Brain Age 2. It’s about playing a series of test, and the game will grade you by giving the age of your brain – according to the result of your tests. The ideal brain age is 20. The lower the number, the better.

When I reached a brain age of 25, I thought I got a pretty high grade, and stopped playing the game. The reason? I got comfortable with my success that I fear I may fail the next game, and would get an older brain. Since then I never played the game until recently…..got an age of 46.

The truth is we are so afraid to fail that we actually Fail.

It is OKAY to fail, and there is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.

But there are two failures that are not acceptable: Failure to TRY and Failure to LEARN from your failures.

To close this post, let me leave you with 3 of my favorite quotes about Failure:

“Success is a lousy teacher.” – Bill Gates

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison

“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty six times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan

At around 5:30am Jerome and I will walk to the nearest bakery to buy freshly baked pandesals and a liter of Coca-cola, while Mike and Evan cooks garlic rice, fried eggs and hotdogs.

We then watch live NBA games as we eat our breakfast….and then hit the sack by 9am…would wake up carefree by 5pm. And does the same thing over again the whole vacation!!

It is one of the sweetest yesterday that I look back to…but what if I decided to not have that moment in my life? What if I opted to just sleep the night away than play with them?

Then perhaps there will be no so-called “sweetest yesterday” for me do I?

We all have the power to change our past TODAY.

**Happy birthday to my BEST COUSIN IN THE WORLD, Jerome. God Bless you always! **

He looked me in the eye and said, “There is always a first time Jed.” and walked away.

Well, at that moment, I thought failing a subject was something new. The fear was new. The amount of pressure to work harder was new. If I ever fail…that would be my first time. That would be all “New” to me.

Whether we like it or not, my prof has made a point. There will always be a first time to all of us. “NEW” is a part of our life. Change is inevitable.

We are now in another new year. We will experience new challenges, new failures, new success, new lessons, new goals, new cars, new house, new work, new pains, new joy, new career, new business ..whatever new it is, good or bad, don’t be afraid to embrace it. Because these are the things that makes a New YOU.

Happy New Year!

P.S.

Credits to Mr. Acuña – My favorite professor of all time!

And thanks to God, I managed to pass the subject even though I failed to take the exam. It was a “new” level of hard work.

Photo by rachelsmarties

The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.

We all only have 24 hours a day, and sometimes the difference between success and failure lies thinly on how effective you spend your day. In my current position as a general manager and part-time entrepreneur, 8 to 12 hours of work seems like not enough to carry out all my day’s tasks. I have tried to restructure my daily routine ever since.

I read tips from various articles online and practiced which one works for me. I have formulated a simple routine, that I am using for the past 3 weeks, which gave me better productivity.

1. Before going to bed, Ponder on important tasks that will be accomplished the next day.

By doing so, it will align your mind with your tasks and will greatly help you be more organized the next day. Being organized saves you a lot of time.

2. Divide your day in 2 halves. First half, with routine. Second half, free-for-all.

I usually have my routinary work when I got to the office until lunch time. After lunch I spend the rest of the day: spreading the word about my products, getting involve in trainings, developing our website, meetings, planning and conceptualizing, etc. Basically it depends on my mood, whichever I enjoy doing.

3. Accomplish everything in Bursts. Avoid multi-tasking.

Give pure 10 to 15 minutes in every task. If you’re checking your emails, then just check your mails. Do not invite another task that may intervene with the  current one. This way, you are clear about your task’s progress.

The first thing I do when I arrive my office is to check and reply emails. Then open our company’s Chatter to get updated with what happened yesterday and if there are any pending tasks. Then go to our company’s Facebook or Twitter to see if there are any queries. After accomplishing all those online stuffs, I then go ahead to offline matters. It starts by checking out my incoming documents that is needed for review and signature.

After accomplishing those, the number 4 item is what I do next:

4. Delegate.

There are corresponding responsibilities for every department in the company. Be sure to delegate those tasks that are applicable to the department. This not only workout the company’s system, but it also helps you proceed to the next task.

5. Pray.

No matter how good and organized a routine is, your day may be ruined by a single unexpected problem. Be sure to always backup your plans with a prayer.

How about you? How do you make your day effective? Share!

God Bless!

It resulted to:

Delayed issue of salaries.

Failed to fund a couple of checks.

Suppliers withdrawn their products.

Cracked business relationships.

Employees resigning.

and so on..

I think I just hit rock bottom.

It’s sad. It’s tough.

But I should never lose hope.

Should find a way to turn these things around.

I know there’s a way.

I should keep fighting.

It is not the end.

I want to have a happy ending.

An inspiring ending.

Ending it with success!

Because one day I have to tell my story.

To my children.

To my grand children.

Or the public.

How boring and less inspiring it would be if it was pure success from beginning to the end.

On the other hand, it would be just a complete waste if I did not make this story end with success.

Today is the part where the story gets interesting.

Tomorrow is where it will be an Epic!

*

One day we all are going to tell our story. How will yours go?

—

“I believe man was designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and endowed with the seeds of greatness.” – Zig Ziglar

Sabi nga nila, Ang bida ay nagpapabugbog muna sa simula. Toinks!

It is so pleasant to witness how children were born, and the next thing you know they’re up on stage receiving their diploma. Getting ready for the next chapter of their life. It is nice to see that these kids are starting off their life on the right track.

…But how many of them will still end on the same rightful track?

A lot of people may have started strong in their life, but as they journey through it, they may be influenced by money, power, fame, greed, etc. that they ended a terrible life.

Our pastor has cited 2 persons in the Book of Second Chronicles. They both started their life pretty well. They were already proclaimed as kings when they were just teenagers, probably around 16 to 17 years old. Started with God leading their lives, but let power and fame overwhelm them in the end. They both died young (in their 30′s) and wasn’t recognized as kings. They were merely known as”The man who died with a disability,” and “The man with leprosy.”

Here are 3 tips that will guide you to end well:

BE LOYAL/FAITHFUL AND COMMITTED TO GOD

Always commit everything to God. No matter how busy you are, let Him still be your number one priority.

HUMBLE BEFORE GOD

No matter where you are, what you have achieved, always be reminded that it is the Lord who helped you and guided you there. No matter how powerful, rich, or famous you think you are now, He is still far more superior.

GUARD YOUR HEART

We are only humans, there might come a time that you may be challenged to comply with the first two tips. So be defensive. Guard your heart.

***

“It is not how you START, but how you FINISH.”

From Merriam-Webster: to put off intentionally and habitually; to put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done.

During my elementary, high school, to college days.. I never heard about the word Procrastination. I first heard, or rather, read about it was when I became enthusiastic about blogging. I’m assuming the reason why the word “procrastination” became relatively usual among bloggers it’s because it is one of the common hindrances a blogger must face in his/her blogging career.

Procrastination is not a good word. It is something that will make you less productive. It’s like a hole in your hourglass that wastes away your time. And what’s dangerous about it, is that most of us doesn’t even notice that we are already procrastinating. Even worse when it becomes a habit.

I can personally say that I have been a big time procrastinator before… But I didn’t know. When I was still a student, I remember that I was studying for an exam…then the next thing I knew I’m doodling all over my notebooks and books – then doze off without me knowing. In blogging, whenever I’m in the process of writing a post, I usually checkout other blogs for inspiration… but then I ended up pimping my site instead, because I felt inferior about how other blogs looks so nice. And another instance is when my mom or dad would ask me an immediate favor.. I would always say: “Alright. Later.”

Today, I’m still not 100% procrastination free; never will be. To take it a little further, I think no single person is totally procrastination free. It would be an unending battle between you and procrastination. Even my grandfather sometimes procrastinate before taking his medicines.

When I think about it now, Failure is not your obstacle towards success.. it’s Procrastination.

One of my favorite game shows on TV is the show named Distraction. The concept is simple and funny: A simple question and answer game show with a little twist. Any participant who gives the wrong answer will be punished – Punishments like putting a snake inside their underwear, beating their car, etc..

It’s really funny when participants couldn’t get the right answer even to a simple question because they are greatly distracted.

HOW GOOD ARE WE AT DISTRACTING OURSELVES?

If we are working for a specific goal, here should be a simple illustration of how it should be achieved. If we work without any distractions, we are creating a clear channel from work to our goal. As a result, our goals can be achieved faster with better quality.

But there are times that we are just good at distracting ourselves (I’m guilty of this); That even a simple task that could be done in the span of 30 minutes, will be accomplished in an hour or two.

CUT IT

I easily get distracted at work when I started to open the internet. I tend to Stumble and Tweet, the next thing I know I already spent 30 minutes online. And my work still undone.

The first step to cut the distraction is determine what distracts you most. In my case, it’s the internet so now I make sure to accomplish my work first before going online. If there’s a need to go online, I make sure to control myself from launching Tweetie or TweetDeck – Sometimes even Safari. I check my mail via Apple Mail and calendar on iCal, rather than Gmail and Gcal.

Discipline is the key. Don’t temp yourself to get yourself distracted.

No, Ms. Jacque Bermejo is not a serial killer, a big time thief, nor a drug lord. She’s just a simple overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Dubai, who happens to post this comment on a Filipino fanpage in Facebook during the time while every Filipinos are fighting for their lives because of typhoon Ondoy:

“buti n lng am hir in dubai!maybe so many sinners bak der!so yeah deserving wat hapend!”

Translation: “I’m glad to be in Dubai. Maybe there’s so many sinners back there (Philippines)! So yeah, they deserved what happened.”

In one quotation that I’ve read, it says something like “It’s not always WHAT you say, but HOW you say it.” Well, apparently in this case it’s really how she have said it.

It’s really terrible to hear this statement from a fellow countryman, while other foreign friends like @Josh Groban had extended their greatest sympathy for our country.

We can truly say that words are really sharper than sword. Penetrates deeper than a bullet, one comment and boom! It’s like squeezing thousands of lemon on to the wounded hearts of every Filipino. If you want to see the impact Jacque Bermejo made, you may open your Facebook account and search for “Jacque Bermejo.” – Or visit her chatroom-like Multiply site. -> (Sorry, I just found out that her Multiply site has already been shut down.)

**The following contents may contain foul words. FYI**

Well, this is a heads up for all of us. We might not know, we may already been Jacque Bermejo in our home, office, or school. Let’s be aware of the words that will be coming out from our mouth, perhaps think about it a million times before letting it out.

Every heart is too precious to break. – Even Jacque Bermejo’s.

Please stop cursing and threatening her..please..it won’t make us any better.

**UPDATE**

Jacque Bermejo’s brother defends with this statement.

The Brother’s Official Statement from thegossiper.typad.com

“ok! it all started sa Friendster last year 2008, my sister told me that her account was hacked by someone mad at her prolly inggit or may galit… she really doesn’t know or what’s the reason why she has been hacked, of corse she’s pissed off because this person keeps messing up her friendster profile. So, hinayaan lang ng sister ko yun, since wala nmn xang alam sa social networking or kung ano man, she’s a working woman na at wala xang panahon magfriendster.

Ngayon naman this issue has been spreading about her posting such harsh words:
“buti n lg am hir in dubai  maybe so many sinners bak der!so year deerving wat happend!”

Ang ate ko hindi ganyan kung magenglish, edukada sister ko at nag graduate sa UP. We came from a PROVINCE and part of a political family. Hindi basta basta si ate jack magpopost na magsisira sa family name namin. Dumaan din kami sa hirap, at for your information binagyo din ang lugar namin, TATLONG BESES. Why in the world will my ate as a filipino disgrace our family and citizen, sana po wag muna kayo manghusga.

Hintayin lang po sana ung explaination, for she doesn’t have internet nor load right now, its around 3am-4am at dubai, and I have hard times contacting her myself.

Kung sino ka man gumagamit ng pangalan ng ate ko, mahahannap ka din ng mga bermejo.”

Translation:

ok! it all started in Friendster last year 2008, my sister told me that her account was hacked by someone mad at her probably envied or is angry at her… she really doesn’t know or what’s the reason why she has been hacked, of course she’s pissed off because this person keeps messing up her friendster profile. So, my sister just let it pass, since she’s really not that knowledgeable about social networking, she’s a working woman that really doesn’t have time for friendster.

This time, this issue has been spreading about her posting such harsh words:
“I’m glad to be in Dubai. Maybe there’s so many sinners back there (Philippines)! So yeah, they deserved what happened.”

My sister doesn’t speak English that way, She is literate/educated and a graduate of UP (University of the Philippines). We came from a PROVINCE and part of a political family. My sister Jack won’t do anything to harm or destroy our family’s name. We also went through tough times, and for your information, we also battled typhoons THREE TIMES. Why in the world will my sister, as a filipino, disgrace our family and citizen. Please don’t judge my sister.

Let’s wait for my sister’s explanation, for she doesn’t have enough credit to go online, its around 3am-4am at dubai, and I have hard times contacting her myself.

To that one who’s using my sister’s name, whoever you are..the Bermejo’s will find you.

**UPDATE**

Ms. Jacque Bermejo’s statement:

I am issuing this statement to clear my name in the current controversy in which I allegedly posted a highly insensitive and offensive message on the social networking website, Facebook, in relation to the victims of typhoon Ondoy that recently struck parts of the Philippines.

About two years ago, an anonymous source created these accounts using my identity, posting my personal details, my real pictures captioned roughly and attacking other people. Because of these incidents, I reported such abuses and sent my credentials to the administrators of such sites, particularly Facebook. I have been abused and am still being abused online in social networking websites such as Facebook, Friendster, Multiply etc.

In the early stages, I was advised by close friends to ignore the situation, saying this would simply go away. Unfortunately, it has not stopped. Hence, I filed a complaint with the Dubai Police about eight months ago hoping they could help me with my problem. Should anyone wish to check my statement, my case is still under investigation with said authorities.

Time passed and these sites continued to generate malicious, obscene and cruel messages that are widely exposed and relayed to the public under my name.

Yesterday, September 27th 2009, I received phone calls from my close friends regarding very alarming posts in the above mentioned websites that directly offended flood victims as a result of typhoon Ondoy..

These malicious statement(s) which are posted under account names Jacque or Jackie are not of my doing. It is unfortunate that such statements were maliciously attributed to me and I do sympathize and understand the adverse and somehow verbally violent reaction that has been elicited by such insensitive statements or posts. Rest assured, I have taken every legal step that can be done in this regard.

I too, have become a victim as much as those who may have lost their lives and properties to such a devastating natural calamity. This recent controversy has greatly affected my reputation, my family, and my friends. I am devastated and shocked at the extent my character, my personal information and private space have been violated.

I have a deep respect and regard for my country. I am proud to be a Filipino and would never say or do anything to harm the interest of my country or countrymen. I have also had the privilege of participating in civic-oriented activities in Dubai, particularly in trying to help my fellow countrymen seek employment during the height of mass layoffs brought about by the ongoing global financial crisis, as well as those seeking employment for the first time. Making a mockery of any unfortunate incidents befalling any of my fellow Filipinos is simply contrary to my character. I condemn the person or persons behind these malicious acts to impute damage on my integrity and I hope that you can dig deep into your hearts and minds to truly find the truth in all these.

–Source: Facebook & thegossiper.typad.com

With these statements, we cannot really say what is the truth. Every people has their own judgment. Some might say that this is just an alibi, others say that this is plausible. Well, either ways I just think we should stop fueling this fire.

So what if we found out the truth? More cursing? More verbal threats towards Jacque Bermejo? Why not put all those effort to help those people in need instead? Other countries are all looking at us right now. Should we act and let them see how immature we handle these kind of issues?

Well..I’m just thinking out loud. How about you? What do you think?

**UPDATE**

News from Dubai about the issue of Ms. Jacque Bermejo:

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/09/10/01/10353684.html

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