10 Things To Let Go This 2014

Every new year brings us to a new heights and challenges to be better individuals. 2013 has been a challenging year for all Filipinos and 2014 for sure is going to bring the same adversities and challenges. I do believe that every year carries the same ups and down, it is the people who are responsible to make the difference year on year.

This year, I would like to share a handful of things I would like to give up to make myself more happy and fulfilled. I am now a firm believer of harnessing the power of thought by putting it in concrete writing or recording. Documenting your ideas and thoughts makes it more potent and achievable.

Here we go:

1. Giving up on small deals that eventually consumes a high portion of my monthly budget. Come to think of it, every cup of Starbucks coffee that I buy every morning costs Php 135 (that's a tall warm sugar-free vanilla latte with non-fat milk), multiply it by five then by four would cost me a grand total of Php 2,700 coffee spent on a monthly basis. There is a sure possibility that I would be buying another cup of coffee on weekends and an extra cup on a day if there is an inevitable occasion. Those supplemental buys would yield an approximate additional coffee spent of around Php 300-500 every month, bringing my approximate coffee spent monthly grand total to a whopping Php 3,000. You won't see this sad realization everyday. It will take a bitter pill to swallow to fathom the sad fact that Starbucks is getting richer everyday while we fall into the trap of "looking cool because I can buy a latte from the Sbux". And the grand irony of it all is that I am a certified acidic and my stomach composition refuses the entry of any acidic compounds in its territory. I am putting this item on top because of its sheer importance and indispensability.

2. Giving up on unorganized trips and reckless field call itineraries. As a salesman, my work routine is heavily centered on client meetings and field calls. I am bound to meet my clients on their premises and it requires me to be out of the office most of the time. I am giving up on unnecessary and unprecedented client calls. I hereby certify that I am making use of my time more wisely and professionaly. This would eventually save me not only my precious time but also a significant amount of money. Learn to say no on irrelevant calls and only agree on important engagements. Start early, work hard and leave early.

3. Giving up on so much social media use and focus more on blogging and work emails. There are so much distractions last year. With the advent of so many social media platforms and technologies, the amount of time spent on dealing with corporate matters has been significantly reduced. I have been less-productive last year probably because of owning new gadgets and technologies that makes me want to research more new information. I realized the sad impact of this complacency by earning low-marks in my quarterly target and getting a horrific red-card for not meeting my goals. It was truly a a big wake-up call and I am not letting any distraction prevent myself from doing my work conscientiously. If there is one online thing that I would devote more time this year, it would be blogging since I've been wanting to invest on this skill for more than a decade already.

4. Giving up on shopping for myself. This year, I would like to shop more, not for me this time but for my family. For so many years I have been enjoying the fruits of my labor by spending so much on clothes, gadgets, travels, etc. for myself and very less for my parents. I do give money to them but I feel like I have been focusing so much on improving myself rather than the life of my providers. I feel like I owe them a huge favor and I have been ignoring their basic needs lately. I am attending to their basic necessities but I feel like I am lacking in the luxury department. I am blessed to have parents who have managed to work hard during their younger years in order to be sustainable when we reach our independent-hood, but that doesn't give me the privilege to be ignorant of my moral responsibility to be a good son by giving back to them. Check!

5. Giving up on complaining, stressing-out and anxiety. 2013 has been a stressful year. With the huge changes happening in my life lately, it has significantly increased my anxiety levels and affected my temperament. I became more hot-headed, illogical and worrisome, I have been thinking too much of the uncertain rather than getting into facts and trusting my instincts more. This year, I will be more wiser, I will use more of my wisdom and faith rather than hunches and fears. Will trust more of the Lord rather than my own understanding.

6. Giving up on quantity. I have been suffering from 'the more the merrier' syndrome. It has become a habit to hoard more rather than buy quality items that would last longer and eventually save me more money in the long run. I vow buy new set of clothes for this year, it would be less but it will be more durable and the quality will stand the test of time. Though it will be more expensive, I believe this would be more practical. This would also apply to foods that I will buy.

7. Giving up on too much talking. Contrary to the beliefs of many, I am not a shy-person. Once I get the hang of my environment I could be a loose cannon. I am noisy and boisterous. I love to talk and talk and talk and it makes me tired also. It consumes a huge amount of my energey and it turns me away from important matters to deal with first. It is a disease that I should control and harness and use it in a more relevant purpose. A little less conversation and more action please. Amen!

8. Giving up on being hasty and reckless. There is a pressing need to be more cautious and disciplinary. My weakness is to be more fast than accurate. The effect of this desire to be constantly ahead is affecting the quality of my work. I have been committing a lot of mistakes and tiny errors that later on become mess and chaos, some of it irreparable some of it are very difficult to patch. This year, I would endeavor to be more cautious on my steps and understand the value of proofreading and control.

9. Giving up on unhealthy lifestyle. I implore the guidance of the divine to help me withstand this difficult tribulation.

10. Giving up on mediocrity. I would no longer be a child this year but a responsible adult who has a full control of his life. I would be more practical and efficient, constantly striving for excellence, I will look forward to success rather than the mere completion of events.

2014, I won't ask you to be kind on me. Rather I would try my very best to be a good boy for you.

So help me God.

Marry the Night

Let me share you something that is very personal. Or perhaps let's start with what's going to happen to me in the next few months. I cancelled my Bangkok flight because there is no point of going there anymore and my Shanghai flight is going to be cancelled it seems. So, the moment I saw a sale in Cebu Pacific, I hurriedly booked a flight to Malaysia on September. I have never been there, but it looks like I'm going to travel alone, but I would be fine. I cringe at the idea that I would be landing in a foreign land by myself for the very first time, but the fact is I'm excited and I couldn't wait for September to come.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have been very contemplative recently. I felt that I have been thinking a lot about the past and future quite recently. It's not mind-boggling or depressing, I guess these are the days that you feel like there is something that needs to fixed. But there is really no problem, so I guess that phrase is irrelevant, I guess the more appropriate term is that there's something probably missing :)

And what's up with the kids nowadays? Recently I had chance encounters with some kid and I was so surprise by how they behave today. Not that I am trying to alienate myself, for one, I am just 26 and I still belong to the young-generation bracket, but children born in the late 90s have a lifestyle so set apart from ours.

I was born in the late 80s. Never saw the martial law days, but that doesn't mean that my childhood was a walk in the park. We were the children of street games. I wonder what happened to "ten-twenty" and "piko", man, I love those games. Today, it's all about virtual insanity. Video games, iPad, Macbook Pro, iPhone....

I was telling my friends while on the way to Eastwood, that the kids today are extremely lucky. Everything is at their disposal. The access to information is so fast I can't accept the fact that they would still get low grades at the end of the semester. When I was in college, I scour the entire library to find an excerpt of Kant's philosophical discourse and other dialogues in communication theories, but right now, everything is in Wikipedia.

I wish they would experience the amazing feeling of borrowing books, taking it home, reading it laboriously and getting that awesome experience of  digesting the knowledge from the ultimate source - books.

I am also guilty with this, now, there are hundreds of channels to vent out their pubertal frustrations or even academic struggles. They have Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Blogger to tell the world how miserable there lives are. When we don't like food, we don't complain to the chef, we let everybody know by posting it in Twitter and Facebook. When we like something, we don't appreciate it, we take pictures of it and put in Instagram. Somehow we have lost that moment of taking a minute to appreciate things, to breathe and accept defeat and mistakes, realize that nothing is perfect and complaining about it s not worth it.

We are witnessing another dawn of humanity wherein we are living not to the fullest but because we are in a hurry and we always feel that old age will creep up ahead of us. Technology can be both evil and angel at the same time. Let us use it wisely.

May the young kids of today stay humble, realize that what they have accomplished so far is not at par to our previous standards. They are living in a tolerant world. We have witnessed cruelty and hardship during the days when it was so hard to live, breathe, and express yourself. Everything can be handed to them now in a silver platter. We were able to graduate with no internet but with books. We were able to live in 56Kbps while you are happily enjoying the breeze of a broadband. You are living the life we were once dreaming of. Use it wisely.