Reflections on "How to Know If Your Dreams Are God's Dreams"

By subscribing to Bo Sanchez' Truly Rich Club, I get to receive free ebooks authored by him. The first ebook I read was "How to Know If Your Dreams Are God's Dreams - Finding His Will in Your Deepest Desires" Here are my notes and reflections on it:

The Three Powerful Secrets Behind All Successes in Life:
1. Desire
2. Belief
3. Action

The 4 Signs of a Soul Dream
1. The Dream Is Connected to Your Most Important Values
2. The Dream Must Bring You Closer to God
3. The Dream Must Be Connected to Your Life Purpose and Core Gifts
4. The Dream Must Make You Happy in the Deepest Way Possible

How will you know your life purpose?
- Examine Your Roots
- Ask yourself two simple questions:
1. Passion: What do you enjoy doing?
2. Potential: And what do you do well?

I think my life purpose is to help. That's what I've always done and that's what has always made me happy. I don't have much talent to share but I've always been good at giving people the support they need. I don't know how this will translate to my Soul Dream but maybe it will have something to do with empowering the underprivileged and underdogs in our society; providing them with tools and knowledge that will help them get out of their dire situations. Maybe a scholarship foundation for not just the bright kids, but the not-so-bright kids as well -- anyone who wants to learn, basically.

Another passion of mine is reading and learning something new. I would love to put up a public library with an interactive section and play area. Because learning should be fun, really! Nowadays, we don't just learn from books anymore so we should make knowledge available through all media. We'll have computer stations with access to the internet, we'll conduct skills trainings and we'll offer personal development seminars. After all that learning and "sharpening the saw" is done, one needs to have a break and unwind so my library will be adjacent to a recreation hall where people can watch movies, play games or just hang out. I've always had this vision -- you know how there are centers for culture and arts? Mine will be a center for hobbies and fun. I would call it The Beehive because it will be a complex abuzz with activities. Each room in the hive will be full of people pursuing their passions and interests. One room would be a music room, the other a dance ballroom, and still another a board games competition arena. I don't know if I would be able to build this library and activity complex but I've always fantasized about it. Hey, I can dream, right? :)

Ready-ing to Retire

I am so excited! I'll be making the last payment on my condo next month and after that I can start processing the papers for the transfer of title. Of course there are still turnover fees to pay but I think I'll be able to manage that. Just this month, I was able to pay the property taxes which had already accumulated since 2008. Now I know I have to take care of it yearly to avoid the penalties.

Now that I've already made my first property investment, this got me thinking that I should start building the rest of my investment portfolio and start thinking about my retirement. I've read dozens of books and magazines about personal finance already and now I think it's time to start applying what I've learned from them. I have always wanted to take advantage of the power of compounding but it is only now that I'm taking steps towards it. I know that I should have started earlier and there are a dozen excuses I tell myself why I didn't, but at least now I know that I am ready and willing and that it's not yet too late. This is why I signed up for Bo Sanchez' Truly Rich Club so that I could be properly guided as I go along my financial journey. It's only been two weeks since I signed up but I am already reaping the benefits. Reading the e-books and hearing Bo's power talks reminded me why I wanted to be financially independent in the first place. His newsletters and inspirational emails encourages me not only dream my big dreams but also to take concrete actions to realize them.

For those of you who knew Bo Sanchez as a Catholic lay preacher, don't worry, he still is. But what business does he have, teaching about personal finance? Sounds weird right? I know! I was a bit turned off myself when I first learned about it. I thought he turned into one of those fanatical evangelists who masquerade as messengers of God but only really want to con people into shelling out money for "miraculous healing items". But when I heard his reasons for doing something about his financial life and deciding to teach others how to save and invest, it actually made sense to me. After all, most of the things people have problems about and pray about is money. And hey, I believe in God and I think about money, so why shouldn't he? So having said that, I am now a convert. I am ready to be wealthy and I want others to be the same :)

Automated queueing at BPI

In what I suspect to be a bid for efficient and paperless over-the-counter bank transactions, BPI has implemented an automated queueing system in their BPI-Philam Makati branch. I experienced this wonderful innovation today when I deposited to my account. I usually bank at the BPI branch at the KPMG building but when I got there shortly before lunch, the line was so long that I decided to have lunch first at Jollibee the Insular building. After lunch, I remembered that there was another BPI branch at the Philam building so I decided to go there instead of going back to KPMG. Getting inside the Philam building is like going through airport security; you have to pass through a metal detector doorway scanner and have your things go through the x-ray machine beside it. After subjecting myself to that tedious process, I went to BPI and found it odd that all the customers were seating. I asked the guard if there was a queueing system and he pointed me to the side of the entrance. I was expecting number tags hooked to door, or a ticketing device that prints numbers which will be called by the teller later; but I was not expecting to find touch-screen computer terminals. I gave it a try and I soon found out that before a number is issued to you, you have to input the transactions you are planning to do at the bank. But then, I thought, this would mean that there would be no more need to fill up deposit and withdrawal slips. I glanced at the counter where the forms are usually placed and sure enough, there were nowhere to be seen! I completed entering my account number and transaction amount, got my number and sat at the couch to wait for my number to be called. It still took 10 minutes before my number was called (I guess this is just because there were really a lot of customers), but when I got to the counter, I just handed my number and money to the teller and she already had all the transaction information in the system. She counted my money, gave me my receipt and I was off!

It would be really great if they could implement this in all of their branches and I do hope that all the other banks follow suit. It would take a bit of getting used to, especially for those who have aversions to technology but I'm thinking people can adapt. This would mean no more precious time wasted at lining up at banks. Now if only someone could apply this to doctor's offices and clinics, that would be sweet!

Sick birthday girl

I celebrated my birthday with the beginnings of a cough. A week later and I'm still hacking. At least it has subsided and has become less embarrassing. I'm starting to sleep better too. Good thing I was able to rest over the long weekend. But now that I'm back at the office, my coughing fits have started again; I think it's the cold air that's aggravating it. I even stopped running in the mornings because my coughing has left me weak. I do hope I regain my health soon so I can use the new shoes I gifted myself for my birthday.

Heavy feet

After several years of not working out, I started exercising again last Monday. I decided that I would jog around our neighborhood for 30 minutes, followed by 30 minutes of crunches and dumbell exercises in the mornings. I began my warm-up by walking for 10 minutes. This was going to be easy, I thought to myself. Then I decided that I would alternate jogging and walking every minute for 10 minutes. This was when my torture began. As I started to jog, I felt my feet become heavy. Even though I knew I was jogging, I felt I was going so slow that I thought I moved faster when I was just walking. It didn't help that my shoes are kinda old so I started feeling pain in my right foot. Then my shins started hurting. I wanted to stop but I didn't. I waited for my one minute to be up then I slowed down to a walk. That eased the pain for a bit, but then I had to do it all over again, jogging and walking and cursing until my 10 minutes was up. Then I just walked all the way back to my home for my cooldown.

At home, I laid out my mat and did some crunches. Then did some leg lifts and dumbell squats. I felt good afterwards and I would have gladly gone back to bed; but I had to go to work so I just took a shower instead.

It really perplexed me why I had such a difficult time jogging. Have I become so heavy that I can't even carry my own weight? Probably. Should I have stretched after my warm-up? I don't know. I don't recall my shins hurting when I run on the treadmill. So was I running incorrectly? Or is it really more difficult to run on the road than on the treadmill? Don't know the answers to those questions either. But I definitely need to replace my old shoes, that's for sure.

I rested yesterday then I tortured myself again this morning. I plan to exercise M-W-F to allow my body to recuperate in between workout days. I feel I could keep this schedule better than trying to exercise everyday and failing. I just hope I could control my food intake so I can lose weight faster. I'll buy some groceries over the weekend so I can prepare my own food. Until then, I'll stick to sandwiches and salads for lunch.

Crappy Weekend

I just had the crappiest weekend, literally. At first I couldn't figure out what could have caused my diarrhea but after careful review of what I ate last Friday, I was able to determine the culprit -- mushroom soup! I suddenly remembered that my stomach does not agree with shiitake mushrooms; but I have never had it this bad before. I was going to the bathroom almost every hour on the first day, and night! I was totally drained and dehydrated but still I didn't take any medication, thinking I would get better the next day. But I didn't. At least the interval lengthened from one to three, giving me a chance to catch some decent enough sleep. But I still had to keep my food intake at a very minimal amount because by this time, my bottom could not take the battering anymore. Good thing I woke up feeling a bit better this morning. My bowel is still loose but at least I didn't have a compelling urge to go running to the toilet all day. And I'm still watching what I eat, just in case.

So let this be a lesson to all. Know thy enemy, and avoid it :)