Bits of Inspiration

In our journey towards success, or in life in general, no matter how hard we try, there would always be times wherein we fill fail. Failure is such a big word that most people fear about it so much. Of course, nobody wants to fail, right? But, as we grow older and become mature and smart in our thinking, we will realize that failure is an inevitable part of our life. More than the bad feeling it gives, we have to realize that failures also serves a great purpose in our lives. In this blog, I wish to share some general ways to overcome failure. The overall strategy is not limited to these, but in my perspective, these are the simplest and effective ones. At the end of the day, we are all unique and we have our own ways in overcoming failure, but I still hope that this assists you on your journey. 1. Accept the situation. Whenever we realize that we fail on something, it's important that we accept that it happened. A normal human tendency is to deny it. There are possible r

One of the valuable lessons I've learned in the corporate world was "personal leadership". It's a concept that's well-defined on several books, as well as online articles and blogs, but in a nutshell, personal leadership for me is being able to lead yourself effectively, accurately and positively. If you are reading my blogs, I remember mentioning about being the captain of our own ships, that means taking full control of our lives and leading it to the direction that we want. In essence, that's personal leadership. I've read several articles online about personal leadership and the one that stood out was from the blog written by Andria Corso published on "Work it Daily" website. She defined personal leadership as "taking responsibility for all aspects of your life and leading it in the direction that is best for you. When you are able to take responsibility for decisions you are making in all areas of your life and you are making those

Getting promoted is probably one of the greatest dreams of every employee. Not only that this equates to a higher salary, but it also gives a feeling of pride and a great boost to one's confidence. Getting promoted is indeed a blessing, but getting it is truly not a walk in a park. I have worked in the corporate world for more than 10 years and I was fortunate to have been given the opportunity to move up the corporate ladder. If you are reading my blogs, I remember giving a glimpse of how my corporate journey started after I graduated from UPLB in 2006. To provide immediate financial support to my family, I have made the decision to put my college degree aside and explored the BPO industry, had a hard time getting in, failed many interviews, rejected by a lot of companies, and yet I didn't give up until one company saw my potentials and hired me. In this global company and highly reputable brand, I started my career journey as an agent (Customer care specialist) taking

Hey, we're now at the last topic on this blog series! Thank you so much for tuning in! In the previous blog, we've talked about the factors to consider when realizing your way to success. That is when we started to take action to reach our goals. We've learned that in order to be successful, we need to take accurate and consistent actions. This leads us to the fifth and final topic on the "CHART your journey" series. The last and probably the most essential part of the journey. "T" stands for "Thrive". Wikipedia's definition of "thrive" is "to grow vigorously; flourish; to be successful or make steady progress; prosper." So, how do we thrive? To give you more context, "thriving" involves the following activities: 1. Be optimistic. We all know how powerful our mind is. Our actions are being dictated by what we think, therefore it's crucial that we always feed our mind with positive thoughts if

Hey, we're down to our last two topics on this blog series! Thanks for tuning in! I hope you're learning a lot of things so far and being inspired on your journey towards success. Our fourth topic is where the real work and hustle comes in. Now that we already have a deeper understanding of ourselves and started leveraging our skills and started putting them into practice, our actions will eventually determine out fate and what results we will get. The fourth topic on the "CHART your journey" series starts with the letter "R". Do you have an idea what "R" stands for? Yes, you are correct. "R" is for "Realize". It means "to bring into reality; make real; to obtain or achieve, as gain or profit". To give you more context, "realizing" involves the following factors. 1. Prepare to be uncomfortable. Our road to success will require change and this will make us uncomfortable. Being uncomfortable

Hey, thanks for tuning in to this blog series. We're now halfway through! If you would remember, in the previous blog we talked about honing our skills and investing in ourselves through learning. By now, we should already have a deeper understanding of ourselves, already identified our strengths and whole-heartedly accepted our flaws/ weaknesses. By this time, we should already be exploring learning opportunities and finding a mentor who can support us in our journey towards success. Now that we already have a wealth of knowledge about ourselves and what we're capable of, the next step to success is being able to put those into practice. This leads us to the third topic on the "CHART your journey" series. It start's with a letter "A" and it should be an easy guess for you. Yes, "A" stands for "Apply". This word is defined by Wikipedia as "to put into action; to engage (oneself) in a task with close attention or persistenc

Now that we already have our goals set, the SMART goals that we want to achieve, the next step to success is to further assess ourselves and invest in ourselves. This leads us to our second topic on the "CHART your journey" series. What do you think the letter "H" stands for? Yes, you're right. "H" is for "Hone". Wikipedia defines the word "hone" as "sharpen, refine or perfect (something) over a period of time." In the success context, this means being able to identify our strengths and weaknesses and being able to invest in ourselves. To give more context, honing involves the following activities: 1. Identify your strengths. The first step to becoming successful is being able to identify where we're good at or the set of skills that we have which we can use to achieve success. This is a critical factor to success because if we're not self-aware of our strengths, then it will be difficult for us to r

For once in your life, have you tried meditating? Where you zone out yourself from all distractions and think deeply or focus your mind for a period of time, in silence? If your answer is yes, then congratulations! You're one step closer to be successful. The first step in the success roadmap is synonymous to meditation. It starts with the letter "C". Can you guess what it is? Alright, that's a great guess! The "C" on the CHART your journey series is "Contemplate". Wikipedia defines contemplate as "thinking about something; to think deeply and at length; look thoughtfully for a long time". This is the first step in our journey to success. To give you more context, contemplating involves the following activities: 1. Assess your current reality. If we are traveling, isn't it that the first thing we consider is how far is our destination from our current location? The same is true in life. At some point, we need to critical

April 2016. I was asked to be one of the speakers in our company's Career Fair event. Part of that week-long event was a Career Talk where managers were asked to talk about a topic, share what they know about that topic and how that topic helped them to become successful in their careers. The overall goal of the Career Talk was to give inspiration to our employees and create awareness on possible career paths that they can take within the organization. Being one of the Operations Managers on site and one of the most tenured employees in the company, I was asked to give a talk about charting my journey as an employee, sharing where I started, how I became a manager, and give valuable tips/ advice to employees on how to also become successful in their careers. While thinking of a topic for my next blog, I thought about sharing what I've discussed during that talk as I believe it can inspire more people. My entire talk back then lasted for about an hour. While I can compr

Every "iskolar ng bayan" will agree that studying in UP would probably be one of the greatest blessings they've received in their lives. For one thing, not everyone is being given the chance to study at this premier university. If you read my previous blog, you would know how difficult it was to pass the UPCAT. Secondly, UP has made its mark of excellence in providing world-class college education, in fact consistently ranking as one of the top universities in Asia and the world. Studying in UP gives both a sense of pride and honor, but also entails a big responsibility. I was fortunate to have been given the chance to acquire my college degree in one of UP's premier campuses, the University of the Philippines Los Baños. I fell in love with the campus the first time I saw it. It was beautifully landscaped and the green scenery was very refreshing. Aside from being one of the best universities, UPLB has also been known for its famous landmarks. While reminisci

Finishing college and having a degree was probably one of the greatest achievements a person can have in his/her life. My college journey began in the year 2002 when I was accepted as a freshman at the University of the Philippines Los Baños. When I was a child, I dreamt of becoming a doctor someday, specifically a physician so that I can cure people who are sick. But with my dad working on a farm, I was encouraged to become a veterinarian instead, still a doctor but a doctor for animals. And so when the time came when I was asked to put in my first course of choice in UP, I put in the "Doctor of Veterinary Medicine" at UPLB. Through God's grace, I passed the UPCAT for that course. A few days before my enrollment in UP, I received the news that I also passed the DOST (Department of Science and Technology) scholarship exam and that means the government (through DOST) would be happy to fund my college education and give me a monthly allowance. I was in awe for the

Graduating as an honor student in a public high school, I felt the pressure in passing the college entrance exams and landing a spot in one of our country's premier universities. I took several exams from different universities, all with overwhelming nervousness. My goal back then was to pass at least one so I can pursue my college education. The most nerve-wracking exam I took was the UPCAT (University of the Philippines College Admission Test).  During high school, our teachers had been promoting UP to all of us (their students), saying it's one of the best universities in the country and that they provide a world-class education. We also had some of our high school alumni (studying in UP at that time) visited our school and said the same things about UP during the career orientation. We became more excited to enter UP and dreamt of becoming one of the  " iskolar ng bayan".  Knowing how difficult UPCAT was, our teachers hoped that at least a few of us in th

Most people say that high school is the most exciting and happiest moment of a student's life. Others say that it was the best 4 years of their lives. Do you agree? Well, I do. I had great memories during my high school years. Aside from gaining more friends and academic achievements, the best part was discovering some of my God-given talents and honing the ones I already have. When I entered high school, my primary goal is to excel in class, get high grades and graduate as an honor student to make my parents proud. Yes, I was a "nerd" back then. Unlike other teenagers, my passion is studying, getting all the knowledge that I can master and become one of the best students in school. Though I ended up successful in getting these goals, my high school journey has been tough and challenging. For 4 years, I braved long travels from home to school and back, endured late nights finishing my homeworks and reviewing for my exams, and poured out a lot of sweat & efforts