TWO MONTHS NA!

During the past week I am really disappointed. This is so because my application for adsense account is again denied for the nth times. So disappointed that I told myself, I won’t make it. But I am not willing to stop from what I am doing. I just lifted it to my Heavenly Father through prayer. I told Him that I won’t stop because I am only at the beginning stage of blogging.

By the way, it’s been two months now since I started my blogging activities.

Yehey! Happy two months www.jongenese.blogspot.com

“At dahil dyan, may nagtext!” – just borrowed the line from ”Vice Ganda”. Actually I am full of inspirations today and I want to share to you my inspirations.

My first inspiration for today is this prayer from Bro. Bo Sanchez.

Yeah, that’s the text from my Heavenly Father, through Bro. Bo Sanchez. Remember, I got disappointed and I lifted my disappointment to my Heavenly Father and He replied. To top it all He replied just in time for my second month in blogging. Thank you Heavenly Father.

During my first month I have learned the basics in blogging just as I have shared in my previous post. My mentor Jomar Hilario advised me to apply for adsense account sometime after five months. But because I am so “matigas ang ulo”, I didn’t follow his advice. The result, I got denied. The effect, I got disappointed not only once but since I tried five times, I got disappointed five times as well. But those setbacks only fueled my desire to do more and continue to learn my lessons.

What lesson I have learned from this. I learned that I don’t have to do the short cuts. I may be too eager in achieving my goals, but there is still a long way to go. Now I know that my Heavenly Father wants me to go not the long way or to take the short cut, but the normal way. Why? Because He doesn’t want me to miss the experience that I can gain should I do the short cuts. He also doesn’t want me to endure too much should I go the long way. Just the normal way, in order for me to feel and experience everything that He prepares for me along the road. Simply put, He doesn’t want me to miss a thing.


My second inspiration is Bro. Bo Sanchez will be conducting a How to Become Truly Rich Seminar on Nov. 13, 2010. I know I will not be able to attend to that seminar because I am out of the country. So why I am so inspired about that? I will let you discover the reason here.

My third inspiration is when I discovered the website of KaBlogs. They have a contest for OFW bloggers. My first impression is I will join the contest. I want to contribute to their theme: ”Strengthening OFW Families: Stronger Homes for a Stronger Nation”. After browsing through the website I found out that the contest has been going on since the second half of this year and they are about to announce the Top 10 finalist on October 31, 2010. I am already late for this years’ contest and there is one more reason why I cannot join. One of their criteria for joining is the contestant must be at least six month on the blogging world. He,he,he,he, I have to be patient and wait for the next year contest. Take the normal way Jon, no short cuts please. All I can do now is to give my support to the nominees by voting for their entry.

My fourth inspiration is the entry of Mga Kathang Isip ni Kiko. That’s why I voted for him, though you can vote for ten entries from among the nominees. But Kiko’s entry ranks number one from my personal opinion. I can relate to his experiences as an OFW. I should say I am the type of “homesikin”. I missed my famliy so much. I also experienced traveling on Christmas day. In one of my trip for a vacation in the Philippines was scheduled on Dec. 24 and I arrived home on early morning of Dec. 26.

Here are the other nine nominees that I voted. Batang Gala, B’log ang Mundo, Gumamela sa Paraiso, Jethro’s Hangout, Yellow Bells, The Journey of the Prodigal Daughter, Rainbow Box, Baul ni Noel, Stay at Home Blessings and Carnation, Life is Beautiful. To all the nominees I wish them good luck. Your contribution to the contest is more than enough to help in strengthening the OFW families. You are already a winner in the heart of every Filipino Overseas Workers around the world.

And last but not the least, my inspiration is you, my dear reader, thank you for bearing with me along the way. I am not a writer, nor a naturally born writer. But you are still with me and I thank you for that. I would like to share this quote with you.

“Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend.”

There’s so much to learn in this world of blogging, and I want you to walk beside me. Let’s learn the lessons together.

Have a nice day and God bless…

PERSONAL MASTERY

Personal mastery is about approaching life from a different perspective.  Sometimes people would refer to it as a journey towards continuous improvement.  Personal mastery is guided with key principles like vision, personal purpose, creative tension, commitment to truth and understanding the subconscious mind. 

One of the most important fundamental aspects of personal mastery is personal vision.  Personal mastery when combined personal vision can create a framework or guiding philosophy on how you can operate and live your life.  Some people would say that personal vision serves as a guide that would keep you on track.

Followers of personal mastery see that there are great opportunities to improve their growth.  Followers recognize that there are many avenues for growth and opportunities like books, tapes, lectures and school courses.  People also benefit from organizations in their quest for personal mastery.                

Personal mastery is about loving yourself and expressing your gifts to its fullest.  Some would think that personal mastery is controlling and limiting one self, but actually it is about understanding your personality.  To control or overcome some habits, it would be important to identify how and why those habits arise.  The more you suppress things, the more you would have difficulty in conquering and overcoming it.

Personal mastery is self-discipline.  It is about taking responsibility for the direction that your life is going to take.  You would slowly realize that you can do anything with the aid of your skills and talents.  Discipline would clarify and deepen your perspective in life.  Those who quest for personal mastery would develop patience and see life objectively. 

Personal mastery can actually help you become successful in life.  You can say that you have developed personal mastery if you are starting to fully understand your strengths, talents and your purpose in life.  Personal mastery enables you to be inspired, energized and happy with your life. You start to show a sense of commitment in changing on how people perceive life and the world.  The ultimate thing about personal mastery is that you would always feel that you are guided and supported by God.

It is also important for a person who is in quest for personal mastery to develop integrity, humility, justice and industry.  Actually, these are “rules” on how we could conduct ourselves professional, socially and spiritually.

Peter Senge said that attaining personal mastery has no shortcuts or no “quick fixes.”  Sometimes it would take a lifetime for personal mastery to be attained.  Personal mastery detaches a person from self-interest or selfishness and encourages people towards providing care and service to other people.  Also individuals who follow personal mastery see the connections in their surroundings and perceived everything as a whole. 

Proactive behavior is also something that personal mastery helps you to develop.  Reactive behavior like thinking beforehand that you cannot do things is dealt with when developing personal mastery.  Actions and service that you provide are based on how you can creatively maximize your skills.

To summarize it, personal mastery guides you to develop being aware with your beliefs, attitudes and behavior impacts.  It also enables you to accept yourself and be responsible with your own action, attitude, and thought. 

Experts would say that personal mastery could be truly gained by living purposefully and by living with integrity.  Living purposefully would include showing talents, gifts and strengths to achieve goals and be successful.  Living with integrity is by integrating your ideals, standards and behavior. 

A MONTH AFTER

It’s been a month since I started blogging, and I say it’s fulfilling. I would like to thank my online mentor, Mr. Jomar Hilario for his untiring effort in sharing to me and thousands of others through the internet, his knowledge on internet marketing and blogging.

I must admit that when I started with this endeavor I have zero knowledge about blogging. As of the moment I can say that I have learned the basics of blogging and I know that there is still a lot that I need to know and discover. I remember the first time that I started blogging; I’m like a child, afraid to take my first step. Now I can walk though I should say that I still have to learn how to run.

After a month of blogging, I was able to create four blogs. My first blog www.jongenese.blogspot.com  have now more than 10 post. My other blogs are http://www.pinoyfrugalinvestor.blogspot.com/ www.kwentongdisyertoreload.blogspot.com , www.pinoyinternetworkshops.blogspot.com  & www.pinoyphotographer.blogspot.com and I will be creating more blogs, so feel free to visit my blog site at your convenience.

Also, I would like to thank my family, for my wife and my daughter, for their untiring support for me. For my son, Isko, because he is the source of my inspirations. I would like also to take this opportunity to announce that my wife will start blogging 16 days from now. She will launch her first blog post on the occasion of her birthday this coming October.

I would like to thank you as well, my dear reader. For your continuous patronage to my blog. There is still a long way for me to go and without you; I know I won’t be able to go a step further. And if you have something that you want me to blog, just tell me. I will make a research on that topic and I will make that blog especially for you. That will be my way of returning my gratitude to you. You may also want to refer my blog sites to your friends and colleagues. That would be an honor for me and once again I want to thank you for that act of kindness.

Or maybe you might just want to start blogging as well. As my mentor Mr. Jomar Hilario says, you can blog about anything, about your hobby, about your pet, about your kids, about your emotions, about your career, about your love life. There’s an endless topic that you can really blog on. Just give it a try and who knows you might come out a better blogger than me. Besides, blogging is free. There are websites that offer free hosting for your blog such as this one that I am using.

By the way, my online mentor, Mr. Jomar Hilario, offers a 90 day free internet marketing tutorial, that includes blogging. He will guide you, step by step, into creating your very first blog. Feel free to visit his site http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=1242060 put me as your referrer. Aside from the 90 day free internet marketing tutorial, he also conducts a one year online mentoring in internet marketing.  

Again my sincerest thanks to you and happy monthsary to www.jongenese.blogspot.com

God bless….   

 

5 Powerful Mind Success Strategies

Building a business is a fantastic and challenging experience.  You can wake up exhilarated to begin your day and go to bed feeling overwhelmed and frustrated.  The key to success is to maintain a positive, yes you can do it, mindset. 
Easier said than done, right?  Here are 5 keys to help you create and sustain a positive mindset so you attain the success you desire.
1. Surround yourself with successful and positive people.  The influence people have over our own personal energy is amazing.  Moods and attitudes are so easily spread – think about how much of a difference a simple smile from a stranger can make for your day and then magnify it 1000 times to demonstrate the power of positive and successful friends, family and associates.  When you have people around you who inspire you, believe in you and want you to succeed, there’s no room for doubts and even when they creep up, they’re quickly swept away.  
2. Create a mantra or an affirmation.  Repeating positive affirmations has been shown to get people through tough times and to actually help them truly believe what they’re saying.
For example, “I am building a powerful and profitable business.”  Many of the most esteemed business professionals have used the same affirmation strategy to attain their success.  To find the right affirmations for you, consider writing a quick list of your doubts, insecurities and complaints.  These can then be quickly turned into affirmations. 
For example, if you write that you’re always feeling disorganized then your affirmation would be, “I am organized and in control.”  Repeat your affirmations several times a day and feel the power of positive thinking.
3. Capture negative thoughts.  We all have negative thoughts from time to time, however, negative thoughts and emotions can derail us and prevent us from achieving all we desire.  Of course catching those negative thoughts takes practice and persistence.  When you find yourself thinking negative thoughts or having negative emotions, find a trigger to turn them around.  The affirmations mentioned above are a great way to turn the negative into the positive.  You can also find quick pick me ups like a favorite song, a walk outside in the fresh air, or some exercise to help improve your mood.
4. Set goals/intentions and then be willing to let it go.  The law of attraction says that we attract what we focus on the most.  However, desperation, needing your business to be a success, sends mixed messages and a lot of negativity into the universe.  Set your goals and intentions and then let them go.  A certain amount of faith in yourself and in the power of attraction is necessary.  Give it a try.
5. Be grateful.  Gratitude is perhaps the single most powerful and positive tool for success.  When you’re grateful for all of the wonderful things and people in your life the challenges you face seem significantly less important and are more easily dealt with. 
Consider keeping a gratitude journal and make a practice of entering into it daily.  That way, when you’re facing challenges a quick peek at all the amazing things in your life will make you feel as if you can tackle anything.   Additionally, an attitude of gratitude helps you maintain a positive perspective and to face challenges as opportunities rather than obstacles. 
Success is within your reach and with the right attitude you can accomplish anything you set your sights on.  Embrace these five powerful mind success strategies and you’ll build a better business and live a happier, more satisfying life.

What is the answer?

“Mama, I don’t want to go to grade 1”. This were the words that my son told to my wife one evening while they were about to sleep. My wife asked him, “Why?” “Because I don’t know the answer”, replied my son. My wife sweetly smiled and replied, “Of course you don’t know the answer because there is no question yet.” “But I already know how to write my name and I know how to read and count, that’s enough already”, defended my son.


My wife shared to me this conversation when we are chatting. This happened sometime in February this year, a month before the school break in the Philippines. My son is in kinder 2 and after that he is already eligible to enter the primary school as grade 1. As I am chatting with my wife discussing about our son, we contemplated our options. We can let him out of school for a year because he is still young. The admission age for grade 1 is at least 6 years old but preferably 7 years old and our son is 5 years old. Besides we are not sure if he will be accepted as grade 1 because of his age. Or we can send him back to kinder 2.

While weighing our options, I remember an event that happened to me when I am 7 years old. During my time, when a child turns 7 years old, he/she can be admitted into grade 1 even if the child had not gone into kindergarten; unlike today that it is a requirement to finish kinder 1 and 2 first before a child can be admitted to grade 1. Since I didn’t go to kindergarten, I found it so difficult to catch up with our daily lessons. However even though I encountered so much difficulty I still did pass grade 1. During the summer vacation the older kids are teasing me while we are playing under the light of the full moon. They told me that once I am in grade 2, we will no longer be allowed to speak in Tagalog, because the module of teaching for grade 2 is English. I am so afraid at that time that I even knelt down and I prayed to the moon. I prayed to the moon that I don’t want to continue my studies anymore because I don’t know how to speak English. That was the very first prayer that I made. However, going into grade 2 is inevitable, and it turned out that only two pupils from our class was able to read and speak in English. They are the president and the vice president of our class.

Going back to my son, I can fully relate to the pressure that he is feeling. It is because I also felt the same thing before. During my vacation to the Philippines last May, I spent a lot of time talking to my son about the excitement of going to school. I tell him stories of wonderful time that I had spent in school when I was a kid. I wish that somehow it can be of help to him to ease his fear of going to a higher grade. But to my dismay, he always says he don’t want to continue studying anymore. My disappointment went to the fullest when my son was refused by the school registrar during enrollment, because of his age. I am left with the option of having my son to stay at home for a year. However we decided that we will send him again to kindergarten. After all, his sister spent three years in kindergarten because, like her brother, she was also too young at that time to be admitted in grade 1.

There was a sudden turn of event that happened during the opening of the school year. My wife went to the school principals’ office because she wants to enroll her niece to kindergarten. Our son was with her at that time. The principal asked my wife why she is not enrolling our son. She told the principal that our son was refused by the other school because he is still young. However the principal insisted that she enroll our son to their school since he can read and he knows how to write already. But the problem is our son didn’t want to. When the school principal told him that they are giving free notebooks and pencil for grade 1 pupils, my son suddenly said yes. And to my wife’s surprise, she immediately enrolled our son. While they were on the line to get his free notebooks and pencil my wife is repeatedly asking our son if he is really sure that he wants to go to grade 1. Our son gave only one consistent answer to her. And that is, “Yes, I want to”.

I cannot control my laughter when my wife told me that story. It’s the freebies that changed the mind of our son. That was good. Because of the free notebooks and pencil he changed his mind. Today whenever I have a chance to chat with my son, I always ask him if he already know the answer. He would simply smile back to me and he will impress me of his ability in reading. With that I know that my son had found the answer. He is enjoying his days in school now as grade 1, just like I enjoyed my days in school especially when I was elected as the vice president of our grade 2 class.

RETIREMENT

Yesterday I got the chance once again to watch one of my favorite shows “Kwentong Disyerto” in TFC (The Filipino Channel). This show is hosted by Mickey Ferriols and TJ Manotoc. I used to watch this show before every Friday but it’s been months since the last time that I watched it.

Anyhow their topic yesterday is about retirement. Their topic is so timely because we got a lot of OFW’s who is about to retire in the near future. I am also planning to retire from being an OFW and start a new career in the Philippines.

One of the things that inspire me is the program of Philhealth. Majority of us OFW may not have the knowledge of the Philhealths’ program. All we know is we kept on paying the Philhealth of P900.00, an amount that covers one year of medical insurance and we get nothing from it. Besides who wants to be sick, just to enjoy the benefit from the agency? No one would be willing, right? I consider my contributions to Philhealth as my thanksgiving because I am not getting sick as well as my beneficiaries. That alone is enough for me. But yesterday Philhealth announced that there is a program that an OFW can enjoy provided they met the two requirements by the agency. First requirement is if an OFW reaches the age of sixty. Second is, the OFW must have completed the 120 monthly contributions. As I understand it, Medicare contribution is counted.

The 120 monthly contributions is equivalent to ten years of religious paying of your contribution. If you are working abroad for more than ten years now then you already got one of their requirements. All you need to do is to wait till you reach the age of 60. That’s good news for everyone, isn’t it? After all it is at this age that one start to become a frequent visitor of the hospital. According to Philhealth, it is through this program that they can return the benefits that the contributor did not enjoy when he is paying his contribution while he is young and energetic. For more information about the program, you can email them at owp@philhealth.gov.ph Also Mr. Ringo Danao, Philhealth representative, will visit Saudi Arabia this September to talk about the Philhealth program among the OFW.

For the younger generations of OFW’s their advice is to start planning for their retirement on day one of their career and I agree to that. Lessons must be taken from previous generation in which majority of our OFWs don’t have a retirement plan. One reason for this is the belief that when we grow old, the younger generation will take good care of us. This is because Filipino have a very close family ties. So we tend not to plan for the future retirement and concentrated all of our resources to our immediate and present needs.

Another reason is most of us are “SSS” (Social Security System) members. We are contended to live our golden years on SSS pension. But come to think of it. How much is your SSS pension when you retire? Is that enough for your needs? I know a lot of senior citizen today and they are having a hard time with their small pension to cope up with today’s standard of living. If an OFW is paying the highest amount of contribution today, then he can expect around ten thousand pesos (P10,000) up to eleven thousand pesos (P11,000) pension when he retires. If that amount is not enough to sustain your monthly needs today, then how do you think it can sustain you in the future. In order to supplement the pension benefits of their members, SSS offer another product, the SSS Flexi-fund. This is a voluntary, provident fund for OFWs. For more information on flexi-fund, feel free to visit their website, www.sss.gov.ph

OWWA and Colayco foundation have their own programs for the OFWs as well. OWWA is providing different kinds of assistance to an OFW retiree while the Colayco foundation offers seminar about financial literacy to help an OFW where they can invest their hard earned money. You can know more about OWWA and the Colayco foundation by visiting their website, www.owwa.gov.ph and www.colaycofoundation.com

So if you are planning to retire in the near future or had just started your career abroad, then this is the right time. As Mr. Armand Bengco, Colayco foundation representative, says “it is never been too early, from day one of your career you must think of your retirement”. Given the proper instrument, the right agency and organization like OWWA, Philhealth, SSS and Colayco foundation, an OFW can prepare for himself a better retirement plan in the future.

THANK YOU

If we will just stop for a while and think of the things that we need to give thanks, I am sure we will have an endless list. Saying “thank you” for the things that we receive means a lot for the giver. It shows our heartfelt appreciation for the things given to us, no matter how small or big it is.

Thank you is a simple phrase, consisting of two words, eight letters put together. The two words represent the two entities involve herein, the giver and the receiver. Eight means “wala lang”, it is my favorite number. Why? It is because I was born on the 8th day of May. Now you know my birthday so I would like to thank you in advance for your gift to me.

Thank you can be spoken in a different language, like “Merci”, “Gracias”, “Danke”, “Shoukran”, “Arigato”, “Kamsahamnida”, “Sheshe”, “Donnobadh”, “Sukria”, “Salamat”

Today I would like to make a list of the things that I want to give thanks to and I invite everyone to share their list here and let’s start making an endless list of the things that we need to give thanks to.

1. I would like to give thanks for my family. They are always safe even though I am not around with them.

2. I would like to give thanks all my answered prayers and petitions.

3. I would like to give thanks for the health that I am enjoying now.

4. I would like to give thanks because I haven’t been involved in any vehicular accident whenever I am travelling.

5. I would like to give thanks for the financial knowledge that I had learned.

6. I would like to give thanks for the job that I have now and thank you that our company is not affected by the financial meltdown.

7. I would like to give thanks for our investments.

8. I would like to give thanks for all the reminders that I receive through my dreams. For all the things that I must do and the things that I must not do.

9. I would like to give thanks for the people around me. For the help and assistance that they have given to me when I needed it most.

10. I would like to give thanks for the inspirations I am getting from my five year old son.

11. I would like to give thanks for the little things in my life that gives me comfort.

12. I would like to give thanks for the trials that help me grow and stronger.

13. I would like to give thanks for the wonderful time I had with my family during my vacation.

14. I would like to give thanks for the 3 days off from work.

15. I would like to thank Bro. Bo Sanchez for the daily inspiration that he sends me through Kegyrma.

16. I would like to thank Sonny Lanorias for the help on his post about setting up the Networkedblog widget.

17. I would like to thank Blogging Experiment for the help on his post about the stand alone pages.



18. I would like to thank you for sharing your list here. God bless.