14 Jan
Be Younique Blog

View others’ success as inspiration and not as a threat

Don’t compare yourself with other people. When you do, two things can happen and they are both negative. You can be proud because you are better than the other person or you can be insecure because the other person is better than you.

If you will compare yourself with another person, that other person should be you. The only time you should compare yourself is when you are comparing yourself with yourself. Am I making sense?

Ask: “Did I give my best just like before?” ”Am I still pursuing excellence?” ”Am I turning into the person I wanted to be?”

View the success of others around you as inspiration and not as a threat. If it can happen to them, then why can’t it happen to you.

08 Jan
Be Younique Blog, Leadership

Never Waste Tough Times

Leadership experts James Kouzes and Barry Posner says: “Success does not breed success. It breeds failure. It is failure which breeds success.

Think of your failures as gifts. The gift wrapper is ugly but what’s inside is valuable. Upon opening this gift, you’ll discover it is more precious than the most precious stones.

All throughout my life, I have learned more from my failures than from my successes. My successes only made my head bloat; on the contrary, my failures made that same head deflate. You become humble and teachable when you fail. 

Never waste tough times; many people fail to make tough times count. Make yours count starting today.

08 Jan
Be Younique Blog

Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset

Are leaders born, not made? Or are leaders made, not born? The sarcastic among you would say, of course all leaders are born first, before they were ever made or became leaders.

What differentiates great leaders from the rest of the pack is their Growth Mindset. A Growth Mindset says, I have this big problem — why is this happening to me? There must be a reason. Others have a Fixed Mindset, I have a big problem — why me!?

Having a Growth Mindset gives someone a wider range of choices. That person knows he/she can grow as a person no matter what life throws at him/her. Having a Fixed Mindset gives you limited options because you think you are the way you are, and nothing can change that.

Every success or setback is an opportunity to grow. Don’t get stuck in a rut. 

03 Jan
Be Younique Blog

Happy New Year

I read this article by David McCasland on The Power Of Terminal Thinking where he said: Considering the certainty of death can provide a dynamic approach to life.

Thomas à Kempis (1379–1471) wrote, “Happy is he that always hath the hour of his death before his eyes and daily prepareth himself to die.” 

Think of the day of your death. At your funeral, will people have good things to say about you? Or will the place be silent because people would think it better to keep quiet than say something that’s not nice. Think of you’re “Living Eulogy.” If you would invite people to speak today about you, as if you are already gone, what would they say about you?

The Bible teaches us to count our days. If we will live our life as if everyday is our last, just imagine how much passion and joy we’ll put into it. We would consider each day as a blessing and each hour as an opportunity to give our best to our life’s work.

Psalm 39:4-5

4 “Show me, O Lord, my life’s end
    and the number of my days;
    let me know how fleeting is my life.
5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
    the span of my years is as nothing before you.
    Each man’s life is but a breath. 

Starting strong is easy; finishing strong is hard. Come to think of it, the start of the year — a New Year — isn’t something new anymore. It’s always there every January 1st. So rather than saying “Start the year Right,” it would be better to say “Start every day Right.”

If you view life with its apparent end (Believe me, death will come one day), then you will have a whole new world open to you. A world of living life to the fullest everyday…for yourself, and for others!

20 Dec
Be Younique Blog

Inspiration is something outside breathing within us!

Inspired in Latin means something from the outside is breathing within us.

When you were born, a seed is planted. That seed is your YOUniqueness. It will grow, transform, and will bear fruit as it reaches its full potential.

Your life’s task is to bring that seed into a tree — to express your YOUniqueness through your work. Your work is that something you need to breathe, which will give you a sense of purpose…a sense of destiny. If you don’t have a destiny to fulfill, then your life is not worth living. It’s hard to swallow; and as long as you haven’t found it, keep going at it. That’s the adventure of life.

And keep in mind that your sense of destiny should be aligned to GGG…Give God Glory!

20 Dec
Be Younique Blog

A Tribute to the Roberto Family

Last Sunday, I preached in our church Victory Greenhills about celebration. My message has three points:

1) We can Celebrate in Good Times.

2) We can Celebrate when there is No Occassion.

3) We can Celebrate in Bad Times.

It is the third point that I want to write about in this post.

I am so amazed with the faith of the Roberto family. This is a family who celebrates even in Bad Times; to make it more precise…even in the worst of times.

Tingting has been fighting Lupus for the longest time, yet her faith and fighting spirit is indomitable. Together with her husband Ardy, and their son Joshy, the family holds on to God as their source of strength. When a love one is in a life or death situation, things start to clear up. Tears make our eyesight clearer — then the most important things in our life shine as never before.

Decorating Tingting’s ICU room for Christmas

How can anyone celebrate at a time like this? 

Day #33 at Asian Hospital and Ting’s first day out of the ICU!! Whooohoo! God is good.  On our way to recovery!

Please pray that Tingting takes well to her rehab and starts standing and walking again. Her eyesight has been affected too by the past seizures, so please pray that her vision returns even better than before (but not 20/20 or else she’ll see that I’m not that super handsome after all, as she’s been telling the single nurses that they need to find and pray for a husband like me 

She’s been laughing more too and I praise God for answering our prayers.

Thank You Lord for giving life back to my Swato! Just a week or two ago, I thought you were calling her to Your home. And now she’s back! I praise You Lord! Thank You so much!  

How often do we ignore or take for granted our love ones and the blessings of God in our life. Remember that there are many who had it worst but are doing better; and there are those who had it better but are doing worse.

I love this verse about taking every day as a day that God can bless us with, even in the worst of times.

Lamentations 3:22-23

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.”

When there is nothing to be happy about, God supplies joy. 

The apostle Paul says in Phillipians 4,

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The PEACE which transcends all understanding…an inner quality that is indescribable. Even in the midst of trials, challenges, or obstacles, you have DECIDED that you will trust in God.

Here is a fascinating post by Ardy that made me cry:

Yes, Lord, I – C – U! I see You in the midst of the dreariness and darkness and the smell of sickness and death (so far three of our neighbors have died) in this place. There is joy and happiness to be found here.

He gave a new definition of the dreaded ICU into I- C- U! I SEE YOU — GOD! How can anyone celebrate in bad times? It is when you see God in any situation and trust Him. 

Romans 8:28

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

There is no way we can know in this life time why these things are happening, but rest assured, God has a purpose in everything.

Our prayers and love go to the Roberto family – Tingting, Ardy, and Josh. You are living examples of Great Faith in a Great God.

Read Ardy’s post: http://www.facebook.com/ardyroberto?fref=ts

15 Dec
Be Younique Blog

How do you turn Dreams into Reality?

In 1923, Walter Elias Disney borrowed $500 from an uncle. Had the uncle opted for stock in the Disney company instead of cash, it should’ve been worth $1 Billion today.

In the Disney Way, the authors give four simple principles that have stood the test of time: Dream, Believe, Dare, Do!

“I dream, I test my dreams against my beliefs, I dare to take risks, & execute my vision to make those dreams come true.

Here are some things I picked up concurrent to my own insights:

DREAM

  • There is no such thing as crazy.
  • They have a Dream Retreat, a place where reality is always an intruder.
  • Dreams can come true if you are true to yourself.

BELIEVE

  • Your beliefs & values serve as a filter in making decisions.
  • Believe in yourself, believe in what you are doing, and most importantly, believe in God…that you can do all things thru Him who gives you strength.
  • “When values are clear, laws are unnecessary. When values are not clear, laws are unenforceable.”

DARE

  • It’s risky not to take risks.
  • As we can now see, many people who believe in job security are the same ones who got laid off from their jobs.
  • Live life adventurously. Dare to Believe!

DO

  • It teaches us how to plan. “People don’t plan to fail, they just fail to plan.”
  • “If you change something in the planning stage, it costs you a dollar. If you change something in the design phase, it costs you 10 Dollars. If you change something after the plant is built, it costs you a hundred dollars.”
  • When you have gone thru the first 3 stages — Just Do It!
10 Dec
Be Younique Blog, Business

Are you a Mango tree or a Mongo seed?

There are two types of people in this world — you’re either a mongo seed or a mango tree.

On the one hand, if you want to grow mongo (mung beans), you soak it in water for 8 hours, drain, and place it in a new container for germination. It takes between 2-6 days for mongo seeds to sprout fully. You can eat them already at this point.

On the other hand, a mango tree takes 6-10 years before it will bear fruit. But mango trees are long-lived and some are even producing fruit after 300 years.

Do you look at your life planting mongo seeds or mango trees?

Growing mongo seeds is easy, that’s short-term thinking. You always live one day at a time, not thinking of the future. Your content to sell to a customer — whatever it takes — even though your actions entail disengagement that causes one-time transactions with no repeat business that follows. You try something new — a fad — then give up if it doesn’t work in a few months. You get into a relationship because you find that person attractive now; here’s the bad news, that person will grow old one day.

Planting mango trees is hard. 6 years is a long time for anyone. You have to take care of that tree with no guarantee that it will reach maturity. But at the 6-year mark, the mango tree starts producing mangoes for hundreds of years. Moreover, it can make mango juice, mango pie, dried mangoes, and all sorts of food products.

Does it take someone to be special to succeed? Nope. Think long-term and be patient. When you are in a relationship that eventually leads to marriage, grow that into a mango tree. When you are starting a small business or you’re starting out in a career, grow that into a mango tree. As you can see, this is applicable in almost anything.

Approach life with a mango tree mindset rather than a mongo seed mindset. Think of yourself as a mango farmer: plant mango seeds, cultivate, and keep tending the trees until they produce fruit. Some of those trees will last even after your lifetime.

09 Dec
Be Younique Blog

God limits our days to make each one Special

The reason why God limits our days is so that we will treasure each one.

Everyday is special. One more special than the other, but everyday has a meaning of its own. You create its own meaning. Treasuring every day given to us is not easy. We tend to take the usual, daily miracles for granted. The mere fact that the sun rises and sets is a miracle in itself that we ignore because of its familiarity.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Our love ones who are there with us everyday; we often value them and make them feel valued when the possibility of losing them happens.

The food that we eat or the water we drink; we only know their value when we lose the resources to buy them due to lack.

Our own life which we tend to waste; our fear and unbelief has taken over from what could have been a life that is lived to the fullest.

Time is the most important commodity of all. In fact, time is not only gold. Time is everything. “Money lost can be re-earned, energy lost can be re-charged but time wasted is irredeemable.” Time Flies!!!

Treasure every day. The Bible says: This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

And to add the most important ingredient in making every day special: Thank God every day and do nothing without His grace.

09 Dec
Be Younique Blog

Manny Pacquiao Lose or Win

Pacquiao lost to Marquez in the 6th round with 1 second remaining. We see the value of 1 second in this unbelievable scenario. It is truly a sad day for Filipinos. But a great fight indeed! Marquez fought hard for the victory.

When a hero falls, what is our first reaction? Do we encourage or criticize? When you are on top, people idolize you; but when you are down, they can be hard on you. There are already tweets and comments telling Manny that he needs to hang up his boots and retire; some are saying bad things about him.

It is quite sad but seeing where Manny is today, when he publicly declared his faith in Christ, his source of fulfillment doesn’t rely anymore in boxing. It is dependent on his relationship with God. 

Manny says he will go back to training, and he will go back to fighting. I believe he will! The Bible says:

Proverbs 24:16 NIV

16 for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again,

And rise he will. As his identity now lies in God, and not just in boxing; even in defeat, Manny has won. You can see the lives of famous people who took a nosedive when failure hits them. Their life revolves around their careers. 

For Manny, his newfound faith has enabled him to shift the focus from boxing to his self-worth outside boxing. His post fight interviews say a lot. Manny said:  ”It’s sports. Somebody has to win, somebody has to lose.” “That’s boxing. Sometimes you get hit.” You can glorify God in defeat as much as in victory. 

I can’t wait for Manny to prove the word of God to be true. The righteous always rise up, no matter how hard they fall.