Cracks and Burn

Click the link that leads you to my latest blog entry at www.thebasicsteph.tumblr.com

Cracks and Burn

THANKS

♥tbs,

Steph

It’s not about the money, money, money…

“Steph, ano ba yang binabasa mo, Retire Young, Retire Rich, di mo naman kailangan yan! Madali lang yan eh, just marry an ultra-rich man. Tapos.”

Whoa! That left my eyebrow raised. Sure, the comment was logical but my pride is way up there to get rich that way. Honestly, it is not about the quantity of money but the QUALITY of money that counts most. I want the journey and the experience of going up the financial ladder, for those can never be stolen nor devaluated, as compared to cash or some other ill-gotten asset.

(Disclaimer: I do not intend to brag, I just wanna share my whoo girl reaction after receiving my first six-digit profit from my business.)

 Anyhoo, this entry is about the book I read, Robert Kiyosaki’s Retire Young, Retire Rich.  Here are 3 points I’d like to share from that insightful paper back.

1.    Not the HOW but the WHY.

It’s easy to be rich. There are specific and detailed steps, patterns and habits to follow. It is the WHY that gives you the power to do the HOW. The WHY sparks passion and energy to achieve what you want. Most, if not all of those who are successful, did not become rich just because they knew how, but because they were passionate. They had the WHY. :)

It is to be likened to a person who wants to lose weight, we all know HOW (diet & exercise) but it is the personal WHY (the reason that ignites the passion) that makes people consistently determined to keep their eyes on the prize. 

(Below is a photo of one of my strongest WHY. I want to be rich because I want to put up a school that will cater to the educational needs of the less fortunate. Photo by Jem Ferrer, One Steph at a Time)

2.    That thing between your ears… is your most powerful asset.

“It is all in the MIND.”

“Mind over Matter”

“Knowledge is power”

“Think outside the box.”

The best examples I can think of are Steve Jobs of Apple & Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook. I haven’t read much on their history but I’m sure what made them wealthy is that thing between their ears + their personal WHY.

Agrarian and Industrial Ages are over. We now live in the Information Age. Thus, today it is the brilliance of the idea and the speed of its duplication that turns lemons into millions, even billions. 

Locally, “THE” Social Entrepreneur, Illiac Diaz, of my Shelter foundation inspires me the most. His heart for social development coupled with his genius in architectural design, is a Herculean power of the mind. 

Today, more than ever, it is most important to love learning. It is not just studying hard, but study smart and studying with a heart. 

(Below is a photo of me sharpening my mind by trying hard to study hard.. Yes, it could be tiring and difficult but no one said it will be easy, they only said it would be worth it.)

3.The Leverage of Integrity: Matching words with actions

According to Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, “the most life-destroying word of all is the wordtomorrow…. Tomorrow do not exist. Tomorrow only exist in the minds of losers and dreamers.“ 

The reason why a number of brainy people remain poor is because they don’t have the guts to experiment with their intelligent ideas. Calling to action is probably the king of cliches. When we want to lose weight, begin diet and exercise TODAY. When we want to quit smoking, do so TODAY. If we want to help preserve Mother Nature, do the simple 3R’s TODAY. If you want to be rich, believe and work on it TODAY. If you want to make a difference, make it TODAY. 

Today is the present, the gift. Open it, be excited, be thankful and optimize it. I am guilty of failing to do this an ample amount of times, but I will never stop trying to overcome it everyday of my TODAY. We all learn from our mistakes. I have been mistaken lavishly but that wouldn’t stop me. It will just inspire me to do more and more cause I know with every mistake I make, I am a step closer to getting it right.

(Below is a photo of me calling you and me to act. The clock is tickin’. Every second gone cannot be retrieved. So we gotta make the most out of it, TODAY! TODAY! TODAY!)

Reading all these how-to-get-rich books is not at all about gaining all the money. Rather, it is about profiting from the digested knowledge to translate it into better action steps so I may impact a bigger portion of society. Thereby living a richer life, inside-out. 

***TODAY, I am 1/3rd done with my LQR’s #2. Yey! :) Thoughts, anyone?

Follow my most updated blog: http://onestephatatime.tumblr.com/

7

my LAST QUARTER’s REPARATION

Impatient as I am, I cannot wait for 2012 to arrive before I embark on a new commitment of positive change. New Year’s resolution is of the Industrial Age, we are even almost over the Information Age. Steve Job’s passing, I guess, marked the iAge (more on my sloppy iAge theory on my next entry)… so I gotta cope up and be as inventive as I can. 

Voila, I’m making my Last Quarter’s Reparation... it is my way of making amends for this year’s challenges I failed to conquer, for being selfish on sharing my newly learned life lessons and for missing out on making life more and more exciting everyday. Thus, here is for my drive to end this year with a super boom habit of honoring my goals. 

And the list to my LAST QUARTER’s REPARATION goes:

1. Write a Haiku at least once a week. 

2. Read at least 3 books from cover to cover from now ‘til 12.30.11.

3. Weigh 105 lbs. before Christmas. 

4. Go to a retreat. 

5. Send parents a random surprise gift just to make them smile. 

6. Eat something exotic… (I’m thinking of a piece of some fried frog.)

7. Buy a Happy Meal and give it to a street kid at least once a week. 

8. Call 12 Facebook Friends you haven’t spoken to for at least a quarter and write about his/her favorite life quote. (I’m excited about this!)

9. Join a blog giveaway contest and win it. 

10. Send a snail mail to my best friend Issa. (I miss those days.)

11. Take a photo with random people weekly. (So trippy!)

12. Visit Baclaran Church on a Wednesday.

13. Write a letter to CDO’s Hon. Mayor Emano and express your concerns and propose a project to address such. 

14. Ride a bus and record an interview with the conductor. (Adventure mode on!)

15. Complete the Simbang Gabi masses before Christmas. 

and tag all proof of the accomplishment of this list to #LQR aka Last Quarter’s Reparation. 

This one goes to #2 on the list… Last Sunday, I started reading Robert Kiyosaki’s Retire Young Retire Rich.. I’ve read 390 pages out of 550+ pages. Yahoo!

PS: If anyone want’s to join me in this journey, let me know, share with me your list and if you complete it, I shall send you reward. :) Send me a Twitter Message at sol_stephanie  or message me on Facebook, or better yet call or text me if you have my number.

PSS: Follow my most updated blog at http://onestephatatime.tumblr.com. Thank you!

Cheers to a promising last quarter of year 2011. I’m definitely gonna Steph forward. :)

5

Trip to Shanghai

Day 1: East Nan Jing 

Twas such a hassle ‘cause it was raining hard… so we got umbrellas. 

At the mall with Dirty Ice Cream (DIC) Frisbee Team. 

Look what happened to my boots after being soaked in rain water. haha

Oh well, after 3 years I bid you farewell. Thanks for making our last moments count.

Day 2: West Nan Jing, Jing An Temple, People Avenue and Xindiandi

Random shots from People Avenue…

We visited the Urban Planning Exibition Center. Bloopers cause we really wanted to go to the Shanghai Art Museum.

Day 3:

Shanghai Football & Rugby Field to visit…

Frisbee Team: Dirty Ice Cream! “Wazzzeeeei”

Shanghai Old Street

Cute Pens and the Stamp I had made 

Yuyuan Garden Tourist Zone 

Walking towards the Jin Mao Tower…I see the Oriental Pearl TV Tower.

The most beautiful few from the Cloud 9, the bar at the 87th floor of the Jin Mao tower. Isn’t it lovely? So nice to chill there.

Day 4:

streets of Decathlon… the shopping heaven of athletes. 

The Bund, it doesn’t feel like China on these side of town.

The roads we took that made our feet sore. Worth it!

Til we meet again, Shanghai!

Special Thanks to Ian Scott for helping me book this trip and to Dennis Hung for being our tour guide. 

1

crossoverkick asked: Good day, Ms. Stephanie. I was just scanning around some previous work when I came across this photo release which I've wrote in 2007 and is one of my earlier assignments here at our office. This was about the International Coastal Clean-Up day in which a local version was held in Sarangani and was participated by our delegates from South Cotabato. You were the guest of honor at the activity. This article was printed in the Manila Bulletin. Here's the link of the scanned document i've made: (copy and paste) http://www.flickr.com/photos/12042859@N00/5365839097/
Good to know that you are active in the environmental-awareness campaign in
your area in Mindanao. All the best in your future endeavors, especially the school project :)
- Alex

wow! That was four years ago! Thank you for this Alex! :)