Joy

Are you living the finite or the infinite game? Happy Monday! In one of those days when I suddenly wake up at 3:00am and find myself unable to sleep, I chanced upon the talk of Simon Sinek regarding his new book about the Infinite game. In principle, he says that (ok, this is how I understood it) we should always be focusing on the long haul rather than the short wins. Examples: 1. We should look at ourselves being ahead or behind others, not winning or losing against others. This is because the game is not over until it is.. by that we mean, THE END. 2. Our decisions should not be focused on short, intermediary values of profit, a deal or one time sale if in the end, we sacrifice our values, our long term relationships and partnerships. 3. Focus on lasting skills, on things that makes you flexible and resilient because you are not playing in a game with fixed rules but rather, a game that is constantly changing (lifestyles, businesses, communities). 4. Treating the e

Happy Monday! Several times last week, I heard the following phrases... ...the leader we wish we had ...the life we wish to live ...the change we wish to see ...the childhood we wish to live in ...the future we wish to have In all occasions, the context was in taking responsibility for them. It is so easy to look for these sort of things from our environment. It is much harder to ask ourselves, "If I want it so bad, what am I doing about it?" All the clamor for others, management, systems, governments, even God, to make it easy for us will lead nowhere without our participation. Taking responsibility and owning up to the task of making things possible may sound demanding but it does have its advantages: 1. We learn that it is not as easy or as quick as we thought it'll be. 2. We learn to dig deep about those who can and find out how to make things happen. 3. We learn to look at our reaction + effort and stop making a fool of ourselves by

Happy Monday! Like clanging cymbals. It is so easy to be tempted and be dazzled by constant, seemingly important words that prove to be baseless, empty and just plain noise in the greater scheme of things. How do we make our words MEAN something? 1. Make promises and keep them. This is the very definition of words meaning something. If people cannot rely on your words, in time, they will not mean anything to people anymore. 2. Let your words build rather than destroy. What we say will remain meaningful for both you and the receiver only if it is about solutions rather than just the problem. When it is objective rather than just speculative. When they prompt people to act rather than gossip. Why? Because the former brings about change, the latter, well nothing. 3. Speak from a place of reflection, not projection. Projection in Psychology is unconsciously taking unwanted emotions or traits you don’t like about yourself and attributing them to someone else. The key word being UNCONSCI

Happy Monday! What will happen if you are not busy? For me, I imagine planes falling down from the sky, trains getting derailed and lakes drying up. Ahahaha! This may be the perfect hyperbole of the panic I feel when I suddenly find myself free for the day! Why I feel I should constantly be filling up a schedule and doing something is beyond me. What I do know, is that in our family, we were told that rest is merely a change in activity. One summer vacation in my childhood, I do remember Nanay, pouring out all our dirty rubber shoes and slippers in a big tub, filled it with water and soap and gave each of us children a brush. As we were cleaning our shoes, a neighbor passed by asking my mom what we were doing. She cordially replied, "Eto, nagpapahinga (Just taking a break/rest)". This stuck with me. Despite being known to be "lakwatsera", I do enjoy staying home sometimes just fixing my wardrobe, repairing things, cleaning my room or or