ConfidenceCues Launches Today

In spite of my disappearance from the blogging scene in the last few months, I declare no resentment.  After weeks of preparation and planning, I just launched a new blog today, 15 July, called Confidence Cues– our road to self-esteem and assertiveness.  This is a personal development blog aiming to give inspiration, information and support to those who would like to keep up with their self-confidence and handle it throughout their journey in life.  I am diverting most of my personal development posts in Confidence Cues and would focus on more personal stuff in this blog, Rob A Minute!

I would like to invite everyone to visit the site which goes live tomorrow.  I would appreciate your support by:

• Signing up for free updates and get access to our email digest and support community
• Liking our Facebook page – to get blog updates and resources
• Following our Twitter – to get inspirational quotes

Keep your self-confidence alive always! Join us!

Moments: Message To Perennial Procrastinators

Quote On A Window in Old Town Sta Barbara

Copy The Jeremy Lin Success Story

Jeremy Lin (photo from Wikipedia)

Like any other tale, Jeremy Lin’s rise to fame is beginning to be overwhelming and in a matter of time will have a cloying taste. Maybe not yet. Amidst the hype over his overnight success, Lin’s humble gestures even offer far better appeal to his life story.

Jeremy Lin is an American professional basketball player with the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is one of the few Asian Americans in NBA history, and the first American player in the league to be of Chinese or Taiwanese descent (Source: Wikipedia).  A few months back, he was fighting to be on the backup spot and was on the 12th to 15th in line to play on court . But like the fiction movie, he creeped into the limelight by surprise and there you go- an instant hero. Here’s what Kobe Bryant said of Lin: “Players playing that well don’t usually come out of nowhere. It seems like they come out of nowhere, but if you can go back and take a look, his skill level was probably there from the beginning. It probably just went unnoticed.” (ESPN.go.com )

What is Lin’s secret of success? Wasn’t he rejected by the big bosses? Surely we will all agree he proved them wrong. But it turned out that they were right. Lin, according to Dan Brown of mercurynews.com, was thriving because he realized they were right. He reinvented himself.  One of his coaches said “That’s the lesson here: If you don’t like the way things are going for you in a sport, don’t cry about it. Don’t whine to the coach. Do something about it.”

Truly, the instant hit was not at all a quick fix. It was a fruit of hard work and perseverance. Lin struggled to perfect his weak points, correct his bad habits and wrong mentality. He struck the ghost in him.

What are the lessons we learn from this new star if we want to copy his lucky streak? There’s no failure- only feedback. We need to overturn that negative thinking whenever we do not achieve something. Is it because we need to push some more or is it because we’re not doing the right thing? Take setbacks as feedback. That will be a lesson for you to hop a notch higher to where you want to go. Like Lin, we should take the outcome of our efforts as something to learn by. Only then can we start the process and try again– but of course not doing the same mistakes we made.

Lin is an inspiration not only to many aspiring players but dreamers who still believe and hope that one day they will achieve their goals in spite of the challenges. How did you face the negative outcomes of your life in the past?

***

Interesting links about Jeremy Lin :

10 Lessons Jeremy Lin Can Teach Us Before We Go To Work Monday Morning (www.forbes.com)

Bay Area trainers helped make Knicks guard Jeremy Lin better, stronger, faster  (www.mercurynews.com) 

Read And Lead The Race Today

I have yet to finish reading three books on this shelf. Can you guess two of them?

Many years ago, there was this campaign on Philippine TV on “Read Today, Lead Tomorrow” that struck me.  I could not agree more as I was already a bookworm then hatching to be a bookmonster – haha.  I raved to read and create my own world of sorts. Don’t get me wrong.  I was not having illusions and voices on my head.  It’s just that reading brought me to different places and met many great people.

Old books and magazines that would have found its way early into the garbage, got into our house from different sources.  We were lucky to have this paradise of books not because we were rich but because there was treasure in the hand-me-down books.

I appreciated the campaign because it encouraged us kids then to read instead of spending time watching endless cartoon or playing video/computer games.

Fast forward to 2012, the slogan is still relevant with a different challenge: tech gadgets. Since I acquired my IPhone in January 2011, my habits changed.  I have slowly put off my reading habit until I broke it.  My IPhone was too hard to resist. How more can Facebook and Twitter become irresistible when they are just a tap away?  In spite of the social networks’ saturation, I still get tempted to check, check and check.  IPhone is too small for reading other stuff anyway.  Looking back, it has been more than a year and I regret breaking the habit.  I purchased a book early last year and it’s still waiting to get its last page say “fin”.  As a realization, I have put it back in my work backpack and started reading it on the train.  Oh what an effort!  I look around and see people all glued on their IPhones or IPads- not reading but doing something else.

With all the tech gadgets around- Kindle, IPad, Tablet and what have you, the challenge today is not about reading hardbooks.  It is about finding time to make a serious reading of some relevant books- hard and electronic books alike.  Most of the tech gadgets have functions other than ebook reader.  So, who’s reading books in those tablets? Most of us would probably be tempted to check our friends’ social network status or play Angry Birds. I’m not saying don’t do it.  I’m just sending the message from the Book: R E A D  M E…

Did anybody tell you why reading is important? Here’s my own answer as I could not find a quick one on the net:

1. Enhances knowledge. While almost all information can be picked up on the internet, all the details are not complete.  Nowadays you do not need to buy a book to learn how-tos.  However, you will still need to pick up the book for the details and the fulfillment of getting the hard information and facts from the source.

2. Stimulates the brain. This is another obvious reason that comes out of the exercise of reading. Surely games do stimulate but it does not add knowledge.  So between a helpful stimulating game and a book that adds knowledge- which one do you choose first.  Ultimately, it’s a matter of priority. You can still have the game 🙂

3. Directs your focus on the important things. When you develop the habit of reading, you also improve your attitude towards important and less important things in your life.  You learn to give up crap for the more useful things.

4. Feeds your passion. When you read books that interest you, it works like the air that ignites the fire in your passion.  It keeps the love burning and moving forward to something beneficial. It keeps you from stagnation or complacency.

5. Brings you ahead of the race. Who is reading nowadays?  Not so many people.  This then you in a better position because you have more knowledge, more focus, and more passion.

So need I say more? Start to develop or rekindle your reading habit. There’s no other way to do it if you want to lead the race.  Visit the bookstore or Amazon and find something you can read either with a hard book or with your tablet.  When was the last time you were excited about reading a new book?

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Economic Growth's Not Catching Up In 2012; How About Us?

I crafted Yanna's dreamboard with her nod. Simple and clear.

Last weekend, I read about the speech delivered by former finance secretary Roberto de Ocampo on the Philippines’ economic outlook via Rappler in the Arangakda Philippines forum held last 26 January.

My takeout was that the economy is not going to grow twice as fast realistically but we need to move twice as fast anyway.  How the government will respond to this remains to be seen.  In the meantime, how such a vision will impact Filipinos is something each and every one of us should be thinking about. We’ve always complained that economic growth never trickled down to us.  Now, how about a predicted slowdown?  Are we about to give in to the excuse that this is what our fate will be for the rest of the year or blame the President for our condition today?  I would like to pose the question to all of us: Can we go twice as fast to catch up with our personal targets? None of us have control over the economy or the external factors that affect it.  What we have is our own choices and actions. That is we can take hold of.

Learnings from the Past

Let us look back at 2011, and ask ourselves what we did great and which areas did we fail.  There is no point crying over spilled milk.  What we want are facts about what we did, did not do and why. In this way we can get some closure and move on. Make your annual review.  It’s not too late.  May I suggest this free resource from  Get Busy Living Blog – an annual review sheet.

Have a Game Plan

Nothing serious is done without a plan.  You can’t play a sport without a strategy; You can’t start a business without a following a business model and doing some feasibility study.  What is more serious in this whole damn world than your own destiny?  Overwhelmed? Let’s talk about this year first, before going beyond.

1.  Set priorities.  You have to set the order of priority based on what’s important to you and why. Your ultimate dream could be “financial independence”.  But how do you get there? Does that mean you resign from your job now? Nope.  You need to take steps one at a time.  Focus on 2012 by identifying the:

– (i) Urgent ones- examples: fix your life out of a shit problem; find a job; get a raise or promotion; break a real bad habit  OTHERWISE you will get in real trouble, you will get killed  or your loved ones will suffer

– (ii) Important but not urgent– examples: hone your skills; develop a new skill; get into a healthy lifestyle; break a bad habit OTHERWISE you will delay a better job opportunity; get passed for a promotion; or get deeper into addiction WHICH will eventually result into #i consequences.

2.  Be realistic.  Don’t set standards that are not at all realistic.  If you want to be a recording artist, check if you have the talent.

3.  Be accountable. Going back to the Dream Board challenge, share your goals to someone you trust, so that you are bound to show them your accomplishments. You need to have an “accountability partner” from among your family or friends.  Add to that someone who also shares the same “dream come true” challenge from a support group or an online community.  I am making this blog a community and as such the first point of building this is sharing ideas and point of views.

4.  Find your “niche”.  Philippines needs a make over. And so do you! Either you already identified your X factor or you are still groping in the dark.  Time to make a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis. You need to find out for the long term, what works for you and what does not- this can be in the area of career or something else.  Depending on the area of concern, this is something you need to think over and not something necessarily urgent.   I would like to cover this separately in detail but you can already start thinking about it.

The future still looks bright.  There are a lot of opportunities out there.  You have to make a plan. Spell it out, talk it out and move. Arangkada Pinoy!

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Rob's Challenge: Go 3D in 2012

New Year is just around the corner and everyone is talking about the New Year resolutions once more. Shouldn’t we? Well, as for me, it is a good time when everyone else joins the hype of some resolution at the start of the year, to reflect for myself the accomplishments and blessings for the past year. And it is also a time to face the incoming year with a big bang and a resolution to be the new or better me. Do all your rituals, superstitions and celebrations but do not forget the most important- to be resolute to start again. So let me pose a challenge to everyone to go 3D in 2012. Just three things to do over the weekend:

1. Dream. Whatever it is, not necessarily something to accomplish this year but something you want. Keep it in mind and resolve to claim it for yourself. Travel to Europe? Build a farm? Start a business? Lose weight? Look 10 years younger? Join a marathon? Raise your income? Get your dream job? Buy a house? Identify 3 dreams you want to get in three target years. Stagger them in short and long terms to make it realistic- for example, it can be in one year, in 5 years and in 20 years.

2. Dream Board. Yes, buy a cork board or a white board where you can post or write your dreams. I picked this up from a friend in Facebook and thought it was a good idea. Writing it down, seeing it everyday, and being proud of it makes you want and need it. As my favorite saying goes, “Throw the hat out of the fence so you have to go out to pick it up”. Feel free to use your creativity to write on your dream board.

3. Do it. Really, seriously! Go to the storage room and see if you have a whiteboard. If not, buy one. It does not cost a fortune to do so. You need to do this within 3 days.

So there you have it. My 3Ds. The first step to your dream. My challenge is for you to do these three this weekend. We can make this fun and at the same time serious. So everyone who takes up to the challenge, please share them in this blog by commenting on this post on what you think, any feedback or suggestion. Once you have done the above, send me an email and share your dream/s and when you want to have them (year), a picture of your dream board and how you are progressing. Note that whatever you sent, we may publish them on the blog. Let’s go 3D in 2012!

Rob’s Challenge: Go 3D in 2012

New Year is just around the corner and everyone is talking about the New Year resolutions once more. Shouldn’t we? Well, as for me, it is a good time when everyone else joins the hype of some resolution at the start of the year, to reflect for myself the accomplishments and blessings for the past year. And it is also a time to face the incoming year with a big bang and a resolution to be the new or better me. Do all your rituals, superstitions and celebrations but do not forget the most important- to be resolute to start again. So let me pose a challenge to everyone to go 3D in 2012. Just three things to do over the weekend … CONTINUE VIA MY NEW WEB ADDRESS.

I’ve moved to a new address at: www.robaminute.com .  Thank you for your support.  You may subscribe to my blog via Facebook or Twitter. Happy New Year!

Good friends are hard to find. You also have to exert effort to make it work and last. As we grow old in the passing of years, our friends come and go because we change work and move places. This post is a good reminder to keep those friendships alive. Unfortunately, due to distance, it may not be as solid as I wish my friendships would be. It’s also time to build strong forges, once again!

Friendships for a lifetime: What it takes to create lasting friend

Good friends are hard to find. You also have to exert effort to make it work and last. As we grow old in the passing of years, our friends come and go because we change work and move places. This post is a good reminder to keep those friendships alive. Unfortunately, due to distance, it may not be as solid as I wish my friendships would be. It’s also time to build strong forges, once again!

This is a comment on a blog from My Simple Inspiration. Continue to read  here: What It Takes to Create Lasting Friendships

Your First 90 Days Is Critical

The challenge of a new chapter in your career!

Book Review: “The First 90 Days” by Michael Watkins

The President of the Philippines gets his first 100 days to prove himself.  This is like a dipstick of how the incumbent president will run the country for the rest of his 6 year-term.  Hence, many look forward to his report on his first 100 and has always been controversial.  Well, every one of us have the first few days in any new chapter in our life.  As for our profession, we normally are given 3 to 6 months to perform for our bosses to see how we will make it or break it.  The book “The First 90 Days” by Michael Watkins captures attention among us who would be entering a new phase in our career.  As you browse over the table of contents, you will feel that this book somewhat can help you get ideas, maybe new or maybe the same old ones we must be reminded about.  When I picked up this book more than a year ago, I was not starting a new job but was curious what was on it that I can still learn from. I definitely learned lessons from the book that I could apply when I step to a new role or assignment.  However, some principles can also be applied when dealing with my job in different settings after the first 100 days and beyond.

First of all, in entering a new role or job, there will always be a “first time” and you can never be enough expert of everything. And of course I do not only refer to the specific profession or industry, but to the specific products or services offered by the company or maybe even some practices that are peculiar to the company that may even be a “best practice” in the industry.  Watkins emphasized the seriousness of planning strategically to ensure victory in the new responsibility.  As such, you can never overdo anything in understanding your new role, learning company products and services, getting along with the team and the “practices”.

Two of the key challenges that Watkins offer that I find very enlightening are:

1.  Match strategy with the situation- several company circumstances were listed down as there never really is one style to handle an organization or a team. The four type of business situations identified were: start-up, turnaround, realignment and sustaining success which was aptly called STaRS for short.  Indeed these situations demand unique directions or there will be  disharmony and even confusion on what the team understands to be the path and where it is really going.  For example, in a company there cannot be too much emphasis on processes when the company is trying to make up for losses. This is like applying a “sustaining success” which is to improve further on what the company does not have, when it is not earning enough revenue due to poor sales effort for young company (in a turnaround situation).

2. Negotiate success- how is performance going to be measured? Is it based on sales increase? Is it based on customer or employee satisfaction? Never assume everything is the same with your previous job and your new one. Unless there is an agreement between you and your superior of what is expected in spite of the real challenge, you might end up not aligning to the expectations.

The book teaches us to really make a 90-day plan and make it a burning fire that rolls around the organization or team. This will ensure it will make an impact on you and your team’s performance.  And it can only be gauged how this is felt on a day-to-day and week-to-week basis.  This book is a masterpiece that will guide leaders in tackling the test of his first days in a new career.  This will also prepare young managers and professionals in handling their jobs at whatever level they are in because they will understand how leadership’s direction is going, and for their own use, how they can find the road to success within the organization.

I find that the book is one of those that presents practical tools to help you in your new endeavor.  Good luck !