ultimate desire

what is your ultimate desire?

my ultimate desire is to serve God more and help more people, to have more time for my family and my community, and to organize more activities and projects that will help narrow the gap between the rich and poor in my country.

this desire will help me overcome all obstacles and challenges that i will meet along the way. it will keep me focus and endure all the pains and failures that i'll mistakenly commit. this desire will push me to the limits and to take an extra mile.

that is why i need to be rich.

present status

most of my time being an employee is alloted to my work, 9-10 hours a day, 5 days in a week. the remaining less quality time is divided among my family, service and myself.

up to now, my job is still my bread and butter. i cannot quit from my job yet because our daily expenses depend on it. that is why i created other sources like buy and sell and joined a multi-level marketing. but still it is not yet enough to take the place of my monthly income.

to be rich is to be free

to be rich is to be financially free. to be financially free means not working for money, but money working for me. i can create more businesses and that businesses will create more jobs and livelihood projects. i control my time. i can play with my kids more. i can have romantic dates with my wife twice a week. i can go to my service whenever i want. i can evangelize and bless more people.

more actions required

i will continue my business in dealership and network marketing since the products are full of potentials. i will continue my stocks trading online. i need to look for more opportunities that will give me additional income like partnership, foreclosed properties, etc. i will try to invest in other businesses or buy a franchise.

i won't give up. i need to keep my desire burning. i'll do whatever i can. i need to be persistent, work hard and be patient. and i'll let God surprise me on what fruit of this labor be.

my to-do list this 2008

here's my to-do list this 2008. better write it down so that i will not forget anything.

a. finances. this is inspired by Bo Sanchez' 8 Secrets of the Truly Rich.

1. to invest. during the last month of 2007, God bless us enough that made us think to start investing. we will divide our investment into two.

1.1 stock market. i've been playing the Stock Trading Game of the Philippine Stocks Exchange since november 2006. it's more than one year so i think it's about time for me to test the waters. though stocks are very volatile it is where the return rate is very high. i will consider the online trading.

1.2 mutual funds. we're currently looking for a mutual fund company that we can entrust our initial investment. if i don't succeed in my bid in the stock market at least in mutual funds our money is in good hands with the investment experts. we will include here the aguinaldos received by our two kids last Christmas.

2. to save. though my combined earnings with my wife is not that much, i think we can still allot some for our savings. this will serve as our emergency fund and at the end of the year we will add this to our investment

2.1 budget. we should put in writings all our expenses and allot our income just to make sure that our expenses would not exceed our combined monthly income.

2.2 prioritize. to minimize our expenses we will prioritize our buying according to its importance and our need.

action plan: from our net income (gross income less tax) i will take automatically 10% for our tithes, 10% for our investment and 10% for our emergency fund for a total of 30%. we will live within the remaining 70%. we can do it! ika nga, "kapag maikli ang kumot, matutong mamaluktot".

3. to explore. i will still look for other business opportunities that we can ride into to further boost our stock.

3.1 franchise. last year i won a Kettle Korn Negosyo Package from attending the Go Negosyo, Go Gobyerno at the Philippine Trade and Training Center, Pasay City. this year, i will claim my prize and try it.

3.2 foreclosed properties. i've read Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad and Larry Gamboa's Think Rich, Pinoy! and Grow Rich, Pinoy! i also attended Larry's Think Rich, Pinoy! Workshop and played Cashflow 101 Boardgame last year. i've met new friends and future partners in this real estate business. hopefully, i can come up with my first property soon.

3.3 benefits. we will study how we can avail the products and services of different government institutions like the GSIS and PAGIBIG and use it to our advantage.

4. to ensure our future. no one really knows what lies ahead. only God knows. so whatever happens either we live longer or we live a short life we are insured. we will be at peace knowing that our loved ones will be financially secured. hopefully we still have enough savings for this.

b. service

1. my advocacy. as part of my service, i will continue my financial literacy advocacy for the poor and the youth--diskarte, Pinoy! i'll start with the members of the SFC in our chapter, to the different ministries and organizations in the parish, then to the different puroks and so on... so help me God. hehe

2. plan. we will schedule our planning workshop to plot our activities this year for the Singles for Christ (SFC) members in bicutan.

3. refresher. i will try to attend Bukas Palad Online Community Choir in EDSA Shrine to further improve my knowledge in singing and to learn new songs. i will try to echo it to the Angking Tanglaw Choir (ATC).

4. atc facelift. we will change the ATC into a music ministry. we will include the instrumentalists to serve during mass. live band tayo! hehe

c. family

1. less tv. television shows are so dominating that we became addicted to it. we should limit our watching time to give more attention to our kids, especially to my first born, nico.

d. others

1. drivers license. i will have my drivers license this year no matter what it takes. hehe.

to be continued...