Tag Archives | value
February 27, 2012

0



What's It Worth?

Start From Where You Are. Start With What You Have.

People have a lot of different excuses for why they can’t do something. For some, the reason is financial. “I don’t have the capital” or “I have a family to support” or “I can’t afford it right now” are some of the statements people in this category say.

For others, the reason is the risk and difficulty. “What if it doesn’t work?” or “It’s too hard” or “This requires too much of me” are their statements.

And others, it’s complacency. “Why rock the boat?” or “Why keep pushing to get better? Aren’t we ok already?” or “I’m too tired” are the given arguments.

I’m sure there are other reasons. There is a perfect excuse for everything we don’t want to do. You can read more about what I have to say on excuses on my article.

But for those of you who don’t want to live in a world of excuses, here are two simple thoughts to help you get started:

1. Start from where you are
2. Start with what you have

Read full article.

January 7, 2012

0



Thoughts of a Lost Boy

Music 2012: You Are More

There’s a girl in the corner
With tear stains on her eyes
From the places she’s wandered
And the shame she can’t hide

She says, “How did I get here?
I’m not who I once was.
And I’m crippled by the fear
That I’ve fallen too far to love”

But don’t you know who you are,
What’s been done for you?
Yeah don’t you know who you are?

You are more than the choices that you’ve made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You’ve been remade.

Well she tries to believe it
That she’s been given new life
But she can’t shake the feeling
That it’s not true tonight

She knows all the answers
And she’s rehearsed all the lines
And so she’ll try to do better
But then she’s too weak to try

But don’t you know who you are?

You are more than the choices that you’ve made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You’ve been remade.

You are more than the choices that you’ve made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You’ve been remade.

‘Cause this is not about what you’ve done,
But what’s been done for you.
This is not about where you’ve been,
But where your brokenness brings you to

This is not about what you built,
But what He built to forgive you,
And what He built to make you know.

You are more than the choices that you’ve made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You’ve been remade.

You are more than the choices that you’ve made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You’ve been remade.

You’ve been remade
You’ve been remade.
You’ve been remade.
You’ve been remade.

December 9, 2011

0



Thoughts of a Lost Boy

Your Assurance

If you’re alive to make money, to be famous or be comfortable, you may or may not succeed. You may strike oil or you may hit dirt. You may win praise or gather shame. Your fulfillment, your return, is based on how much you have earned or garnered or collected. But if you’re alive to build value for others, you can be reassured that in your quest, though you’re victorious or fail, through perseverance, humility, and courage, you will inevitably build value for yourself. And someday, you can be sure, these valuable experiences, lessons and growth will serve you well as you continually undertake this most noble of purposes: to glorify your Father by truly, concretely, greatly loving others.

December 8, 2011

0



Thoughts of a Lost Boy

I Must

I must make company with myself and find strength within. There is no help on the horizon, so to the hills I must gaze. Man forgets man, yet I must remember. I must give when I lack. I must serve when I need a hand. I must shine a light when I am lost. I must sing a song of thanks in sadness. I must hope when there’s none. I must care though others don’t, and go further than most will. I must remind myself that He will come though my soul won’t stay still.

November 5, 2011

0



What's It Worth?

Business Dashboard: Day 2 Schedule

Day 2 (November 22, 2011) is all about Customer Segments and how this portion relates with Day 1′s topic on Value Proposition. These two components are deeply connected because you can’t meet a need or desire without knowing who those needs and/or desires belong to.

6:00 – 6:15 – Introduction
6:15 – 6:30 – Business Dashboard Elements Reviewed
6:30 – 7:00 – Customer Segments
- For whom are we creating value for?
- Who are our most important customers?
- Types of customer segments?
7:00 – 8:00 – Relationship Between Customer Segments and Value Proposition
- Innovation in Customer Segments
- The Profitable Customer
- The Loyal Customer
8:00 – 8:30 – Business Case Study
8:30 – 9:00 – Q&A

November 4, 2011

0



What's It Worth?

Business Dashboard: Day 1 Schedule

Developing a business plan can be messy which is one reason why I prefer dashboards. For those of you who have signed-up for my upcoming Business Dashboard Workshop here’s the agenda for Day 1 (November 15, 2011).

6:00 – 6:15 – Introduction
6:15 – 6:30 – The importance of having a Business Dashboard: Create, Deliver and Capture Value
6:30 – 7:00 – Elements of a Business Dashboard Explained
7:00 – 7:30 – Value Proposition & Customer Segments Overview
7:30 – 8:00 – Value Proposition: Meeting Needs & Desires / Competitive Advantage & Hedgehog Principle / Innovate to Differentiate
8:00 – 8:30 – Business Case Study
8:30 – 9:00 – Q&A
(More on Customer Segments on Day 2)

I’m sorry if I’m trying to pack in so much information. I really want this workshop to be something that will really impact your business. These are things I practice in my own businesses and teach my staff. They’re simple and practical, which work best for me since I don’t like to complicate things.

Looking forward to working with you to develop your dashboards and discuss your businesses with you. If you’d like to know more about what I’ll be teaching, please watch the following video:

October 15, 2011

0



What's It Worth?

A Pottery Lesson

A few months ago, I attended Mia’s exhibit. She, along with other potters, was displaying her latest work. I remember seeing the variety and, being the curious cat that I am, started asking the artists the whats, whys, and hows of their work. After listening to them, I started being able to recognize the specific nuances of each artist. They didn’t have to try to show that a certain piece was theirs – you just had to look at it and you would know that it was from the same set of hands and the same soul.

Coming home from that exhibit and remembering the conversations with Mia, I thought about the creation story in Genesis. I remember first hearing the story of man’s creation as a child, and I remember imagining God’s hands reaching down into the ground, scooping up some dirt, and expertly forming man in His image. I would imagine God look into a mirror then at His creation and make the necessary adjustments.

Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. – Genesis 2:7

Of course God probably never had to look at a mirror. He’s God after all. But the point of the story is clear: He wanted us to be just like Him.

I guess the reason He wants us to be like Him is because the Bible says that He is love and to be like Him is to love, and God wanted someone to be in love with. I’m not a theologian or a Bible expert. I’m actually not very good at doing many of the things it says. I’m learning though, admittedly very slowly, because I’m learning to love. And somehow I feel that He’s taking my dirt and forming art with the same loving hands and the same loving soul.

October 13, 2011

0



What's It Worth?

Mia Casal: Art from Dirt

Please don’t take this as an endorsement. This is simply a showcase of friends and their professions. Full Disclaimer here.

My friend, Mia Casal, is a potter. I want to talk more about the process by which we came about her Value Proposition since it may give you ideas on how to work on yours. I like patronizing the work of people who really love their craft. You just know they’re going to keep working on it and keep getting better. I have since scheduled a pottery class as our team building activity for Issho Genki and ordered a special tea set for 10. Why 10? For my folks, my brothers and their partners, and me and my future partner.

Think ahead. Always think ahead.

Anyway…

I first met Mia with a group of friends from New York but our interaction really started when I told her I’d help her organize herself into a business. Now a business doesn’t have to be formal or big right away. It can start small. But it has to be deliberately managed and grown to meet the goals set. I find many people wanting to start a business without even knowing WHY they want to, and usually, the answer is: money. Money isn’t a bad thing in itself but it is an empty goal. Financial freedom and independence are better goals, and to deliver value to others in your chosen field is even better.

Isn’t that the same thing?

No.

Doing business to make more money means that the more money you make the better no matter what it costs. Doing business to be financially free means the more freedom you enjoy the better, of course that means making more money, but it also means learning contentment and being grateful. It’s a small difference in outlook that produces a totally different lifestyle. Delivering value means that the priority is to offer something that really meets the needs and/or desires of people and working on getting people to appreciate that.

From my conversations with Mia, I realized that she’s really an artist, which includes all the crazy ideas artists have. She’s definitely crazy about her craft, which is a good sign. I like working with people who are nuts. It just shows you they’re in love. Have you seen anyone in love who wasn’t nuts?

The challenge many artists have, especially the purists, is how to make money on what they do. They know they need the money, but the last thing they want to do is to peddle.

But arts and crafts can make money for the artist. Remember that money is simply a container of value that can be exchanged for other things of value. Art, when done well and presented appropriately, is actually a container of value itself that people may be willing to trade money for.

So Mia and I had to work on refining her value proposition in a way that would convey the value of her pottery.

Here are a few things that came out from the exercise:
1. Her pieces are special and handcrafted – not mass-produced, so all her pieces, even the ones from the same set, are never completely alike because they’re handcrafted.
2. Her materials, time, and labor costs are high since the pieces are individually made.
3. Part of sharing her love for pottery was not just about selling pieces but also introducing people to the activity of pottery itself by teaching.

It’s very important when conceptualizing your value proposition that you factor in who you or your organization is. By this I mean factoring your passions, your capabilities, your limitations, and your goals. Many times we unrealistically conceptualize what we want without taking into account how we are going to bring about. It’s important to think this through as you work on your value proposition, and see how you can achieve your goals. If your goal is to make something of quality don’t sell-out to make money initially. If you must make a small compromise to survive, limit it to a minimum, but beware you may have a difficult time reversing the effects of this.

Your target market or customer segments should also be taken into consideration. Because of who Mia is, because of her passions, capabilities, limitations, and goals, the direction of her value proposition is really towards that of an artist, and more and more, that of a teacher. Value propositions are customer segment specific, not everyone will like what you have to offer. (Case in point: my hair.) But by knowing who exactly you’re offering your value proposition to you are able to refine the communication, the delivery, and the actual proposition.

Is Mia’s path the most economically feasible? Only time will tell. But at the very least it achieves some of her goals, which is to create wonderful works of art from dirt and share her love of pottery. We won’t be able to achieve all our goals right away. And like I said earlier, money is ultimately an empty goal. It’s important, but empty on its own.

Success is not instant; it’s not a straight line, or a sure thing. It’s the product of a different process for everyone. I guess it’s like pottery that way; there are principles and techniques but not two pieces are ever the same.

Unless of course you’re mass-produced. But those are cheap.

If you’d like to know more about Value Propositions and my Business Dashboard class please email Jenny Yrasuegui at jenyrasuegui@gmail.com.

September 13, 2011

0



What's It Worth?

What Does Value Proposition Mean?

The motivation behind this section of my blog is to help people, in my own little way, with their careers and businesses by sharing the little that I know and the simple lessons I have learned from my humble experiences as a young businessman.

I don’t write this from the perspective of a financially successful person, I don’t have millions to show. Neither do I write this from the position of a knowledgeable academic, I have one degree and I can’t even remember most of the names of my teachers and classmates. I write this as a small businessman who fights the same battles many other ordinary people face daily. I know what it means to have almost no money for payroll. I know what it means to take no salary for what seems like forever. I know what it means to read finance and leadership books and realize you’re the total opposite of who you should be. And I share your hopes that someday our initiatives will breakthrough as we pray, believe, persevere, learn, and grow.

In the meantime, I pray, believe, persevere, learn, and grow – and share.

Someday, I’ll be dying, and ultimately dead, but on my death bed, I want to be able to look back, not at a perfect life, it’s way way way too late for that now, but at a life that valued my Father (that’s worship by the way: worth (value) – ship) and brought real value to the lives of others by helping them meet their legitimate needs and desires legitimately. (This is very different from being a needy leech or meeting people’s illegitimate wants.)

This purpose of meeting needs and fulfilling desires is at the core of the Value Proposition concept. A Value Proposition is simply a product or service you or your organization offers that meets the needs and/or desires of  your target customer in a way that allows them to appreciate its worth.

Let’s break this definition down to fully grasp it. If you’d like actual examples from my companies just email me at davidmichaelbonifacio@gmail.com

A Product or a Service Offered
There has to be something that you or your organization brings to the table for an exchange to happen. Business, and really most if not all of life, is about exchanging value. So before there can be an exchange, there has to be things to exchange which are either products or services. For example, a worker exchanges the service of his labor for a financial product: money, which he can then exchange for another company’s product or service, or even the product or service of another person such as a baby-sitter. Even non-profits work this way, even if many times we don’t realize this. We donate or support a foundation by giving our time (service) or money (product) for either the fulfillment of a cause we believe in or to help us meet a social need (both are services).

That Meets a Need and/or Desire
Many times, especially with small businesspeople, we fall into the opportunity trap. We see a product, discover its financial potential, and allow this financial potential to be the paradigm of our endeavor. But everything looks good on paper and even the simplest plan is immensely much more difficult in execution. With the number of products and services out there, and the limited spending power of people, businesses more than ever have to really be honest with their offerings and go back to the basic question: What need or desire are we meeting? Are we even meeting a need or desire? Answering the need or desire question regularly and honestly helps put us on track to refining our Value Proposition.

Of a Target Customer
You can’t please everyone. You can’t even please your spouse or partner or kids or friends or whoever all the time, and they’re supposed to be on your side already. What more the full range of customers available? Instead, focus your offering on a target. What’s the right target? It’s different per case. Sometimes we find them accidentally. But here are some guide questions?

- Who needs my product or service most?
- Who wants my product or service most?
- Who can I serve the best?
- Who can pay for my product or service?
- Who is willing to pay for my product or service?
- Who do I want to offer my product or service to?
- Who can I realistically deliver my product or service to well?

Start with these questions and refine your customer segments as you go along.

In a Way that Allows Them to Appreciate Its Worth
This is critical, because this is where we think about our edge, our competitive advantage, our differentiator. You may think that your product or service is a winner but if people don’t buy then it just means they don’t appreciate the value you’re offering. And that could mean a lot of different weaknesses such as price, product, packaging, promotions, place, or even economic conditions or timing. So you have to look into all of these things. I enjoy sitting with people and working this part out with them because it’s a lot of fun and it’s nice to see people use their brain. I’m always amazed at just how creative and smart people can get when someone pushes them harder than they’re used to.

Place a lot of energy and effort into this part of your value proposition. Look around you and at the products and services you consume. What makes Evian different from Absolut? Why do they both sell? Who do they sell to? What about Coffee Bean and Starbucks? Aren’t they both coffee? How can their be so many soap brands? What will make me stand out in my office if everyone here says that they’re proficient with MS Office on their resume? You have to figure this out, and you have to be able to present it in a way people can appreciate. If not? They won’t buy.

Now some of you are probably already doing many of these things, some of you are probably doing them intuitively. The bottom lime is offer something of value.

If you’d like to know more about Value Propositions and my Business Dashboard class please email Jenny Yrasuegui at jenyrasuegui@gmail.com.

September 7, 2011

2



What's It Worth?

JB Dela Cruz: The Inspiring Magician

Please don’t take this as an endorsement. This is simply a showcase of friends and their professions. Full Disclaimer here.

I met JB through my dad a few years ago and he’s since become a good friend. I like people like JB, assertive, hard working, never-settling, admits when he makes mistakes, corrects them, and shows his love for God and for others through his actions. I especially like listening to his life story and his many experiences growing up and maturing.

Last year, he came to me and others, including one of my mentors and also from PLDT, Butch Jimenez, asking for career advice. He had a great job at PLDT, one the Philippines’ biggest and most profitable corporations, but he wanted to pursue his other passions, mainly his love for Magic – and he’s an incredible magician. He had already been doing shows on the side (including many free ones for foundations), but his bookings for corporate events was rising and taking more and more of his time.

In short, JB was facing what many would-be entrepreneurs face: the “should I risk this?” moment. It’s the moment when you have to choose between the safety of the status-quo and the risky possibility of something greater. I don’t always encourage people to leave their jobs, but I knew JB would do well. Here’s why:

1. He had a very clear value proposition: inspirational corporate magic.
2. He had experience in delivering this value proposition. He was already doing this on the side.
3. He’s a hard worker and willing to do what it takes, whatever that may be.

I especially like what my 36 year old friend told me, “My potential is God’s gift to me. What I do with my potential is my gift to Him.” So after 20 years of doing corporate work, JB decided to make magic his fulltime job, and corporate consulting his sideline. He took a leap of faith after counseling with people he trusted.

“I’m motivated by my goal to be who God wants me to be. He gave me this passion and I want to maximize it.”

It’s nearly a year now, and I don’t see JB as much. Every time I call him he has a show! I’m still waiting for him to treat me to some expensive dinner. I do see him, along with another entrepreneur I’ll be featuring here, Harvard Uy Debaron, at the monthly U! Happy Events, which Harvard founded. JB serves on the board. But I’m so happy that the shows are coming in. He even guests on TV now!

Someday, I know he’ll be famous, even more famous than he is now. And I’m glad it’s not because he poses nude or looks like a pretty boy. (Which I doubt anyone would pay him for anyway. Haha!) Seriously, I’m happy to see people recognized for bringing value to the lives of others, and JB brings that with his inspirational magic which he aptly calls: Inspire Magic.

“I want to inspire magic in the lives of people that they may inspire magic in the lives of others.”

I asked JB, “If you could only give 3 pieces of advice to a budding entrepreneur what would they be?
1. Know your dreams. Search your passions and decide on what you will pursue.
2. Know your personal assets and liabilities of your life currently. Know what you don’t have and grow with what you have.
3. Plan your steps well and JUST DO IT!

Visit his Facebook Page.

If you’d like to know more about Value Propositions and my Business Dashboard class please email Jenny Yrasuegui (pronounced “eerasuwegi”) at jenyrasuegui@gmail.com.

September 7, 2011

0



What's It Worth?

Value Propositions

I’m adding a new section to my blog called Value Propositions. I’ll be sharing with you stories of different people and the products or services they offer. I’ve realized that sometimes all we need is the story of someone else, someone else as ordinary as us, who is achieving extraordinary things, to make us get up and do something with our life. This is not necessarily a list of successful people (though many of them have done really really well), it’s more a showcase of real people, doing real work, and in an attempt to deliver real value. Now time will tell whether they’ll always be this way. Things can change.

Also, please don’t take this as an endorsement. Again, I’m just showcasing different people and the different things they do. Hire and engage them at your risk. I’ve encountered too many con-men posing as nice and holy people that I had to put this disclaimer. Haha!

Having said that I have interacted with these people and have benefited from our exchanges.

Nevertheless, I will be adding this disclaimer to every post.

If you’d like to know more about Value Propositions and my Business Dashboard class please email Jenny Yrasuegui (pronounced “eerasuwegi”) at jenyrasuegui@gmail.com.

September 4, 2011

8



What's It Worth?

It’s About Whatever It Takes

I’m having a late dinner as I type this at my favorite Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, the one with the best view of Burgos Circle in Fort Bonifacio. I don’t know how many stories, or talks, or blog posts I’ve written while eating one of the three relatively cheap meals I rotate here.

Tonight, I have decided to write, finish, and post the last part of my 5-part series on relationships. This is the nth time I’m attempting to write this, and my laptop contains more than a few unfinished versions. In reality, each of the last 4 parts have been difficult for me to write. They’ve been hard because I’m talking about an area that is not exactly a strength of mine. I haven’t always valued people, I haven’t always chosen right, many times I get the wrong message across, and I do fall into minimum requirements and entitlements. So writing this, thinking through my position on relationships, has really been an exercise for myself more than it is a how-to guide for perfect relationships. So again here’s my disclaimer:

I am NOT an expert on this. Not even close. As I share this, I don’t share the thoughts of a wise man, but those of a simple person learning through prayer, observance, study, and mistake after mistake. It’s important to me that my readers don’t ever think I’m this super great guy or a role model. Life has enough pressure on it’s own, if my thoughts can help then great, but I don’t need nor want unrealistic expectations of this good guy that’s very far from who I really am. What I am, who I am, is a guy who wakes up early, works hard, makes mistakes, says sorry, fixes things, makes more mistakes, and more, and learns sometimes, but the whole way never giving up and always running to God over and over and over again because He never gives up on me.

And this is the best point to jump into Part 5: It’s About Whatever It Takes, because that’s God’s way with us. To some, He has met us in our youth, to others later in life. Sometimes He speaks to us through a book, sometimes we hear Him in a song, or find Him in a moment both dark and amazing, and even sometimes through someone else. But whoever we are, whatever way to reach us, whatever language we understand, or whatever circumstance He has to place us in, or people to surround us with, for as long as is needed, He, our Father, does whatever it takes to reach out to us to show us His love so that we can enjoy a relationship with Him.

In our relationships, are we doing whatever it takes?

Whatever it takes to what?

Are we doing whatever it takes to show them that they’re most valuable, that we chose them and choose them daily, that we’re excited about the unlimited possibilities, and that no matter what happens we’ll find a way, or make one, to show them that we love them.

And let me make it clear that the goal is to love them NOT be with them. Sometimes it seems that we do whatever it takes to stay in a relationship but don’t put enough effort to love. Relationship is the form but love is what powers that form.

Aren’t they the same thing.

No.

Being in a relationship means being with someone. It may mean having a friend, or a husband, or wife, or mutual understanding, or one of those crazy other terms that dont make sense to me. Loving someone means being patient, kind, not envying, not boasting, humbling ourselves, not being rude, not seeking our own ends, not being easily angered, it’s rejoicing in the truth, always protecting, always trusting, always hoping, and always persevering.

Sometimes, maybe even many times, we find ourselves in relationships that have gone dry and we’re wondering what’s missing. We feel unfulfilled in the relationship so we wonder whether it’s us or them, whether we did something wrong, or where we went wrong, what can we do to fix things, or compare notes with talk shows, websites, and “experts”. Some people will advice finding similar interests or hobbies, getting makeovers, taking a vacation, or buying new stuff, and these aren’t bad, but they’re shallow and cheap, and won’t fill that high-standard hunger in every human being to be truly loved.

My opinion, and that’s all this is, a humble opinion from a non-expert with a track record of mistakes, both of you should DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO LOVE. It’s not about having a certain number of hours together, or having me time or her time or alone time, or our media-planted romantic gestures, or remembering birthdays, or buying expensive things, but about doing whatever it takes.

And if it includes all the above, then it includes all of the above.

So value the right things, value the right person, and choose well depending on who you and what you value because when you’ve chosen you have to do whatever it takes to love them.

That’s a lot of work.

That’s probably why I prefer the office.

But if you value the right things and have chosen well, you don’t need to worry, because, as I’ve said in the past, you can never go wrong with the priceless things will always be great no matter how expensive they are. They’ll always be a steal.

To read the other 4:
1. It’s About What’s Most Important?
2. It’s Not About What You Think You Deserve. It’s About Who You Choose
3. It’s About What You Got Across Not What You Think You Said or Did
4. It’s About Infinite Possibilities Not Minimum Requirements

August 5, 2011

0



What's It Worth?

The Passionate Lover

I wasn’t planning to write today. I’ve been so busy working I haven’t really had time to think through a post. But sometimes I read something that just triggers my thinking. I just read a post entitled Kawawa Naman si God which translates to “Poor God” or “Pitiful God”, and the author went on to describe the different things that God has done to reach out to us because our sins take us so far away, culminating in the ultimate sacrificial act of His dying on the cross. The whole point of the article is that God’s love is so amazing – which I completely agree with.

I am amazed by God’s love too. He has really shown me much much more than I deserve. But here’s where I don’t agree: I don’t believe God is KAWAWA (which again translates to “pitiful” or ” “poor”). In fact, the Bible says in Hebrews 12:2, that He endured the cross and scorned its shame “for the JOY set before him.”

To Jesus, we were, we are, His JOY, and that’s why He died for us and that’s why He continues to reach out to us. He isn’t a pathetic guy trying all sorts of things to win a girl. He’s God, who doesn’t need us but because of His love for us, it’s His JOY to reach out to us. There’s nothing pitiful about someone doing something He enJOYs.

If there’s anyone who is pitiful or kawawa, it’s us.

It’s like a royal prince of incredible beauty, love, kindness, strength, and wealth trying to win the heart of a dirty, poor, lost and lonely tramp. She has more to lose than he does. She’s the pitiful one.

I’m that dirty, poor, lost, and lonely tramp. I’m the pitiful one with all my mistakes and sins. So I run to God, not a pitiful God, but a beautiful, loving, kind, strong, and wealthy God who for some reason sees me as His joy.

And that reason is LOVE.

A guy passionately pursuing a lady he loves is pitiful and pathetic to everyone, but himself. That’s because he loves her in a greater way than the others. He will do more, try more, and offer more than anyone whose love is less. He will even suffer more, and by the way the word “passion” means “suffering”. This is also where we get the concept of the “Passion of Christ” or the “Suffering of Christ”. Yes it was hard. Yes it was painful. Yes it was shameful. But it wasn’t pitiful. It was passionate.

It was so passionate the centurion looking up at Him at the cross didn’t say, “Poor guy” but instead he said, “Surely He was the Son of God” (Matthew 27:54). You don’t say that about someone pitiful. You say that to someone who commands honor.

Love is a personal thing. It doesn’t have to make sense to others for it to make sense to you. In fact, it won’t make sense unless they love the same. This is why it’s impossible to fully comprehend God’s love, because we don’t and can never love Him as He loves us, so it won’t ever make as much sense to us as it does to Him. To us, God is kawawa because we feel bad for Him that He can relentlessly pursue people who stubbornly turn away (including myself). But what’s amazing is that He doesn’t pity Himself because He is chasing His joy, and even more amazing, like the lost sheep, the lost coin, the pearl, and the treasure in the field, to God, we’re worth it.

Now on the flip-side, are we responding to His love in obedience? My personal answer is, not always. Many times I find myself loving something that turns out to be meaningless. And that’s why I’m the poor man who is so grateful for my Father in Heaven who, despite that, is passionately in love with me.

June 19, 2011

0



What's It Worth?

Definitions (Part 1)

This is my Fathers Day Post, though it is not exclusively about fathers. It’s a post about one very important role they play, and it’s also about reason, the reasons “why” we do things, but mostly, it’s a post about meaning.

Why am I writing this?

I have three reasons:

1. As a reminder to myself, an exercise to keep taking stock of my life and to purposefully live a life of significance. I’ve realized that I’ve used too many words loosely. It’s sad because I know I have a gift, and it’s meant to build others up. So it’s important, when I take stock of my life, to check and see if the gifts God has given me are being maximized. I know the weight of my words, and while I try to use them to encourage others through this blog, I’ve also used them to devastating effect. It’s one more item on my looooong list of things to improve on.

2. As an encouragement to others to not take life for granted, but instead enjoy it as something meaningful, and to take charge of defining their lives as something significant.

3. And for my last reason for writing this, is that it is my way of honoring fathers who take it upon themselves to set their children on a life of purpose, specifically my Pop, the father that I depended on as a child, and my heavenly Father that I depend on more than ever as a man.

Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say
One of the things I like to do, which many friends find irritating, is to ask people the definition of a word they just used. I hear people say simple words like “cool”, “favorite”, “best friend”, or even “love”, and I’ve noticed that most people are unable to define what they mean. I usually get the same reaction:

“I know what the word means, David, I just don’t know how to define it.”

No wonder so many lives are lived without purpose, longing to be “cool” and not realizing its mutability, that what is “cool” changes depending on time and place. No one thinking rationally would swallow smoke for dinner. Yet we chase “cool” and think achieving that will fulfill us.

No wonder we have so many broken promises. We don’t realize that to “promise” is to make a declaration and bind yourself either in honor, conscience or law to fulfill a certain act in the future. The worth of a promise has everything to do with the promise-giver.

No wonder we take advantage of “best friends”. We don’t realize that the word “friend” means:

One who is attached to another by affection; one who entertains for another sentiments of esteem, respect and affection, which lead him to desire his company, and to seek to promote his happiness and prosperity; opposed to foe or enemy.

And the word “best” means:

The most good. Most advanced. Most complete. Most correct. Most beneficial.

Put them together and we realize that the people we should be calling our “best friends” are actually not that many. That there is a spot for the “best” among just the “good”, and that if someone was our “best”, we should be seeking to promote his or her happiness and prosperity the most.

No wonder our relationships are so messed up in a society that sings, “All you need is love.” Who knows what love really means anymore? To understand the original meaning of love is to know that the definition of “love” is tied very closely to the concepts of “value” and “beauty”. We fall in and out of love because it’s been watered down to feelings and emotions on one extreme and obligation on the other. But to put it simply, love is to find something so beautiful and so valuable, that your emotions lead you to show affection. It’s to realize how excellent something is that you want it so bad. Love is reserved for excellent things – not shallow, empty, frivolous things. This is why to know God, to see His beauty and worth, is the best way to learn to love Him more. And that is why to love Him is our first duty – because He is most excellent, He is most beautiful, and He is most worthy. To love someone is to find and know for sure what makes that specific person beautiful and what her worth is, and to show your affection in word and action.

Words are important. They are powerful. They are powerful not because of the boldness of their font or the length of their spelling. They’re powerful because of one thing: their definition.

To define something is to put clear boundaries around it and say, “This is what this is. This is its meaning. This is its significance.” When we don’t know what something is, when we can’t clearly state its meaning, or don’t realize its significance, we drain our very powerful tool of its potency. We lose our ability to define our lives and default to the definitions others put. Worst of all, when our words, the terms that define our lives, are muddied, life itself becomes muddied chasing feelings, and not realizing to its fulness, the object, the moment, the person, that made the emotion meaningful.

To be continued…

December 6, 2010

0



What's It Worth?

For God So Loved…

Last week I wrote an article on Naturalhealth.ph about preparing for Christmas. In the article I talked about how we need to prepare our hearts, minds, spirit, and body for the season so that we don’t miss its essence – which is not hard to do given the grandness of the festivities. You can read the full article here.

One great way of preparing yourself, your family, and your friends for Christmas is by practicing a tradition known as the Advent Wreath. You can read more about the Advent Wreath online but basically it is traditionally a time of preparation for Christmas.

Traditions are important to helping us remember the essence of what we are celebrating. They’re also great for sharing with others and enjoying together. Most of all, traditions help us pass on to a new generation the ideas, stories, and values of the occasion.

The Advent Wreath is a tradition my family has been practicing for years, since I was a kid, and this year I decided to begin celebrating it my own home now that I’ve moved out. I wanted to share and pass on to others what I enjoyed growing up.

Last Thursday, December 2, I invited some friends over to my apartment for after-dinner snacks and to kick-off our Advent preparation. For the next 4 weeks we would be sharing on a new concept to prepare our hearts for Christmas.

I’ll be posting the titles and themes here just in case you would like to celebrate this with your own families.

Week 1: For God so loved the world…
Gold Candle: Value
Text: John 3:16

Here we talked about God’s motivation for sending Jesus: His love for us. That God values us so much that He paid with His own son to purchase us. This whole story is a value story. A story of a God who shopped through His creation and chose us to be most valuable to Him. This is an awesome idea that I can’t comprehend. I am incredibly grateful for this truth though. This is the starting point of Christmas: God’s love. That He loved us so much that He sent Jesus to save us.

I wrote a post saying that when it comes to relationships and love, it’s not about what we deserve but about who we choose. This is clearly displayed in God’s love for us. We don’t deserve His goodness and He deserves better than our unfaithfulness. But He chose us, and He has made a way for us to be with Him, and because of Jesus we are redeemed. Even as I type this my heart is overwhelmed by repentance and gratitude. Repentant because I really don’t make the cut – not in even close. Grateful that I have a Father who doesn’t treat me as my sins deserve and whose love doesn’t change depending on my output. For God so loved the world that He chose me and you, and paid for us with His Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish.

November 21, 2010

8



What's It Worth?

It’s Not About What You Think You Deserve. It’s About Who You Choose.


This is part 2 of my five part relationship series. These are opinions NOT expert advice.

To read all 5:
1. It’s About What’s Most Important?
2. It’s Not About What You Think You Deserve. It’s About Who You Choose
3. It’s About What You Got Across Not What You Think You Said or Did
4. It’s About Infinite Possibilities Not Minimum Requirements
5. It’s About Whatever It Takes

A Little More on Value
I’ve written quite a bit on a variety of topics with only the concept of VALUE tying all of them together. One thing I noticed, based on the feedback I get with each post, is that people seem to respond most to the ones about family and relationships. It’s just more proof that deep down, whether consciously or unconsciously, relationships are what we value most.

Think about it, on their deathbed, no one ever wished they played more Playstation, or ate more burritos, or earned more money. What we regret are the relationships we should have paid more attention to, the thank yous and I love yous we should have said, the sons and daughters we should have parented, and the dreams we should have shared.

I guess that’s the important thing about marking your values clearly, because when you do you can head towards it, when you don’t two things usually happen: you never get what you want because you don’t know, or worse, you get what you think you’ve always wanted and realize that it wasn’t worth it. The words “worth” and “value” are very closely connected. What’s valuable will always be worth it.

Clarifications on Value
I got some comments that I found interesting enough to address here because some of you might have similar questions. Here goes:

1. This is a great article for guys – I don’t know about the article being “great”. It’s just my opinion, and again, from a non-expert. Second, I wrote this for both men and women. The whole value thing won’t work if one person values the other but is not valued as well. Someone’s bound to burnout or become a martyr or get hurt. That’s not a sustainable situation.

2. You can’t jump to conclusions – Just because someone’s too tired to drive doesn’t mean they don’t value you. Maybe they’re really just too tired. This is a very very valid point raised by none other than my mother. And she’s right about this. My example needs qualifying. If let’s say you’re in a relationship, and you know that someone’s too tired to drive you, because you value him or her you put them ahead and make them rest. In the same way, if he or she values you they’ll do their best to serve you. But the reality stays that people have their limits, emotionally and even physically, but when you have two people valuing each other they adjust without feeling unvalued because they’re secure that the other holds them as most important even when they’re limitations become apparent. Having said that, a pattern of mistreatment is obvious proof that someone doesn’t value you or you don’t value someone.

3. All nice and sweet but people are humans and make mistakes. How can you say that making a mistake in a relationship means that person doesn’t value the person – This is a great point! No one can say they’ve never hurt anyone – especially me. Hurting someone doesn’t mean you don’t value that person, it only means that on that specific moment, whatever you were doing was more important. For example, when I say something tactless, which I do a lot, it just means that airing my opinion is more important to me than the feelings of someone else. This doesn’t necessarily mean I don’t value that person, just not as much as I should at that moment.

The problem is when the pattern of our life is one that takes the truly valuable things for granted. Some might argue that values are relative, and they’d be correct to an extent, but at the very least we should know what’s personally important to us, and live a life that moves towards that.

What about our mistakes? No one’s perfect. We will all make mistakes. What hope do we have?

I remember my dad explaining a critical component of relationships; it’s what reconciles us and allows us to enjoy the benefits of a valued relationship despite the reality that we are flawed and will make mistakes. That component is forgiveness. I’ve realized that forgiveness is more than just getting a clean slate. Forgiveness is another chance to enjoy that which you really value – and if you take this new chance for granted don’t be surprised if someday you’ll lose it, maybe even completely.

The simple point of the whole value thing is this:

KNOW AND DEFINE WHAT YOU VALUE. LIVE A LIFE THAT REFLECTS WHAT YOU VALUE. AND WHEN YOU MAKE A MISTAKE, CORRECT AND GO BACK – IF IT’S NOT TOO LATE.

4. I wish my boyfriend thought this way – when I was writing this, I wasn’t thinking about how I wish my partner would be like. I was writing this as a reminder to myself to be the type of person who knows who and what he values, and to be the type of person who enjoys the privilege of cultivating the valuable things in his life. I didn’t write this for people to use as a standard to compare their partners to, I wrote this as a guide for myself. I can’t say that everyday of my life is faultlessly value-based. A lot of it, maybe even most of it right now, isn’t. But I have a guide, and slowly but surely, in time, I’ll be deciding more based on what’s really valuable to me and not have as many regrets. Sometimes when I read your email I wonder if you’re talking about someone else and sending it to me by accident. I’m not a great guy that knows these things. I’m, like a work in progress, discovering things as we go along, and trying to make something out of the limited time we have on Earth.

And this leads me to the next portion of this series, and again I have to warn you that this is MY OPINION.

Off Your High Horse
Many times we have this picture of this dream relationship where everything works and is perfect, where everything is fair. I love him, he loves me. I’ll do anything for her, she’ll do anything for me. I write her, she writes me back. It’s perfect…

…until she forgets to text back right away after you sent her a sweet message. Or until you’ve bent over backwards and he’s sleeping on the couch. Or even until he gets fat after you get married, while you work hard to stay slim. Until these things happen, and you’re left asking yourself, what the heck is this???

For me, at least historically, when things get too complicated, that’s the time to press the EJECT button.

But I guess this all starts when we stop thinking about what’s most important TO us and we start thinking about what’s most important FOR us. We start thinking about what we deserve. We start having one of the most dangerous sicknesses you can catch – entitlement.

Entitlement is a dangerous case to have. No one owes us anything – not even the people we’re in relationship with. Sometimes we think guys have to be like this, girls have to be like that, and the truth is they don’t. No one has to give you flowers or cook you dinner. No one has to court you or make it easy for you to court him or her. No one has to do any of that, and you’re not entitled to any of that.

Some of you are asking, “I’m not?”

Nope.

“Then what am I entitled to?”

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

But before you throw stones at me read on. (Besides my hair will soften the impact anyway.)

Here You Go
Love is a gift, not a trade. It isn’t bartered or earned. It is given, and in the case of true love, given completely. Sometimes we forget this, and we start saying things like, “If you truly loved me you would or wouldn’t…”.

You can complete the sentence.

When you give a gift you prepare it and make it special but you don’t expect anything in return. How ridiculous would it be for a kid to attend a party, give his gift, and go feel cheated when all he gets in return is a goodie bag?

“I gave you a Nerf Gun and you gave me lollipops!”

But we’re like that sometimes, always expecting a fair trade. “I did this. You didn’t” “You don’t deserve me!” “I don’t deserve you!” Tit for tat, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth is not the recipe of love but of feuds.

So what can I expect then?

Nothing. Nothing but the privilege to love unconditionally, to say “Here you go. You have everything.”

“That sucks, David.”

Why do you think I’m not married?

It’s About Who You Choose
Of course it doesn’t really suck. I’m exaggerating. We do get something, and it’s not necessarily what we think we deserve. We get whom we choose. This is why we need to choose well. This is why we don’t just jump in. This is why counting the cost is important, and there is a cost.

I liked this girl once, and looking back she really was cool, but I remember my dad telling me, (after asking me how I planned to feed her!), “David, no matter how pretty she is she’s going to take a crap someday.” My dad has a way of saying things. I guess this was his way of telling me no one’s perfect, don’t go blind, see things as they are.

Of course choosing well can mean different things to different people but here are two things I think are important:

1. Shared values – Do you agree on what the most important non-negotiable things are?
2. Shared love – Do you even like each other? Do you both put each other first?

For some funny reason we’re back to the questions “What’s most important?” and “Who is most important?” Trying to make sense of this, I’ve realized whom we choose reflects what’s important to us. We’re attracted to what’s important to us. So know for sure what’s important to you and choose well. As I said in another blog “everything costs something but not everything is priced right”. Choose the one you value most, know the cost, and pay it in full no matter how expensive. As I also said in another, “But you can never go wrong with the priceless things. They’ll always be a steal.”

November 11, 2010

29



What's It Worth?

It’s About What’s Most Important

Paolo Punzalan recently mentioned me on his blog on relationships. I don’t know why he suggested me as having insight on this (maybe because my views are entertainingly controversial), but I’ve been getting some questions regarding relationships on my email, Facebook, and formspring. So to answer all your questions more efficiently here are my thoughts on how to make a relationship work. I do have to make it clear from the start that I’m really no expert on this, so don’t go taking this as expert opinion. This is MY opinion on a subject I am historically known to be NOT very good at. But I’m learning, and over the next few weeks I’ll be posting 5 lessons I’ve learned so far:

1. It’s About What’s Most Important?
2. It’s Not About What You Think You Deserve. It’s About Who You Choose
3. It’s About What You Got Across Not What You Think You Said or Did
4. It’s About Infinite Possibilities Not Minimum Requirements
5. It’s Not About Formulas and Benchmarks. It’s About Whatever It Takes

Ok, here we go…

It’s About What’s Most Important?
Of course I had to stick in the word VALUE at the very top, because relationships are about what’s most important to you or what’s valuable to you. A lady from the microfinance group I’m a  part of emailed me the other day asking about some life decisions. I told her to ask herself, “What’s most important to me?” and to order clearly the hierarchy of importance in her life. Because what we value affects our decision making. When something is important to us we naturally try to bring ourselves closer. When something is NOT valuable to us we naturally stay away or forget something even exists. It’s like the kid who can’t remember his subjects but can remember the stats of his sports heroes. It’s not a question of memory. It’s a question of value.

In a relationship, you need to be able to say that, after God, she’s the most valuable thing to you, and your decision-making, and your execution of your decisions (your actions) should show it. My dad always encouraged my brothers and I to make the big decision, because the smaller decisions become easy when you make the big decision. He used to say that it’s easy to choose what to wear to work when you’ve already chosen to actually go to work. In the same way, many people find it hard to do the little things for the person they’re supposed to love simply because they’ve never made a conscious decision to set her aside as most important.

If we’re impatient with someone it only means we value our impatience more than we value the person. If we’re angry at someone it only means we value our anger more than that person. If we’d rather sleep than drive for our wives or girlfriends it only means that we value how tired we are or our convenience more than them. This is hard to accept but it’s true. When I am misbehaving towards someone, I can give every reason I think is valid, but the bottom line is I value my reasons more than that person. Because IF the person is MOST valuable, than she should be MORE valuable than my reasons no matter how valid they are. Again it’s hard to accept, even for me. But when I think about the reasons why my dates never went past a few months the answer is the same, while I always try to make a positive contribution in the lives of others, at that moment, what was most important was… drumroll… ME.

Are You Ready?
I remember once being asked at a talk (why I get asked to talk on relationships is a mystery to me), “How do you know if you’re ready for a relationship?” And I answered:

When you’re ready to put her before you. When you’re ready to put her needs before your needs, her wants before your wants, her dreams before yours, her comfort before yours, her feelings before yours, her convenience before yours. When you’re ready to lay your life down that’s when you know you’re ready.

Of course I followed this up with, “And that’s how I know I’m absolutely NOT ready.”

Insecure Value
Sometimes I come across people who are so insecure about where they stand in a relationship and I realize it’s because they themselves and / or their partners have never settled in their hearts that the other is most important. When what’s most important isn’t decided on, everything becomes negotiable. I can go out and get drunk because he offended me. I can text others since we’re not cheating anyway. I can gossip to my friends because he’s a butt. All of a sudden we can negotiate in our mind to do the things that will hurt the person because we have never really set them aside as valuable – meaning even their value is negotiable – they’re only valuable as long as they do as we like. I’m so grateful our Father is not like that. Because, while I have decided on my values, sometimes I find myself negotiating and rationalizing my mistakes. But our Father, He doesn’t negotiate our value. He has marked us as important to Him even when we fall short, and that is why His love never fails. God’s love doesn’t change with our roller coaster of a life. It actually reminds me of Shakespeare’s very famous Sonnet 116:

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Love never alters. It doesn’t bend. It is an ever-fixed mark that is never shaken. When that’s the love you enjoy you’ll be secure.

Someday There’ll Be Treasure
Someday, I’m going to type her name on this blog, and like a white flag waving, that will signal my fall. When that day comes I have to surrender and say, “You’re most important now.” There will be times when I won’t get my way, but that’s ok, she’s most important. There will be days when I won’t understand, but I’ll have to trust, because she’s most important. There will be days when I’ll get mad (maybe a lot of days with my impatience), but I’ll have to swallow my pride, prepare a peace offering, and apologize to the one who is most important to me. Just typing this is making me dizzy, but then I realize I won’t have to worry, because I’ll be what’s most important to her, and as the Bible says: perfect love casts out all fear.

November 3, 2010

3



What's It Worth?

4 Turnaround Lessons

I’ve spent most of the day looking at financial statements. One of the things I’m doing now is working on the turnaround of Issho Genki Interntional, the producers and distributors of the most trusted brand of Squalene (which is currently a small yet growing category). We’re not completely out of the woods yet, but this last quarter is looking very positive for Issho Genki. We have improved enough to make me a little more comfortable with writing about the lessons we have learned from our mistakes. There are actually a lot of lessons I would like to share but I’ll start with these four.

What Do You Love?
Squalene is a natural antioxidant which protects and enhances the body’s cells. I’ve been taking the thing for about 15 years now and love the stuff. So aside from the challenge and necessity, loving the product was an attraction to me. I’m not really a salesman. I can’t sell anyone anything. What I am is a highly contagious sick man. When I fall sick in love with something I’m going to infect you with it if you hang around me long enough.

Turn Around Lesson #1: Work on something you’re passionate about. Turnarounds have a lot of baggage that can distract and discourage you. Working on something you’re passionate about helps keep you motivated. While need is a great motivator, never underestimate someone who is madly in love.

Go Treasure Hunting
Issho Genki used to be a very popular supplement brand but dropped out of people’s consciousness when management was not able to transition well into retail outlets. It’s a classic case of a business that did well, overspent, didn’t change relevantly, and descended. The good part though is that there was a lot to work with, such as the brand recall due to its, at the time I took over, 13 year existence, historically large distributor base, high-quality manufacturing base in Japan, and existing distribution relationships with Mercury Drug, Watsons, and other retailers and customers. The most important thing the company had though was some really trustworthy and hardworking people that made the chance of a turnaround possible.

Turn Around Lesson #2: Look for the pieces of value. These are things you’ll be able to work with and build on. What are the assets? (Of course depreciate accurately!) How much cash? (This is your blood. Even if people owe you, you run out of cash, you’re dead.) Can you use your assets to generate cash? (Either through sales or as collateral) In our case, we didn’t have any hard assets aside from a very nebulous concept of brand goodwill. We had no way of accurately measuring this so working with that was a step of faith. We also didn’t have a lot of cash. We had a third of what we needed to survive month 1. (That month was very stressful for me!) But what we did have other than the brand were good people who made the sales happen and extended payables and stretched and stretched. Good people are always a great asset.

Cut the Fat
When I walked into my corner office on the 25th floor of a nice commercial building in one of Metro Manila’s business districts I had the following thoughts in sequence:

1. Wow. This is cool.
2. This is really big. Too big.
3. This must be expensive.
4. This has to go.

One problem businesses have as they go along is that they take on too much fat. That’s actually like us humans. Hehe. We take on so much unwanted baggage that weigh and slow us down, or worse, choke our organs which kills us. We had to do a lot of cost cutting in Issho Genki, more than a third of our operating expenses. This also meant there were contracts we could not renew, people we could not hire, perks we could not enjoy, and rewards that had to be differed. Of course not everyone was happy – including me. But you have to do what you have to do.

Turn Around Lesson #3: Cut the fat. Look in the mirror and see where everything is starting to sag and cut those parts out. (I’m in no way suggesting liposuction. I’m talking figuratively.) While Lesson #1 is to work on something you’re passionate about, don’t mistake the fat for the purpose. Fat are the unnecessary things or parts or even functions we’ve accumulated that no longer effectively contribute to your purpose or bottom-line. So to cut the fat you should have a well-defined purpose for your organization. I see this so many times in business and even non-profits where everyone wants to do everything, so there are so many people accumulating fat, and no one can recognize what’s fat anymore because there is no clearly defined purpose. So define the purpose based on what’s important to you (values) and what doesn’t fit is fat. Cut that. Some people can afford to go on a diet. We couldn’t. We had to have surgery. So we did just that.

Who’s Your Daddy?
I was 23 years old when I took over a company that was closing down. When I look back I really had no idea what I was doing. They say that sometimes not knowing is actually better so that you don’t know what to be afraid of. I don’t know if that’s true. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I was really scared. More people would have seen it if my repertoire of facial expressions was more than just a smirk, but in my gut I was really really scared. I was scared because I knew that I didn’t have what it takes to make this work, and this is what led me to what I consider my life’s greatest lesson: Run to God.
 

Turn Around Lesson #4: This isn’t from the business books, but it’s really from my life manual: run to God and wait on Him. There were days when I would go to the office at 6am just to pray for a miracle. That somehow something would happen that day and we would live to fight another day. I would walk around our empty office and say “Father, please help Beth with the finances. Please help Guada with administration. Help Lolit with logisitcs.” I would pray for everyone and everything, and guess what? Most of what I prayed for didn’t happen. Hehe. But better things came along. Life lessons instead of quick profits. Humility instead of promotions. Contentment instead of abundance. Peace beyond understanding. These, along with the knowledge that my Father is watching over me, fixing my mistakes, redeeming my wrongs, forgiving my sins, and surely preparing a place for me, these are my profits.


Money is useful, but these experiences, they’re priceless.
And life is not being able to afford the numbers on the price tags. Life is about discovering what’s really priceless and enjoying them fully.

…By the way, while there’s still a lot to do, sales are up and expenses are down. That’s always a good sign.

October 29, 2010

0



Thoughts of a Lost Boy

What I Want

Image by Victart.

Not a mansion in heaven
Not a castle in the sky
Not a mountain top experience
Not my name in stone
Not the respect of men
Not the applause of crowds
Not barns overflowing
Not vans with new wine
Just Your love
Someday her love
In my home
In my heart
As the light
Of my life

April 24, 2010

1



What's It Worth?

How to Make Your Money Last Forever

God never said we couldn’t bring our wealth to Heaven. He actually told us how when He said to deposit our valuables with Him.

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Matthew 6:20

But what can we bring to heaven? Not our money, not our investments, not our things, not even our good intentions, righteous acts, and great accomplishments. So what is there to store? What asset type does heaven accept?

This bring us to what are called Alternative Investments.

Everyday businesses exchange some form of value (such as cash) for another type of value container (such as stocks or bonds or goods). And why do they do this? It’s because they’re trying to create value. Sometimes cash is best. Sometimes stocks move up faster. Other times it’s art that appreciates, or a piece of property, or even Jewelry. The objective is the same, what’s the best investment – meaning what will maximize my earnings given my parameters and risk tolerance. Alternative investments are “alternate” or “substitute” investments to the more traditional asset types (stocks, bonds, and cash). Examples of these are art, property, and jewelry as mentioned above.

For example: You have cash in the bank that makes 8% a year in the bank. Since you understand the art world, you know what pieces will appreciate, so you buy a painting for P100,000. If let’s say someone was willing to buy that painting for P130,000, and you sold it at that price you just made P30,000. Instead of a bank holding your money for a year and making you 8% interest, the art piece became the container of that value, and because it appreciated more you ended up with more value.

Let’s get back to our verse: Store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven. What type of asset class does heaven accept? What’s the right alternative investment we can store?

Relationships.

Risking that I’ll sound too much like my father’s son – which I am in case you forget, but the Bible tells us in plain English the best way to use what we have:

I tell you, use worldy wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
Luke 16:9

So here’s how it works:

You have money, it can be a billion or it can be a peso, or it can be a free afternoon, but if you use what you have to build right and strong relationships through kindness, generosity, giving to the poor, giving to missions, feeding the hungry, sharing your time, or your home, or whatever, what your’e doing is you’re converting what you have into the only asset class heaven accepts: people. When you store your treasure in heaven nothing can destroy and it no one can steal it.

And that’s how you make your money last forever.

March 9, 2010

0



What's It Worth?

The Survival of the Irrelevant

“At the end of it all I hope we can say, that we did not purpose to live eternally but that we lived for an eternal purpose.”

The Relic
Recently, one of the groups I’m a part of held a meeting at a certain country club, and since I had arrived a little early, I spent some time looking at a little timeline they had displayed at the lobby. It was so amazing to see the history of the place, how it was a part of many historic events, how it hosted dignitaries and famous people, and how it survived the changing times. What a heritage to have. What a legacy to pass on.

Then I noticed two things, two things that burst my bubble.

One is that as the timeline progressed the significance of the place seemed to decline. While it can boast that many important people are still on its membership roster, it’s no longer the same. Soon, unless something drastic changes, it will be as historic as the history it remains so proud of.

The second realization was, “This place is ugly.” It felt old, and dusty, and caught in a time-warp that old clubs tend to fall into. Compared to the pictures of the past, the facility I was standing in was a shadow. But I think sadder than the regression is the missed future, what could have been. What would it look like if the walls were repainted instead of left to peal? What would it be like if the neon signs actually lit up like it used to? I wonder how the landscaping would look if the grass were trimmed instead of left alone? Maybe it’s time they took out the posters and banners of events of 2008 and 2009 since we’re already in 2010.

The Slow Death of the Irrelevant
This reminds me of two completely different meetings, one for business and one for a non-profit, that got slightly heated because, on both occasions, we couldn’t agree on certain changes. I won’t go into detail anymore. That’s not important. What’s important are the reasons for the impasse. We couldn’t move on, we couldn’t progress, because one was holding on to her position, and the other was holding on to his methods.

It would have been ok if the reasons for not changing the positions and the methods were because the current set-ups were sufficient, but they weren’t. We, both groups including me, were slowed down by two of the very useless arguments:

“I was here before you.” and “This is how it’s always been done.”

I’m not saying I’m always right, in fact, I’m usually wrong. Which makes “I’m sorry. You’re right. Let’s go with your idea.” a staple phrase of mine. And it’s not because I’m humble, anyone and everyone that knows me knows that humble David is an oxymoron. It’s more because more valuable to me than my position or my methods, more valuable to me than my ideas, or me getting the credit for my proposition, are doing things right and bringing value to society by fulfilling our purpose.

The bottom line is we can give all our excuses for not progressing, inexperience, lack of resources, cultural resistance, certain entitlements, or whatever, but if we don’t do things right we will inevitably deliver little value to society. When a person or entity delivers little value it becomes more and more irrelevant as time goes by.

A business that overprices and under delivers consistently over time will only survive IF it is the only one capable of delivering a certain product or service (no competitors) and IF that product or service is integral to its market. But there ARE competitors. And there’s tens of thousands of new offerings every year, what was integral yesterday might not be tomorrow. As soon as the people can find better value somewhere else, by value I mean more than just a low price but a better product, better service, a better experience, the decline will inevitabel begin.

With non-profits, what would it look like if efficiency were improved? How much better would it be if we were actually incredibly good at helping people, and not just “have the heart”? How much waste generated by our current methods of helping can be redeployed to help more? I don’t know the answers but I do believe they’re worth looking into.

It’s the same with churches. Just because we carry what we think is the greatest cause, doesn’t mean we will be relevant to society. And it’s not that irrelevance in itself is sad, the goal is not to please man after all, but what is disheartening is when our inability to let go of positions or change our methods deprives people of the value of knowing and following Christ.

I don’t think we want to be like that. We have enough institutions around to remind us of the pervasiveness of the survival of the irrelevant. They’re gravestones for the living. It’s only a matter of time. What is a forgotten heritage good for? What is a dying legacy worth?

I can’t think of anything.

So I guess a better title for this is “The Slow Death of the Irrelevant.” But the good news is, if we’re dying, it means we’re not dead yet – so there’s hope. Let’s embrace our history and take it with us to the future. Let’s review our methods, see what works, and explore new ways of doing things. It’s not about who was here first and it’s not about how things have always been done. It’s about bringing value to the lives of people.

It’s Not About Who’s Right – It’s About the Purpose
A few weeks ago I presented a few innovations to another group I’m a part of. In the audience were a few business leaders, and after the presentation, during the question and answer portion, one of them passionately shot down some of my ideas. Standing in front, I could see that some of the others were a little embarrassed for me and wondering how I would respond. I thought through his comments very quickly and realized he was absolutely right. So that’s exactly what I said, “You’re absolutely right. I didn’t see that. Let’s make those considerations when we pilot this.” Some people asked me why I was gracious about it after, and my answer was simple, “He was right. I’m glad he brought it up. I’d rather be repeatedly corrected and have us end up in heaven than to always be considered right but lead us to hell.”

I’ve learned that if we are to lead we have to be able to address the needs and the times, or even the needs of the time. And we will never be able to objectively address these needs if we are driven by self-perpetuation. In fact it’s counterintuitive to this.

At the end of it all I hope we can say, that we did not purpose to live eternally but that we lived for an eternal purpose.

February 14, 2010

0



Brothers Bonifacio

Valentines Day

A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man.
- Don Vito Corleone to Johnny Fontane, from The Godfather

L.O.V.E, it’s a mystery
Where you’ll find me, where you’ll find
All is Love, is love, is love, is love
- Karen O, All is Love from Where the Wild Things Are

Valentine’s Day
Contrary to what people might think, I actually like Valentine’s day. Growing up, my ever thoughtful mom used to put heart-shaped patterned goodie bags filled with heart-shaped chocolates, heart-shaped gummies, and other heart, cupid, rose, or some similar Valentine’s-cliche-shaped sweet. My brothers and I already had the best lunch boxes, we each had one cooler (Yes, a cooler.) of Ritz Bits, mini Chips Ahoy, some fruit leather (Which I used to refer to as Fruit of the Loom until I saw the underwear. You can’t chew on those, well, you can, but you’d look like an idiot.), milk in a pack (Of course we had to have milk.), granola bars, and on Valentine’s Day our treasure chest turned into a personal ADHD resource.

As if we weren’t hyper enough.

Valentine’s has changed for us now that we are older, such as Joe’s traditional car stalling when Carla and he celebrate Valentine’s. I think Tammy the Tamaraw is jealous that she no longer gets Joe’s undivided attention. I think it started changing for me the first time I gave a bunch of roses to a girl. I got the colors all wrong and gave her white ones because I wanted mine to stand out. Now I know that tradition matters more than color – so stick to red. But I’m sure she liked them anyway. Because she told me she liked me like crazy.

Or did she say she was crazy for liking me.

I forget.

It doesn’t matter. Everyone who likes anyone like crazy is crazy for liking anyone like crazy. If you found that confusing, well, so did I. But that’s part of the fun.

My parents seem to have warmed-up to our bringing females to meet the family, especially with Carla and Kristie around. At one of our recent dinners, my dad had reserved the seat next to him for Carla, for his new daughter, so that he could tell her to start calling her pop. He’s sentimental that way. Which is also why he watches Joe’s wedding video for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

It wasn’t always this way. I remember on one of my birthdays, my mom gave me a copy of Joshua Harris’ book I Kiss Dating Goodbye. I gave it away the next day. Christmas that year she gave me another copy. What kind of sadistic mom gives a book like that for Christmas??? I think I used that copy to build a camp fire or something. She then gave me a third copy on my birthday the next year with terrible acting, “Oh have I given you a copy of this?” “Um.. YEAH… for the past three disappointing gift occasions.” With me, they always had this idea that I only went out with females solely because of their looks. Which was absurd. All of them, and they’re not as many as my brothers make them out to be, were attractive, interesting, and incredible in their own different way. But I wouldn’t recommend my path to anyone, in fact, after witnessing Joe’s wedding, I’d suggest you emulate him, not so much so that you’ll bag an actress, but so that we’ll see how God works when we let Him. Ok I shouldn’t use the word “bag”, but you get the point. Besides, I prefer someone low-key and away from the limelight so that I don’t have to worry about getting photographed while I’m picking my nose or losing my temper on the tennis court.

February 14, 2010
Earlier today, the family, which is pop and mom, Joe, Josh, and their better halves, Carla and Kristie, and I got together for a home made Valentine’s lunch. Not to be undone, I invited my own friend from Japan who is also into sailing. I only realized later on that he was the same friend I brought to Christmas dinner when my mom mentioned it. Which prompted Josh to say:

“So, David. Are you trying to tell us something? Are you introducing him to the family?”

My brother is insane, and my other seemingly angelic but also quite as crazy older brother and he decided to pick on the remaining single brother by playing a twist to a family favorite game called What Would You Rather. This one is called David, Who Would You Rather End Up With.

Brothers: David, who would you rather end up with… K or I?
David: I don’t know them both.
Brothers: Just based on looks.
David: I don’t know how they look.
Mom: You don’t? K has nice legs.
David: Yikes mom…
Mom: Here. (Showing me a picture of K on her computer)
David: It’s blurry. I can’t see the detail. I like detail.
Mom: You like detail? Here. She has a nice necklace.
David: Like that matters when you’re married… More like, does she like classical music?
Brothers: Like THAT matters…

Brothers: C or H?
David: C.
Brothers: Woohoo!

Brothers: What about C or P?
David: Definitely P.
Brothers: What happened to C?
David: P is hotter.
Brothers: Woohoo!

Brothers: P or R?
David: R by far.
Brothers: Nice to know you still have some substance left.

Brothers: P or P?
David: P. Like I said earlier, she’s hotter.
Brothers: There goes the substance.

So the game went on. F or Y? C or T? P or Z? A or double X? Actress or business woman? Chef or athlete? Musician or writer? Old or older? (Note: The letters I put are random. They do not correspond to anyone specifically. Well, they do, but not logically but by chance.)

All this talk got me thinking, “Who is someone I can’t live without?” It didn’t take long for me to realize. Because if you were to ask me if I would rather be doing anything else, I would tell you no. I can’t think of anything I enjoy more than being with my family – even if I am the seventh wheel, and even if it means enduring another round of Who Would You Rather.

It’s always been clear, that having some-one to yourself doesn’t really matter when you’re surrounded by the ones who mean everything.

Besides, I’m saving up for a sailboat.

December 19, 2009

2



What's It Worth?

Joe’s Car

I wrote this on December 19, 2006. I was 22 years old at the time, about a year after graduating college. So his car, a popular low-end model in the Philippines called a Tamaraw FX, is actually 15 years old by now.



Joe’s Tamaraw
My older brother, Joseph, drives an 11yr. old Tamaraw FX (and he drives it like a virgin Ferrari). It’s so old that there was a time he stopped locking the doors since he didn’t think anyone would steal it anyway. We had it appraised and found out it was worth a Big Mac and a stick of gum – just one stick! (Ok, that’s exagerated. But you get the picture.)

Memories
But what would seem of little worth to many people, is our treasured Tamaraw. When you’re 22 years old, and you’ve had a car for 11 years (half my life!), you just get attached. Here are my top memories of Joe’s Tamaraw:



1. When we nearly died tumbling on the Edsa-Buendia overpass because Joe was driving at over a hundred on the curve – When the car settled down, Joe was hanging on top of me by his seatbelt and we had to crawl out the windshield. The roof was sunk, all the windows were crashed, and even the spare tire exploded, but Joe and I were completely untouched other than a glass bit on my leg and a sprained neck. Now here’s the best part, Joe hugged me as soon as I got out. (AWWWW) That’s the first time he ever hugged me. (AND THE LAST!) I called my dad and told him we got into a “small” accident. He gave me an english lesson on the word “small” when he saw the wreck. What I forgot to say was that it was “small” compared to the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. Oh well, miscommunication.

2. Joe learning to drive while visiting our lots in Forest Hills, Antipolo – I wouldn’t call the Tamaraw the ultimate golfer’s car or something for the country club, but I sure had fun watching Joe learn to drive on hills in that thing. Thank God for engine breaks.



3. When I nearly had a date – took this car to school, the Ateneo (don’t forget “the”), which is a school known for it’s selflessness and being poor in spirit (hard to be sarcastic without the tone), and a friend asked if she could ride with me. I found this weird because she has drivers, but strangely they’re all named “Manong”… Anyway… So by this time the Tamaraw was so shot up that it shook like crazy when you turned the ignition, and the A/C spit black water out at the front seat passenger. So walking to the car she asked me, “Do you want to have dinner first?” I said sure. She’s a pretty girl and smart too (a pretty AND smart female is not the same as a pretty smart one), and I was hungry so why not? A few seconds in the shaking spitting Tamaraw, and here’s what she said next, “I’m kinda tired. Mind if you drop me home straight?” I should have had a secret camera focused on her. It’s safe to say that ended her infatuation with me.

4. Joe’s MacBook gets stolen – Joe locks his doors now. Enough said.



Of Course There’s a Lesson Somewhere

So I’ve realized that the things that mean most to me are not the most expensive things, but neither are they cheap. They go beyond monetary and economic valuations. At the end of the day fulfillment is not found in being able to obtain the priciest things, but in discovering that what you have is priceless.

December 15, 2009

2



What's It Worth?

Price Tags

Think with me for a moment.

Let’s say the world was one big shopping mall, and you were in charge of valuation, how would you price things? What would a great life be worth? What about friendship? What about peace of mind? What about the feeling of sand on your feet? What would cost more, a successful career or a lifetime of rest? How much for a little silence? How much for an assurance of love? What would be more valuable to a child, secure finances brought about by working extra or a secure soul from more time with her parents?

Everything costs something but not everything is priced right.

August 30, 2009

0



Brothers Bonifacio

For All We Know

“For all we know, this may only be a dream
We come and go like a ripple on a stream
So love me tonight, tomorrow was made for some
Tomorrow may never come for all we know”
- For All We Know

Silent Night
The house is uncharacteristically quiet tonight. It’s completely silent other than the hum of the fridge and the sound of my fingers typing. Come to think of it, it’s been quiet lately. Not counting the occasional noise from cats making kittens of course. Why does it sound like they’re dying whenever they do? But meowning aside this is probably a preview of upcoming chapters in our family story. Here’s how one might go:

Future Brothers Bonifacio
Had a conversation with my mom earlier. Here’s how I broker it to her:

Me: Mom…

Mom: Yes? What is it David?

Me: I’m getting married.

Mom: WHAT???

Me: Just kidding! HAHAHAHA!

Mom: Good. I wouldn’t know how to apologize to her parents!

Me: You’re mean.

I don’t know how I would have done it if I really were getting married. She’s already lost two of us to matrimony.

No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
I rode with Joseph and Mrs. Joseph to Sunday lunch. He kept asking her what she thought of his preaching. A few thousand people already told him it was good as he exited the building, and he’s still not convinced. Of course he did well. I thought the word was incredible. She tells him she loved it. He answers her, “Really? Do you really think so?”

I should have taken a cab. Why don’t they equip cars with barf bags? I turn to Joe Jr. and tell him to cover his ears.

My phone rings, it’s Joshua.

Josh: Where are you going for lunch?

Me: With Joe now. Meeting up with pop and mom.

Josh: Who’s paying?

Me: I think they are.

Josh: Where do we meet you?

Ah… We really are brothers. We all have the same malicious intention – free lunch.

My father used to tell us of how much he dreamed of the day when we would all be independent and how much money he’d save from not having to feed us. Boy, was he wrong. Now he has to feed us, my brothers’ wives, their kids, the yayas, and whichever female can stand me at the moment. They’re lucky today as I’ve managed to offend everyone I would consider taking to family lunch this week. That’s one less mouth to feed, and at least I don’t have to drive anyone home.

We ended up having lunch in some hole-in-the-wall Persian restaurant we have frequented for years. It used to be cheap I think. Well it’s free for me, as it has always been. We ordered the usual, baba ganouj, shirazi salad, salty lasi, chicken and lamb kebabs, and buttered biryani rice. Josh and Mrs. Josh joined us but ordered Tamago, Ikura, Miso soup and 6 pieces of Tempura from the Japanese restaurant next door.

A Little Pressure Never Hurt Anyone
Over lunch my pop asked me:

Pop: David. When are you going to give up your evil ways and give me a grandkid?

Mom: Joey! He has to get married first!

Pop: Of course he has to get married first!

Mom: He’s not ready yet.

Pop: He’s not?

Me: I’m not?

Josh: I think David would like the married life.

Joe: If what you mean by being married is having a harem and slaves.

Me: Hey! That’s unfair!

The Little Gremlins
I looked over at Joe Jr. and Josh Jr. They really are their fathers’ sons. The nerdy looking Joe Jr. with his thick glasses is reading upside down doing a handstand, while the big bald headed Josh Jr. is trying to shoot rolled-up tissue paper into Joe Jr.’s shorts. I’m glad to be their cool uncle. There’ll be another one soon. Mrs. Joseph is expecting a little girl next month. I hope she looks like her mother because Joe would make an ugly girl. I would too. Josh looks like my mom so he’s the only one who could be a girl.

In the Meantime
The sound of cats going at it again brings me back to the present. At the rate they’re going, they’ll catch up with our politicians.

Maybe not.

Hard to predict what the future will look like. Who can really say? Too many changes and so many options, anything can happen. But tonight, surrounded by the objects representing what is most important to me, the family pictures with stories my pop will enthusiastically share, mine and my mother’s paintings, her stacks of art books and Joe’s thick novels, our dining table, Joshua’s basketballs and pet snake, my violin and piano with the silver sculpture of David and Goliath on top, the lampshade that had to be replaced because Joe broke it, the stained and scratched patio table, and others, I’m reminded to cherish each moment, and more importantly, to value the people who make the moments come alive.