NOW I DECREE THAT…

NOW I DECREE THAT…

1.Nothing will cut your joy short on the happiest day of your life, in Jesus’ name.

2.I command every dead thing in your life to come back alive, in Jesus’ name.

3.This year 2017, may you receive a miracle that will attract the attention of the world, in Jesus’ mighty name.

“Jesus is our Shield

And our Very Great Reward.”

Love,

Rina Yhang.

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ios.florinac@gmail.com

THREE THINGS THAT YOU SHOULD NEVER WASTE

Posted by Fitz Villafuerte under Life Lessons, Mindsetting on February 26, 2016

We all know it’s bad to be wasteful of anything because almost everything has a limit.

We conserve water because there’s only so much fresh water on our planet. In fact, while the Earth is 70% water, only less than 1% of it is fresh and usable by humans.

It’s also for the same reason why we should recycle paper — we don’t want to lose all our trees due to reckless overconsumption of paper products.

But aside from these, there are some things, three to be exact, which we should be extra conscious of to never, ever squander.

Never waste money that you worked for.

Never waste money — especially the income that you worked for. You exchanged time and energy for it, so don’t spend it on stuff that will not add value to your life.

Avoid unnecessary wants that provide superficial and short-term pleasures. Instead, focus on what you need and on what can make you sincerely happy.

Never waste free time that you have.

We’re all busy with work and finding extra time is now considered a luxury by many; so when you do find yourself some free time, how do you typically spend it?

Unfortunately, a lot of people waste it on doing things that again, don’t add value to their life. If you ask me, I recommend taking a rest or spending time with your loved ones. You can also learn something new, pursue a hobby, do volunteer work, or perhaps find ways to earn extra income.

Gossiping about celebrities isn’t really productive, and so is trolling around social media. Moreover, when you catch yourself just sitting and worrying about the future — you have to stop and find something to do.

Never waste knowledge that you learned.

If you know how the stock market works but you don’t invest, then you’re worse than someone who knows nothing about it at all.

Why? Because it’s like being a doctor who did nothing to save the life of someone having a heart attack in front of them.

You’ve spent time and energy (and money) on learning something, but you’re choosing to waste all that knowledge by not using it to improve your life.

I’ve met too many people who invested on their financial education, and yet they remain poor because they lack application and execution of their financial knowledge. Don’t be like those people.

Life is finite.

You cannot work forever. Don’t waste your income. Spend your money on things that add value to your life.

You cannot turn back time. Don’t waste your days. Make each moment in your life productive and meaningful.

You will die someday. Don’t waste your wisdom. Apply what you know so that others can learn from you.

Life is finite. Don’t waste it.

WHEN YOU FEEL STUCK OR LOST IN YOUR LIFE

Posted by Fitz Villafuerte under Life Lessons, Mindsetting on February 3, 2016

“Aren’t we supposed to be great by this time?” asks Mace in the Palanca Award-winning screenplay and movie, That Thing Called Tadhana.

The film had a lot of hugot lines about love, which resonated in many. But this line was the one that struck me most and my favorite moment in the movie because I asked the same question to a friend years ago.

Last weekend, I got reminded of this question while having dinner with a couple of friends. One of them candidly shared that she feels stuck and lost in her life.

“I’m not happy with my job anymore, but I don’t know where to go,” she confesses. “How do you figure it out? How do you find out what you’re meant to do in your life?”

Do you feel lost?

If you feel stuck or lost in your life, then I have good news and bad news for you.

The good news is that you’re not alone, and it’s absolutely normal to feel this way. The bad news however, is that you will always feel lost in your life no matter what you do and where you go.

At 20, you will feel lost in your career path. At 30, family life will mess with your sense of direction. At 40, you’ll feel lost in your life’s purpose. At 50, you’ll dread not knowing what to do when you retire.

And age isn’t a factor here for I’ve met 20-year-olds who are already lost in their life’s purpose, and 40-year-olds who are still questioning their chosen career path.

However, hopefully when you’re in your 60’s, you’re already smart enough to know that it doesn’t really matter if you feel lost.

Don’t wait to be 60

So here’s the thing, accept the fact that you will forever feel lost on a lot of things — your career, your personal life, your purpose, etc. And the earlier you accept this, the sooner your life can become better.

The key is to simply move forward. Get yourself unstuck and live your life because sooner or later, you will find your way.

More importantly, don’t feel guilty about being lost because at best, it will make your life interesting, challenging, and beautiful. Feeling lost and eventually finding your way will be the best story you’ll tell your grandchildren.

How to get unstuck

So how do you actually move forward? And how do you avoid going the wrong direction? Below are three things that you can do.

Get your bearings
Study your daily, weekly, and monthly routine. What activities are you always busy with? Which among them contributes the most to your lost or stuck feeling?

We do a lot of things everyday. Some of them are important, and some of them are just activities that help us escape.

Simplify your routine
Are there activities that you can eliminate? Tasks you can delegate? Stop doing things that don’t add real value to your life.

The goal here is to create free time for yourself; time that will allow you to explore new and different doors.

Try new things
What are the things that you’ve always wanted to do but are afraid to do? Or maybe, you just didn’t have time to pursue? This is now your chance.

Use the free time you created to explore what’s outside your comfort zone. Learn new skills, explore new hobbies, meet new people — try new things.

And that is how you move forward when you’re feeling lost.

Don’t worry about going into the wrong direction because in life, there’s really no such thing. That unfamiliar turn, that unexpected corner, that abandoned trail, that foreign street — that’s where you’ll eventually find your way.

DISCOVER YOUR FULFILLMENT CURVE TO AVOID OVERSPENDING

Posted under Money Saving Tips on December 10, 2015

“How many times do you travel in a year?” a friend asks.“A lot due to speaking invitations and conventions, but if you’re asking about vacation travel then that would be 2-3 times a year,” I replied.

“Isn’t that few? You can afford to go on more,” he inquired.“Because that’s the peak of my fulfillment curve when it comes to traveling for pure pleasure,” I answered.

“Fulfillment curve?” he asks.

“Yes, are you familiar with the term?”

“I have an idea. But what is it?”

“The fulfillment curve is a concept, which states that there’s a certain quantity for anything at which we can get the most satisfaction; more than that, the fulfillment then gradually decreases,” I explained.

The Fulfillment Curve

Think about your favorite dessert and ask yourself, would you want to have that after every meal for one whole year?I know the impulse would be to say “Yes” but honestly, do you think that would be a good idea?

My favorite dessert is McDonald’s caramel sundae; and since there’s always a McDonald’s nearby wherever I go, I can actually afford to have it as much as I want to.However, I’ve discovered that my fulfillment curve peak for it is just once every 3 weeks – anything more than that and the experience isn’t as satisfying, plus I start to feel guilty for eating such an “unhealthy” dessert.

As another example, I have a friend who loves reading books and before, he could only afford to buy a novel once a month.However, he could finish a novel in just a week so when his budget allowed it, he’d buy another one.

Today, his salary allows him to buy as much as 5-7 books a month, and that’s what he did for a few months, and doing so disrupted his reading habit.Instead of starting and finishing a single novel, he’d read several books at once, jumping from one story to another when the plot gets boring.

A couple of months later, unopened novels began stacking in his bookshelf, and he started to feel guilty for not having the time to read them.

Until one day, he decided not to buy any more books until he could finish everything and slowly, his reading habit normalized and his guilt subsided.This was the time when he discovered that his fulfillment curve peak is 3 books per month – and even if he could afford to buy more, he doesn’t because he knows that spending more won’t make him happier.

Work, Money, and Fulfillment

We work so we can earn money, which we can use to survive, experience comfort, and afford luxuries.Work requires our time and energy – the two things we have that we give, in exchange for money.

Our time and energy are precious non-tangible assets, so it’s only right to use the money we earned from work on things that will give us the most fulfillment. And as we’ve discovered today, buying more of the things we want doesn’t mean it will be more fulfilling.The challenge for us is to determine that sweet spot where it is enough – the point where having more tips us towards overconsumption and less satisfaction.

So I hope you learned something good today in this post. I first came across the concept of the fulfillment curve in the book, “Your Money or Your Life” by Vicki Robin, Joe Dominguez, and Monique Tilford; I recommend reading this book for everyone.

By Fitz Villafuerte

THE THINGS I LEARNED SINCE I STARTED INVESTING

One of my greatest joys is seeing someone’s life change for the better. And I feel honored to have known and be friends with Philip, who will share some investing lessons today.I am a witness to his journey from being an ordinary employee, to becoming a financial literacy advocate who’s been helping Filipino families to have a more secure future.

Let’s now read what he has to say below.I’ve been an investor for quite some time now; though not that long – I consider myself no longer a newbie but not yet an expert.

As years passed by since I started investing, I realized that it’s really more than just about the money, but also a character building journey for me.I learned a lot of important things and lessons, which for me are not only applicable in investing.Allow me to share some of these lessons and characters that I’ve developed through all these years as an investor.

DISCIPLINE
One important ingredient I learned in becoming an investor is to have discipline. From the discipline in making a monthly budget, making sure to follow it and to keep track of my everyday expenses.These are some of the habits I formed since then. The most important thing I learned is to live below what I earn, a simple task but definitely not an easy one.Also, the discipline to put regular investment to my investment portfolio monthly is a habit I mastered already, this is one way of paying myself first.

DELAY GRATIFICATION
It is not easy to stay away from the temptation of spending, to go on shopping, weekly gimmicks, buy the latest gadgets, and going on a monthly vacation.I feel the same way every time and also feel the urge to reward myself immediately.But I always keep in mind that the money I received from my income is not only to enjoy the present but also to enjoy my future as well.

PATIENCE
They say that anything that is worth having always takes some time to achieve.Building wealth takes time and to be patient is a character I developed since the day I started investing.One mentor said that it will take 10 years to build a sound investment portfolio and I’m committing myself towards that goal, perhaps even longer.

EMOTIONAL DISCIPLINE
As humans, we are emotional creatures and that’s normal. But in investing, I found out that being emotional towards my investment prevented me from reaching my investment goals.I remember when I was still new to investing, I always panic every time the shares of the company I bought goes down, and guess what, I sold them, and yes I lost money then.But now whenever I see prices dropped, I just smile and keep my emotions in control and continue to invest my money without a second thought.

VISION
You may wonder why I’m still at peace even when my investment goes down and it’s because of this. Having a vision towards my goal is one character that helped me to stay focus and calm in my investments.I learned that everything that hinders me from achieving my goals are just obstacles that I need to overcome.So it’s very important to know what you want to achieve if you want to start investing, to have a strong sense of commitment in your investments.

MOTIVATION
I learned to love motivational and inspirational quotes ever since I started investing because they help me to have a clearer picture of my vision.Investing is not always fun especially at times when the market is not doing good, or whenever I have to put off the stuff I want to buy in order to invest. So being motivated helped me a lot to stay committed in achieving my financial goals.Believe me, having a positive attitude really helps when every prices is in red.

MONEY IS JUST A TOOL
Here’s the funny thing I learned about investing. Even though I save and invest money, I learned that it is the least important of all (note that I mentioned “least” and not “not important”).

What is more important is who I have become in the process of building wealth and the character that I have developed.What’s more important are the dreams that I have fulfilled every time I reached the investment goals I set.What is important are the people that I was able to share joy because I was able to spend my resources with them.Money is just a creation of man, an idea, which we can use in making our lives better.A mentor once said that money is a great servant but a bad master. It is our responsibility to make sure to use it in the right way and enable it to help us in reaching our aspirations in life.

About the writer:
Philip Dayrit or “Phee” is a Systems Analyst in one of the IT Company here in the Philippines for almost 6 years. Outside work, he is an advocate of personal finance and investing, which started when his uncle died because of financial problems.

Right now, he’s a financial educator in IMG Wealth Academy, which promotes financial education to help people achieve financial freedom.

By Fitz Villafuerte

ACHIEVING YOUR DREAM REQUIRES COURAGE

A couple of years ago, I had the privilege to climb up the belfry of Taal Basilica in Batangas, and even explore parts of its roof.On the right side of the church’s facade, there’s an open area where you can walk on to see a bird’s eye view of the heritage town.However, there are no railings to hold on to nor protect you from falling over the edge in case a sudden gush of wind blows you off your balance.All my friends were able to walk close to the edge and I couldn’t because every time I got to the area, the thought of falling 90 meters down towards my death caused my knees to turn into jelly.And that’s why I don’t have a photo like this of my friend below:But that’s not the end of the story… everyone told me that the view was serene and wonderful, and that I should also see it.

“So how am I going to do that when my knees don’t want to cooperate?” I asked myselfThen an idea came – instead of walking, I decided to just crawl towards the edge, which I did. While this was safer, it’s still possible to fall, so I really had to be careful.Moreover, I could imagine how silly and cowardly I looked in doing so, that’s why I asked my friends not to take a photo of me. Haha.Lastly, it was uncomfortable because I was crawling on a rough and rocky surface; I risked getting my knee, leg, hand, or arm scratched along the way.However, once I saw the view, I could say that it was worth going through all those ordeals.

Achieving your dream requires courage

What are the things you hope to achieve someday?I’m sure a lot of those dreams are so big that they seem impossible and just thinking about them makes you weak to your knees.Unfortunately, many will not reach their goals in life because they’re too scared to try – so they just stay on the sidelines and watch others do what they’re afraid to do.Are you going to be a spectator your whole life and be content with simply watching others enjoy the life that you aspire?Remember that success requires courage, and you need to face your fears if you want to achieve your dreams.It’s okay to be afraid, we all are; but it’s not okay to let fear take control and paralyze you because that’s not how you’re supposed to live your life.You need to act, despite those feelings of self-doubt and uncertainty, because that’s what having the courage to face your fears is all about.You need the courage to think outside the box – sometimes the best way to reach your goals is to do what nobody else did.You need the courage to take risks – and trust that the odds will be in your favor.You need the courage to fight your own battles – not everyone will understand what you’re doing because they don’t share your vision.You need the courage to accept that it will be difficult – and believe that in the end, it will all be worth it.

By Fitz Villafuerte

FAVORITE BLOGGER

Habang nilalagyan ko ng facial mask ang aking mukha, naawa ako ng makita ko ang aking mga kamay na palagi kong pinapapangakuan na lalagyan ng kyutiks. Mas maraming trabaho ang mga kamay pero mas kinakasipagan kong alalahaning pagandahin ang mukha dahil ito ang madalas makita.

Habang nagre-relax ang mukha ko sa facial mask, naisip ko bigla ang mga blogger na nagse-send sa gmail ko ng kanilang mga post. Marami sa kanila ang talaga namang lubos na nagpapala sa buhay ko, ‘di lang sa akin kundi marami silang tinatrabahong pagta-type sa keyboard ng mga ideya upang ibahagi sa maraming tao. Pero hindi ko madalas alalahaning magpasalamat sa kanila dahil ang atensiyon ko ay napupunta lang sa pagbabasa ng kanilang blog. Parang hindi naman yata  makatuwiran na ang mga gumagawa ng magagandang bagay ay hindi napapasalamatan.

Makalipas ang 30 minuto, tinanggal ko na ang facial mask at hiniram ang manicure and pedicure set ng kapatid ko. Kasabay nito ay ang pangakong sa kaarawan ng favorite blogger ko ay pasasalamatan ko siya ng sobra-sobra.

“Maraming, maraming, maraming salamat po O Dios

Sa buhay ng favorite blogger ko;

Maraming, maraming, maraming salamat po kuya Fitz

Sa kamay na inialay para magpala sa marami.”

MALIGAYANG ARAW AT PINAGPALANG WALANG PATID ANG SUMAIYONG KAARAWAN : )

-yna

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