Self Development Series: #1 Goal Setting

Self development, as a journey, involves a series of activities that lead to a clearer self-identity and develop a person's skills and talents; leading to the realization of dreams and enhancing quality of life.  This sounds HUGE. And it is!

This series of articles on self-development, will be composed of concise articles which, aim to walk you through the journey of bringing out the better version of YOU.

Like every project, the first step is to set the direction - vision of what is to be achieved.

What kind of person do you want to be? Picture it. Imagine being
that person. 

In the process of setting the vision, it is important to evaluate ourselves with a few questions.  Be bold with the vision! Do not limit yourself.

What type of people do you envision hanging out with? 

What sort of conversations would you be making? 

Where would you spent your leisure times?

With these questions answered, it's time to do the work!  This is going to be exciting :)

With the vision of YOU that you just had, what areas in your life need to be improved?

What skills do you want to develop?

List it down.

Then for each category, create activities and tasks.  For example, the vision is to be able to speak two languages.  Identify what language would you want to learn.  Under the activities and task, write down how to make that vision happen.  It could be by buying a book, searching for youtube tutorial videos, watching local movies, etc. 

Now, the list could be taxing. But no need to worry.  These are just the pathways.  These things complete the bigger picture.  The next step is to set a date to do one task at a time.  

Note: And don't overload your mind with all the other tasks. Focus on one task at a time.

Once you have finished planning the work to do, it's time to WORK on the plan.

Be happy and blessed! 

Building an Emergency Fund

   
     Personal Finance has been a growing topic these days.  Here in the Philippines, there is still a lot of work to do to educate people on ways of handling finances properly, much more in making money work for them.

Financial Education starts with being acquainted with the financial pyramid.  The pyramid has a strong and sturdy base which represents the fundamental fund/s to build up before moving up to the other stages.

It consists of building the Emergency Fund, paying off Bad Debts, and allocating savings for Retirement.  In this article, we are going to focus on building the emergency fund.

What is an Emergency Fund?
The emergency fund is a sum of money equivalent to 3 - 6 months of your current living expenses.  Say for example, your monthly expenses - bills, allowances, rent, mortage etc. is about Php 30,000 per month.  Your emergency fund should at least be Php 90,000.

Where should I put this money aside?
This money is set aside in a bank account which is readily accessible in cases of emergency.  It is best to have it in bank account with atm.

What is the purpose of your Emergency Fund?
As the name suggests, it is sum of money allocated for emergencies -unforseen life changes like getting sick, running into an accident, and the like.  In those times, you will not be able to work and earn, but there will be expenses required for recuperating.  This is where you get the money for such things.

Aside from that, there will come a time in life when we feel like going to a career shift, move to another state or perhaps another country.  You can use your emergency fund to finance for these life changes, while you are adjusting to life changes and unable to earn yet.

Start building your emergency fund, now!

#PersonalFinance

Education versus Entertainment Ratio

The concept of becoming a person of value, living a life of meaning, and becoming a high achiever has gotten over a huge number of people these days.  High performance coaches and motivational speakers are becoming popular now, more than ever. The internet is flooded with articles and videos on "how to become the best version of yourself."

The journey can be exhausting, if we are to be rigid with the ourselves through the process.  Not to mention, information overload can somehow be intoxicating.  In that case, the journey would not be as happy and fulfilling.

The world-reknowned motivational speaker Jim Rohn has detailed a number of ways to become a high achiever in whatever field.  One of the his techniques is self-examination.  Simple, yet very effective.  According to him, we must examine how productive the day has been.

One of the criteria of self-evaluation is determining determining a person's Education versus Entertainment ratio.  Being educated and improving oneself, according to Jim Rohn should be the priority far better than being entertained.  Ask yourself these questions.  In the last five (or perhaps in the past year) years, "how many books have you read?"  In our modern times, we can ask, "how many audiobooks have you listened to?" or "how many online courses have you taken?"

The first step is self-evaluation.  Once the numbers are there, it's time to set the goal!

Challenge yourself to read this many books in a year.  The easier way is to be kinder to yourself. So set an achievable goal.  If you are not the book-lover type, do you think reading one book a month is attainable?  Set your limits and overcome it!