If you don’t like something, change it.

I found The Holstee Manifesto while reading an article in the brainpickings blog. I saved a copy on my mobile device and made it my wallpaper. I posted it on twitter. I’m repeating myself and posting it on this blog. I’m giving it the maximum exposure I could because I think it deserves your attention.

Breaking it down

I have developed a habit of breaking down things into smaller parts. Here’s the low down on the manifesto:

One hundred fifty-four

The manifesto is composed of 151 words.

Sixteen

There are 16 statements in the manifesto.

• Some of the statements are factual.

“This is your life.”

• Some of the statements are arbitrary.

“All emotions are beautiful.”

• Some of the statements are very specific.

“If you don’t have enough time, stop watching TV.”

• Some of the statements are dangerous.

“If you don’t like your job, quit.”

• Some of it are very practical.

“If you don’t like something, change it.”

One

It conveniently fits in one page. The page is well designed. It comes in black and white. Its typographic nature makes it much more appealing to read. A print of it can be ordered online so you could hang it on your wall for everybody to see.

Starting small

So I picked one among the rest: If you don’t like something, change it. The first time I read this, I was in the office. I applied it in my immediate surroundings. So, I looked at my desk and I made a list in my head the things I didn’t like at my office desk. The first thing to go was my crappy headset. My Logitech headset was always falling off my head because of the broken left ear piece. I unplugged it and swapped it out with a better one. I got the replacement headset from a colleague that had just resigned. Next one I swapped out was my generic mouse, I also got it from my former colleague’s workstation. It hindered my productivity as I meant to click once; it’s like it had a mind of its own and double-clicks away. Before, it happened seldom so I developed a tolerance for it. As the time passed, it double clicks more often but I developed a higher tolerance for it. I only realized that enough is enough when I read this one simple statement: If you don’t like something, change it. It was such a revelation. I probably developed even higher tolerances on other things in my life that I didn’t like but I haven’t really noticed. The last item that I changed in my desk was my desktop wallpaper. I changed it to this.

Because from this point on moving forward life should be FUN. The challenge here is to identify more things you don’t like and act upon them to change things for the better.

The Holstee Manifesto

Saturday afternoon in Ortigas

I went to the British Council’s free resource center in the hope that I could study there uninterrupted. I failed, since I arrived late. The resource center is open from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM and I arrived 30 minutes before closing time. In short there was a slight change of plans: Instead of studying, I opted to get some of the practice tests and take them home with me. There was a line in the photocopying machine, and I still can’t decide on what reviewer to photocopy. Time was running out and I got to make a move. There in the shelves, I saw the answer: They were selling review materials for only 1000 PHP complete with answer key. I asked the staff there and purchased a copy for myself: mission accomplished. I turned a negative into a positive.

When I got out of the building, I was looking for a place where I can study. I looked at my wallet and it was near empty. I spotted banks across the street, some fast food chains, and a Starbucks coffee shop. I passed by Unionbank but there’s a line, so I moved forward and walked towards BPI. While in front of Starbucks, I noticed a familiar face: Dexter Ang. He’s a blockmate @ DLSU. I remember when we were taking difficult exams on one of our major subjects he was the one who always finishes first. He always manage to get one of the top scores in the exam. He’s just a natural and awesome like that. He didn’t change one bit. I’m psyched to know that he’s now part owner of an IT company: I4 Asia Corp. They’re successful and have a lot of clients that subscribe to their services. In my mind, if they did it I can do it too.

An idea came to my mind: Why not intern for them just to gain experience on that field? Learn their business. It will be an awesome experience. I’d still do it even without pay. Somehow, I know deep in my gut that our paths shall cross again in the near distant future and I shall be ready for it. I’m excited on how things are going right now. I’ll just wait for it to unfold itself to me bit by bit.

That’s my interesting story for today. 

I started cooking

I’ve been downloading podcasts on my iPod for more than a month now. I’ve been listening and watching these podcasts during my long way to/from work. It’s a 2 hour commute one-way going to/from work. That’s a lot of podcasts to consume for a workweek. My gamut of podcasts range from cooking, educational, inspirational, health and wellness, business, and general trivia shows. They do take a lot of space on my mobile device.

Sometimes I think about the effects of these podcasts on me, I do not take them seriously though but recently, I’ve been producing output. Here’s an example: Over the span of two months, I already started cooking. I cooked quick and simple recipes that do taste good. There’s no one here to blame but the Startcooking.com podcasts I’ve been watching.

Grilled cheese sandwich for breakfast

Fudge brownies for dessert

This turned out well and edible. Just put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of the ones that burned. Ice cream definitely does a great job hiding all those minor imperfections.

Chocolate chip cookies for snacks

My eldest daughter, Erin, helped me prepare the chocolate chip cookie dough. She helped out in mixing, beating, and making out a big mess on the kitchen table. It was quite fun for us.

Among all of the things I’ve cooked so far, I really love how the grilled cheese sandwiches turned out. It’s now one of our goto food when hunger strikes at midnight. Now, I do not feel all that helpless when left alone in the house or probably when I go out of the country for a longer than the usual business trip because I know I can feed myself without relying on takeout food. Thanks to Startcooking.com.

There’s a wealth of possibilities hidden in one of those podcast shows just waiting to be discovered. Enjoy!

“There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it.”

First quarter wins

The first quarter of 2013 have come to a close, this is a report of the things we have accomplished so far. At the beginning of the year I have set some goals, some big, some small, some I haven’t really set as a goal but in the back of my mind I wanted to complete them.

Financial goals

At the start of the year I picked up the book The Millionaire Next Door. A personal finance book that was highly recommended from the personal finance blog site I follow: The Simple Dollar. The book stresses the importance of increasing one’s net worth. There is only one way to increase wealth and that is through acquiring assets. By definition assets appreciate in value over time vs. liabilities that lose their value over time.  The process of acquiring assets is called investing.

Emergency Fund

Right now, I have saved enough money for our emergency fund. This is the first step in creating wealth. These funds will safe guard our finances from the unforeseen expenses that will sneak up when we least expect it.  It is recommended to stash away 3 to 6 months of your total household expenses.

How did I do it?

I opened up one additional account. Every payday, I religiously saved up 15 percent of my income to this account. Every single payday I deposited the same amount to this account. It was a slow process of building up a decent amount. I eventually arrived at the goal and it feels good to achieve it.

I never liked the term Emergency Fund as it attracts negative vibes, so I call it our Piggy Bank instead.

Investing

In the remaining months of 2013 I am applying the same technique in building up our investment fund. I opened up another account just for the funds. I project I can save at least 8 000 PHP a month and buy stocks in the Philippine Stock Exchange. Tip from Phil Equity Corner is to buy in tranches in the bull market. I will do just that and see what happens at the end of the Bull Run.

Debt free

A year ago I purchased my 4^th generation iPod touch using my credit card. I took the installment route and opted to pay for the gadget in 12 months. On the 25^th of March, I paid off the last installment for my iPod touch.  I couldn’t have saved money for such a luxury. I must say it is an expense that was well worth it. It’s my only companion everyday during my commute to and from the office. It serves me well as I use it as my e-reader, multimedia player, notebook, organizer, internet browser, mobile camera, and communication device. The money I spent on this gadget is all worth it. I sure hope it had better camera though.

What could my next project be? I see a Seiko Stargate on the horizon. More on this in my future posts.

Erin’s school fees

Erin is turning five this May and she’ll be ready for pre-school by June. We had her enlisted at a nearby school. We think it’s the best for her and she’ll be attending the school with her cousin Liam. They are not in the same class though as their 3 month gap spelled the difference. I’m quite excited to see my little school girl attend school and start learning the basics. These days, kids are fast to pick up. I can’t wait what surprises she’ll have for us when she starts schooling.

We’ll be with her in every step of the way to guide and provide for her. In fact we already raised the initial payment for her tuition, thanks for the capital gains I made in the local stock market. Thank God for that.

Visit Bohol

I have previously posted in my old blog about my desire to travel to Bohol, Philippines. It’s the next best thing to Boracay. I have been to Boracay several times already but never been to Bohol. This much awaited visit to Bohol was made extra special because we went with the whole ARTAJOS family: Mommy, Daddy, all of my three siblings, our respective families (how can we ever leave the kids behind !?!?).

Panglao beach was awesome, Amorita resort was the best part of the trip. I must say it’s an excellent place to stay while in Bohol. It deserves a separate blog post altogether just for our trip in Bohol and the nice accommodations and great service at Amorita.

Profitable VelvetHugs

Last but not the least our greatest achievement for the first quarter of 2013: VelvetHugs made profitable. January was spent just setting up shop. I hooked up with an old friend looking for pastry and food suppliers in his newly opened milk tea shop thanks to Facebook for that. Initially we supplied cookies; we sold a couple but did not produce the results we wanted. Our offerings evolved from cupcakes, cakes, chocolate covered truffles, but we found our blue ocean in our ready to eat pan de sal. We found our niche and our products are currently raking in the profits. Though it’s a small rake for now, slightly bigger than our kid’s toy rake. We’d like to grow further and increase the number of outlets we supply our products to. It will take time for us to grow but we’ll keep pushing. I do look forward to recruiting our first ever VelvetHugs employee. That would be cool!

2013 has just begun, there’s still a lot to do and enjoy. We are praying for better things to come. When you’re a parent you can’t help but to be optimistic about the future. It really is going to be a better year for all of us. Cheers!

Hello Australia

I have written about this once or twice in my previous blog: The Filipino Dream*. In that post I noticed that they have this thing called “The American Dream” where everybody in America has a fighting chance to succeed no matter whatever background you come from. So I wondered, do we have such a thing called “The Filipino Dream?” My wife replied: Yes. The Filipino Dream is living in America.

Every now and then my wife and I discuss our want to migrate to a first world country with the whole family and create a fresh start. In our view it will be an adventure for the whole family. I know it would not be a walk in the park but as with everybody else’s journey, it would not be worth it if all will be a bed of roses.

What’s the motivation?

Parks, we like to enjoy parks and nature. I’d like to see my kids run around a park not so much in the air conditioned malls. The malls encourage the children unnecessary consumption. It gives out the message you have to spend in order to be entertained. This is not a good message even if you have the money to spend or not.

Less dense location, we like our peace and quiet. I would like to live in a quieter place and bigger space. Our current city of residence: Metro Manila is probably one of the densest cities in the world. It’s great for starting a business since there is a huge customer base and the growth potential is high. We even reached the investment grade rating just recently. It’s an exciting city that’s in the verge of economic growth. It’s supposed to be a good thing but the city is just too crowded to scale any further. It is evident in the recent floods that struck the city. The traffic is just stagnant at this point.

Directly benefit from the taxes we pay. I can’t seem to expound on this without making the Philippine government look bad, let’s just say we need to rethink what we’re doing and make major improvements on it. I could only hope for the best for this country as we fly to greener pastures. It may probably be not true that the grass is always greener on the other side but it sure is more organized there and more livable.

Have ample room to stretch our own wings. We are currently living in my parent’s home, drive our parent’s car, all for free. Although our parents do not live in the same house anymore because they also migrated to the US. We live such lucky lives. We’ve been itching to prove ourselves, try to live on our own. Buy our own house, drive our own car, and even raise our own capital for a business we want to establish in the event that we decide to come back to the Philippines and invest our money here.

Visa less travel. We’d like a hassle free travel moving forward. The Philippine passport have some inherent disadvantages as it requires a lot of paperwork before you go see the rest of the world. Why?

Where shall we go?

We would like to live our Filipino Dream and migrate to Boston, MA in the US but it would take a while. We’ll be in our 50’s by then if we would wait for my parents to petition us. The next possible choice is Vancouver, Canada. We are sure we could apply to Canada but not necessarily to the City of Vancouver. I need to do more research on that. We are also considering moving to Singapore but we are not planning to stay there for good. As we have some friends does not recommend Singapore because the country does not allow their citizens to be free.

Melbourne, Australia is our pick. It is voted one of the best cities to live in almost consistently for the past several years. The application process would take a while. It would also take a good amount of preparation. We have to prepare the necessary paperwork, enough money while we look for work, and prepare ourselves for the challenges living out of our native land.

Once we get to Melbourne, it is not the end of the story but the beginning. We’ll strive to thrive and not just survive in a foreign land. We will make it our own.

I do look forward to making this happen for our family. We’ll fight for our ideas. We’ll do it for ourselves and for the kids. On the next posts, I will document our activities on how we’ll make this real. See you in the parks of Melbourne!

* I’m clearly violating the DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) principle here as I am repeating myself.