WHAT IF You Don't Have the PEDIGREE

WHAT IF You Don't Have the PEDIGREE

This piece is NOT about our various social strata.  Instead, we'd like to face the reality that each of us would have our respective origins in life.  And factly, most of us do NOT have that PEDIGREE in life.  BUT WHAT IF You Don't Have the PEDIGREE?  Does it matter?  Answer is, absolutely that should NOT matter at all because that's a given.  How many are born with a silver spoon in their mouth?  And how many were innately gifted with high-valued talents and capabilities? Surely we can count in one hand people whom we know to be PEDIGREED because they could be as scarce and precious as rare gems.

So, where does this lead us to?  In case we are not PEDIGREED?  Simple but easier said than done though.  But first things first, we need to accept and admit that indeed we are NOT PEDIGREED.  The dilemma with some [and I know a handful] is that they feel they belong to the rarefied PEDIGREED.  It's akin to NOT having any Royal Blood in your lineage yet some still feel they have that running through their veins?

So, how can we move forward? Primus inter pares, BELIEVE IN YOURSELF, period.  Even if everyone recognizes you with your capabilities or at the very least your potentials, BUT if you think it otherwise, NO WAY JOSE, you cannot move forward with your goal-setting, goal-searching.  In the tough and cruel world in the NBA, lesser souls get waylaid along the way.  As the NBA moves from its regular season to the post-season, 'MANY ARE CALLED BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN'.  As an aspiring NBA player, it is already an achievement to be a rotation player.  But your journey should never end there, bro.

Look at your motivation level tracker.  At the very least, you got to be at a maximum overdrive mode.  Less than that, you'll be a casualty.  That explains why players who become rotation players get ambitious to become starters.  Once they become starters, they wanna be a star.  And when he achieves his star player status, he would aim for PAY DIRT by going for the most rewarding 'max contract', whew✅✅✅

Being 'HARD NOSED' is Putting Your Nose Out There & Leaving It Out There

Being 'HARD NOSED' is Putting Your Nose Out There & Leaving It Out There

Please DON'T get us wrong.  There is nothing wrong to be 'HARD NOSED'.  Being 'HARD NOSED' is Putting Your Nose Out There & Leaving It Out There.  In the tough NBA world, the games are extremely competitive.  And after they wrap-up the regular season, your fingers won't be enough to count the number of injuries being endured by each of the teams.  By the time it reaches the playoff stage, your guess is as good as mine.

That acrimonious and bitter Best of Seven Series between Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks was a classic one as finally, the defending NBA champions, the Bucks, took their unceremonious exit from the NBA when the Boston Celtics dealt them the most serious blow ever they can get hit.  And obviously, even NBA star players do have their off nights.  But off night or otherwise, it all boils down to being Being 'HARD NOSED' is Out There & Leaving It Out There.

BTW, to be 'HARD NOSED' is NOT confined to competitive sports.  It so happens that sportsmen exemplify the best traits of being 'HARD NOSED'.  And how do they live and breath the ethics of being 'HARD NOSED'?  They give it all NOT when the game starts.  They pour it all NOT in the midst of the competition.  Not known by anyone else except themselves and their trainer, they train with their 'butts out' as early as 3am.

In life, you need not be 'HARD NOSED' but where does that bring you to?  Likely you will end up in life somewhere within the median, one of those with average performances, average successes.  The laidback and passive souls will, IN FACT celebrate if they end up as part of the majority.  And they're willing to settle for any result less than being stellar.

But why settle for less when you can achieve more?  Are you settling for a life with MORE LIMITATIONS?  And ARE YOU GIVING UP on your dreams and goals?'  And settling for less means you're settling for LESS THAN THE BEST?  And settling for less means like TRYING TO MAKE DO WITH SOMETHING MEDIOCRE instead of going after the best.  Can you be HARD NOSED in life❓❓❓

If You Are in the Building, ARE YOU THERE?

If You Are in the Building, ARE YOU THERE?

Of course, you were at work when at work.  Of course, you were home after work.  Of course, you were still that partner/spouse in that relationship.  But can you attest to that?  If You Are in the Building, ARE YOU THERE?  Which reminds me of the very recent Game 6 at the NBA Playoffs between Miami Heat and the 76ers wherein the latter has no less than James Harden who, in the past, can take over the game.

lights out.  But on that fateful Game 6, ESPN's Stephen Smith blurted that James Harden was "HORRIFIC & IMPOTENT' in that game, whew!  In real lives, there could be tons of 'JAMES HARDENS' who do exists physically, period.  Beyond that, it behooves to ask everyone of us, what have you done yet besides being physically existing whether at work, at home or in a relationship?

In any endeavor in our life, it can't be half-half.  Not even 90% effort.  Life is a game of 'X' and 'O'.  It's either you perform a task thoroughly or not.  If you exerted 90% of all yourself into it, it's probable that that task or activity still prospers but if over time you will pursue your goals with a 90% focus + effort, eventually, that 90% will dwindle, promise.

Not to beat my chest but it is inevitable.  Even at work, I demand and expect 100% focus from team members in the same way that I pour out at the very least 100%.  WHY AT THE VERY LEAST?  Because I DON'T just work to 'DELIVER MY DELIVERABLES'.  By force of habit and self-discipline, I go beyond my very scope, i 'LURK' around the deliverables of my team, expecting and demanding from them no less 100%.

If there a word I loathe down to the skin, it is to peg any work or output as being 'PASSABLE'.  I'm sorry but to me, that is mediocrity to say the least and what I fear most in mediocrity is that it is one of the very ingredients that will turn your side from BAD to WORSE.  Whether it's your self-discipline, your mindset or your work ethics, the COLLATERAL DAMAGE for that mediocrity will be your very values as it will shrink both in value and in essence.  Bottom line is, IF YOU ARE IN THE BUILDING, YOU NEED TO BE THERE heart & soul❗❗❗

Numbers Without Context Are MEANINGLESS

Numbers Without Context Are MEANINGLESS

Sometimes [and probably often times], we are so number-centric such that what seems to matter is the face value of the number itself.  But hey, numbers without context are MEANINGLESS.  Yet, many of us are so wrongly obsessed with the face value of the numbers at hand.  Is it because that's how low one's level is?  Or is it because they are simply stooping that low?  Either way, they're OFF-TRACK.

Without context, WHAT DOES DATA offer?  Very frankly, unless we appreciate the context, that becomes hollowed data no less.  And this analogy is worth tagging to our relationships.  Be it our work relationship at our workplace or our personal relationships with our partner/spouse and immediate family.  If all we offer in those relationships is a lip service, what you have at hand is a charade no less.

Thing is, we got to CONNECT THE DOTS.  We need to establish the co-relationships across the numbers at hand. If we tie this up with our relationships both with our bosses and peers at the workplace or even at home with our partner/spouse, at the very core of such relationships, it must be firmly founded on solid and honest-to-goodness good faith and goodwill at the very least.  Any slightest intent of deception and deceit will throw away the validity and legitimacy of such relationships.   Without the context at its core, there's NO WAY to connect the dots.

Corollary to all these, it all boils down to leading a PURPOSEFUL LIFE no less.  Not just any kind of life BTW.  We can forever do all the number crunching and process all the mountains of information that tends to overwhelm us more.  But unless and until we inject context into our lives, YOU [or me myself] will likely end up on the losing end because the charade, deceit and deception that envelopes one's life will never really bring us forward in life.  In truth, our life will likely retrogress but where does that bring us?  So, let's put context into the numbers before life turns from BAD to WORSE❗❗❗ 

Are You Still on a 'LEASH' ?

Are You Still on a 'LEASH' ?

Nope, this piece is not about our dogs still on a leash.  It's still all about us, figuring out why many of remain UNLEASHED, figuratively speaking though. Are You Still on a 'LEASH'? From our early years, true we all remained still on a leash because obviously in our early years, we did deserve that leash.  But decades after, are we still on a LEASH?  Me thinks, many of us are still indeed on a LEASH.

Truth of the matter, many of us are in our respective various shades of 'LEASH'.  Some are on a LEASH within their respective relationships.  Some are on a 'LEASH' within their own selves.  Probably arising from conflicts and inconsistencies from within oneself, a sampling of which are the 'chameleon' types who would show up with different shades of personality.

Why do we need to UNLEASH ourselves?  A zillion reasons will tell us why.  UNLEASH our self from being LESS sincere, LESS genuine, LESS truthful.  UNLEASH ourselves from 'doublespeak'.  Coaxing your words to project an 'intelligible aura' when you are probably LESS THAN THAT.  UNLEASH one self from building up an image where you want to build a front that is a different YOU versus your real YOU.  Sounds familiar?  Hmmmm, that's least surprising because within our midst, we do see various forms and shape of a sheep clothed differently, conveniently changing its cloth.  Why?  It's because that person still remains to be ON A LEASH. whew.

Can you just untangle yourself when ON A LEASH?  Why has this been one of the most pestering enemies from within?  It's because we ourselves, when caught in a bind, are much more easily swayed and flipped to be the 'OTHER' version.  The biggest challenge we all need to overcome is for us to become the true YOU, the genuine YOU, the genuine YOU inside out because at the end of the day, you have to face your judgment and be judged for such.  NO WAY you can extricate from that deep 'shit'✅✅✅

Cling to the TRUTH, full stop.

Cling to the TRUTH, full stop.

We may not live in the deep forests except for the bears and those animals where the forests remain as its habitat.  But let's look at the bears.  Despite the fact that they continue to lurk in the darkness of the forests, they always end up bagging their prey, all because they continue to Cling to the TRUTH, full stop.  Obviously, to the bears, the TRUTH is nothing more than looking for the TRUTH, which is finding their prey, their foods for survival.  Back to humanity, we are no far different with those bears lurking in the dark heavily forested  habitats.  The most bothering challenge is how can we remain so steadfast and focused to Cling to the TRUTH despite all the widespread disinformation around.

Regardless as to where we are in life now, there will be instances when the essence of TRUTH comes into the picture because let's face it, TRUTH is at the very core of our life.  If in a relationship that is strained or hitting rough patches, surely TRUTH will be one of the constants [and not a variable] of the equation.  

Why are we harping so much with TRUTH?  Simple.  Our communities and countries may be in turmoil if TRUTH begs to prevail but it gets suppressed by DISINFORMATION and MISINFORMATION. Even TRUTH itself, it cannot be broke up into a fraction of less than one.  TRUTH has to be ABSOLUTE and UNCONDITIONAL.  

The book by Keith Hoar on REVISIONIST HISTORY hits this widespread concern with regard TRUTH at its very core.  So, what we need to be watchful is not just the widespread dissemination of half-truths [which by itself are NOT truths at all] and innuendos but even the systemic actions being initiated by sinister quarters with the clear intent to revise history.  Without sounding political, an Asian country which had its national elections recently, the purported polls winner has spoken as early as now, with NO 'delicadeza' at all, that school textbooks need to be revised.  Indeed, this is no casual threat but coming from the the purported incoming head of state, this is extremely alarming at the very least.

Why are we making NOISE with regard TRUTH?  Simple no-brainer.  If we live with and live by anything that is less than a 100% TRUTH, we will be living in a farcical world that will be absurd and preposterous to say the least  Who cares to be in a relationship with less than 100% TRUTH?  And if that cancerous state of TRUTH spreads out deep into the core of governments and democratic institutions, will our life be worth living after all?  Just  Cling to the TRUTH, full stop❗❗❗

Pick Up From WHERE We Left Off

Pick Up From WHERE We Left Off

Oooops, we shouldn't even be talking about this, right?  This is just another no-brainer.  Picking Up From WHERE We Left Off.  Problem is, many of us don't even realize this very basic ground rule.  As many things in life CAN'T just be all done in one go, it pays to get embedded with this discipline of Picking Up From WHERE We Left Off.  And what are the consequences if we are even aware of this ground rule?  A lot of consequences.

How do we convince you to embed this discipline of  Picking Up From WHERE We Left Off?  Simple.  Use any of the technologies and tools we have everyday.  Go back to MS Office or O365.  If you are in the midst of inputting or updating any MS Office Word or Excel file and suddenly, your laptop battery conks out, what happens next?  When you relaunch MS Office, it will prompt you if you want to Pick Up From WHERE We Left Off.  So, there's the buy-in even from technology.

Let's go back to our school days when we were so immersed with our book lessons. If yesterday you were so sleepy reading your lessons and you ended up somewhere Chapter 5 of your textbook, you WON'T start all over again from Chapter 1, right?  In a relationship, in case you and your partner/spouse are in a 'process' of rebuilding/repairing things, you Pick Up From WHERE you Left Off

Even Corona, the Windows Tool is scripted to be Picking Up From WHERE you Left Off.  At work, if during your stint with your company, you hit some rough patches and you're in a 'process' to bring you back to the mainstream, you CAN'T always start from Square One all over again because you got to figure it out where you ended before you took a break from the process.

Similarly, when you bump across a long-lost friend, you start Picking Up From WHERE you Left Off.  If you're an entrepreneur and you suffered serious setbacks in your previous business initiatives.  When you restart your commercial attempts, you must have learned your lessons enough such that you DON'T go back to Square 1.  Doing so would mean you will repeat and RE-DO the things and steps you have earlier completed.  Picking Up From WHERE you Left Off may seem like a no-brainer but it's NOT because many of us tend to ignore its weight in life✅✅✅

When DOUBTS Worsen To Become DUBIOUS

When DOUBTS Worsen To Become DUBIOUS

Life is never without doubts.  DOUBTS can emanate from ourselves or it can be those DOUBTS others will heap on us.  And there is no way to avoid it as it is all part and parcel of life.  Where's our common slip-up?  It is when we give DOUBTS a pass by simply looking the other way around and/or shutting off our eyes.  And when we do, that's When DOUBTS Worsen To Become DUBIOUS.

When doubt creeps into our life, it's like the most harmless aerial virus that will lead us to catch colds.  Colds?  Yesssirs it could be as petty as catching colds.  So where's the beef?  It is when after catching colds, things will go down south, when things spiral from BAD to WORSE.  But could that have been averted?  Absolutely.  But here's the catch.  We got to lift our finger to turn things around.

Shielding ourselves from these hazards of life is NOT even an option.  Instead, we need to accept and admit that once you are in dire straits, there is no other way to go but pull the bull by its horns before you end up locking horns with it.  If it pertains to relationships, be it in the workplace or even with your partner/spouse, it means 'nipping things in the bud' no less.

Sometimes, a full-blown conflict starts off with just a minor friction, those instances when two people's moods are on opposite ends and expectedly about to collide.  Not an excuse but let's understand a woman's monthly struggles with her emotions when their monthly cycle kicks in.  To be forewarned is to be forearmed but I had a taste of it, so it helps to be cautious.

At the end of the day, we just wanna enjoy life, right?  And enjoying the best moments of life is what we all clamor for because that is what life is all about.  So, why don't we set our sights for those blissful phases of our life when and where you need not needlessly spend your emotions and efforts fighting things out when all you deserve is to be HAPPY and ENJOY LIFE to the hilt❗❗❗

 

There is NO 'Middle Ground' in Life

There is NO 'Middle Ground' in Life

This is a huge gaping hole most of us fall and get trapped, thinking that in life, to be on the 'safe side', it pays to be sitting on the fence, be on the middle ground since on that note, you will not end up being flagged down as being on the wrong side of things.  Pardon my words but taking that stance reaffirms that that person has 'no balls' because in real life, it's either the right one or the wrong one.  There is NO 'Middle Ground' in Life, in fact.

By definition, what is the 'MIDDLE GROUND' anyway?  With apologies, it has NO definition simply because it is NEITHER HERE nor THERE.  But for sensible discussions, everything boils down to FACTS no less.  Talk about vision and even policies for our communities.  Many decades ago, for Americans, the Vietnam War was a very polarizing issue.  While many were against for America to send its troops to the Vietnam War, once the U.S. government lowered down the boom, everyone had to toe the line.  Of course, history tells us that the U.S. lost in the Vietnam War but it is what it is.   There is just NO 'Middle Ground' in Life.

Let's look back at America's last presidential elections. Former President Trump was badly hit by both centrists and even leftists.  Why?  Because to him, there is just NO 'Middle Ground' in Life.  For every single issue, he took a stand and never waivered from every stand he took.  Some of his political whips at the Capitol lobbied for him to take a middle ground but he stood pat and just won't budge for every single issue he stood for.

In life, it just makes sense that we need to include in our mantra that indeed there is just NO 'Middle Ground'.  Between two people, be it a teacher and student, a boss and his subordinate, the hubby and the wifey or even between two bff's, many will argue that we can end up in a compromise.  But where does that lead the protagonists?

Oh yes, a compromise is just so tempting especially if it is between couples, between bff's but what ground do all parties gain by striking such compromise.  If two parties were acrimoniously arguing for either a Plan A or Plan B, a typical middle ground so that the friction will not worsen into a real life, that may mean that both parties have forged on a modus vivendi, a 'truce' so to speak but can we guess what's the consequence of that compromise.  Likely, it would mean both parties will NOT pursue either Plan A or Plan B.  Does that really make sense?  Think about it.  There is just NO 'Middle Ground' in Life✅✅✅

Historic Events Happening Once in a Lifetime

Historic Events Happening Once in a Lifetime

My sincere apologies, for the first time, I missed out posting my daily blog yesterday, Saturday, May 7th.  Why?  Because, on [and my wife's] own volition, we decided to be a part of a Historic Night That Never Happened Before [and God knows if that may be repeated in the future, if at all].  For the first time, please allow this piece NOT to be political even as I have remained apolitical throughout the grueling seven-month campaign here.  Instead, what I want to accentuate is that when democracy works, it works best for the people, for the country.

And yesterday, it was such an experience of a lifetime to be one of a crowd that was counted at one million by 9pm.  Last night, I am very sure no one can claim 'BEEN THERE, DONE THAT' because what we went through was a once in a lifetime experience which similarly did happen once across

various countries the past decades.  Name it,  the collapse of the Berlin Wall leading to the reunification of the two Germanies, the total breakdown of the Iron Curtain across Europe.  All those historic events shared the same denominator and that's the undeniable fact that people and humanity were the catalysts that shaped and drove such events to happen.  To quote historians [and NOT politicians], sovereignty RESIDES in the PEOPLE and no one [and NOT even the powers that be] can take that away from the PEOPLE.

For the third time in my life, the financial district of a Southeast Asian country turned into a sea of humanity.  Bewildering and mind-boggling is how can human bodies can get squeezed yet in a very cool and comfortable way.  No banging.  No pushing.  No threatening apprehensions around you.  There was NO YOU versus ME.  It was one huge community with the same manners, same values, same mindsets, same discipline.  What I witnessed was an instantaneous sharing of food and drinks around.  When there were cases of people fainting, medical assistance responses came in the quickest turnaround time. That community mindset a.k.a. 'BAYANIHAN' was manifested practically throughout that nine-hour event.  I'm unsure now when will I get to witness another event of such magnitude.

Fast-forward to today.  What's really the 'real power' behind 'people power'?  Today, it is social media no less. One post leads to a like, to a share.  A tweet can even get retweeted half a million times.  What this tells us today is to be responsible enough with social media. When such opportunity arises for you to be an integral part of history, grab that 'once in a lifetime' chance because very likely, that won't come again in your lifetime.  Let us NOT be a complicit part of trolls and fake news.  Let us be a part of historic events in a legitimate and morally upright practice❗❗❗