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Monday, February 07, 2011
Three Most POWERFUL HORIZONTAL SKILLS That Can Massively Impact Your Career




In life and in career, skills development is key. In fact, I found that those people who has mastery over a certain set of skills often get ahead in their career. There has been much literary work talking about the importance of skills development but what I would like to do today is to focus your attention on THREE KEY HORIZONTAL skills. The keyword from what I just said is HORIZONTAL. Allow me to explain the concept of HORIZONTAL SKILLS by talking about its counterpart, the VERTICAL SKILLS. Vertical skills are skills that focuses on depth and not on breadth. Think of it as a line running from north to south and as you go south you get very specific on that particular skill and you will learn things that are not available or relevant on any discipline. Going vertical is simply a process of specialization of skills. So when you are a doctor or an engineer or a nurse or a plumber or a programmer, you are actually specializing on one particular area and this is very important in your career.


Horizontal skills on another hand are skills that can be applied in almost all areas of specialization. This is a skill that runs from east to west crossing boundaries of specialization. What is good about these skills is that once you develop this skills it will augment your specialized skills. So what are these three Most POWERFUL HORIZONTAL SKILLS ?

For this post allow me to share one of the three key skills and I will share other two on following post.
1. Ability to Communicate.
Communication is a key skill because without it, it is impossible to prosper in your career and specialize on a particular subject. Having an excellent communication skill will enable to you become a better doctor, nurse, accountant, engineer, programmer, and manager. So develop your communication skills and you can do that by:
1. reading a book,
2. joining Toastmasters organization,
3. listening and studying how speakers deliver there point,
4. and paying attention to how actors, politician, and teachers bring their point across.

Communication is not just about talking. Communication can be non-verbal and non-verbal form of communication can strengthen or weaken your point. Imagine saying YES while your body is saying NO. Will it not affect your effectiveness as a speaker? Of course it will because it will confuse your audience.

You probably had an experience where you went into a concert where the performer just sings without so much body language; she just stands there singing doing nothing else. How do you feel? Do you feel fine with it? Even though she has a beautiful voice you would probably feel that she can make it more beautiful by adding a little head movement or eye and hand motion.

Why do you feel this way? Because the body communicates and it says more than what the words say. So in every area in life, communication is really an important skill to develop.

How do you become a better communicator?

I know I have given few tips above but allow me to drop a little tip in improving the way you communicate. OK, so words are powerful so think of words as push pins.So when you try to push that to the body of a person you will realize that it will affect him or her physically. Yes because it would probably hurt her. But what will make it more effective is when you put emotions together with it. Think of emotion as a pole and when you try to combine the push pin and the pole, it will become aSPEAR and with it, you can easily push that push pin through the heart of a person. So WORDS loaded with EMOTION will really impact the life of the people listening to you.



So become a better communicator, study how to communicate and use WORDSloaded with EMOTION. Once you do that you will be sure that your words will become more powerful and it will definitely impact your career.


Next post I will talk about the Ability to Initiate.
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Monday, January 24, 2011
Counted my Blessings!


Right now I am in a hotel room waiting for my room to be prep'ed up for its new guest - me. I asked the front desk if I can just go directly to my room after an early flight to Bacolod and they warned me that it will be noisy because my room has not been prepared yet. And it is indeed noisy in fact, I am writing this blog with the hissing sound of a vacuum cleaner in the background. Normally I get disturbed by this and sometimes it irritates me listening to that nuisance especially when I am writing something.

But you see from the moment I stepped out from the airplane I became a different person. When the plane descended for landing, my ear started to hurt and for those who have tried riding a plane this is a usual event when the pressure changes and the plane changes in altitude. Normally I can easily fix the pain by swallowing my own saliva or by yawning but this time around I do not know why, but I can't seem to get rid of the pain. When the plane landed I almost could not hear a thing. It seemed as though the world became a quite place. I can see people's lips moving but I could not hear a word they say. The best sound I could hear is a faint sound of a woman in the overhead speakers instructing us to be careful. It was as if I was transported to another earth one that is so tuned down. I could not hear engines running, birds singing, or people laughing. It was a quite world.

On my way to the hotel I realized that I am probably in the same situation as what those born with impaired ear and I realized that it was such a lonely world not to be able to hear anything. The radio was playing but I could not hear exactly what was on the radio, I only knew that the DJ was saying something. It was a very lonely world. I tried to talk to other guests in the hotel but I could not do so without making it obvious that I am deaf. Later on my ear was able to adjust to the pressure and I was able to hear some noise only that they are no longer noise for me but music to my ears. So when I went to my room and opened my laptop to write this blog, I allowed the room keeper to do his vacuuming while I am writing because what I used to perceive as noise is now music. I can hear the vacuum cleaner's noise and now I can honestly say, "Thank God I can hear this vacuum cleaner."

It is interesting how I started valuing my hearing after experiencing temporary deafness. Life is indeed a mater of perspective. And sometimes our perspective changes when we experience losing what already have. The way I see it we are experiencing a miracle everyday and it is a matter of perspective to perceive it. Let us learn how to count what really matters.
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Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Biggest lesson that I've learned in 2010




Perhaps the biggest lesson that I've learned in 2010 is one on REST. For most people, rest is a common term but for me






it is an alien word that connotes laziness and unproductivity. I grew up thinking that I should be in motion all the time, in mind and body. I used to believe that I should keep myself busy because having an idle time means that I am using my time poorly. I cannot keep myself still and I have to admit that even until now I am still tempted to grab my iPod or read a book when I get into a situation when I do not have any choice but to sit in the corner. This usually happens when my fiancée would ask me to go with her shopping.:)

The problem really is not about my physical activity because to an extent, it can be contained or limited but my mind, on the other hand, cannot help but work. I am not talking about just regular mental labor but really the unnecessary worries and over planning.

It cannot help but worry on many things or strategize or plan on just about anything. And when things does not work as planned, I get frustrated or I usually make another plan. To some extent, I did not really have peace of mind. And if you suggest that I should look into authors who have written about worry or planning or organizing then let me tell you that I probably have read about them or the concept. For many years now I have immersed myself to personal development and have attempted to solve my problem but in the end I come back to my habit. And please do not get me started on First Things First or any seven habits to be highly effective.:)

Early this year when I heard about GRACE and what is wonderful about GRACE is that REST comes with it and this transformed the way I live my life. I realized that I have been a control freak; I tried to control everything and this caused me so much pain and frustration to the point that it made me an unhappy man.

I am persuaded that true REST only comes from God and that He wants me RESTED and not busy. He wants us to TRUST in His Love for you and me and not worry over anything. When I learned this, I started just lifting everything to Him and started TRUST His LOVE towards me.

And by the way, the Bible says the those who hopes in Him will never be disappointed so you can be sure that the Best way to live this life is to lift it to Him. And I can, in all honesty, say that I have not been disappointed. I am just amazed on how He touched and moved my life and the people around me without me lifting a finger.

If before I tried my best to introduce Jesus to my friends and ends up with no positive response, now I have three friends who gave their life to the LORD and I did not even lift a finger for it. I just allowed the Holy Spirit to do His thing and that means me, not having to think for Him. This year I am blessed with promotions and increases, a fiancée, extra job, new friends, knowledge in Internet Marketing, and some speaking engagements- these are things that I tried to pursue in the past and yet I always gets turned down.

You see, I just trusted in His Love for me and in His promise that He will not withhold anything from me and that He will give me the desires in my heart if I delight myself (rest and enjoy) in Him.

Now, I still have problems but I TRUST that Jesus Loves me and even though the world will be against me, I know He will come to my rescue because He loves me.

My prayer is that more and more people will discover His LOVE for them because I could not find anything more amazing than His love.

If you want to experience God's LOVE today I am telling you that Jesus is more than willing to show His LOVE for you. He LOVES you sooooooooo much that He wants you to REST and have PEACE. Receive Him today and lift everything up to Him because He loves you and would never forsake you no matter what you have done in the past. I have a prayer in the bottom of this post. There is nothing magical about it but if you pray it with your heart, Jesus will transform your life as He has done it to me.
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Saturday, December 04, 2010
Testimony: The Power of Resting in His Love

The year is almost over and during this time of the year, I used to make it a time to plan for next year. I used to take time in writing down areas in my life is not working and areas in my life that I should improve on. I also used to write plans for next year such as businesses that I would like to venture into, much savings I should have in the bank and even the skills that I think will make me valuable.

I determined in my heart that I will have "The Edge" if I make plans for next year and for a time, I believed that it reaped some results. It got me focused on getting my goals and it got me driven to achieved them. Though in the middle of the year I usually misplaced that notebook writing them down helped me bit because I did had some positive results. But the flip side of it was that I became restless. I feel inadequate if I fail in achieving my goals. I used to feel bad about myself if I end up not reading the number of books that I set for myself to read . Or feel restless if a business fails or a plan to build one will not push through. It has become a bondage for me and it was eating me inside. I became an unhappy man; so unhappy that even when I get a salary increase, or close a deal, or get promoted, I felt that I am still far from where I want to go. At first I thought this was just my competitive spirit but later on I realized that others are happy and joyful but I on the other hand has an unhealthy dissatisfaction growing inside me.

In the middle of this year, I heard about God's Grace, Jesus Christ, and how resting on His Love for me is better than resting on my own strength. By this time, I am already very tired and too familiar with trusting on my own strength and I know that if I kept on doing it I will die young. So I started feeling the sense of His Love for me and as I was meditating on His Love, I felt like the LORD hugged me. I felt assured that my future is in His hand and He will take care of me. I felt a deep sense of peace knowing that Jesus loves me and knowing that He will take care of me. I just think of His Love for me and I started resting on His Love. I realized that I no longer had any urge to plan or set goals I just allow Him to work on me and with me. You might call it unproductive but in a short period of time I was able to accomplish a lot of things; even goals that I set years back.

I believe that the LORD has placed me in the right place and the right time and doors of opportunities will present themselves. I go out in our house and I get a jeep/cab ready for me or when I buy things like flowers for my fiancee, the sales lady just gave me a discount for no apparent reason. While preparing for my wedding, the LORD already opened four major doors and I did not even lift a finger to do it. In my career, I received live coaching from Him in doing what I need to do and when I get stressed, I just remind myself of His Love for me and everything just become ok. He just pops in ideas and when I walk to one person about a possible business venture that person just eagerly respond to my questions. You see the LORD is really taking care of me and His Love and His favor abounds.

Resting in His Love goes deeper than what I just told you and what I am experiencing. I can talk all day about what else He is doing in my life but I will still not fully impart how amazing resting in His Love is. Everything is just a top of the iceberg. It is so wonderful that I hope everyone will be able to experience it. If you want to experience real peace and love please let me know so we can talk about it and we can pray. The LORD loves you as much as He loves me and He will make available for you what He has made available for me.

Do not get me wrong there is nothing wrong with making plans and setting goals but in my case, it has focused me on myself and when that happened it became a source of frustration. But when you rest in His Love for you, you will focus on Him not on yourself and He does not disappoint because in Him we will lack nothing. Truly the Psalmist is right when he said, "The LORD is my Shepperd I shall not want." Because when He will take care of you, you know that His Grace is sufficient.
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Monday, November 08, 2010
Wisdom from Up


My fiance was browsing her facebook account when she saw a clip of the movie Up. Up is an animated movie about a guy named Carl who used balloons to fly his house out from the city to a his dream mountain cliff only to find a boyscout in his porch while the house is already UP in the air. The movie was really great and it actually became one of my favorite animated films. When me and Joyce watched this film, Joyce actually cried in the first part of the movie (shhhh.. she told me never to tell anyone). I have to admit that my eyes were a little teary when I was watching this film. It's just sad to see the sad story of Carl and Ellie (Carl's wife). But I guess the sad part of the story of Carl and Ellie is that they started very well: full of hopes and dreams. They even dream of living in a mountain cliff beside a waterfall. But life happened and as they grew older, Carl and Ellie deferred their dream of living in a mountain cliff. Days turned to months and years until Ellie and Carl found themselves old. Then a tragic event happened to Carl, Ellie died. Carl and Ellie never reached that mountain.

Of course there is a redemption part in the story but if you look at it. Carl and Ellie's story is a story of many people you and I know. People who dreamt dreams and saw vision of themselves successful and happy but when life happened to them they forgot their dreams and they end up deferring their dreams. Then days turns to months and months to years until they realized that they are already old and never had the chance to fulfill their dreams. After watching the movie, I realized that the scariest thing in life is not failing to reach the goal but actually not trying at all. It's scary to live a life in regret. It's scary to know that you could have tried and yet you are too scared to even start.

My challenge today is to never give up on your dream. To have the courage to start and try again. To live with courage knowing the failing in the process is not the biggest failure; it is to live in regrets because you never tried.
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Wednesday, November 03, 2010
no image


Few months ago, I browse through my journal and I found a short list that I wrote titled, Lessons @ 26 and I've listed there lessons that I felt made a difference in my life (Similar to Top 10 principles that I like and live! and this post). I had a great time reading it not just because what I wrote in the list are really good lesson but also because I felt that it is a good way for me to talk to myself. The list contains ideas that I still practice and ideas that I felt reflects my previous reality. After reading it, I promised myself that I will write another one just before the year ends. I certainly have a lot of lessons learned lately so let me give you an abridge version of my original list.

And why would you be interested in reading this list? Because I could say that this is one of the best years in my life so far and I will try my best to post all lessons that I've learned that made this year the best year in my life so far. Let's get started:

Lesson 1. Seek for true happiness.
I do not want to go to a debate of what is true happiness. All I know that I have found my true happiness in the Love and Grace of God which is Jesus. If you are not a Christian please allow me to explain and read on.

In the past, I could honestly say that I have lived a life of bondage: condemnation, dissatisfaction, guilt, pretension, fear, hypocrisy, arrogance and sin. But in the middle of this year, I prayed that the LORD will bring me to a new level of experience with Him. I want to know Jesus because though I have been attending church I am still bound with many things and I have not truly known Jesus. So the LORD made a way (and I realized it now) so that I will get to know Pastor Joseph Prince of New Creation Church who is teaching strongly about Grace. It was then that I have realized that my thoughts on Him and His love and grace for Him are very limited. I realized that Jesus already freed me from condemnation and sin and He has given me his Righteousness. I am telling you, that Jesus has changed my life and He gave me a new heart: a heart that seeks for more of His Grace and more of experiencing Him. I realized that this is the true happiness and that even if I am stripped of everything as long as I have Jesus, I know I am going to be alright. Because I know He loves me. For more information please download the podcast of Pastor Prince. Again, search for true happiness because you will never live a full life without him.

Lesson 2. Choose to be free.
Resentment, guilt, worry, or anything negative is not worth your time. To be negative, even just for a second, is useless and is a waste of time and energy. To bear grudges against others is too heavy for any person to carry. To be worried about anything is impractical. Choose to be free from all of them.

I used to take all things seriously thinking that it is the right attitude to anything. I now realized that the more tight-fisted I am the more life seems to be heavier and harder. But the more I let go and just relax I begin to enjoying the journey; life is about the journey and not the destination. I now realized that it is better to be happy than to be worried and to be free than to be angry. I realized that your freedom is one of the very important miracle this life has to offer. Enjoy living a life of freedom and let go.

Lesson 3. Have the balls to assert yourself.
I realized that there are just so many people who do not like to stick their neck out or too afraid to step on someone's toes or too afraid to say what they want. So when you have the balls to assert yourself then this will differentiate you from these people. So when you make decisions stand with it and do not be afraid to say why you believe it. Assert yourself. Have the balls to say this is what you believe.

The flip side of this, and this was added by a friend, is to know that you are wrong and admit it. When you make wrong decisions then just say, "I was wrong." Then people will respect you for it. This works almost anywhere, even in your job.

Lesson 4. Be different.
I talked about differentiation awhile ago and I would like to reinforce it here in this lesson because there are so many people today who live their lives in mediocrity and it is easy to conform with the majority. There is indeed strength in numbers and if you are surrounded with people who live lives of mediocrity then you will just be one of the faces. I found out that when you are unique, in a positive way, then people are going to appreciate it. So be different, find a differentiating factor; it could be a hobby, a skill, risk-taking skills, or a style. In your career, if you are the same with everybody else then you will not go very far from the people you go with.

Lesson 5. Be grateful.
I do not want to be simplistic but the truth is, I just found this principle in its pure form. Being grateful puts your feet on the ground and it makes you realized that it is not about you. My tip is for you to look around and be thankful for what you see.

I know that what I shared are very simple but these lessons makes this year one of the best year ever. Why? Because I am happy and it is not because what I have accomplished because whether I accomplish something or not, I will still have that happiness. But I can say that even with these simple lessons I was able to accomplish more this year than previous year. I know the LORD has blessed me in multiple areas in my life. This year is truly one of the best so far.
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Saturday, August 14, 2010
Lessons I learned from Alice in WonderLand


I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure. 
-- Eric Lidel

I know Alice in the Wonderland is so yesterday but today I decided to watch the movie (more like forced to watch since my nephew popped in the DVD). To be honest I really did not like or understand the cartoons back then maybe it's because of the idea of falling to a hole in the ground and finding yourself lost isn't just exciting to me back then (well maybe even until now). Back then I didn't know what it's all about but with Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, I realized that the movie is quite interesting. I picked few life lessons in the process as I watched the movie. Allow me to share three of them to you.

Lesson #1. Know thy self.
The movie was really about a girl who is trying to know herself and her struggle to stay away from other people trying to make plans for her life.

In my life I have met many people who tried to tell me what to do. They say things like, "you should take masters degree" or "you start your MBA degree as early as now" or "you should buy a house or get a car" or "join this business" or "you should work to be a General Manager of your company". These are good suggestions but this does not necessarily coincide with how God designed my being. As young person I followed some of these advise even if deep down inside I don't totally like it. I just hope that I will like it when I'm there already; I enrolled in masters degree and got a pretty good grade ( in fact, allow me to brag, I think I was #2 or #3 in the class) but the process of doing it is a chore for me. I could not see the end result and the "why" I'm doing it. I felt harassed every time I go to school so even I think I was getting the "success" in this endeavor I felt it was just a waste of time.

I decided to really know myself and ask what is it that I want to do. What is it that when I do it I feel God's pleasure?1 Now I am staying home, learning internet marketing, reading books, talk in public, blog, join care groups, help develop people and encourage people, generate ideas and work with teams, and you know what when I do these things I feel His pleasure.:)

Don't allow other people to dictate what you must do. Know thy self.2

Lesson #2. Believe in at least Six Impossible things.
This is probably one of the life lessons that is new to me that I found in the movie. When I heard this line,"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." I thought,"why not?":) I mean, why not believe in six impossible things before breakfast? Why not believe in what cannot be done? Why not believe in what you thought impossible or hard or unfeasible? Why not stretch? Why not go beyond the unknown?

Lesson #3. There is a place called Wonderland.
I know that is one the six impossible things that Alice believe in but I just want you (and me) to reflect in the this "Do you believe in a place called Wonderland?"

I thought about this and I realized that we need to have a wonderland time. A time when we just wonder and imagine the possibilities. A time when we just stretch beyond what we can do and think about doing what we cannot do. It's a time to challenge our sanity and bring in realities that we have never thought before.Imagine what you can do when you kept on imagining doing what you thought you could not do?3

I hope that you find this post helpful.

Taking a sip,
Joseph Librero

1 Eric Lidel
2 Socrates
3 Joseph Librero (I just thought of this)
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Thursday, August 05, 2010
What's in a name?


A friend once suggested, "You should have a cooler pen name like Joe L, it's short and catchy". At first I was convinced on what he suggested and started using Joe L in this blog as a pen name. I felt fine with it, after all what's in a name right? But when I attended a seminar titled PastForward where one of the speakers was Cito Beltran and one of the points that he shared to the attendees was the value of our names. He maintained that our names has significant clues for our destiny and purpose in life and so we should not be using nicknames because to nick is to steal or trick, thus the phrase, "You nick me". In a nutshell using nicknames means to stealing from our destiny.

In my case, my name is Joseph and if you Google the name Joseph right now you will see that this name is used to describe people of destiny. You can find famous Joseph's here -People known as Joseph and you will see that Joseph's are people who made a dent in our history. The Josephs are made for great purpose. In contrary my nicknames are Jojo, or Jo, or Joe. What do these names mean? Nothing. Joe, for example, means average or regular thus the phrase "I'm just an average Joe". So you see the difference? One means special, destined, and distinct while the other means average. Do I want to be average? Definitely not! Isn't it clear that I am being nick just by using my nick name?

Another example would be about a guy I met in a fellowship. He told me his name is Gidz but when I asked him his real name he said it's Gideon.Gidz is not Gideon. Gidz does not make any sense but Gideon is a mighty man of valor. One name has a destiny the other cuts or steals that destiny (nick =cut).

So what's in a name? Apparently a lot.:) The clue to your destiny could be in your name.

How about you what does your name means and what clue can it give you about your destiny?
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Monday, August 02, 2010
Never Lose Your Shout




I am re-evaluating my progress right now and I realized I am not where I want to be at this time of the year. I had so little progress and when you start thinking this way, it's easy to fall into discouragement. But I when I went to CitiChurch today to visit and meet friends, one statement from the sermon hit me today, "Never Lose Your Shout". Pastor Jo Alfafara said, "Losers whine and complain but winners never lose their shout". I realized I have lost my shout because of the circumstances. I thought I did not made any progress but the pastor made me remember that I AM A WINNER and I should NEVER lose my SHOUT. And it's not a noise or a sound of whining or complaining it should be a SHOUT of VICTORY and TRIUMPH.
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Thursday, July 15, 2010
The Urgent vs. the Important

Life Balance: The Urgent vs. the Important by Denis Waitley



Of all the wisdom I have gained, the most important is the knowledge that time and health are two precious assets that we rarely recognize or appreciate until they have been depleted. As with health, time is the raw material of life. You can use it wisely, waste it or even kill it.

To accomplish all we are capable of, we would need a hundred lifetimes. If we had forever in our mortal lives, there would be no need to set goals, plan effectively or set priorities. We could squander our time and perhaps still manage to accomplish something, if only by chance. Yet in reality, we're given only this one life span on earth to do our earthly best.

Each human being now living has exactly 168 hours per week. Scientists can't invent new minutes, and even the super-rich can't buy more hours. Queen Elizabeth I of England, the richest, most powerful woman on earth of her era, whispered these final words on her deathbed: "All my possessions for a moment of time!"

We worry about things we want to do, but can't, instead of doing the things we can do, but don't. How often have you said to yourself, "Where did the day go? I accomplished nothing," or "I can't even remember what I did yesterday." That time is gone, and you never get it back.

Staring at the compelling distractions on a television screen is one of the major consumers of time. You can enjoy and benefit from the very best it has to offer in about seven total hours of viewing per week. But the average person spends more than 30 hours per week in a semi-stupor, escaping from the priorities and goals he or she never gets around to setting. The irony is that the people we are watching are having fun achieving their own goals, making money, having us look at them enjoying their careers.

Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you've wasted in the past, you still have an entire today. If you've just frittered away an hour procrastinating, you will still be given the next hour to start on priorities. Time management contains one great paradox: No one has enough time, and yet everyone has all there is. Time is not the problem; the problem is separating the urgent from the important.

Every decision we make has an "opportunity cost." Every decision forfeits all other opportunities we had before we made it. We can't be two places at the same time.

Even though we all are aware of the tradeoffs of "quality time vs. quantity time" in our relationships, we are not used to thinking specifically about how our decisions cost us other opportunities. Without this understanding, our decisions will often be unfocused and unrelated to helping us achieve our most important goals.

You may have heard the story about the analogy of the "circus juggler" to each of us as we try to balance our personal and professional priorities. I have heard the story repeated by many keynote speakers and have used it in previous books, but have never been able to trace the identity of the original author.

When the circus juggler drops a ball, he lets it bounce and picks it up on the next bounce without losing his rhythm or concentration. He keeps right on juggling. Many times we do the same thing. We lose our jobs, but get another one on the first or second bounce. We may drop the ball on a sale, an opportunity to move ahead, or in a relationship, and we either pick it up on the rebound or get a new one thrown in to replace what we just dropped.

However, some of the balls or priorities we juggle don't bounce. The more urgent priorities associated with self-imposed deadlines and workloads have more elasticity than the precious, delicate relationships which are as fragile as fine crystal. Balance involves distinguishing between the priorities we juggle that bounce from the ones labeled "loved ones," "health," and "moral character" that may shatter if we drop them.

The reason I always ask my seminar attendees to list the benefits of reaching their goals is so they can arrange them in the true order of importance to them and give them a sufficient amount of attention as they juggle them within their time constraints. Handle your priorities with care. Some of them just don't bounce!

To live a rich, balanced life we need to be more in conscious control of our habits and lifestyles. Actualized individuals have a regular exercise routine. They pay attention to nutrition, with lean sources protein and fiber-based carbohydrates as their basic food choices. They relax through musical, cultural, artistic and family activities. They get sufficient sleep and rest to meet the next day renewed and invigorated.

In addition to blocking periods of time for recreation and vacations, they also schedule large, uninterrupted periods of work on their most important projects. Contrary to popular notions, most books, works of art, inventions and musical compositions are created during uninterrupted time frames, not by a few lines, strokes, or notes every so often. Every book or audio program I have written has been done with the discipline of 12 to 15 hours per day during a specific block of time.

True enough, I may have sacrificed a ski trip or an escape vacation once or twice. But by trying to focus on prime projects in prime time, the opportunity costs have been outweighed by the return on invested resources.

With your material, time and energy resources allocated well, you should be able to use your innovative powers to focus on goal achievement. Effective priority management creates freedom. Freedom provides opportunity to make decisions. We make our decisions and our decisions, over time, make us.

Freedom from urgency... that's what will allow us to live a rich and rewarding life. You may have thought your problem was "time starvation," when in truth, it was in the way you assigned priorities in your decision-making process. Have you allowed the urgent to crowd out the important?

Each day we will continue to encounter deadlines we must meet and "fires," not necessarily of our own making, we must put out. Endless urgent details will always beg for attention, time and energy. What we seldom realize is that the really important things in our life don't make such strict demands on us, and therefore we usually assign them a lower priority.

Our loved ones understand when we are preoccupied with our urgent business, but it's hard for us to understand, many years later, when they appear preoccupied when we finally find some time for them. Harry Chapin's classic song "The Cat's in the Cradle" is still a mirror reflecting our priorities.

All the important arenas in our life are there awaiting our decisions. But they don't beg us to give them our time. The local university doesn't call us to advance our education and improve our life skills.

I have never received a call or e-mail from the health club I joined insisting that I show up and work out for 30 minutes each day. My bathroom scale has never insisted that I lose 30 pounds. The grocery clerks have never made me put back on the shelves the junk food I put in the cart, nor has a fast-food restaurant ever refused me a double cheeseburger and large fries because of my high cholesterol.

Nor have I ever been subpoenaed by the ocean or the mountains to appear for relaxation and solitude. Yet I receive hundreds of urgent phone messages and e-mails each week from people with deadlines.

You see, it's the easiest thing in the world to neglect the important and give in to the urgent. One of the greatest skills you can ever develop in your life is not only to tell the two apart, but to be able to assign the correct amount of time to each.

Beginning tomorrow, throughout the day, and every day thereafter, stop and ask yourself this question: "Is what I'm doing right now important to my health, well-being and mission in life, and for my loved ones?" Your affirmative answer will free you forever from the tyranny of the urgent.

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Monday, July 12, 2010
The timing is never right.

  • 11:49 PM
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The timing is never right.
-- Tim Ferris

Allow me to share a portion of what I've read from Tim Ferris' book Four-Hour Workweek:
--- start [got this excerpt from Upgrade Reality]
I once asked my mom how she decided to have her first child, little ol’ me. The answer was simple: “It was something we wanted, and decided there was no point in putting it off.The timing is never right to have a baby”. And so it is.

For all of the most important things,the timing always sucks. Waiting for a good time to quit your job? The stars will never align and the traffic lights of life will never all be green at the same time.

The universe doesn’t conspire against you,but it doesn’t go out of its way to line up all the pins either.Conditions are never perfect.”Someday” is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you. Pro and con lists are just as bad. If it’s important to you and you want to do it “eventually”, just do it and correct course along the way.”

---end

It's interesting how I find this very close to home, I have the tendency to find the best timing in starting something. Whether is be starting a business, creating change, pursuing a hobby, traveling abroad, getting married, buying a house, or what have you, I have the tendency to wait for the stars to align and the moon to smile just for me to do something great. The truth is as I realized the timing is NEVER right. We will always have payables, we will always have a lot to do, and there will always be inconvenience.

It's interesting how the 90-day challenge fall to the category of the "NEVER right". Maybe it is something I really want to happen to me, to be driven out of comfort and to finally find a reason and time to pursue my dreams and goals.

If you have a dream or goal pursue it now, no matter the circumstance that surrounds you right now, doing something is important than doing nothing. The timing to pursue your dream, to re-align your future, to correct errors in judgments, and follow your passion is now. Remember that the timing is never right.

Taking a sip,
Joseph Librero
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Saturday, July 10, 2010
The TRUTH will no set you free.


Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
-- John 8:32


I know that you have heard this being said before, "The truth will set you free". The truth is, this statement is NOT TRUE! No truth can set anyone free. If truth in itself can set everyone free then NO ONE should be in bandage at this very moment. If this statement is true then NO ONE should still be poor or sick or suffering or sad or depressed or hopeless. Why? Because an unknown truth cannot help anybody. Truth needs to be known to perform it's purpose. Some people will ask, "but the Bible says truth can set you free. Is the Bible wrong?" Read your Bible again, "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. [John 8:32]" There has to be a knowledge of the truth for truth to set someone free. I am not here to have theological debate but really I think there is a strong principle here that will definitely help us in living this life victoriously. We need to KNOW the TRUTH for us to live a life in victory. So there is a strong emphasis on knowing rather than allowing necessity to inform us.

So how does this help the 90-day challenge?
#1. 90-day challenge demands INCREASE in KNOWLEDGE.
When I started with the 90-day challenge, I know I have to be smarter than before. Obviously a millionaire thinks differently than I do. Millionaires do things differently than I do. So I have to read about millionaires, ask people about millionaires, and talk to people of the same mindset as I do. Why? Because I need to KNOW the truth about getting a million in 90-days. Once I know that then I will be set free from being a "thousandaire".

#2. 90-day challenge demands INTENTIONAL LEARNING
If before I rely on accidents and emergencies to teach me how to be wealthy now, I have to be intentional in my learning. Intentional learning is different from accidental learning, intentional learning is like a light being placed over a magnifying glass, it is focused and potent.

In closing, what we need is an increase in knowledge but to make it more powerful it has to be intentional. Once there is increase in knowledge then freedom will take place and the truth can do it's job - set people free.

Taking a sip,
Joseph Librero
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Friday, July 09, 2010
Plants versus Zombies


For few days now I've playing Plants vs. Zombies. It started with me just watching my niece playing this game then I decided to try playing it. I was hooked; I could not stop! The rules are simple don't let the zombies enter your house and use plants to stop them. Plants protects while zombies attack. Plants give life (and in the game money also) while zombies take.

In life we can choose to either be a plant or a zombie. In our business we can be a zombie or a plant. In the office we can act like a zombie or plant. In our home, we can take the life, joy, and peace out of people to bring joy and happiness.

So how do you know whether you are a zombie or a plant?

You are a zombie if you:
  • are working for the sake of survival, without purpose or long term vision.
  • do not have control over your career and your appetite.
  • are working for the sake of working (without passion) .
  • feel like your business /career taking your life out of you (in this case, you business/career is your zombie-maker)
  • are not providing life and growth to others.
You are a plant if you:
  • add value to other people around you.
  • give life to yourself and the people that surrounds you.
  • are happy where ever you are.
  • make the most of every opportunity for personal and corporate growth.
  • take advantage of anything given to you - the sun, the rain, the soil, the air...
  • understand that you need others to grow.
  • don't just take but give.
So there is a parallelism in the since that plants gives life while zombies takes life.
My hope is that no matter where we are, in the office, or in our business, or in our home that we we become plants and not zombies.

Taking a sip,
Joseph Librero
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Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Two brand of shoes you MUST wear when pursuing your dreams.


"I will act NOW"
-- Og Mandino

I remembered an anecdote that Pastor Noel mentioned in his sermon about following your goals and it goes like this: When you follow you dreams you need to wear two brands of shoes: Nike and Adidas. Nike because when you follow your dreams you need to "Just Do it". And Adidas because when you face adversity you need to say to yourself "Impossible is Nothing" and move forward. How true, oftentimes we get paralyze by our fears and apprehensions as a result we start nothing and we end with nothing.

In Day 7 and Day 12 of the 90-day Challenge, I talked about moving forward and making sure that we move from being motivated to actually doing something. I feel like writing this now to talk myself more on taking action because I felt like I've slowed down. It could just be my writing business that turned in to writing work that stressed me these days or it could be my usual "I don't have all the information" feeling that's creeping to my chest that is driving me to slow down but it could be just me.

Last Sunday, me and my mentor, Tony, took our usual Sunday walk to Busay and in our conversation I found that I really have the tendency to in-action. Yeah it's sad to admit this but I cannot be delusional anymore. I need to admit I have this problem so I can do something about this. I cannot have a successful 90-day challenge if I will not work on this. I have to take action. I have to ACT NOW! I have to JUST DO IT. I have to think IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING!

Allow me to make a public commitment right here and right now. This July coupleswishlist.com and cebuanogifts.com will be created and the phase 1 of the projects will be implemented.

How about you? Is there anything that you should resolve to do that you have put off? Do you want to commit to take action? Remember when following your dreams, Just Do It and Impossible is Nothing.

Taking a sip,
Joseph Librero
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How I saved some money?


For years, I promised myself to save at least 10% of my income and for years I kept on slipping back to old “spend-it-all” habit. You see I truly believe in what Peter Daniels said about saving and it goes this way, "If you cannot save 20% of your income then the seed of greatness is not in you."

So I started finding ways to save money. I opened a bank account for savings and started putting money on it. I started pretty well but as I've mentioned I kept on slipping and started spending my saved money. I researched about it until I found a way to automatically deduct from my paycheck that amount and deposit it to an account that I do not have easy access to. It’s only then that I was able to ‘keep’ my promise (to myself).

It taught me one good lesson, and that is to find a way for you to eliminate the need to ‘discipline’ yourself. Automation worked for me because it eliminates my chance to make a monthly decision to save every month. The act of deciding alone already put me in so much pressure month after month. So having it automatically deducted from my paycheck even before I touched the money really helped in keeping me within the budget.

If you are an employee like me, you can arrange this with your HR or payroll officer. This will greatly impact your self-esteem and help you become a success.

Taking a sip,
Joseph Librero
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