Priorites vs. Time Allocated

something i learned in SFC..

step 1:  list down the top 5 priorities in your life:

1. lovelife (hopeless nga e)
2. family
3. friends
4. career
5. health

step 2: now, list down the top 5 things you spend your time on per day (exclude sleep)

work - 12hrs (career)
eating - 1hr (friends/health)
surfing the net/reading blogs - 1hr (friends)
travelling to work - 45mins (career)
travelling home (MRT/walking) - 1hr 15mins (health/career)
getting ready to sleep - 1hr
getting ready for work - 30mins (career)
chapel time - 5mins

sleep: 5-6hrs a day

step 3: check your totals

family - 0hrs (0%)
lovelife - 0hrs (0%)
friends - 2hr (11%)
career - 14hrs (77%)
health - 2hrs (11%)

Hahahaha. Nothing more to say

JellyfishSunburned

I had one of the best weekends in a very very long time. Anyway, it was 3 days of doing nothing in Balai Laiya, Batangas.

We were just sitting around, getting a sunburn, strumming the 6-stirng, snorkeling, cooking, and other "clean fun" activities. It was nice just chilling (or sizzling) with a few folks, some old friends and some of them I just met.

I also got stung by some jellyfish, and I got a really nice sunburn.

Thanks to Ron, Sol, Renco/JR, Che, Janice, Anton, Sherwin, Renchie and Kuya Val for the perfect weekend. Sana maulit muli!

Money

In no way, shape, or form am I trying to brag about anything. Just want to share a personal realization that really struck me the past weekend.  

Glenn and Camille taught me a new term last night. It's called  "Go-to-hell money". It means having enough money to tell a particular person to "Go to hell!". Something they heard from a co-worker.

Anyway, I was sorting through some old stuff, arranging stuff at my place (himala), when I saw the "memory box". This is the box I keep memories in. Good and bad. It contains letters, reciepts of meaningful events, movie tickets, UAAP tickets, rocks, chewing gum wrappers, and more. As I was going through the things in there I realized one very important thing.

Money doesn't buy happiness.

Yup. It's been thrown around a lot but I never really saw how true it was. Back in those days, I was making less than a third of what I'm making now. I can say though, that those days were happier days. Reciepts for dinner dates cost around P100 (for two!). My bank statment showed a 4-digit account balance. The thing is, I knew how much fun I had during those times.

Nowadays, I can afford a lot more expensive food and, bank statements have a lot more to show,  but sometimes, it just isn't fun. Having a new pair of jeans/shoes isn't really that fun. A new cellphone isn't that fun. Hanging out with friends is really fun. Being with family is fun. Having someone to love is fun. See, money doesn't buy happiness. Even if it's go-to-hell money.

Money isn't the cause of this no-fun scenario though. Money can really help. It's true!

Since we're talking about money, here's something I learned while sorting through all that stuff.

Mutual funds are gold! 

SunLife's bond fund account has already earned me 33% over 2 years. That's 32% more than the 1% banks give us. (Some banks currently give 0.5% interest PA). PhilAm Life's equity has earned me 6% in 3 months. At that rate, that's 48% over 2 years. That's 47% more than what banks can give you!!! And to think, I don't even need to waste a single drop of sweat to get this kind of interest. I just wish I had go-to-hell money and invested more on this.

Ok, so mutual funds are just one of the ways to go. There are countless other investment opportunities out there that probably yield go-to-hell dividends. I just don't know what they are.

I have to tell you though that investments are always risky! So ingat!

Now do you see why I keep on pushing people to invest? :)

Need help? Email me or leave a comment.

The Holiday (not the movie)

I was home for a bit more than a week. I celebrated my Easter holiday there. It's really nice to get some R&R with family and friends.

My R&R consists of the following: I was jogging every morning as long as i didn't drink the night before. Played basketball during afternoons. I ate a lot (gained 5lbs in 1 week inspite of all the excercise). Went to TheGameFritz's hometown of BayBay, Leyte (great place). Slept after lunch (wow!). Eat at pungko2x, steamed rice, ngohiong, kinilaw, etc…

It was probably the vacation when I went out the least, but when I did go out, it was really a lot of fun.

I really couldn't use words to describe everything. Just put it this way, here in Manila, the best use of time for me is spending it with my friends. Back home, i get to spend time with friends almost everyday. That's how big a thing holidays are for me.

The Holiday (movie)

I saw The Holiday (starring Cameron, Jude, Kate, and Jack). I liked it basically since it is a love story. A very nice one. It's a bit weird because I realized how I relate to a few characters in the movie. It's actually pathetic how some things are as they are, how I am the way I am sometimes. Oh well. Tsk tsk.

How long do I have to wait for love anyway?

I kinda miss it na.

Back To Makati

I accepted an offer from another company, so I'm going back to Makati.

I'm really sad that I'm leaving EB2. There's really a lot of potential in that company. Just as I've gotten to understand some of the folks in there. I'm really going to miss, opening up the office every morning, Double Bay Homeowners (Arn Arn and Mike), the sisterhood, the chapel walks with Joie, chismis, tea time, thousands of :P, breaking the build, not abiding by the dresscode, bullant (yep.. totoo to), SATA, the small-company atmosphere, and lots more.

Yeah. Another year, another job. It shouldn't be like this. I just hope the change turns out for the better. If not, then at least I get to save of bus fares and travel time.

SFC

There's a Christian Life Program (CLP) going on right now at Green Meadows every Wednesday night. I'm one of the facilitators. I acutally help a group of guys through the whole CLP.

I don't think I'd be any good as a facilitator. I mean, what am I gonna tell those participants? God is good and all, but hearing this from a guy that does a lot of very un-SFC things, it might be a bit hard. Well, no one's perfect in there. All of us has some sort of dark side. I mean, how could you preach what you don't really practice?

I've been to two sessions. So far so good. I've been able to do what a default facilitator should. I just don't know if it's gonna last. The last sharing I gave came to me at the last second. Before that, I had no idea what to say. Nice example of God will provide, huh?

Well anyway, since I'm in this already, I might as well follow through. Good luck!