Hitting a Plateau?

Who among you felt like plateauing in life?

What is a Plateau?

It’s when you thought you have nothing more to offer. When you thought that you’ve got all that you want and you cease to grow because you were at “that” stage when you have gotten what you’ve dreamed of.

This is one of the most dangerous part of life. When you close your minds to more possibilities because you thought, you’ve got it all and you don’t have that big of a lid that will encompass a much bigger scope of influence and dream. Sometimes, it’s fear that is constantly feeding that kind of mindset (which can be another story).

I once dreamed of becoming a better version of myself. I think everyone does. But what will stop you from dreaming? When you’d finally gotten into the top of “your” hill? When you think you have nothing more to learn because you thought you had been the best?

My goodness! what a mindset.

I also fell into that trap of thinking. Maybe because I have read plenty of books and I thought I was on top of my game. But then, who said, there is an ending to all possibilities in this world? Who said that you should stop dreaming when you’ve finally been into your destination?

I tell you, there will always be a room for improvement. We never stop learning and our life is a never ending journey of reflection and continuous growth.

In times when you are plateauing and you do not know where to go, remember that there will always be a much better service that you can offer. You never cease to look for something more. Something bigger that you have right now. It’s human nature to look for something more. If you stop looking for more, your mind will rot and will start creating a bunch of excuses not to dream more and do more. When you stop, you’d feel lost (again) and defeated.

Inaction – doing nothing about a situation strengthen fear and destroys confidence.
– The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz

Don’t be fooled though. I am not talking about monetary increase or growth. Or life milestone. I am talking about the value that you give to others. What more can you give? What are the weaknesses that you need to enrich to be at your full potential?

Watch your words during these times of your life. Most of the time, this is when you are so dangerous because not only can you trick your mind into nonsense excuses but, you can also influence others to be at that mindset. Which will then add to the negativity in this world. A very crucial part of life I should say.

I realize how important it is to dream. To look for something more and becoming more than you are right now. You never stop and you never quit. Also, let me end this post with an excerpt from a poem that held so much meaning in my life.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won if he’d stuck it out,
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow,
You might succeed with another blow.

Often the struggler has given up,
When he might captured the victor’s cup.
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown,

It may be near when it seems afar,
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,
It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.

Don’t Quit by Edgar A. Guest

I Want To Be That Girl

I just finished watching a spoken love poetry.

And suddenly I have had that inspiration to write.

I thought I want to be that girl.

That girl he wishes to be his’, no matter what her mama says.

I want to be that girl whom he’d say his weirdest dreams and how his day went

That girl whom he’d spent time in the couch doing nothing.

The girl who will end up in bed side-by-side reading and writing their love story.

I wish I can be that girl he can be vulnerable with.

The girl he’d say, “I love you” every single day.

I wish I can be that girl he wants to shower with gifts, hugs and kisses.

The girl who constantly challenges him to become a better version of himself.

The girl who will support him in his every endeavor.

Who will constantly cheer him up when he is down.

Whom “awkward silence” is never in the vocabulary.

Who will accept him for who he is but is in constant support for his growth.

That girl who will be his teammate when they tried to beat him.

I would want to be that girl.

Would love to be that girl.

I want to be that girl, if he only let me in.

Turning Point

Hi guys! It’s been ages since I have published something worthwhile here. Though I know, you often see my posts in my other blog, Books in My Baggage (If not, feel free to check it out), I have not published any article here in a while.

This is not because I have forgotten about you all, but because I am currently working on myself.

As what they say, you can not give what you don’t have.

Thus, I am earnestly working towards my self-development so that I’d be able to share more values to my readers.

Last two years was a little tough and had challenged my grit and perseverance so much, to the point of giving up at some point. It wasn’t life changing or tear jerking though. Nothing that you need to worry about.

And maybe the reason why I keep on reading books about winning and loosing. The wisdom I’ve gain from those books were 100 folds more than the price that I got them, which I am very thankful about.

Last year 2016, though I’ve had a lot of family travels and started to see and experience more places, I have not posted some of those here and I am so sorry about it. I have also removed some of the travel and food posts here too. I have thought about it a number of times because my travels wasn’t only really about the shallow parts of travelling.

The travels here were more than places. Sometimes, it’s about traveling back n time – reflecting about what happened in the pasts that have shaped my today and can surely affect the future.

Though this blog will still be about travelling and inspiration, I just felt like it is time to re brand it.

Travel, reflect, inspire and express will still be four verbs that I’ll keep but would be using them in a different context.

Travel Reflections and Expressive Inspiration.

And that is the value that we will give you in the long run. For sure, there are questions that are running in your head right now and the About Page of this blog has been updated for your consumption, but let me also put it here in the posts to serve more audience.

What is Travel Reflections?

Travel reflections isn’t only about discovering new places and hot spots in town, it’s also about travelling through time – by going through the past, analyzing the present and preparing for the future.

How about, Expressive Inspiration?

Expressive inspiration is when you are lured to negativity but you choose to be positive and inspire others. Expressive inspiration isn’t common nowadays. You know why? It’s because it’s easy to quit, say goodbye and reset your life.

Why Re brand?

This is also my fourth branding: My Baggage Counter, Blog Made to Inspire, Travel.Reflect.Inspire.Express and right now, TRI Express.

And I’m never gonna stop until I’ll find what is best for this site, that can also allow me to  embrace my love for reflections and inspiration.

I am an advocate of self-awareness and believes in what Lao Tsu said,

“Knowing others is intelligence;knowing yourself is true wisdom.Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.”

Don’t get me wrong and might think that knowing thyself is a selfish act, for I will revert back to our first point which is, “You can not give what you don’t have”. 

Giving yourself the wisdom that you need is never selfishness. Because the more you feed your mind with relative soulful thoughts, the more you’ll continuously give value to people around you.

This is my life’s turning point. When value to people is my greatest goal. And I will always live in my mantra,

“If you cannot change the world, at the very least, change yourself.”

Imagine a community that would want to change themselves to their greatest version, what a wonderful world this could become. 🙂

Tired? Is it Good or Bad?

There are two types of tiredness – the good and the bad – Good Tired and Bad Tired. What type of tiredness do you have?

I have read this notion in one of the books I’ve read last year by John Izzo, The Five Secrets you Must Discover Before you Die.

We always feel tired at the end of day. After school, work or just because you did something that exhausts your energy – maybe after exercising or doing your household chores. Our body’s energy will get drained and would want a good night sleep to replenish all those lost physical power. But what is the difference of the two types of tiredness? Is it just based on how tired you are at the end of day or was it something to do with how we felt about that “tiredness”?

Before explaining what the good tired is, which I am not sure if it’s your current feeling right now, “Bad Tiredness” is much more relatable because more often than not, we would wake up at the wrong side of the bed – being motivated requires practice and if you are, you wouldn’t probably need this article because you are 100% sure that you fall under the “Good Tired” category.

What is Bad Tiredness?

Bad tired is when you are demotivated. When you felt undervalued and you totally do not want what you are doing. You are dragging yourself into doing what you do. You felt sick and your morale was at the rock bottom and you don’t have the idea to lift yourself up. It’s like you are stuck. The tiredness is more apparently felt on the outside (physical) because the inside of you is drained. Your inner drive is what’s telling you, “Hey, you are tired” and not your physical body instead.

The Good Tiredness on the other is the best feeling you could ever feel. No matter how your physical body says that you are tired, you seem to be stubborn not to follow through with it. You continue to do your job anyway. Good Tired is when you are motivated inside no matter how hard the situation is. You keep on pushing yourself.

What category are you currently at, right now?

Does this mean, being in the “Bad Tired” category means it’s the end of the world for you? Well, the good news is, it will never be too late. You maybe finding yourself in the dark side category however, you always have the option to dream and look forward to what you really think that can make you happy – your mind is your greatest asset. If you only set it the right way, then you will soon get that “good tiredness” that you want. But what do you need?

Sacrifice (for the mean time) – Sometimes, you are in the bad side because you don’t know what to ask the universe. You are giving mixed signals of what you want. Remember, you must have focus. Ask yourself, what do you really want to pursue?

And attract the good omens and right people to help you out. 

You may be stuck right now to where you are, but if you have that goal mindset along with hardwork, then one by one you will get what you have dreamed about. That bad tiredness for now, is your hard work.

Being in the “Good Tiredness” category is not easy to be into. It requires persistence, tenacity to get your goal and one of the most important thing that we tend to undermine is, courage. Courage to fight for what we really like despite all the setbacks that we have in life.

Courage doesn’t mean being fearless; it’s about knowing what fear is, and doing it anyway.

So the questions I leave for you before you end reading this post is:
– Are you “Good Tired” or “Bad Tired”?
– If you belong to the “Good” then, you are on the right track, if you are not, what are you planning to do in order to be on the “Good” side?
(You have to be honest in answering this question, set aside what other people say and listen to what your heart says)

Start claiming that good side and let the universe work for you. Focus on your plans and goals. Never get distracted (keep going) and one day, you’d be surprised to be getting what you have dreamed about.

#HowToAdult Caravan By Francis Kong @ Ampitheater, UP Town Center

Thank you Mr. @franciskong for delivering a very powerful message about #howtoadult. My take away is to develop the power of discipline, (Intellectually, Emotionally, Physically, Financially and Spiritually). It's always a privilege to hear you talk about the success of one person the right way. May the Lord continuously bless you with wisdom and boldness to speak, Sir. Thank you for making this event possible, #thephilippinestar #metrobank #sunlife #avida "Discipline is delayed gratification"

First of all, this talk wouldn’t be made possible without the sponsors: Metrobank, Sun Life and Avida (with special participation of The Philippine Star and UP Town Center). We should be very thankful for your kindness by giving us the chance to listen and meet THE Francis Kong.

It has been a long time since I’ve been wishing to meet Francis Kong. I have not read any of his book but his page in Facebook has been trending for a while and I seemed to be so curious about him because of how positive he is and how many followers he has. If you are not yet one of them, please do so, for he’ll surely give you insights, inspiring words of wisdom and motivation – his niche (aside from being an entrepreneur/businessman). Seeing him in person and feeling his presence is very overwhelming and striking. He is such a charmer, a person of interest and a funny individual too – an icon as I’d say it.

He started his talk by introducing himself, his achievements and family – for sure, his pride and joy. He makes himself relatable by using the terms of this generation and no wonder, the millennials love him. He also looked like some Chinito celebrities like Jose Mari Chan, Richard Poon and Richard Yap which he jokingly started as an ice breaker. He surely knows how to grab the attention of his audience.

Let me also describe how he delivers his talk – ENGAGING. Something most speakers forget to dwell on nowadays. It has also nudged me into making my future classes more engaging and collaborative.

Once he has established the attention of his audience, he smoothly transitioned into the main menu of this event which is, How to be an Adult.

He started by citing an anecdote about high school reunions (yes, another attention grabbing scenario that everyone can relate) in which he’d set an eye-opener situation, in which your school’s former “cool dudes” before, can transform into a lame individual (after a few years) because of poor choices in their lives. How many times have we heard this story and we can never get tired of this?

“We are the products of the choices we make from day to day.”

Which leads me to my first take away:
Right Behavior, yields Right Outcome.  

He then smoothly transitioned (again) into questioning us with: “How can you build the right behavior in order to give you excellent results?” The answer is, DISCIPLINE.

In which, he explained that discipline means, “Delayed Gratification” and in our life, there are five areas that we need to be disciplined on:

  • Intellectual
  • Emotional
  • Physical
  • Financial
  • Spiritual

While he was explaining about the Physical Discipline, he invited a surprise guest speaker that he “ambushed” into talking for us – Mr. TJ Manotoc – high caliber host, sports anchor and just like everyone, has started as a dreamer as well.

My best take away from him is the importance of Confidence. That one characteristic of every winners and champions that he have met, is confidence. That every individual will have that phase of his life wherein he can be lost and wouldn’t know what to do. Just like everyone of us. Truly an inspiration as well, to the younger generation.

During that time, the rain started pouring and the night is ticking already; thus, the dark photos that you can see below. Nevertheless, the rain will not hinder us from learning more from Sir Francis.

The highlight for me, for this whole event is when Sir Francis started to lay out where you, as an individual should get your worth as a person. And this is the best take away for me.

“Don’t get your worth from what you have. It’s called – ACQUISITION.
Don’t get your worth from what you do.  It’s called – ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
Don’t get your worth from what you look.  It’s called – APPEARANCE.
Don’t get your worth from what other people say.  It’s called – APPROVAL.

Where should you get your worth?

Get your worth from what you are becoming.”

And that summarizes the whole two-hour event that I have attended, despite my lack of sleep (because of my nature of work). And for me, this is how a productive weekend look like.

Thank you Sir Francis for those words of wisdom. You are truly an inspiration. 🙂

Thank you for dropping by and I hope you also had your own take aways from this blog post.

Remember, Get your worth from what you are becoming.