Do it. Today.

I not been much of a risk taker.  I wanted to make sure that before I took any step, go through any investment or enter into any relationship … that everything should be ironed out.  Or perfect… if it’s not too much to ask.

But I realized that while ensuring these conditions first are wise, taking too much time in them causes too much analysis and too much delays.

Going towards my vision – Part 2 (Which pond are you swimming in?)

Someone once told me that it is better to stay in a big corporate multinational company than stay in a small startup enterprise because, “It is better to be a small fish in a big pond than be the big fish in a small pond.”

Well after much thought, I think that it can be better to stay in a small pond as long as that’s the pond where God wants you to be in.  Otherwise, it’ll be futile to swim in a big pond where you get bumped off by other big fishes who could block your resources to becoming a big fish as well.

If you however are one of those people tasked by God to stay in that big pond now that you’re a small fish.  Don’t fret.  God is going to ensure your growth in that pond.

The important thing is that you know where God is placing you and you are willing to swim in it.

“Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint.”
– Proverbs 29:18

It is important that you don’t cast off restraint because you don’t want to regret anything later on when you’ve had the opportunity to seize it.  It’s another thing to live life not knowing there were actually opportunities.  But knowing that there were opportunities and you didn’t get around to getting them is another thing altogether.

As a Christian, it’s impossible not to know that you have the right opportunities available to you.  Why?  Because God is not selfish not to reveal them because He has designed you for success.

Do you know which pond you are destined to be in?  Ask God now.  And swim freely!

Going towards my vision – Part 1 (What is it you want?)

I’m reading Myles Munroe’s book The Principles and Power of Vision, which prompted me to write this article.  This book is great in that it’s straight-to-the-point and enlightening.

You’ll notice that this is Part 1 of my article.  I’ve decided to keep this in my blog to journal my thoughts as I go and accompany an action with it.

Here’s a starter quote from the book and you’ll be getting more in my next articles:

Let me ask you some difficult but necessary questions:  Have you changed jobs several times in the last few years?  Do you keep changing your major in college?  Do you do one thing for a time and then go on to something else because you are bored or dissatisfied?  If so, you lack vision.  You were not created to be bored and dissatisfied….
People who know what they are called to do seem to be possessed by their visions.  In a sense, they are.  They are possessed by the things God has given them to accomplish.

When you fear failure

When I was in school, I was an achiever.  All throughout elementary school, I was always at the top of my class.  I was proud to see my photo on the top ten people on the classroom bulletin board.  I was elected president for three consecutive years and won spelling quiz bees.

In high school, I was in the “gifted class” and opted out just because I thought I didn’t want to be labeled a “nerd.”  But all throughout college, I never failed a subject.  I got the top score in algebra and barely passed Accounting but I never failed.

I was afraid of failure so much so that I learned things acamedically without comprehension.  For example, I was able to memorize a number of word definitions in English class so that I would not fail but could not use these words in a sentence.

When I started working, I realized that people who were always ‘failing’ had an easier time than me.  My younger sister who felt the pangs of being “the sister of the class president” was always called to the principal’s office for her failing grades in Math since she wanted to play than study.  (She had the highest marks in Physical Education.)  But right now that she grew up, she was able to stay in a company and weather its storms in a breeze than I did.

The difference between her outlook and mine?  She was not afraid to fail.  If she did fail, she would simply move on.  I found myself having a very hard time of moving on.  If the notion of failing was even near, it would haunt me so much and make me lose sleep over it.

A different level of shrewdness

Did you remember Lucy Liu’s character ‘Ling’ from Ally McBeal?  Ling was beautiful and confident… and she knew it.  She was also cold, never caring for what other people thought and felt.

I actually liked that character because this was something I could use at work in the corporate arena where politics and crazy personalities abound.

Well, when I did encounter one such crazy personality, I realized something — I just can’t be like Ling.  I can’t be a b*tch.