The Value of Personal Development
The Value of Personal Development
It has been four years since I committed myself seriously to personal development. It is my desire to keep growing and learning until the day I die, not only for my own benefit, but for the benefit of others.
Last year during my vacation, I had a chance to witness the effect I had to my son, Justin Daniel. In a conversation with my wife, she shared how curious was his teacher about our son’s behavior and why he always excel in their Values subject. She was surprised how he managed to get high grades with very minimal effort of study. My wife told my son’s teacher, “Oh, my husband is into personal development and writes about it in his blog.” The teacher even went further by visiting my Facebook profile down to my blog site. “I wish most of the parents should practice the same values as you did as parents to your son.” remarked the teacher. “I hope he continues to write in his blog”, she further added.
I personally went through with his test results and did a sign off for the first time. He got only a mistake and I asked him about his reason for his answer. The statement was “I return books from the library on due date.” He drew a sad face and told me that it was possible to return before the due date. I asked him if he did ever borrow a book from a library and told me he never had an experience. In my opinion he was partially right. In my experience, I returned most of the books in the library before the due date.
It gave me a sense of joy and fulfillment whenever I hear this kind of story. I had been away from my family for almost 5 years but I never missed the chance to communicate and be available as possible to my son and my wife. I am even more inspired to continue in my personal development journey. The more I grow as a person, the more benefits it brings to the people around me. This means I will continue to read daily to grow in my personal life. I will listen daily to broaden my perspective. I will think daily to apply what I learn. I will file a daily journal to preserve what I learn.
As I went through the other scores from his other subjects, they we’re not as closed as his score with the Values subject. I am sure he will be able to improve his other subjects with more practice. I actually went through with his mistakes in Mathematics, showed him the correct answers and the process of solving. I was surprised why his teacher never gave them the correct answers considering there were only 5 students in the class.
As I reflect and as I try to recall when I was at his age, I was never close to being at his level of his awareness. I had a different environment, my parents was not as passionate in the personal development. Nevertheless, I had no regrets and I am more thankful for the choices that I made and for the person that I become. I am also thankful for the values that my son had and also for the person he will become. I am also grateful to my wife for being so patient nurturing our son with love and affection in his studies.
One last advice that I want to share with you my co-parents, never miss a day to say “I Love You” to your loved ones. I would like to share also our Family Values that are worth fighting for.
Here are some of his scores from his Values Education subject.
Values-Education-Score-Justin-Daniel
Christian Life Seminar Singapore 2012
(click the image to enlarge)
No eyes has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what GOD has prepared for those who love HIM.
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Family Values worth fighting for
Family Values worth fighting for – Lessons Learned
Wishing You a Very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!
Wishing You my friend and your family a Very Meaningful, Merry CHRISTmas and a Happy New Year!
Let us share God's love this holiday season.
Please allow me to sing a song for you.
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Music composed by Hugh Martin, lyrics by Ralph Blane
Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light
From now on,
our troubles will be out of sight
Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Make the Yule-tide gay,
From now on,
our troubles will be miles away.
Here we are as in olden days,
Happy golden days of yore.
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more.
Through the years
We all will be together,
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.
And have yourself A merry little Christmas now.
12 Ways to Improve Your Self-Image part 2 of 2
12 Ways to Improve Your Self-Image (Part 2 of 2)
(Please read 12 Ways to Improve Your Self-Image part 1 of 2 before you continue in case you have not)
- Unmask
A mask is a personality trait that you create and project to the world. Its purpose is to hide the real you. Masks are symbols of insecurity and self-doubt. They are often the result of someone’s expectations for someone else; it is generally at the expense of suppressing the real you.
“Time's glory is to calm contending kings, to unmask falsehood and bring truth to light.” - William Shakespeare
Remove the mask of someone else’s expectations and stop deceiving yourself. As long as the mask remains
- Have compassion
You must be sensitive to the needs of others and be willing to give assistance. As you progress along your success journey, you can acquire a greater sensitivity and a greater responsibility to the plight and condition of others. This human sensitivity puts you in harmony with your Creator, and elevates the quality of your own being.
All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness the important thing is they should be part of our daily lives. - Dalai Lama
We have dominion over every living thing on the earth. Genesis
- Grow from your mistakes
No one has ever succeeded without making mistakes. I got some bruises and lots of fall off the bicycle when I was learning to ride. If you are making mistakes, at least you know that you are trying. Mistakes are life-lessons in wisdom.
“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” - Albert Einstein
Often, you learn more from your mistakes and failures than from your successes. You determine what works in a particular situation by learning what does not work and then trying again.
Let your mistakes, through intelligent analysis and corrective actions, become markers showing the way on your journey to improve your life. You can’t live long enough to make mistakes all by yourself. Be willing to listen and learn from the mistakes of other people.
- Acknowledge your weaknesses
Any weakness or personal shortcoming that is not acknowledged cannot be overcome. Refusing to accept your weaknesses can lead you to rationalization and self deception. You perpetuate that condition.
“Our strength grows out of our weaknesses “- Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Be Yourself
People who pretend to be someone or something other than themselves never discover who they really are. When you try to be someone else, you become separated from your true self, your energies are diluted and your personal magnetism is greatly diminished. When you are true to yourself, you are in harmony with yourself, with other people, and with the world around you.
I advised my 8 year old son, just be yourself at your very best all the time. He has been consistent being on the top of his class.
“Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
The moment you reject the growth principle of life, you accept the static principle of death. The only way to attain the good health, wealth, happiness, and prosperity you seek and deserve is to grow into these qualities and attributes. To maintain them, you must continue to grow in knowledge, understanding and consciousness.
Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning. – Benjamin Franklin
Improving and developing your self-image into a positive is the best first step you can take on building the new you. It is upon your newly developed self-image that the foundation for the mansion of your dreams is built. If this foundation is based on doubt, fear, and negativity, your mansion cannot stand. But if it is built on truth, courage, compassion, self-confidence, love, and faith, your mansion stands on solid ground. It will stand forever.
“He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.” – Luke 6:48
CFC SvFL SG – Words of Motivation and Inspiration
CFC SvFL Servants for Family And Life Singapore shared their testimonies in honor of my birthday. It was very inspiring and motivating to hear praises and honor from your fellow brothers in Christ. To God be the glory!
I'm sharing here what my fellow brothers shared, not to brag or edify myself, it is my wish is to inspire others.
(oopps sorry mostly tagalog words, please click to play audio)
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Please check related article about CFC FFL Singapore
Happy Father’s Day–a special song to you Dad!
It’s been more than 3 years since I came here. Being a father working and leaving away from the family is tough emotionally. Last year was great since I was able to spend it with them and at the same time celebrate my son, Justin Daniel’s 7th birthday last June 18. Oh, I want to greet my son a very happy birthday. I’m very proud of what you are and what you will become in the future. I love you Jed. I’m hoping and praying that I can bring them along here soon in Singapore. It’s been more than 2 years since my wife; Helen submitted her birth certificate to Manila City Hall for correction of her misspelled name as Hellen instead of just single L. We’ve been persistent to the point of not giving in to any form of extortion. I hope and pray that this culture of corruption will be minimized significantly, if not eradicated by the new administration of Philippines President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.
Since I can’t celebrate both Father’s Day and my son’s 8th Birthday, I have to find some creative ways to celebrate. Bold and crazy as it may seem I decided to sing a special song from one of my favorite performers, “The King” Elvis Presley with the song Can’t Help Falling in Love. I shared this video just for my circle of friends in Facebook. Now, I’m sharing here in my blog. I remember singing this song way back in college during my stay at University of the Philippines Narra Residence Hall. Bold and crazy at that time, yes we are, we used to serenade (in our term “harana”) the ladies’ dormitories at Kamia and Sampaguita Residence Hall.
So to all fellow fathers (even mothers) who are away from home, never give up. There are countless of ways to keep you moving. It is ok once in a while to spend most of your time at work, but no too much, as stress can be fatal in your health in the long term. There are great things that you can’t find within the four corners of your office. Depending on your preference, you can join your school’s alumni organization, a sports club, or photography enthusiasts, or a religious or spiritual community, personal development group, and thousands of groups. In my part, I would like to thank my circle of friends from (CFC-SvFL) Servants for Family and Life (also CFC FFLers lah), from my Personal Excellence and Growth Meetup group, from internet marketing circle of Fabian Lim’s friends, fellow UPAAS (University of the Philippines Alumni Association Singapore), fellow PEN friends (Pinoy Entrepreneurs Night), and of course my fellow social media friends in Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Linkedin.
Fabian Lim’s Real Internet Secrets Singapore Workshop – on being a Mentor
Real Internet Secrets Workshop (RIS) is a two and half day intensive internet marketing training by Fabian Lim. This is normally held at Singapore Management University (SMU). The program used to be called the Internet Marketing Bootcamp where I was part of the last batch in March 2009. The last RIS Singapore event (by the way, there is also a RIS Malaysia) was held as usual at SMU last March 26-28, 2010. This time I was one of the mentors of the class for the third time. Our role is to assist the students in any difficulties that they may encounter which were normally related to technical challenges.
Jerome Castaneda as RIS Mentor
The great thing also of being a mentor is you had a chance to experience a fine dining with co-mentors and Fabian Lim at Hyatt Hotel’s Restaurant.
Fabian Lim's-Real Internet-Secret-Mentors
Dominate Google Search Results Page Rank – in just 3 days?
Search Engine Optimization skills building continues to amaze me with surprising results. Last Monday march 15 after just 3 days of posting my blog about making extra money online, I skyrocketed my way on top of Google search engine. It was a very cool feeling to achieve such a feat yet inspired me to even improve my skills better.
As I mentioned in the video, I didn’t learn this from my own since it will take me a very long time to understand the technicalities and the strategies behind SEO. What I did was to follow and learn not only from the experts but who were the best in the fields of Search Engine Marketing. My mentors in this field were Fabian Lim and Simon Leung who are both world class in their own fields of endeavor. You see we went to college or university to pursue our career either as an engineer, lawyer, doctor, accountant, or any related fields of expertise to achieve our current jobs. Yes I am still very much working on a job. But what I’m sharing is if you want to pursue a business in internet marketing or any kind of business you must be willing to learn from the experts by investing in business coaches.
I must say having great mentors was indeed a very big factor. But, I tell you that there’s another thing that you must have in order to get the desired results, that is your ability to act and implement what you’ve learned. Persistence and continuous implementation of strategies were very crucial in your success. I have witnessed a lot of friends who were my classmates who did not make any desired results for whatever excuses they can tell. I was busy with my work. I was attending to my children. These sad excuses seemed to drive them and pursue other things that they find as an opportunity to make a quick buck. It was after all the motivation to make money easily that was their first intention. That was very lame. I must say work very hard on yourself first then add value to people’s lives should be our main intention.
Check Out the Guarded Secrets of SEO Revealed!
