You Are the Sum of the People You Surround…

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Welcome to Live your Life! This is a special segment of the Big Picture Philippines podcast where we dig deep into certain topics that will help you live the best life ever!

If this is the first time you’ve listened to the show, please check the previous episodes and other interviews that we have and don’t forget to share, subscribe, and give us feedback. it will help people to discover the show and in turn, perhaps help them improve their life!

In today’s topic, I want to share about a very crucial aspect of success, happiness, and perhaps the quality of your life. No matter how hard you work, no matter how amazing you are, you will always be affected by this. It also determines how amazing your life can be if you do this tweak!

I learned this in a not so obvious way. 

Back in college, I always wanted rock music and at that young age, I dreamt of becoming a rockstar, an amazing guitarist!

It was an honest dream, I thought I can do what I’m passionate about, playing original music, rock on stage, and girls will swarm at me! 

Although I never became a famous rockstar, I became part of a band. I played guitar and I enjoyed it a lot.

We started to create songs but those songs were not necessarily the best songs, but we love it anyway! I am not sure if the audience even loved it as long as we rock it and we’re all good.

However, this also introduced me to a lifestyle of rock n roll.

In this certain group of people, you tend to wear black shirts, skinny jeans, you also need to act in a certain way, like say the words “preh,” rocks, and other mannerisms. 

Also, it’s a must that you drink.

It’s funny how pubs pay us a set of beer to play five songs. So we play in gigs and drink all night, more often than not reaching dawn! 

We also always talk about music, our next exploits, next gigs, next breaks, but in those practices and meetings, we always drink. 

Nobody seems to talk about jobs, careers, and business. It was all about rock n roll. 

Looking back it was crazy!

I seriously enjoyed that part of my life but it has its toll. 

I start noticing that the job I have was also like 80% of the jobs of the people of my bandmates. I also noticed, our conversations were just all about this dream of making it big and of the next gig, the cycle continues, day in day out.

If you were to look at me from outside, you’ll see a life wasted. 

Don’t you hate people who judge you? But looking back, I think their intentions were good and they might be actually right.

It all changed when I could no longer keep it together, my relationship ended, I had lost my job, broke, no money to pay for beer, and the vices have gotten worse…

So I decided to take a break, went to another city and live there for three months and just started anew.

I started reading books, check out seminars and joined clubs that let me meet new types of people. 

As I changed my environment and changed the people I surround myself with, the better I deal with my finances, the less worried I get, and the better my plans of the future are.

And I thought initially it wasn’t just because of the people around me but it was me who’s causing it, but then again, I couldn’t have done it on my own, not with my own will power. Because when I went back and whenever people ask me to go “tagay” (drink), I’d still go on with the spree. 

There I realized that I am who I hang out with.

And I’ve tested this multiple times…

I met people who travel a lot and specifically I met someone who travels solo! After hanging out with him, I became a person who travels a lot too and did my first, second, and third solo travels right after that!

I tried to hang out with people who wanted to do surfing, running, and mountain climbing. So I went learn surfing and joined camps, went running 21kms now and on my way to probably running a marathon, and was able to climb the highest peak of Luzon and later on, of the Philippines — Mount Apo!

It’s amazing how powerful this is.

And the best part is that when it comes to money, the more I spend time with entrepreneurs or people who have small businesses, the more I also learn, adapt and start. This day I have my very own business that’s earning more money!

It’s as if, success and earning a certain amount of money was a norm and it wasn’t a norm with me at all before!  I mean I can survive with just 16k php of income in a month. Now, as I think of it, that’s no longer enough for investing or saving each month!

This is where I learned and truly embraced the concept that you are the sum of the people you surround with. No matter what, your environment and the people around you dictate your life. No one escapes from it.

If you really think of it, if you check on yourself and if you are someone who has good habits, then more or less your friends also have those habits.

What if, all we needed is to change the people around us and improve our friends and that’s what it all really takes to be successful? What would you do?

It’s an understatement that this idea is the best success hack I’ve encountered in my life!

If you want to give this a try or if you think you need a change of environment and want to start out, here are some steps for you.

1. List them Down

List down the people you spend the most time with. These are those who whether you like it or not you spend time with — your workmates, family, your friends. 

You’ll notice that in this list, you will realize they more or less have the same lifestyle as you and probably the same income or net worth!

2. Create Your Ideal List

Second is you create your ideal list. If you want to change your life or just want to improve it, look around and list down in your circle or not, who you think will influence you to become your best version. 

Of course, it all starts with knowing what you want, so check out the episode about goal setting in our Live Your Life segments in this podcast!

As long as you know what you wanted and find people who could help you become that person then all it really takes is to….

3. Set Dates

Find a way to spend time with them, may it be a phone call or an actual meeting. The goal here is to slowly make them part of your circle and turn them as close friends or confidantes.

Slowly but surely you will get results but of course, you need to be intentional with this. I know some people really evaluate their time and how much time they spent with these people. They know that they will learn a lot from their ideal list. 

Take note that you may not notice changes instantly but if you join that group eventually you will notice changes. In addition, this could also be awkward at first. You may need to join groups that are weird or not resonate with you, but trust me, continue showing up, and eventually the weird feeling goes away. We tend to be afraid or scared when we try to do new things. So just keep that in mind.

So that’s it for our episode! If you apply these and if you see any changes in your life, please let me know! And share your thoughts and experience on our facebook group, The Big PIcture Ph community and as well as the 9to5 Entrepreneurs.

 

PS Join the movement The Big Picture Philippines (group) or if you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, join the 9to5 Entrepreneurs!

Knowing is Not Enough

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Welcome to the next episode of this mini series of Live your Life!

This is Dave and I’m here once again to share some ideas that will motivate and inspire you to live the life that you want–a life truly lived!

For today’s topic, I’d like to ask you, my listeners . . .

Have you ever asked yourself why sometimes you feel like you know something but when you actually do it, you don’t really know how?

If you’ve heard the first episode, you probably already know, I am a big fan of attending seminars. A recent one I attended was a seminar for trainers. Basically, we were taught about the secrets of training–engaging the audience, closing on stage, and even how to use a flip chart! 

The training got me all pumped up. I felt like since I now know the secret, I can do any kind of training. I mean I saw the trainer, he was a master, and I saw how easy it was for him to do.  If he can do it, I can do it, too. Right!

A few days later, I held a training on a new topic. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I was nowhere near the mentor’s performance. Not even close. In fact, I even thought I made a fool of myself!

Although I thought I applied all the things I learned, I still felt I messed everything up. It was as if I was not myself and the response I got was not what I envisioned it to be. 

I noticed the same pattern when I tried to learn how to surf.

I joined a surf camp two years ago. As a diligent student, I also tried to watch YouTube videos so I can learn more about it–the different forms, how to position myself on the board, how to tackle the waves, when to pump, when to stand, how to balance, the works.

On the day of the camp, I realized they taught exactly the same stuff. And it gave me the false impression I was ready! So I went and gave it a try and flopped! It wasn’t until the third day, yes, three full days of trying to stand and ride a wave on my own, that I was finally able to do it!

I’m not saying all these examples because I am such a failure, although I must admit I am quite clumsy. But my point is, it made me realize that knowledge alone is not enough. Time and time again, I realized that having knowledge alone does not always equate to power. So Ernie Baron’s classic cliche about knowledge being power, may not be entirely true.

Today, I truly believe that knowledge without application is useless.

Think about it, if knowledge was all we needed, all the people would have six-packs, everyone would be millionaires or have hundreds of thousands in the banks. Nowadays, we’re so lucky to have the Internet as it gives us all the answers we need right at our fingertips.  

If this is true, then what happened?

Why is everyone not getting the results???

It’s all because knowledge is not power, applied knowledge is.

And sometimes, we’re so good at being knowledgeable that we think knowing is already enough.

I’ve met someone, whom I shared about investment and how I placed money in a local cooperative, I know at that time she was needing some financial tips because of her situation, and guess what she said, “kahibaw nako ana.”

I thought to myself cool, but months passed, years passed, she still hasn’t invested in it and there I was reaping the benefits of getting passive income.

She never took action!

Like her, she has the deadly habit of using the worst phrase in the world, According to T Harv Eker, the worst phrase in the world is kahibaw nako ana (I know that already).

The worst because it keeps us from truly learning something, from truly applying something because we think that knowledge is enough when it is indeed not.

Now, I want you to look into your life, what are the things that you think you want to change and improve in your life?

Did you know exactly what to do?

Now think of the things that you were successful in life, might be saving a 100k in the bank or passing an exam? 

What was the difference?

Action is the differentiator.

I really like how someone I heard from a podcast puts it.

“Knowledge is knowing while wisdom is actually doing it.”

Today, I want you to consider that unless you take action and truly imbibe the things that you know, that’s the only time you truly learn. 

You could watch all the videos about surfing or swimming, but it won’t be useful until you finally jump in the water and swim or surf for yourself!

If you’re guilty of this or want to master this concept and apply it in your life, then here are the three steps for you:

1. Awareness

If you just know the subject matter versus actually doing it and having it in your life

Awareness is the key, it’s now time to face the truth and stop lying to yourself.

Are you just knowing about something or are you really doing it?

Let’s take weight loss for example, the formula is simple, it’s to cut down on your intake and add more activities to burn calories, so have a calorie deficit and eventually, lose weight. That’s basically it, but if you are not doing this on a regular basis then you will never get results.

I want you to list down the goals that you are not achieving in your life, and then list down the necessary actions you need to take to make it a reality.

Don’t say you know it, just do it.

2. Take Small Steps

As you already know, taking action is the differentiator but you don’t have to take a massive step or action to make this happen.

Overpromising or doing too much, and taking so much that you can’t chew, is a recipe for disaster and failure, but most importantly, a recipe for frustration.

And you don’t want to be frustrated because frustration always leads to becoming a victim and giving up.

You wanted to take a small first step. 

When I first started investing in the stock market, I could only save 1 thousand a month, that’s all I can afford to save and invest. 

But just taking that one step, made such a huge impact on me. It’s like a domino that started to tumble 100 or 1000 more. 

It made me realize that it is possible! And sometimes that’s all that matters. 

Which brings us to the third step…

3. Stay Consistent

The more you do it, the more you get used to it, the more you get better at doing it, and the more it becomes a habit.

As they say, we are creatures of habit that in fact almost all we do in our day, 40% of it is on automation, the way you brush your teeth, taking a bath, work routines, drinking coffee, cooking, etc. 

The goal is to make what you wanted to change in your life and the actions involved to become a habit

This way it’s automated and which gives you a huge momentum. 

Consistency is also the path to mastery.

According to research, you need 10,000 hours to master something. Are you committed enough to spend 10,000 hours to master something?

May it be starting a business, learning a new skill, or improving your physique by daily training?

Eventually, you get results, as long as you show up each day. This opens up momentum and even gets you compounding results (which by the way is a topic in itself, which we will discuss in another episode!)

And once you do all these steps, you get results, you no longer just know about something but you actually do it and make it a part of your life, then you can truly say, you learned something!

Today, I want you to take action, I want you to check on these steps and write down the things that are not working and what daily steps or actions you will take.

This marks the end of our show, and I hope you learned something in this episode.

If you like this, episode, please share it with your friends. If you disagree or have further clarifications about this, feel free to join the group and ask your questions or start a discussion there.

 

PS Join the movement The Big Picture Philippines (group) or if you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, join the 9to5 Entrepreneurs!

How to Truly Reach Your Goals

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Welcome to the Live your Life podcast!

This is Dave, co-host of the Big Picture Philippines podcast and welcome to the very first episode of Live Your Life.

I’m not joined by my co-host since this will be solo episodes where I’ll dig deep into topics that I believe concerns most people on this planet–and that is how to live life to the fullest. 

For those who don’t know me, I’m actually a huge fan of self-development and I have attended countless seminars like Quantum Leap Program under T Harv Eker, Unleash the Power Within by Tony Robbins as well as local events hosted by Bo Sanchez, John Calub, etc. 

Those investments did pay off (luckily!) and I was able to start a business 4 years ago–an agency that caters to over 40 clients on a regular basis. I’ve also started a podcast with my co-host with the mission to empower every Filipino to see, think, and act big.

I’d like to be clear about something. I started this segment not because I have figured everything out. In fact, I haven’t figured it all out. However, I do believe that the quality of our lives depends on the quality of our questions.

So I continuously ask big questions. 

For me, the biggest question of all is “What is the meaning of life?”

Have you ever asked yourself what life is truly all about? 

Well, you’re not alone. 

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always asked myself what the meaning of life is and why I am so drawn to becoming rich.

Back when I was figuring out what course to take for college, I told myself I’ll take any job that will allow me to have a house, a pool, and at least 2 cars. Looking back, I realised I was very naive back then. I also realised how simple minded I was. 

But that general compass of how I want my life to be–you know, having that dream house, car, and maybe a great family led me to where I am today. 

Finally, I am starting to understand why I was so drawn to my vision, why I was so passionate. Although there were a lot of wrong turns and mistakes (such as taking a course I didn’t really love and taking on jobs I was not passionate about), ultimately, it has gotten me to where I am today. I can say I’ve finally gotten to a point where I have started something I’m truly proud of. 

What’s even better is, I now have a clearer vision of what life is all about. And I honestly think it’s all about living it to the fullest and grandest way possible. No matter who or where you are right now, I strongly believe that we have the power to create the best life possible–the life we all deserve. 

So if you feel stuck and you want something more from life, or if you want to know how to enjoy and live life to the fullest, this podcast is for you! Join me as I figure out how to truly live life to the fullest and live a life of contribution, growth, and love. 

Are you with me? Nod your head!

As you may know, a life worth living will involve examining some of life’s core aspects like relationships, success, health, purpose, and so on. In this podcast, I’ll tackle those key components and we’ll dive deep so we can uncover what it truly means to live life one hundred percent!

Not all of the concepts I’ll cover in the podcast may be true to everyone and that’s perfectly okay. In fact, I would prefer that you interact and join the conversation so we’ll have all the bases covered. 

If you’re ready, let’s start with our very first topic. 

In today’s episode, I’ll talk about goal setting and how we can make our dreams a reality. 

I’m a big fan of this. In fact, everything I now have, I owe to having a clear vision of what it is that I really want.

Roughly 9 years ago, if you’ve met me on the streets you’d probably think this guy is going nowhere.

I was unhealthy, overweight, stuck in a job I didn’t love, and had no goals. In short, I was depressed and living like a zombie, just going through the motions and living a life devoid of meaning or purpose.

Things changed dramatically for me after I was able to attend a seminar. To this day, I can still vividly remember one life-changing phrase used in that seminar, “To think is to create.”

In other words, if you 100% believe in something, it can actually happen! But what really struck me the most is the idea that I can become whoever it is that I want to be and whatever it is that I want given I truly ask for it.  

From there I started realizing what I really want. I realized I wanted to earn more, I wanted a better group of friends, I wanted to be in better shape. In short, I realized the aspects of my life I am not satisfied with and little by little I made small changes to improve them. 

Over time, I learned to say no to mediocrity and complacency and said yes to abundance, opportunities, and continuous learning. Eventually, it helped shape my life and the person I am today. I won’t claim to be successful as success is subjective. However, I am certain I’ve evolved into someone I am proud of. 

So what made a difference there?

Yes, it’s the shift in my beliefs.

I can say my standards have changed. And it all started with changing my beliefs and having a truly clear vision of the person I would want to become.  

However, while changing my beliefs made a world of difference, there are other things that have helped me manifest the life of my dreams and I’ll discuss 3 of them.  

1. Writing it Down

Back then, I can remember writing down the things I wanted in life. I just wrote even if I didn’t believe much of what I wrote that time. If anything, I believe that writing things down is a huge step in the right direction. 

In my case, I took things up a notch. Aside from writing down what I wanted, I also created a vision board. I can truly attest vision boards work as I bought my first guitar, my first laptop, and travelled to other places using this technique.  

Creating a vision board is pretty straightforward. In my case, I just looked for old magazines and just cut off things I wanted to manifest. If you are feeling lazy, you can look for pictures of things you want to manifest online and use them as a background for your phone and desktop. 

It’s amazing because I discovered I kept a box of the images of the things I wanted and eventually forgot about them only to realise that I’ve already manifested them! 

2. Visualization

Once you’ve written down what you want down, take it a step further by imagining as if you already have those things you want. In one of our episodes, our guest Golda shared the “be-do-have” concept when creating vision boards. 

The idea is rather than believing you need to get what you want to be truly happy, you have to be happy now and everything else will fall into place. 

In the same manner, imagine and act as if you already have the things you want–the salary, the dream job, the car, etc. Think of it each day as if they are on their way. 

There’s actually a science behind this. And it has to do with activating the RAS system.

Simply put, RAS or the reticular activating system works by seeking information that validates your beliefs. Have you ever tried buying a new bag and after you’ve bought it you start noticing many people using the same bag?  

That’s how RAS works and it can help you turn any of your dreams and goals into reality. The more you think of something and get really excited about it, the more you will notice opportunities that will lead you to achieve what you want. 

I think this is what Paulo Coelho meant when he said “If you want something in life, the whole universe conspires for you to get it.” And I couldn’t agree more. In other words, when you constantly visualize and imagine whatever it is that you want, paths, opportunities, and people will come to help you achieve those goals.

In line with this, I also do affirmation and visualization exercises to help me get closer to achieving my goals. This might not be common knowledge but words have power. When I first learned about financial freedom, I learned and used a very powerful affirmation, “Money comes to me easily, frequently, and from different sources.” 

I kept repeating said affirmation each day and I believe it has helped me generate multiple income streams.  

Give it a try.

Another technique I used is visualization through meditation or association. 

It’s simple. Just close your eyes and vividly imagine what your dream future is like. Keep the image in your head constantly and in a way that gets you excited and it will only be a matter of time until it becomes a reality. 

Last but not least.

3. Taking small consistent actions

The more clear you are about what you want and the more you think about your goals, the more you are inclined to also take action. The good thing is you don’t have to take massive actions all the time. The point is to do small actions consistently. 

When I first started saving for my first million, I didn’t save like 20 to 50k right off the bat. Today, that’s the amount I am saving each month! Back then, I remember saving just 2k each month max. I’m also excited to put 100k each month for investments and allowing it to grow. 

Right now, I’ve been training for a marathon. While I’m not in the best shape yet, I made a commitment to show up in trainings, I hired a coach, and strictly followed a marathon running program where I hit specific miles on a weekly basis.  

Just like most things in life, small but consistent actions will definitely help you get to where you want to be.

So there you go, I hope you learned something new from today’s episode and I hope you’d give them a try.  

Also, if there’s something you’d like to add, I’d love to hear about it. Please get in touch with me through our FB group The Big Picture Philippines. 

This has been your host, Dave, and remember to always live your life to the fullest!

 

PS Join the movement The Big Picture Philippines (group) or if you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, join the 9to5 Entrepreneurs!