Author Archives: Issa

How To Get To Your Dreams (Second of Two Parts)

Like Minds

Like Minds

I have a secret.

But before me, it belonged to Bo Sanchez (and maybe before him from some really wise man).

I could still remember the time when I first heard him speak of it.  I was cruising in my car and listening to one of his boxed audio seminars.  It was the first CD I received from him as a member of his Truly Rich Club.  I honestly did not think much about that CD – I plugged it and listened.  But there’s something about a two-hour traffic and listening to Bo’s charismatic voice that gets the heart pumping and the mind dreaming dreams.

He was telling a story, of what he did a long time ago, when he was just learning about riches and dreams.  He wrote about them. And when he wrote those dreams, he considered them as not just dreams.  He regarded them as if they were already realities.  He confessed, though, that when he was writing them – being a best selling author, being a wonderful husband, having a nipa hut (middle) with a fishpond (front) and a coconut tree (back) – he was laughing (could not help it).

I laughed too. (i thought i saw the other drivers look at me silly)

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How To Get To Your Dreams (First of Two Parts)

Mesmerize

Mesmerize

There are those who know early on what they want in life.  They know they want to be – president, CEO, beauty queen, housewife.

I did not.

And I looked at those people with awe.  It seemed to be the right way to be and so when I was a child I had to force myself to choose to be something (newscaster), not knowing that life can take me to different, more exciting destinations and that it is okay and that it is possible to be many things.

But just between the two of us, asking a child to be what he wants to be – I think this is a dangerous question.  It is okay when he knows what he wants with certainty (which is more the exception than the rule because a child would have limited experiences and so would have limited choices) but it is not okay when it fosters doubt in a child (do I know what I want to be? why don’t I know what I want to be? is there something wrong with me?) or gives power to the parents who force the child to fill his head with what they want (many sad stories here).

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Singapore: Money Lessons from Far Away

The Merlion and the Lone Moon

The Merlion and the Lone Moon

Everything I know about Singapore, I learned from a taxi driver.

Okay, maybe not everything.

But for sure, you can get a taste of the history and the local flavor and the vibe of this fine city’s life through the eyes of he who plies the road at about S$20 per pop (that’s about USD$12).

We had the pleasure of the company of three very talkative ones.  On the way from the Night Safari back to our hotel, at 12:30 in the morning, the taxi driver told us tales.  Real tales.

And what he has told us has earned my respect for this beautifully manicured City.  There are a lot of lessons to be learned here – some on money, some on good governance, others still on not taking anything for granted.

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Teaching Kids Money Matters

Happy Thoughts

Happy Thoughts

I am not sure that I learned about money when I was young.  Actually, I am almost sure that I did not.

To be fair to my parents, I think there was no consciousness yet, at that time, on the importance of teaching kids about money.  What they knew was that they had to provide and that was the end of it.

But the power to dream of riches and making it come true lies at the core of one’s life – in one’s childhood.  His views about poverty, about money, his poverty mindset (money does not grow on trees) and his wealth mindset (money grows on trees) start at that time which is at the root of all his memories.

And so we as parents have a duty to make those memories good ones, and that the mindset we cultivate is one of wealth.

Are you willing to take the step?

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Crossing the Chasm

Going Around in Concentric Circles

Going Around in Concentric Circles


E, S, B, I.

When I first saw “the grid”, I thought they were mystic markings.  I could not have been closer to the truth.

Robert Kiyosaki, in his book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, talked about the 4 quadrants: E for Employee.  S for the Self-employed.  B for the Business Owner and I for the Investor.

Only thin lines separate the 4.  But in reality, millions of dollars and a vast chasm divide them.

And boy, I am finding out what it takes of me to cross that chasm.

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King of the Road and the Human Spirit

Waking the Dragon Within

Waking the Dragon Within

King of the Road: a marathon.

I stand stationary within the sea of runners, the camera of my eyes running through the length of everyone fighting the battle of man versus himself.  And I cannot help but be amazed – what is it that makes man want to go through this undertaking and fight this battle against gravity, against skyrocketing heart rates, against pain?  There must be pain: the initial brittleness of the bone, the resistance of the heart and then the pumping of the sweat through the glands until it breaks out and the player is bathed with the prize of having won against his will.  The most natural state, after all, is supine.  Yes, there must be pain.

Deliverance too.  Because otherwise, why would they do it?  I am almost sure that there is an insight here.

What is it?

I look about: they seem normal to me – some old, some new, maybe single, maybe fathers, maybe mothers.  Some children are on the grass, playing, cheering a parent or parents on.  I see celebrities: Rovilson Fernandez, a Kenyan runner, there were sightings too of Karylle.  But mostly there was humanity – converged in these acres of grass, in various poses as they flex their bones and mentally prepare for the run.

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Money and the Games Children Play

In Red, In Blue

Fields, In Red, In Blue

I had the sudden urge to know if, at 8, she knows what money is all about.

So I called my daughter, who was busy playing, and asked her: C, what is money?  Eyebrows going up, eyes slightly questioning (as if saying, now where is mom going with this), she says, tongue in cheek, voice bored, “It has a lot of numbers and signs on it.”   Okay (sounds about right).  I made a follow up question: C, do you know how you can make lots of money? Grinning, she answered, her voice lilting and confident, “I can draw it.”

Obviously, I have to teach her about money.  And soon.

Interestingly, when Robert Kiyosaki was 9, he had the same idea.

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How Many Times Have You Said Someday? (Second of Two Parts)

Take Time to Stop and Smell the Flowers

Take Time to Stop and Smell the Flowers

You can read the first part here.

Maria of Coelho’s Eleven Minutes realized a great truth as she was looking at the floral clock:

She looked around her.  People were walking alone, heads down, hurrying off to work, to school, to the employment agency, to Rue de Berne, telling themselves: “I can wait a little longer.  I have a dream, but there’s no need to realize it today, besides, I need to earn some money.”  She understood that it was all a question of selling her time, like everyone else.  Doing things she didn’t want to do, like everyone else.  Putting up with horrible people, like everyone else.  Handing over her precious body and her precious soul in the name of a future that never arrived, like everyone else.  Saying that she still didn’t have enough, like everyone else.  Waiting just a little bit longer, like everyone else.  Waiting so that she could earn just a little bit more, postponing the realization of her dreams.

Letting life pass her by.

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