Hard Work

"Nothing worthwhile comes easily.  Work, continuous work and hard work, is the only way to accomplish results that last."  Hamilton Holt

Yes, good things come to those who persevere.  Those things we get as a result of hardwork is even sweeter than those which had been handed out free.  We even give more effort on it after because we don't want to lose all those hard work we put on it during those trying times.

Businessmen tend to work harder, not just physically but mentally, than ever after they have built their businesses because continuous hardwork is the only way to accomplish results that last.

Nothing worthwhile comes easily indeed!

Eleven Rules of Life

An email that contained these eleven rules of life attributed these rules to Bill Gates.  According to the email, Bill Gates said these rules in a speech he delivered before a group of high school students.  But Truth or Fiction debunked this rumor.  It said that these rules are excerpts from Charles Sykes' book Dumbing Down our Kids.

Whatever the truth behind this false attribution, these rules still set the facts about life.  

Here they are.

Rule 1 - Life is not fair-get used to it!

Rule 2 - The world won't care about your self-esteem.  The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3 - You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school.  You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4 - If you think your teacher is tough, wait 'till you get a boss.

Rule 5 - Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity.  Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping- they called it opportunity.

Rule 6 - If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7 - Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now.  They got that way paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were.  So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your own room. 

Rule 8 - Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9 - Life is not divided into semesters.  You don't get summers off and very few employees are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF.  Do that on your own time.

Rule 10 - Television is NOT real life.  In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11 - Be nice to nerds.  Chances are you'll end up working for one.

I particularly like # 11.  Funny but true.

Is education really expensive?

"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." Derek Bok

Education here does not only mean formal education but also informal.  It is a given fact that formal education is really expensive.  But let me dwell on the informal aspect of education.  When I say informal, it means learning that doesn't take place inside a classroom or a lecture theater.

How many times have we heard someone- a friend, a relative, a peer, a colleague or anybody saying that he won't buy that "something" you recommend because it is expensive?  Is buying a book that costs just a fraction more expensive than missing the knowledge that you will get from it?

I never had a formal training on using a computer, but because I invested on books and of course the internet, I now have three websites live on the web.  Had I thought that it is expensive to invest on these things, I would never had the chance to learn internet marketing much more learn new skills.

As Derek Bok said, "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance."

And so it is indeed!

When will that "enough time" come?

"The biggest mistake people make in life is not making a living at what they most enjoy." Malcolm Forbes

This is one of my favorite quotes.  I first read this quote from one of the the landing pages of SBI.  I must admit, this has changed my thinking about working and earning for a living.

Since I was a kid, I had been involved in community organizations but when I left my home country to live abroad, this somehow changed.  To fill the void, I turned to internet to read inspirimg stories and quotes, and there are plenty of them on the web.  I love reading inspiring stories and quotes.  I am hooked to these kinds of reading topics-topics that  inspire me to do the things which I am capable of doing but do nothing about it. 

There are many people who can do more than what they normally do but just like me before, do nothing about it.

One time, while I was on a social networking site, I shared that SBI landing page to a friend and asked him to read it for I know he has the skills and the talent than can possibly turn his life around.  Regretably, he didn't open it at all much less read it because according to him he has no time to read it.  I didn't question his reason but deep in my mind, it was the same reason that I use to say when trying to evade something.

When will that enough time come?  Most people have time to do unproductive things but no time at all to try things that are promising.  Trying not is even costlier than trying it.

And as Malcolm Forbes said, "The biggest mistake people make in life is not making a living at what they most enjoy."

Charity

"Do something for somebody everyday for which you do not get paid." Albert Schweitzer


Charity is an everyday life for all of us but few realize this.  It is because this term is always synonymous to giving money.  But it is not always the case.  Charity can be sharing time, lending ears, giving shoulders for somebody who needs any of them.  Giving others a compliment for a job well done is for me a charitable act.  Sending a message that could lift his spirit is a charity. And many more little acts.

Remember that those little acts are sometimes more powerful to effect change than those bigger ones.

Who is Albert Schweitzer?

According to Wikipedia, "Albert Schweitzer was a Franco-German theologian, organist, philosopher,  physician, and medical missionary.  He received the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize for his philosophy of "Reverence of Life. Schweitzer's passionate quest was to discover a universal ethical philosophy, anchored in a universal reality, and make it directly available to all of humanity."

He's really a charitable man who inspires, who is inspiring, and who is an inspiration to the humanity.