Iron Man

This was forwarded to me.

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READ STORY FIRST

A son asked his father, 'Dad, will you take part in a marathon with me?' The father who, despite having a heart condition says 'yes.’ They went on to complete the marathon together.

Father and son went on to join other marathons, the father always saying 'yes' to his son's request of going through the race together.

One day, the son asked his father, 'Dad, let's join the Ironman together.' To which, his father said 'yes' too.

For those who don't know, Ironman is the toughest triathlon ever. The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile (3.86 kilometers) ocean swim, followed by a 112 mile (180.2 kilometers) bike ride, and ending with a 26.2 mile (42.195 kilometers) marathon along the coast of the Big Island .

Father and son went on to complete the race together.

NOW WATCH THIS VIDEO and view this race:

One dad's review of the video: So often in the past I have described myself as a good father. Manners count for everything - a time and a place. All the things I thought really counted. How wrong can I be? When I don't get my own way I shout when I'm occupied I delay. I do play with my children but on my terms and at my convenience. Then one day I'm sat at home in my own smug little world and see something like this. All I can say is thank you. Your strength and love shames me but hopefully that is something that I can change. I do love my children but now I must show my love to them. I don't have the strength shown in the video but I can use that strength as my inspiration.

Featured Blogger: Breaking the Rules by Rod Velez

One person that inspires me a lot with the way he lives his life is Rod Velez. Rod who?... He is my brother in our community in the Philippines. You may read his thoughts about Christianity, family life, fatherhood and living a simple life. Things that will inspire you.

Breaking the Rules
http://rodvelez.blogspot.com/

7 Destructive Habits of Unsuccessful People by Michael Lee

7 Destructive Habits of Unsuccessful People
By Michael Lee

WARNING! If you want to have a fantastic life, never engage yourself in these 7 deadly habits that incompetent people do.

Number 1 - They Think, Say, & Do Negative Things.

Yup. They see problems in every opportunity.

They complain that the sun is too hot. They cursed the rain for ruining their plans for the day. They blame the wind for ruining their hair.

They think that everyone is against them. They see the problems but never the solutions.

Every little bit of difficulty is exaggerated to the point of tragedy.
They regard failures as catastrophes. They become discouraged easily instead of learning from their mistakes.

They never seem to move forward because they're always afraid to come out of their comfort zones.


Number 2 - They Act Before They Think.

They move based on instinct or impulse. If they see something they like, they buy at once without any second thought.

Then they see something better. They regret & curse for not able to take advantage of the bargain.

Then they spend & spend again until nothing's left. They don't think about the future. What they're after is the pleasure they will experience at present.

They don't think about the consequences. Those who engage in unsafe sex, criminality, and the like are included in this group.


Number 3 - They Talk Much More Than They Listen

They want to be the star of the show. So they always engage in talks that would make them heroes, even to the point of lying.

Oftentimes they are not aware that what they're saying is not sensible anymore.

When other people advise them, they close their ears because they’re too proud to admit their mistakes.

In their mind they're always correct. They reject suggestions because that will make them feel inferior.


Number 4 - They Give Up Easily

Successful people treat failures as stepping stones to success.

Incompetent ones call it quits upon recognizing the first signs of failure.

At first, they may be excited to start an endeavor. But then they lose interest fairly quickly, especially when they encounter errors.

Then they go & search for a new one. Same story & same results.
Incompetent people don't have the persistence to go on and fulfill their dreams.


Number 5 - They Try to Bring Others Down To Their Level

Incompetent people envy other successful individuals. Instead of working hard to be like them, these incompetent ones spread rumors and try every dirty trick to bring them down.

They could've asked these successful ones nicely. But no, they're too proud.
They don't want to ask advise. Moreover, they're too negative to accomplish anything.


Number 6 - They Waste Their Time

They don't know what to do next. They may just be contented on eating, getting drunk, watching TV, or worse, staring at the blank wall with no thoughts whatsoever to improve their lives.

It's perfectly fine to enjoy once in a while. But time should be managed efficiently in order to succeed. There should be a proper balance between work & pleasure.


Number 7 - They Take the Easy Way Out
If there are two roads to choose from, incompetent people would choose the wider road with less reward than the narrower road with much better rewards at the end.

They don't want any suffering or hardship. They want a good life.

What these people don't know is that what you reap is what you sow.
Efforts & action will not go unnoticed.

If only they would be willing to sacrifice a little, they would be much better off.

Successful people made it through trials & error. They never give up.
They are willing to do everything necessary to achieve what they aspire for in life.

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This was shared to me by a friend & former co-worker. Thanks Jowell.

Some Trivia about Elfren Cruz

Elfren Cruz is one of the well-loved Lasallian and professor in DLSU MBA Program. He is considered as one of the best professor for Strategic Management. The article below mentions some information about our professor.

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HIGH GROUND
A very sentimental farewell

By William Esposo
INQ7.net
Last updated 07:34am (Mla time) 12/01/2006


TODAY I bid all those who faithfully followed my column on INQ7.net a very sentimental farewell. Until two Fridays ago, Nov. 24, this departure was not in the stars. I never had any inkling whatsoever that I will be making this move.

But things do happen, with the hand of Divine Guidance, if we have the faith to trust the Divine. The Philippine Star publisher and top columnist Max V. Soliven rejoined our Maker last Nov. 24 and that sudden development triggered the chain of events that led to this decision.

Max and I were both part of the founding of the top two English-language newspapers in the country today: the Philippine Daily Inquirer and The Philippine Star.

Elfren Cruz (who became head of the Presidential Management Staff and governor of Metro Manila during the Cory Aquino administration) and I brokered the partnership between Betty Go-Belmonte and Eugenia Apostol that gave birth to the Inquirer.

Elfren and I were actively involved in fighting the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship, and in 1985 it was announced that a snap presidential election would be held on Feb. 7, 1986. We deliberated on how we could fight the Marcos media monopoly and awesome propaganda machinery. There was hardly any major newspaper and national broadcasting network that would support the opposition cause.

We realized that if we could put together two people who had never dealt with each other before, we could establish a major newspaper, one that would give the opposition a voice. Those two persons were Betty Go-Belmonte and Eggie Apostol. Betty's family owned presses that could publish over 250,000 broadsheet copies a day; while Eggie had the editorial staff (which included Max Soliven), which was producing the Mr. & Ms Friday Supplement. As fate would have it, Elfren was very close to Eggie and his wife Neni was writing for her; while Betty and I were like brothers and sisters.

Elfren and I first spoke with Eggie. She was receptive to the proposed partnership. I then spoke with Betty about our meeting with Eggie. Betty was one of the biggest supporters of Cory Aquino; in fact, it was through her that I first met Cory, at Cory's Times Street home in 1983, shortly after Ninoy was interred.

As was the standard operating procedure for Betty: She prayed over the proposal and sought guidance from the Lord. Betty always prayed and sought Divine guidance for her moves, and received guidance through her daily Bible readings. Her family has lived by this practice, and they always get their marching orders right. I've written about this in my "Amazing true-to-life success stories" column.

Subsequently, Betty got her guidance from a verse in her daily Bible reading, which she interpreted as her marching orders to enter into the partnership with Eggie. And as they say, the rest is history.

When Betty decided to leave the Inquirer, and Max and Art Borjal joined her, we all got together and formed The Philippine Star, in July 1986. Just as with her entering into the partnership with Eggie, Betty left the Inquirer after a Bible reading that told her to "Go you out from among them."

Strange indeed are the ways of the Lord. The Inquirer and the Star now occupy the top two market positions, fitting achievements for the legacies of EDSA People Power.

I wrote my first column in the Star, called it "As I Wreck This Chair," a reference to my ability to challenge the finest furniture and to the symbolic shaking of the seats of people in positions of power who have failed in the performance of their duties as public servants. But when I was conscripted to join the Cory administration in January 1987, I had to give up my column.

In 2001, Bobi Tiglao, who was not yet then a member of the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Cabinet, invited me to write a column in INQ7.net. I felt challenged, because I had been through all the tri-media of radio, television and print, and INQ7.net offered the new media frontier: the Internet. I knew the potential of what they now call the third screen (first screen is cinema, second is television, and fourth is the cellular phone) and I've always been excited by the new experience of interactive media.

Inviting me to write for INQ7.net may have become one of the biggest regrets of Bobi Tiglao when he was already in the Arroyo administration. I had developed into one of the Arroyo administration's most vocal critics, read around the world through the average 1.5 million page views of INQ7.net.

Writing for INQ7.net was one of the greatest experiences of my now 40 years in the media (I started in radio as a disc jockey in 1967). The interactive nature of the medium has allowed me precious insights into the minds and hearts of many Filipinos who have bothered to e-mail me and share their reactions and views.

Were it not for my obligations and commitments to The Philippine Star, of which I am a part owner, and my closeness to Betty's family, I would not have considered leaving INQ7.net.

Starting Tuesday, Dec. 5, my "As I Wreck This Chair" column in the Star will resume after a 25-year pause.

Thus, on this my last High Ground column, thanks to all of you who have supported me all these years. God bless you all and our beloved country.

You may e-mail William M. Esposo at macesposo@yahoo.com

10 Retirement Planning Mistakes

Forwarded by a friend who is a financial advisor in the Philippines.

From Jenny McKinney & Patrick McKinney

Just because you invest in a retirement plan doesn't mean you will be financially secure when you decide to retire. If you are making these retirement planning mistakes, you could be in for a sad surprise.

1. Not taking full advantage of your company retirement benefits

You should invest as much money into your company retirement plan as you can afford. At the very minimum, you should invest enough to get your company matching funds if they are offered.

2. Withdrawing money from your retirement plan

By withdrawing money from your retirement plan, you lose valuable interest that is extremely difficult to replace. Some plans allow for hardship withdrawals and/or loans but you must be careful when taking advantage of these withdrawals.

3. Not actively monitoring your investments

Monitoring your investments makes sense so that you are aware of any discrepancies. Monitoring also alerts you to how well your investments are performing or not
performing. If you are carefully tracking your investments, you will be better equipped to know when to switch to a different strategy.

4. Relying on Social Security for your retirement income

While social security might provide a substantial portion of your retirement income, you should have other means of income as a back up. It's best to have a company pension or retirement plan and personal savings in addition to social security when you
retire.

5. Relying on your spouse's retirement plan

If one spouse relies on his/her spouse's retirement plan for his/her retirement, he/she could be in for a very sad surprise. The spouse with the retirement plan could die leaving the other spouse with no income. There could be a divorce or even illness that could compromise the single spouse retirement plan. Each person must have a separate retirement plan for the
best retirement security.

6. Forgetting to review your plan regularly

If you forget or ignore reviewing your retirement plan on a regular basis, you might be losing a portion of your retirement income. You need to periodically review your asset allocation, your balances, your goals, and so on to insure you are making the most of
your plan.

7. Practicing poor asset allocation

Poor asset allocation can be financial suicide. What if all your investments are in one stock and the company goes bankrupt? The secret is to diversify sothat if one investment decreases in value, another will hopefully increase.

8. Not checking out your broker/financial advisor

There are lots of reputable brokers and financial advisors who are knowledgeable about how your portfolio should be set up and maintained. There are also quite a few brokers and financial advisors who are not so reputable or are simply ill informed. If
you are going to trust your retirement savings to someone, you owe it to yourself to check credentials and track records.

9. Relying too heavily on your company stock

Your company stock is a very good way to save for your retirement especially in your company retirement plan. This can be dangerous though if your portfolio consists of mostly company stock. All companies have lean times and some could have mismanaged finances that could result in bankruptcy. It's best to have a good investment mix in your retirement account.

10. Not taking retirement planning seriously

This very well could be the worse mistake a person can make about his/her retirement plan. Even if you are a very young person, your retirement plan should be a
serious priority. By starting early, you can grow quite a large nest egg and might just be able to
retire early. A lot of people feel they have plenty of time to worry about retirement planning once they have their home, children through college, the new Hummer, and so on. My answer to these people is to think about the life style they might want to keep once the
paycheck stops.

Bottom line is to take your retirement planning efforts seriously, diversify your investments, save regularly, and keep your goals in mind.

Coffee anyone?

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university lecturer. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the lecturer went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, some plain-looking and some expensive and exquisite, telling them to help themselves to hot coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the lecturer said: "If you noticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the better cups and are eyeing each other's cups." Now, if life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, but the quality of life doesn't change. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it." Don't let the cups drive you...enjoy the coffee.

special thanks to Van for sharing this through email.

Think strategic: Sand Box Story

A little boy was spending his Saturday morning playing in his sandbox. He had with him his box of cars and trucks, his plastic pail, and a shiny, red plastic shovel. In the process of creating roads and tunnels in the soft sand, he discovered a large rock in the middle of the sandbox. The lad dug around the rock, managing to dislodge it from the dirt. With no little bit of struggle, he pushed and nudged the rock across the sandbox by using his feet. (He was a very small boy and the rock was very huge.)

When the boy got the rock to the edge of the sandbox, however, he found that he couldn't roll it up and over the little wall. Determined, the little boy shoved, pushed, and pried, but every time he thought he had made some progress, the rock tipped and then fell back into the sandbox. The little boy grunted, struggled, pushed, shoved -- but his only reward was to have the rock roll back, smashing his chubby fingers. Finally he burst into tears of frustration.

All this time the boy's father watched from his living room window as the drama unfolded. At the moment the tears fell, a large shadow fell across the boy and the sandbox. It was the boy's father. Gently but firmly he said, "Son, why didn't you use all the strength that you had available?"

Defeated, the boy sobbed back, "But I did, Daddy, I did! I used all the strength that I had!"

"No, son," corrected the father kindly. "You didn't use all the strength you had. You didn't ask me."

With that the father reached down, picked up the rock, and removed it from the sandbox.

Travel Light

TRAVEL LIGHT
By Dr. John C. Maxwell

One of the first international trips my wife, Margaret, and I took together was to Japan. When we were choosing luggage for our journey, we decided to get the biggest suitcases we could find. It seemed like a logical idea at the time-after all, the bigger the suitcase, the more we could pack in it.

Unfortunately, while we were packing, it never once occurred to me that we were going to have to carry those bags wherever we went. Now, if you know anything at all about Japan, you know that traveling by rail is often the best way to get around there. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time lugging our suitcases in and out of train stations. I remember going to one particular depot with two bags that were as big as me, both stuffed nearly to bursting. I was struggling to get to the train with my suitcases, Margaret was struggling down the street with hers, and neither of us was very happy about the whole situation.

Finally, I'd had enough. I stopped right where I was, put the suitcases down and said, "Margaret, anyone who can carry these suitcases can have them! I'm just going to leave them right here. I'm not carrying them anymore."

That little incident, which my sweet wife and I jokingly say is closest we ever came to getting divorced, taught us a valuable lesson: Travel light. Margaret and I learned this lesson so well that, on subsequent trips, we've literally gone out of the country with nothing but our carry-on luggage. In addition to preserving our marital bliss, traveling light alleviates the stress of keeping track of numerous bags, saves time previously spent waiting around at airport baggage claims and keeps us from getting worn out before we ever get to our destination. On top of all that, it doesn't take us nearly as long to unpack once we get home.

As helpful as it is to travel light on a business trip or vacation, it's even more critical to travel light through life. Let me explain what I mean. Many people go through life with far too much emotional baggage. They didn't necessarily intend to fill the biggest bags they could find with their personal junk, but along the way, they've somehow managed to collect quite a stash. A chip on the shoulder here; an ugly batch of pent-up anger there. Ten years' worth of hurt feelings here; three decades of rejection there. I could go on, but I'm sure you get the picture.

Sadly, these individuals fail to realize the damage their excess baggage is inflicting on themselves and others. For example, a recent survey indicated that people with emotional problems are 144 percent more likely to have automobile accidents than those who do not have such problems. In addition, one of the study's most sobering findings was that one out of every five victims of fatal accidents had quarreled with someone in the six hours
before the accident.

This is why it's so important to practice what I call "keeping short accounts." When you keep a short account, you ask for forgiveness quickly when you hurt someone. When you treat someone badly, you make it right as soon as possible. You don't hold grudges. You don't go to bed angry. You don't allow your own injured feelings to fester into bitterness or
resentment.

The importance of keeping short accounts really hit home with me when I had a heart attack several years ago. As I lay there, honestly not knowing if I was going to live or die, I felt a tremendous amount of peace because I knew my relational ledger was clean. Ironically, the thought that kept coming to my mind during those first tense hours was, "I don't have to call anybody on the phone." It was true. I didn't have to make any last-ditch apologies or ninth-hour requests for forgiveness because I had made an intentional effort to travel light through life.

From a practical standpoint, traveling light means that I have to ask somebody to forgive me almost every day. It means that I often have to sit down with Margaret and say, "I'm sorry for using that tone of voice; I was wrong." It means that I have to initiate reconciliation with people who have offended me, not wait for them to make the first move.

None of this is easy. It's often humbling and hard on my ego. And yet, the alternative is much worse. Failing to travel light blurs your focus on what really matters and impairs your ability to live and lead effectively. So if you're carrying a bunch of excess baggage, get rid of it. Write a
letter. Make a phone call. Do whatever you need to do.

Just do it now. You've got more important things to do than cart around unnecessary and potentially life-threatening luggage for the rest of your life.