by rossanahead | Jul 11, 2011 | career, woman
By Denise Congco
What do I dream of? What do I really want? Simple things, really: something to do, someone to love, and something to stand for.
I know that a stable job is still important to me. I know I have an innate talent to create something out of nothing, which in my industry means creating a marketing campaign with limited, if not zero budget. I know I enjoy making people feel beautiful.
Actually, I was already doing the things that gave me pure joy: marketing and makeup! I just had to find a company that would allow me to do both. I waited for the right job interview to come my way, not going to those that I knew wouldn’t allow me to explore my two passions. I had to stick to my vision! Soon enough, the perfect job offer came. I accepted and am now enjoying every bit of it. Plus, I have wedding makeup gigs every weekend! I am enjoying the best of both worlds!
Asked to describe who I want to meet in my Friendster account, I wrote “someone to hold hands and see the world with.” And I am happy to say that I have met that person. Gaining self-confidence allowed me to share myself again with someone I adore, respect, and believe in.
Little by little, I found myself getting closer to that self vision I created when I was down and out. It was not an easy feat. And up to now, there are days when I feel like I’m taking a few steps back. But then there are good days when the dream feels so close.
All those months of searching led me to several conclusions: Nobody should define who you are but yourself. Come to terms with what makes you sad, angry, or frustrated. Envision the life that you want to lead and then do everything in your power to attain it. Every day, decide and choose to create your own happiness!
Yes, I lost everything. But after all the hurt and the pain, I found myself.
by rossanahead | Jul 10, 2011 | career, woman
By Denise Congco
2009 was the year I thought I lost everything. I quit my job, ended a relationship, and cut ties with my best friend of 20 years. I thought it was too much to go through in one year. But today, two years later, I realized that those things had to happen so that I can find myself.
When the source of your happiness comes from external factors, whether it’s your career or a loved one, you sometimes lose touch of who you really are. You let yourself be judged by other people. You get affected by what they say.
But when you let go of all that, you start asking the right questions: Who are you when stripped of material things, friends, job, and boyfriend? What are your deal-breakers and non-negotiables? What are the causes you will die fighting for? If it’s self-fulfillment you’re after, what would you rather do?
At the time, I had all but lost my self-esteem. I had to figure out a way to love ME again. I took a vacation. I traveled around Asia and somehow gained a new zest for life. The world truly is my oyster!
Traveling gave me a different perspective on life. I realized that what might have been important to me was not necessarily relevant to the ice cream man in Singapore or the sales lady in Bangkok. What may be a big deal to you may not even matter to your neighbor, so what’s the fuss? If you failed at something, it doesn’t mean you can’t pick up the pieces, take all the life lessons that moment has taught you, and start anew somewhere, somehow.
But how do I love ME again? I found out that when you rephrase the question, it becomes easier to answer: What don’t I love about myself? My answers ranged from the most trivial to the most profound. I had a problem with my weight, my inability to say no, my tendency to lose myself in a relationship, and my lack of a dream.
So I zeroed in on the easiest: the weight issue. I read everything I could find online. I consulted a doctor and found out that I had polycystic ovaries, which made it doubly hard for me to lose weight. Apparently, my hormones have practically been making me obese. I had to treat that first and then searched high and low for that one exercise program that would suit my lifestyle. Because of the Tracy Anderson Method and a clear vision to reach my ideal weight, I managed to go down to a size 4 from a size 12! From large to small!
I got so excited because that kind of happiness emanated from within me! It was the result of sheer hard work and perseverance. It started from accepting the fact that I had a problem and facing it head on.
Next on the list: my inability to say no. I figured that being gracious is different from letting yourself be taken advantage of. I suppose that when you lose everything, you gain courage. A regained sense of self will give you the confidence to say no to something you don’t feel like doing. That same confidence will make you proud of who you are and what you have become! That solves problem number three: my tendency to lose myself in a relationship. By knowing what I hated about myself and doing something about it, I solved two problems at once!
[To be continued]
by rossanahead | Jul 3, 2011 | career, children, Education, Rossana Llenado, woman
By Rossana Llenado
In my business, I am surrounded by young people. Our students are young. Our tutors are young. And my staff, most of them are in their 20’s. Although I am just in my early 40’s, I am already one of the oldest in our company. This to me is a blessing because there is nothing like the passion and enthusiasm of youth to get any sort of enterprise moving.
Jose Rizal was only 26 when he published Noli Me Tangere. Andres Bonifacio was only 29 when he helped established the Katipunan. At the recently concluded convention of the International Association of Business Communicators in San Diego, California, of which I took part, the keynote speaker was Jonah Lehrer. He talked about the philosophy behind the decision-making process. There he was in his polo shirt and jeans, talking to us about the inner workings of the mind, and he is just barely 30!
The young are fearless. There is no challenge big enough not to be conquered. The young are free. There are no boundaries to the way they think and act. The young are idealistic. The way they throw themselves at what they believe in is simply amazing.
That’s why I always sit up and listen whenever I hear a young person speaking—whether it’s a staff member proposing something that we’ve never done before or one of my kids giving his two cents on a movie we just saw.
The youth, they are the future. And that’s why I am privileged to be working for and with them.
by rossanahead | Jun 28, 2011 | career, children, family, Gina Abuyuan, parenting, woman
By Regina Abuyuan
Out of sheer frustration, I ranted about a certain celebrity in my Facebook account. When I posted it Friday night, it got 14 likes in one hour. Now, it’s got 51 likes. The fervor has slowed down, but it looks like it’s not stopping.
So what is it that’s gotten people so involved—maybe a better word would be “embroiled”—in my personal opinions? My opinion about Kris Aquino, that’s what, and her most recent quotable quote about being a single mom: “Madali maging single mother, kasi mababait ang mga anak ko.” [“It’s easy being a single mother, because my children are good.”]
Google it and you’ll see.
I don’t even have to go into details on why this statement offends so many.
She makes light of the most difficult “job” in the universe, glossing it over with her image of being a doting, hardworking mom with a healthy work-life balance. No one—not even married or partnered moms and dads, no matter how wealthy and successful they are—can claim parenting is easy. Up to a certain point, you’re in charge of shaping a person’s life, making sure he or she doesn’t turn into a serial killer or something. And her reason? Because her kids are “nice”? That’s like saying parenting is easy because one’s kids are thoughtless, emotion-less lumps of cake who don’t need attention and understanding and discipline.
She seems to have forgotten that her mother, Cory Aquino, was a single parent. I wonder what Tita Cory would have said if she heard her youngest say that. I can just imagine her hanging her head in disappointment, shaking it side to side, and sighing: “Hay, Kris. Where did Ninoy and I go wrong with you?”
by rossanahead | Jun 25, 2011 | career, Education, Rossana Llenado, technology
By Rossana Llenado
People don’t go online because they like to read. They go online because they need the latest information fast, snappy, and brief. They don’t have time for details. They detest long text.
This couldn’t be emphasized enough during the recent International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) convention I attended in San Diego, California last week. One of the convention’s more than 80 speakers, Steve Cresenzo summed up internet writing principles in four letters, H-A-C-K.
Headline. Whether you’re writing a blog or updating a portion of your website, you have to have a catchy headline. It should be so encompassing that readers immediately “get” the idea and have no choice but to read the rest of the story. On your headline, use only key words. Make every word count.
Abstract. In a sentence, capture the essence of your story. Assume that this will be all that your readers would read. Let them know all they need to know. Try focusing on one persona that will represent your story’s point. According to research, readers are drawn in by striking character profiles rather than statistics. A reader is more likely to read the story of an earthquake survivor than an impersonal rundown of the number of calamity victims.
Content. Now apply your storytelling skills. Make your main “character” as human as possible. Include one or two quotations from an expert to give credibility to your account. Use conversational language. With different wordings, state your main point at the beginning, middle, and end of your piece as many of your readers would just be scanning your story. Through carefully chosen details, you should be able to give the reader a grasp of the bigger picture and lead him to where you want him to go.
Killer Content. Here comes the tricky part where you aim at three-way communication. Make the reader react to your story by leaving room for him to comment. Give examples and the examples of others so that the reader would be enticed to share his own. Be straightforward about how you’d like your audience to react:
(1) Like you/your organization on Facebook
(2) Share your story on their wall
(3) Join the discussion
(4) Comment. Comment. Comment.
Go forth and HACK!
by rossanahead | Jun 23, 2011 | career, Karen Galarpe, woman
By Karen Galarpe
I chuckled at the sight: one of my toenails in black currant polish. Suddenly I felt so out of character, and ready for adventure. The manicurist laughed with me, as I asked, “Won’t I look like a vampire?” Then I thought, why not? It’s time to try new shades, new things.
It was a lazy Sunday afternoon, and I tried out this salon on West Avenue after I found no parking space at the salon I usually go to. New salon, new hair stylist, new polish–yeah, bring it on.
I have a job that is kinda stressful. We’re in full adrenaline rush mode when there’s breaking news, like the Japan earthquake and tsunami last March, or the Halalan national elections last year. On other days, we’re still in some kind of rush, as we need to write, edit, and publish news as they happen.
So when other things come into play at work (changes, et cetera), it can get more stressful than usual. My hyperacidity kicks in, I can’t eat, my back hurts, and I get bone tired at the end of the day.
But I’ve been through other stressful times, and found that there are things one can do to bust that stress. Here are my tried-and-tested stress busters:
1. Treat yourself to something yummy. For me, sometimes it just takes a kiwi Sprite float, a great tea drink, barako coffee, or dark chocolates to lift my spirits.
2. Phone a friend. Or text, tweet, send a Facebook message. I love that my close friends are ready to listen to me, or if they’re busy, will get back to me when they have time to hear me out.
3. Go to a salon. Pamper yourself. Try a new shade of nail polish like I did.
4. Read a book that’s not for work or about the work that you do. Discover the sheer pleasure of reading and getting lost in someone’s world or finding some truths you can apply in your life.
5. Go for a massage. It’s painfully liberating to have those little hard knots of muscle at the back loosened. A foot spa also does wonders. You come out relaxed.
6. Tune in to some classical or soothing jazz music. Best done on the way home after a long hard day.
7. Pray. Yes, it works. And we can talk to Him like we talk to our close friends.
8. See what’s beyond you. There’s a whole world out there, one where you’re not the center of the universe. Just last week, the man who usually watches my car while parked outside asked me if I knew of a place where his nephew can go have a CT scan for free. There are many people in need around us.
9. Read the Bible. A chapter a day is food for the soul. Start with the gospel of John, or Psalms, or Proverbs.
10. Let go. Face it, there are just some things you can’t control. So let go, sip that coffee at an outdoor table in a cafe, feel the breeze, and watch the world go by.
