To all mothers in every circumstance, including those who struggle- and all will- I say “Be peaceful. Believe in God and yourself. You are doing better than you think you are.” -Jeffrey Holland I grew up in an environment where women are empowered. My mom single-handedly raised us when my father died. I was only 6 that time, my younger brother at 4. Life was hard but I didn’t know that because my mother was able to conceal the ugly side of life. Fast forward to present and I am now a mother myself. My daughter will be turning 3 this May and so far, I’m still able to cope up with the hustle and bustle of motherhood. Wow! Life’s pretty amazing and chaotic with a toddler. Being a millennial mom, these are the things that I’ve learned and experienced that I want to share with you. If you are a mother yourself, I know you can relate with these. If you are expecting or planning to have kids in the future, these might give you an idea of what awaits you. #1. A baby i...

“And one day she discovered that she was fierce, and strong, and full of fire. And that not even she could hold herself back because her passion burned brighter than her fears.” -Mark Anthony 2018 was an awesome year! It’s the year I decided to make bold decisions and refocus my life. These are the top 4 things I’ve learned that I want to share with you. 1.        Career is not everything. There was a point in my life when I thought having a successful career is what matters most. I mean, having a regular pay check with incentives, car, iPad, and other perks of being a sales representative is lucrative. Yet, it cannot buy satisfaction. You will never be contented if you focus on material things and socioeconomic status. Career is not everything. When you rely too much on your job that you are afraid of losing it, then you have to refocus. Your career is imperative but there’s more to life than this. If you are no longer happy, no matter how you ...

“She was unstoppable, not because she did not have failures or doubts but because she continued on despite them.” -unknown Have you ever been in a situation where in you feel like things are not doing good in your life? It seemed that no matter what you do, you always end up a failure. It’s frustrating, right? At times you see yourself crying in desperation because things are too much to bear. Believe me, everyone of us go through fiascoes in life. Don’t be disheartened. There is hope. Here, I want you to think of a particular situation in the past wherein you failed. What was it? Was it difficult at that time to accept the failure? Did you doubt yourself? How did you feel about it? Disappointments in life are wonderful challenges mask in an undesirable way. A test to measure resilience. Now, what is resilience? It’s a person’s ability to bounce back. You might have gone through difficult situations in the past but when you look back at them now, you can say you mad...

Whenever we talk about money, we have varied opinions. Some would confidently say they have enough, while most would say they find it hard to make ends meet. Money is a big factor for survival. We need it to keep going in this race called life. But we should not be a slave of it. We should not let money control us. We should control money. We should control our finances. But how? The answer is financial literacy. It’s not about being debt-free or not having money problems at all. Financial literacy, according to Investopedia is the ability to manage personal finance matters in an efficient manner, and it includes knowledge of making appropriate decisions about personal finance such as investing, insurance, real estate, paying for college, budgeting, retirement, and tax planning. Managing your finances in an efficient approach is one way to gain financial freedom. You must understand your cash flow, the transfer of money into and out of your pocket. You can’t spend more than how m...

I didn’t have a passport until just recently when I was told to get one. For me, thinking about the process and the scheduling is so tedious I rather do something else. In my mind, I didn’t have a plan to go abroad anytime soon so why bother. But then, I was informed by my colleague that I was chosen as one of the representatives of the Philippines for a conference this August in Japan. That pushed me to get my passport. I will be sharing with you today the step by step process of getting a Philippine passport.   Prepare the requirements. a.        For new applicants and renewal of passport, you need to have an online appointment . Walk- in applicants will not be entertained. However, there are those who are exempted from passport appointment. The following individuals don’t need to set an online appointment and can go directly to the nearest DFA Consular Office: photo credit: DFA official Facebook page ü   Minor who ar...

I was told prior to getting hired that this job is not an easy job. Selling a life insurance is selling a promise. The old cliché “promises are made to be broken” sounds really obstinate. I told myself I’m a salesperson and very passionate in convincing others. Besides, I really wanted to know more about life insurance and be educated financially. Now, I feel what my manager told me during the interview. Talking to clients and explaining to them my proposal is not hard. The hard part is closing the sale (which is very crucial because how can you call yourself a salesperson when you can’t close a sale, right?). It’s when you tell the clients how much they will pay for the coverage that make them say, I’ll think about it or I don’t have the money right now. And I honestly understand them. Because I was like them. What made me change my mind was the realization that I didn’t have any to offer my daughter should something bad happen to me and I’d be taken out of the picture. That thought ...