It's not about the money!

So, I talk a lot about business stuff right? If you do not know this about me yet, then you are most probably less than an acquaintance. To most people that I know, I care about or I have at least engaged in a conversation for at least 30 minutes, they would know that I am a business-oriented person. TRUST ME YOU WOULD KNOW!

Certain manifestations why I am business-oriented include:

1. I am awesome in Monopoly! I have never lost in this game!
2. Most of the books that I buy are business books. Not necessarily all about business but a lot of them are actually related to business.
3. My favorite TV show is The Apprentice.
4. People have heroes in their lives outside the family circle. Some people would refer to celebrities or athletes or politicians or philosophers probably. My personal hero outside the family is Warren Buffett. Not because he donated billions of dollars to charity, not because he is down-to-earth, not because he is the richest man in the world, certainly not because he's pro-choice but because Berkshire Hathaway is one of the most successful companies in America. I think it belongs to Fortune 3.
5. Some people love to gossip about people's lives and whatnot. I get really hooked up when I hear that there are new talks and speeches being made about business.
6. I read annual reports for the fun of it. Yes! For the fun of it!
7. I do not like accounting which is weird considering I like annual reports but the moment I realized I needed it for stocks, I actually became interested in it.

However, to judge me as a money-oriented, blood-sucking, cold-hearted, tycoon is very unacceptable. I am saying this because somebody already made a mistake of calling me money-oriented, oh I'm sorry - TOO MONEY-ORIENTED!

There is actually more to me than business. There is more to me than leverage and stocks and bonds. I am a person. Need I say more? hehe...

Truth be told. I have never invested in a business before. I wanted to but my capital is too low and the stockbroker won't accept anything less than a hundred grand. The thing is, business and money-making do not ring common bells to me. It is not as dissimilar as apples and oranges but they are not necessarily the same thing to me. It does not even follow that business would spurt out money. To me, business is something that entices me. It is something that excites me. It is something that I do not mind doing for the rest of my life.

Let me ask you this question. Have you ever felt so passionate about something that you have completely defied everything that kept you from doing it? Did you climb off your window and took your dad's car to go to a party you were not allowed to go to? Did you travel 20 kilometers just to visit your love ones despite the fact you have a report to submit the following morning? Did you commit yourself to Gawad Kalinga to help build houses for the poor every week despite the fact that you already have a full plate in your household? Finally, did you date someone secretly even if your family dislikes the person? If your answer is yes, then you and I are not so different.

You see. My parents definitely have high expectations from me. My mom is a Ph. D. who got straight A's since her M.A. She also graduated magna cum laude in college. My dad is a self-made mechanical engineer who used to sell pandesal every morning before going to school just to have an allowance. Now, our family is nowhere near to ultra rich. We are actually part of the middle class. We earn enough money to live decent lives. My parents are very particular with education as you might suspect. They sent us to good schools so that we could be successful some day. I am grateful for everything that they have done for us but most of you would not know that my parents do not agree with my path in business. It is kind of like a Romeo and Juliet; only it is more of the geeky version. So geeky that you'll find yourself having internal vomiting. The thing is, for most of my life I have been dreaming of becoming SOMEONE some day. It does not have to be cool. It just has to be SOMEONE. When I was a kid. I wanted to become a scientist. Imagine that! What kind of a kid would want to become a scientist!? Hmmm... Try..... ME! hehe... I would put apart the toys that my parents gave me then I would put them back in. When I receive a toy, my main concern would be putting it apart rather than taking care of it and keeping it intact. I loved tearing up toys to see how they were made! Sadly, my science teachers never got my attention. What's up with the eclipse and the body systems!? How could you attract me to study that!? So, I resorted to medicine. Now, I used to be skinny but we all eventually became healthy. And I promised my parents and my siblings that I would become a doctor and I would invent the most advanced; fail-proof diet pill that you would experience weight loss with just one pill! I would call it Super Slim! hahaha! When my dad would tell me. "Don't eat too much. I'd respond and say, "Never mind! I'll fix it up when I become a doctor!" hahahaha! Then came high school. I got myself to a Technical school and I was and still am and will forever be happy to have been a Bosconian. I wanted to become a computer engineer. I wanted to be like Bill Gates! People seem to say that the guy is geeky. But to hell with it! He's the coolest GEEK there is! I learned programming and website making and Flash presentations until I found myself in Industrial Electricity. Then came my musings for hardwares. I wanted to invent an actual product! I wanted to be like Thomas Edison or Grahambell! Shortly after this, I figured, hmmmm.... I want to be a CEO. I want to be THE BOSS! I ain't working for anybody but me. If I screw things up, my ass is on the line. If I make a killing however, I get freaking rich! hahaha!

So came senior year and I had interests in Conan O' Brien, Jay Leno and all those talk show stuff. I won an extempo speech and I thought, "Hey! I could be a public speaker! A host!" hahaha! So I thought I could take Comm and be in business and talk in public and stuff and that would be ccol but eventually, it faded. Everything I wanted for myself faded. Like faded jeans! (no laughter? Ok...) They all faded in front of my eyes! And the sad thing is, I didn't give a tiny rat's ass. Nothing mattered to me! Despite the fact that I worked hard to train myself for it! It didn't matter to me that I did not want it anymore. It was like, Pfffft. I don't want it anymore. Big deal! Until I went to a business seminar. I learned about Robert Kiyosaki who influenced me but I do not agree with. But my craving for information became stronger. I was hungrier than ever. I liked business more than I liked food (haha!), or school (I like school though), or TV shows, or vices, or even girls probably. Haha! Business was a topmost priority other than my family and well, God of course! But even so, business became a big part of my life. I thought about it day and night. I do not feel bored with it. I find it the coolest thing to ever be in existence! I started to see the company beyond the label! I started to see the organization beyond the price tag. It was a wonderful moment. My sisters thought I was being geeky as hell but I never felt business was geeky at all! I thought it was something that is and will forever be part of my life.

Which brings me to my point. Business is something that I do not see as a means to an end. Business is my intended end. I had a conversation with a 5th year Industrial Economics student by the name of Migs. He is currently working as a Research Assistant for Mr. Pineda. He is not earning a salary but he is really hyped up about his job. I remember him telling me that it is not about the salary. His current job is not related to money-making. Just the experience and the opportunity to work for a Cornell graduate who works for the best economic school in the Philippines, UA&P and a consultant to multinational firms and senators is already big! Same thing is true for me. I told him prior to his statement that I would work free of charge for Warren Buffett. I have always dreamed of spending some time in Columbia Business School to experience first hand they type of education that he received. I would work for free for business. For some people, they find business as a means to early retirement. They find it as an escape from 9-5. They find it an opportunity to escape Income Tax or earn more money. I don't. Business is not a vehicle to earn money. It is an end that I pursue. There is something about it that soothes me. There is something about it that satisfies me. And if I can spend so much of my money and so much of my time devoting myself to buying books and reading them; reading countless numbers of news articles, then I could certainly say that it would be a much smoother ride in the future.

By the way, business is something that I have never been tired of and the day I stop loving it is the day that I have nothing to smile about for the rest of my life.




I actually forgot. So I'm posting a picture of TIMELY. It's the product I talked about in my first entry... I think? Anyway,



You could visit the website here: goodlandenterprises.freehostia.com

Do not put www. I do not know why it does not work with www.