I had my first full page feature at the Sunday Times last Mother’s Day. Aside from that, the new community of empowered women that my friends, Martine De Luna and Frances Sales, are building (Beauty Biz Bliss) also got to be featured on the page after that. I am deeply grateful to the writers Euden Valdez and Carla Bianca Ravanes, to photographers Naz Castro and Louie Arcilla for the photos used and to my good friend Evan Tan of Freelancer.com for recommending me.
This was really something that I was thankful for and it was not because of the fame nor the bragging rights, but because it was a validation that I was doing something right — something that might be able to make this world a better place. In 2010, I felt like I needed to do something more, something else. It was probably because hitting 30 made me feel that I want to do something with my life. I looked around and I saw various kinds of people… people who would just go with the flow, people who wanted to share their skills, people who aimed for the stars, people who would just look at the stars and wonder, people who would not look at the stars at all, etc. (you get what I mean). I wanted to inspire people into action. I wanted to achieve my dreams while helping others achieve theirs.
Finally, in 2013, I did just that and went for my dreams. In my mind, I just had to go for it, and it didn’t matter anymore if I succeeded or not. All that mattered was that I felt that it was the right thing to do. For people who know me, they would agree that it was so “Ginger” to make this leap. I’m a bit impulsive when it comes to making decisions. Haha! Honestly, during that time, I just had a dream and processes in Excel sheets, Word document and in Power Point. My mindset was just meet with people, make little things happen every day and inch my way to success.
The past 3 years seemed to pass so quickly. Looking back, I got to meet a lot of brilliant, successful and inspiring people. I got to meet a lot of kind hearted, passionate and generous people. I have also met a few difficult, stubborn and selfish people. Haha! But in general, the way I view each and every encounter is how I generally view my life. I see each encounter as pages in my book of life that inspires me, makes me stronger and inspires me to “read on”.
In my encounters with these people, the thing that I have observed that has made people successful is putting actions over words. I have noticed that the people who have become successful are those who not only work toward acting on their own dreams, but those who act on helping others achieve theirs. I came across a friend who shared with me that when things go wrong for him,what he does is that he does something nice for other people and his luck turns around. I’m not sure if there is really a direct correlation, but I believe that helping others put people in a good and better mood that they become less stressed, more positive and therefore, they get the job done and become more productive.
Words don’t mean anything, really. We put so much weight on people who commit to doing something, but at the end of the day, trust is really built when when people consistently deliver on their promises. Trust is built when they consistently show that they go out of their way to make things happen, not only for themselves but also for others.
For me, successful people are those who do not only think about achieving dreams for themselves, but those who go the extra mile to help other. Successful people for me, use not only their brains, but they use their heart, too.
This year, I have honestly doubted myself, in terms of productivity. I felt and still feel like I need to simplify my life. A portion of what I do is I try to help others, even if I am not required to help. I honestly don’t know why I spend time helping others, but I just think that if I can, then why not? This article that was published just reminded me more of who I am as a person. I have achieved what I have achieved, because of who I am, because of what I believe in and because of what I decided to do.
No one can really tell you what you should do or not do. It’s your life. If you want to use both your mind and heart, then do so. People who love you will always be there to support you. I will always be here (just an email away) if you need me.
