Click: Technopreneur Secrets Revealed

I listened closely to Vince Golangco, the man behind “WhenInManila.com“. On his blog, he talks about things to do, places to visit when in Manila. He espoused creating an online brand. Your blog is your “calling card” or “resume” online as people often refer to your online presence to find out more about you.

Vince also discussed how videos can be very powerful content for your blog. They showed us a clip from PI Job Experiment featuring two American men trying to make money in Santiago, Isabela by offering a ride to the nearby town of Cauayan. It’s funny and surprising because mid-video, the two guys Jason and Tory started speaking in Tagalog. Tory (the barker) even had paper bills folded between his fingers just like our local kundoktors. They were charging P10 for a ride to the next town in a private car. They were dressed in white sandos, by the way. Got to chat with Jason and Tory at the conference. A funny pair. :D

Abe Olandres of www.yugatech.com was there too talking about ProBlogging. It’s nice to listen to peers who had made it big in the blogging scene. We always have something to learn from those who have made it big. When I told Abe about my business, Runners’ Runner, he was pleasantly surprised to find out that I was the person behind it. He had heard about Runners’ Runner from a friend. Now, Abe, bring on those advertisers in the sports niche ;-) .

And finally, I got to listen to Dustin Andaya of www.IslandRose.net . I’ve heard a lot about Dustin through Maven Secrets. It was finally good to listen to his story and how he had grown his business. I like how he had managed change in their flower business – the business was well-established in brick-mortar, but he elevated the business through their online presence. I got a chance to meet and chat with Dustin. There’s much to learn from him especially with some similar aspects between Island Rose and my own online business, Runners’ Runner.

GoNegosyo

There was a GoNegosyo booth at the conference. I wanted to buy their latest book entitled: “21 steps on how to start your own business”.

I told them that it was part of my vision board to be featured on GoNegosyo and Entrepreneur magazine. Lo and behold, they gave me the book for free! :D Thank you Lord for the blessings, bring on more!

And yes, there was more. Katrina of GoNegosyo asked me if they could interview me for my business and as a participant at the conference. Why, of course!

On cam, I told them what struck me the most in the conference. I also got to talk about my business, Runners’ Runner (www.RunnersRunner.com).

Runners' Runner

After shooting the video, Katrina complimented me about speaking well in front of the camera. I told her I got my training by taking mobile videos myself (I did this during Cory’s funeral in 2009, in the time of typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng and in the recent national elections). All experience builds up – we get better and better everyday.

My lessons from today’s venture

1. Take action. – When I saw an opportunity to join this conference through Anton’s invitation, I took it as a good opportunity to learn. I took action and am blessed to come out of it with more opportunities.
2. Show up. – Surround yourself with people who share a similar passion and positivity towards business and life. Being in a conference for entrepreneur fuels my resolve to build my business and make it big.
3. Ask. – Ask questions. Learn from those who have taken a similar journey ahead of you. Ask about opportunities.
4. Keep your dreams close to your heart. – Libre mangarap. May bayad ang gumanap. Yes, let’s dream big. And there’s a price to pay to achieve it! Go for it!
5. Be grateful. – We are in a sea of blessings. Be grateful for the blessings. And the blessings will increase.

Dream big, start small, get better and better everytime!

ka edong

It was a good interactive presentation. Got people on their feet. Presented some case studies, many of which are close to my heart. And we got people thinking about what they can do as student journalists in the blogging space. We answered questions and I hope all these have helped the audience take home something useful and actionable.

Now sharing this presentation on Basic Blogging for Student Journalists.

This presentation provides case studies of how student journalists, professional journalists and citizen journalists can share their work through blogging.

Case studies include:

• The Guidon – student paper of Ateneo de Manila University www.theguidon.com
• The Philippine Online Chronicles – www.thepoc.net
• Juanvote – www.juanvote.com
• Citizen Journalist Ka Edong – www.edwinsoriano.com ; www.qik.com/ka_edong

The presentation ends with a discussion on specific questions from students in Region 6  – questions that will help them take action towards blogging as a student journalist or as a citizen.

Basic Blogging For Student Journalists

View more presentations from Edwin Ka Edong Soriano.

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Thank you Smart, PIA-6 and the students of Region 6. Bless you in your pursuit of truth and influence!

Best!

Edwin

Rejoice in your treasures. They are but temporary.
- I

How can I miss you if you don’t go away?
- from a song in a concert of the APO

Taking things for Granted

I was at Bonifacio High Street with my pamangkins Tracy, Nathalie and Julian. Julian grew up in San Francisco, was here for a visit and we were taking him around to see some of the beauty and reality of the Philippines.

At Bonifacio High Street, we took some photos of the giant Gummi Bear. I pointed out the “shadow” of the bear on the ground made with a darker shade of cement on the ground. I explained to Julian that the sculpture depicted what a real shadow would look like on a clear day.

Beneath the Shadows, Treasures

I continued to share to Julian a story about our guests from Intel China back in 2008. In Chengdu, China where our Intel counterparts were from, they had an overcast sky all year round. It was partly due to smog from the industrial plants in the area, and partly due to the natural climate of Chengdu.

When our Chinese counterparts flew in for a conference in Cavite on a February, we noticed how much they were enjoying the sunshine of the Philippines. They took pleasure in basking in the sun, and were delighted just seeing the clear blue sky with just a few clouds.

The clear blue sky – one of the wonderful treasures that many of us take for granted.

Julian and I also exchanged insights of travel. I shared that I want to live away from the Philippines for a few years. I want this for myself because I know that by living away from the Philippines, I will learn to appreciate the Philippines more, and I will learn more about what being a Filipino means to me.

I wonder, what have I taken for granted in my life?
What are the treasures I have now that I have not been appreciating or putting value on?
How can I become more aware of the treasures that lack my appreciation or acknowledgement?

After some reflection and recollection, I’ve found that ultimately, there is just one way to consciously become more aware of the treasures we take for granted. We become more aware of unacknowledged treasures by losing them.

Lose your Treasures!

This sometimes happens to us by circumstance.

For instance, forgetting to bring our cellphone or wallet with us when we leave home and spending the day without it. Or having no electricity to power some of the conveniences we have. This helps us appreciates the basics like reading a book, using a paypay (hand-fan), or just having a meaningful conversation instead of watching TV.

I personally lost my wallet while I was in Batanes on a tour. I realized then that I was okay losing a wallet. To me, my wallet was something that held my money and some plastic cards – ATMs, credit card, driver’s license. All of these things are replaceable, it just takes a matter of time and a little inconvenience to replace them.

What I did learn to cherish more were my photographs. I realized I would have been soooo sad if I had lost my photos. These photos capture snapshots of joy or bliss in my life. I want these photos to remind me of this joy, and to remind me to create joy in my life.

Losing something by accident or circumstance can help us become more aware of our unacknowledged treasures.

On the other hand, we can consciously lose our treasure, even if temporary, so that we gain an appreciation of what we have.

Here are some ways to lose our treasures to help us increase the joy of having our treasures.

1.) Pa-miss technique.

They say distance makes the heart grow fonder. I know this is true. I’ve experienced this in oh so many ways in my life. When a loved one is lost due to death or a break-up, these are times when we begin to value more deeply the value of this person in our lives.

We don’t want to wait for death or a break-up to discover how much we value our loved ones.

One way to discover our treasures is to get away from our “normal”. By being away from our normal, by being away from our “comfort zone”, we discover what it is we value.

Go on a personal retreat. Go on a solo journey. I’ve done these a couple of times in the past 15 years. And I have always always come out of it a better person, more aware of the people, goals, dreams or things that I value in life = my treasures.

2.) Fasting technique.

In January of this year, I went on a 7-day fast with a few friends from Victory Christian Church. I head heard about fasting from my brother, Eric in 2009. It was an easy decision for me this year to join the fast this year.

While fasting, I had the support of good friends Richard, Jill and Caloy who were fasting too. We had a guide to keep our fasting safe healthwise. The guide helped us make the experience more meaningful spiritually, mentally and emotionally.

During the fast, I experienced many moments of sheer longing. Longing for food. Longing for rest. Longing for sleep. It was funny how my senses were extremely heightened by the sight of food (or *pictures* of food), the scent of food, the mention of food, and even the *sound* of food (e.g. the sound of somebody munching on chicharon 5 – yes, 5! – cubicles away).

More than the physical hunger, I also began to acknowledge and appreciate my spiritual hunger. I wanted to express more deeply the spiritual side of my being. I felt a deeper connection to my God in my times of hunger.

Go on a fast. Be guided by family or friends or a community. Do it together with them. You will discover the many treasures within yourself, the many treasures around you, the many treasures that God has created for you.

3.) Lose your senses technique.

When was the last time you got an ankle sprain or a stiff neck? During these times, maybe you couldn’t walk fast enough to hail a cab or jeep. Maybe you couldn’t drive safely with a stiff neck not being able to look at your sideview mirrors. Maybe you couldn’t sleep well.

These are times when you begin to appreciate more your “normal” flexibility. I personally have some strained back muscles. And I’ve been missing shooting out of bed without the pain.

During our teenage years, my eldest brother, Elmer, took an afternoon off from having sight and made himself blind. He took an eye-shade (the one we use for sleeping to keep our eyes from seeing the light through our eyelids) and wore it for more than half a day. He wanted to know what it’s like to be blind. From this experience, he learned how to appreciate what he is able to do because he can see. He learned to appreciate the beauty of seeing, the beauty of things that we can see.

How can you disable yourself safely? Here are some ideas.

For one day, do not use your dominant hand. Imagine you have disabled your dominant hand and are forced to use your non-dominant hand. What are the things you’ll be less comfortable doing?

For one day, force yourself to stay seated for long periods. Stay stuck to your ergo chair.
When you can’t walk, what things can’t you do much? Will you make better use of your “trip” to the filing cabinet?

For one whole day, wear gloves. See what things you can’t do when you lose your sense of touch.

4.) No media technique.

I’ve personally stopped watching TV for almost 5 years now. I’ve had a TV before. But that has gone un-used. In the condo I live in now, I don’t have a TV. I don’t need one because I don’t watch TV. My father complains too that I should get a radio. When I *need* to listen to radio, I use my cellphone. I don’t turn on any radio as a *default*. I like hearing my thoughts.

If I want to listen to something, I choose classical music, piano music or other instrumentals. This allows me to continue reflecting as I do work or chores. I also like listening to audio books when I’m doing chores.

What media can you forego. Try taking a break from radio. From TV. From your cellphone. From the internet. From Facebook. You may discover that a face-to-face conversation is meaningful beyond a personal message. You may discover that the silence helps you reflect more, or appreciate the chirping of the birds more.

How to rejoice in our treasures

I have described how we can discover treasures that we take for granted.

Armed with this new awareness, how can we rejoice in our treasures so that we no longer take these treasures for granted?

• If we’ve taken our body for granted, rejoice in what our body allows us to do. Nurture our body with healthy food and meaningful exercise and rest.
• If we’ve taken our skills and talents for granted, rejoice by sharing them. Teach someone your skill. Share the blessing by using your skill as a gift to others.
• If we’ve taken our material assets for granted, rejoice by sharing them. There may be things at home that we no longer use. Give these things a chance to achieve their purpose. Give them away to someone who can make good use of it. The space that’s freed up allows us more growth.
• If we’ve taken our loved ones for granted, rejoice by expressing your honest appreciation for them.
• If we’ve taken our good God for granted, be more thankful for His blessings. Share the blessings to His loved ones, to your loved ones. As you give, so shall you receive.

Hug someone you love today

When was the last time you embraced your loved one?
When was the last time you said you love them?

To end, I’d like to share a message I got through my sister. “I wish you enough”

Today is the 20th anniversary of the big 7.7 earthquake that rocked Baguio and other provinces in Luzon on July 16, 1990.

If today we lose a loved one to a catastrophe or an accident, would you say you’ve rejoiced enough in them while they were with you?

Do something today to rejoice in your treasures and rejoice in your loved ones. Hug your loved ones today!

I wish you enough.

Rejoicefully yours,

Edwin

The Positivity is spreading, I can tell. Here’s a story about Positivity.

Two Saturdays ago, the day before the Milo Marathon, I had 3,000 flyers of Runners’ Runner printed out. I wanted to distribute them the next day at the Milo Marathon.

I went to Copylandia along Rufino, Makati. I wanted to leave the flyers behind and just retrieve them when I returned in the late evening. So I instructed the machine operator, Zaldy, to please leave the finished flyers at the building guard so I can come back for it in the evening.

To my dismay, when I went back in the evening, the flyers weren’t with the guard. Zaldy had forgotten to give them to the guard! Doink! I could have said “Oh F it! I’ll never go back to this shop in my entire lifetime!”

But I just said to myself: “Lesson learned: Next time I should call back to confirm that my flyers are ready.” We live, we learn. I went to the Milo marathon with just around 500 flyers and a little more creativity to compensate for the 3,000 flyers I didn’t have.

What’s interesting is the conversation I had with the machine operator, Zaldy on Monday morning. It was an SMS conversation and here’s how it went:

Zaldy: Good morning sir, si Zaldy ito. Sensya na po, ‘di ko po nai-labas yung flyers niyo nung sabado.

Edong: Oo nga eh. Sayang lang yun gpinagawa ko, ‘di ko na-distribute sa event ko.

I was texting this way because I wanted him to offer some considerations for my next transaction, like a discount or something.

And here was Zaldy’s response to which I was pleasantly surprised!

Zaldy: Okay lang yun, sir! Think Positive! May ibang events pa naman kayo, eh!

Panalo!!!!

The positivity is spreading! Thanks, perhaps to the Robin Padilla ad saying: “Walang Aayaw! Think Pasitib!”

Wahoo!

As we were doing an exercise, I found myself being described by my groupmates as “God-centered”. This isn’t among the top descriptions I would typically receive. But maybe through my words and through my actions, it just emanated. Where did it come from?

Gratitude Runeth Over

Gratitude Runneth Over - With Gratitude, blessings increase

Alam niyo, the past two months, I’ve been especially thankful to the Lord for the life I lead.

It started, perhaps, with being witness to the awesome magnificence of Batanes. All I could say when I was in Batanes was “Thank you Lord!” Such a wonderful world He created.

The gratitude continued as I came back to Manila to live a different life as an entrepreneur, freed from the logistic limitations I had from previous employment.

As I settled into this new lifestyle, I couldn’t help by revel in this new life I am leading.

One time I was in a cafe, sipping my tea at 10 in the morning, preparing for a business/technical meeting. I had imagined this scene many times in the past. Being able to hang-out at a cafe (or park, or resto, or home, or anywhere else I wanted) and do my work wherever I was. I couldn’t help by smile with myself and say “Thank you Lord!”

When I accepted the invitation to go to jail, I was extremely thankful to the Lord for the opportunities coming to me and grateful to be in a position to grabe these opportunities for growth and learning.

Gratitude

Gratitude is so liberating!

It increases the pleasure we have from what we are grateful for.

Gratitude increases our blessings! Gratitude opens the door for more blessings.

Showing my Gratitude

My brother asked me the other day: “What do you do to show your gratitude to God?”

Although there is a deeper pre-text to his question, let me answer the question in a few simple ways.

1. I pray to the Lord, I praise and thank Him for the blessings I have in this life.
2. I whisper to myself or sometimes scream out loud “Thank you Lord!”
3. I gaze up the the sky in reverence and say: “Ang galing mo talaga, Lord!” (AGMT!)
4. I’ve also learned to deposit into my “gratitude bank” by bending down like in a half-genuflect, form a fist and pull in my elbow along my side (just like tennis players do when they celebrate). It’s all about putting in all our gratefulness in our “gratitude bank” (thanks Jon for the tip!).
5. I share my blessings with people around, through my words, through my blog, through my being.
6. And, (yes kuya), I take care of my body, which is the temple of my soul. For this, I’ve been getting more sleep (making up for probably 5 or more years of sleep deprivation). I’ve also eliminated a few bad habits I picked up the past years. Yes, we’re getting better. I take care of myself as a way to praise our Lord.

Yes! Depositing my "Thank You's" in my Gratitude Bank!

Today is a gift. That’s why it’s called “present”.

So, am I God-centered? Perhaps.

I prefer to say that God has centered me and grounded me. I have accepted my God and I praise Him with the life I lead.

Who we are is God’s gift to us.

Who we become is our gift to God.

ka edong
Gift-Ed

I was invited to go to jail.

A friend, Gang Badoy (whom I met for the first time in person last Sunday) was visiting the Maximum Security prison in Muntinlupa and she asked me and a couple of friends to join us.

I gladly agreed to go to jail.

With my newfound freedom from employment, I now have the luxury to accept outrageous invitations like this. Oh, who could resist an opportunity to go to jail??!

The visitors: Gang, Leslie and Mike from RockEd; Jakob an anthropologist from Denmark; Tanya a childhood friend since grade 1 and her friend Laurel a Fil-Am writer based in New York; and Ka Edong, certified KAladkarin.

Prison Break-in

We entered through the imposing solid gates of the Maximum Security prison, got frisked for any banned paraphernalia (we had permission to bring just one camera, thus I have no photos from inside), got stamped on the wrist twice. I protected these marks on my wrist, it was my ticket to leave prison later in the day.

Welcome Stamp, Exit Stamp

I was entering the Maximum Security prison where inmates have a minimum of 20 years imprisonment.

But when we got in, I felt safe the whole time. We were welcome guests.

I saw how inmates are able to roam the compound (a lot area close to that of SM Megamall). I saw more than 8 churches of different denominations plus a mosque. I saw that commerce is very much alive with mango vendors, handicraft stalls, streetfood (isaw! sarap!), a bakery and sari-sari stores. I saw a tennis court and many basketball courts. I saw their hospital and a theology school, an alternative learning school. I saw an art classroom and BEAUTIFUL Awesome paintings! Self-expression and creativity is alive and well in the bilibid

I saw a covered gymnasium where RockEd holds their “Rock the Rehas” concerts with the country’s top bands and singers. Awesome!

We settled in at the office of Lamb of God — a paralegal group helping inmates with legal advise and their release papers. This was the venue of many of RockEd’s activities including poetry classes and other learning sessions by friends of RockEd.

We had perhaps an hour and a half of interaction with some of the inmates – students of the poetry class and members of Lamb of God. We each introduced ourselves to the group – visitors and inmates. And continued on in more informal discussions in pairs or small groups to talk about … life.

Life.

Life is what I saw in the inmates – Ranny, Gaspar, Chatz, Dolphy, Rowen, Obet, Mike, Puti and Edwin (an inmate, my namesake) and others.

It started when Edwin, in the middle of his self-introduction, decided to read two poems he had written right before we arrived. Edwin’s poems were filled with words of longing – longing to see a “Nanay” (mother) for that is how he has come to relate to Gang. His poems spoke of the joy of poetry and a gift of self-expression, the excitement of seeing friends in person or on TV.

I got to listen to Puti, a good looking man of around 55 years who had travelled the world, had the luxuries of life, had women too many to count and so much more that most men would die to have.

Puti described how he had discovered the Lord while in prison. Puti learned the healing powers we have within us with the grace of God. He shared his insights on the beauty of life – an appreciation he learned behind bars, an inner-happiness he had never experienced in his life of unrestrained physical freedom outside prison.

Breaking of bread

We broke bread and shared pieces of ensaymada from the nearby bakery.

We broke bread as we exchanged stories and origins.
We shared a piece of ourselves with every word spoken, question asked and answered, every smile or facial expression that connected us to one another.

And we broke bread when it was time to leave.

Pasasalamat (Thanksgiving)

We gave ourselves a chance to say our thanks to the group. Representatives among the inmates thanked us for visiting them. Jakob spoke words in Danish and translated them in English showing his gratitude for the opportunity to be with the inmates and study their artworks (tatoos!).

These were my words of thanks.

Nagpapa-salamat ako sa oras na tayo ay nagkasama ngayong hapon, sa karangalang kayo ay makilala kahit saglit.

Nakita ko ngayong hapon kung paano ninyo nabigyang kahulugan ang inyong buhay sa kabila ng inyong sitwasyon.

Naligayahan akong marinig ang mga nadiskobre ninyo tungkol sa inyong sarili, sa inyong pananampalataya, sa inyong buhay.

Sa maikling sandali na nakasama ko kayo, tila bang mas-buhay pa kayo kumpara sa marami pang ibang tao sa laya na dumadaan lang sa pang-araw-araw na gawain na walang saysay.

Salamat sa blessing na inyong naibahagi sa akin sa hapong ito. Magkikita tayo muli.

(I thank you for the time we had together. I saw this afternoon how you have gave meaning to the circumstance that you are in. I saw how you have discovered much about yourselves, your spirituality, your life. It seems many of you are more alive than many others outside prison who go through life like a machine with little or no purpose in life. Thank you for the blessing that you have shared to me today. I will see you again.)

We closed the afternoon with a prayer led by Gaspar, a 71 year old inmate due for release “soon”.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon:
where there is doubt, faith ;
where there is despair, hope
where there is darkness, light
where there is sadness, joy
O divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.
(Prayer of Saint Francis)

Freedom

For what is freedom but the acceptance of our past and the living in the now.
For what is freedom but allowing ourselves to claim the joy that God makes available for us in abundance.

Learn Live Love Despite!

Apart from the limitations we set upon ourselves, we are free no matter what circumstances.
Free to be happy, free to learn, free to live, free to love.

ka edong
kakosa
http://www.edwinsoriano.com

Leaving Smart has created a significant reduction in my incoming cashflow. Thus, I’ve made a couple of decisions that will help me protect my finances from leaking away.

Many times in the past, I’ve allowed my cash to leak away in all sorts of expenses. We learn from our mistakes. If we don’t, the lesson is repeated until we do.

I am a Money Magnet (and I am not a leaking bucket)

So here goes a growing list of guidelines for some lifestyle changes I’m making.

• Eat at home more often – I used to have breakfast at the Smart Cafeteria, lunch and dinner outside. I probably ate at home around 3 times a week. I don’t want to call this guideline “Eat out less often” because that sounds like a goal of deprivation. I’d rather eat home more often :-)
• Use more FREE WiFi hotspots – I’m learning which public areas have free WiFi. I don’t want to be accessing from cafe’s too often – magastos pa rin when I buy a drink.
• Less of Mobile facebook/gmail/twitter - When I was with Smart, it was typical for me to access FB/gmail/twitter on my mobile phone any time of the day. This cost me P10/30mins. Now I’m being more selective of when I access these sites.
• Less calls, more efficient texting – It was a slight adjustment to have to be more conscientious about voice call usage. Typically I wouldn’t hesitate making calls to colleagues at Smart. Now I need to think twice whether a call is required or if SMS (or email) can do the job better.
• Unlimited calls subscription – I got myself a mobile landline. I also got myself a subscription to unlimited calls. This will allow me to make business/personal calls at a more affordable price.
• Smarter commuting. Less taxi rides, more jeep/bus/train rides. Plan trips better, batch meetings/errands in the same locations. I also use a courier service that takes care of picking up and delivering documents or packages.
• More selective buying. I’ll be comparing prices more these days. Whereas I used to buy things without looking for other better value items, this time I’m more conscious about saving a little more and protecting my cashflow.
• Shower everyday. Now that I have more time in my hands, I get to shower everyday. Hahaha! :D Sarap pala maligo araw-araw! (just checking if you’re really reading).

Apart from these changes that are meant to protect my finances, there are lifestyle changes that I cherish much for the value they give me.

• I take afternoon siestas these days. :-) My parents always took their afternoon siesta. In most of my 12 years of employment, I haven’t had this luxury — until now! :D Wahoo!

The other day, I had a feast of my home-cooked steamed creme dory, miso soup and freshly sliced veggies …

homecooked feast - steamed creme dory with garlic, thyme, basil; miso soup; freshly sliced veggies

After my sumptuous meal, I called my parents.

I asked them: “Are you taking your siesta now? … ‘Coz I am! wahoo!” :D

Sleep - this is one of the images I placed in my Vision Board. I'm getting more sleep these days ;-) . Yey!

Ah, simple pleasures!

There’s so much more to life and I’m loving discovering this new way to live.

ka edong

http://www.edwinsoriano.com

Anyway, I received a message from Jodl via Facebook. He granted me permission to share his message on my blog.  So here goes …

From: Jodl Gayatin June 14 at 11:01pm

ENFP jodl in flight

Hi Eds,
I’ve been meaning to write you a short note.

In a lot of ways your note of that leap of faith comes in timely. I started working in another company (DKS) the same day that you had your freedom. I do wish that in … (due) time I could have that freedom that you are having now. Am doing my best to lay the groundwork.

And you to shadow makes it a bit easy hehehe.

I was not surprised that you’d be making this move. I saw it coming with your blog and all. I wish all the best. Galingan mo coz you’re living the dream for most of us and we’ll look at you as our inspiration.

By the way..by any chance… ENFP ka ba? It would seem like it.

Anyway the first time I got inspired by your passion was when you had the “Paper Barter” thing done in Narra. I do hope we could have more people like you… those following what their heart desires with such fervor.

I thank you for the bits and pieces that you’ve made a dent in me.

• The time when you sent that “Iguana” when I was in Dole.
• The time we had an impromptu inuman at Clint’s place when I just got back in Manila from my Mindanao sojourn.
• The time you sent me that link on Finding your Purpose..
• The time you gave a copy of your audio books ( have applied the Bucket Principle ever since)
• And now somehow your move is such an inspiration for me.

Good luck on your new endeavor. I definitely know you’ll do well.

I will keep you in my prayers.

Cheers !

Jodl

Here’s my reply to Jodl

From Edwin Ka Edong Soriano June 15 at 11:07am

ENFP (?) ka edong - alive and kicking!

Hi Jodl,

Thanks for your message, I truly appreciate it.

It is words like this from friends like you that help me appreciate even more the way I relate with other people.

Gratitude for Jodl and clarity for myself

I always remind myself that I am doing this change in career for myself and for my God.

Many times in the past, I did things to please other people.

Doing things to please other people — that is a formula for eventual sadness.
It is something that you can never truly be happy for.
It leads to false choices. False choice comes out when we allow ourselves to be influence by our fears, programs, other people’s (negative) thinking that we’ve learned to make our own (to our detriment), or our impressions of what other people might think.

In contrast, true choice is wholly our own happy choice. True choice is something that brings you joy without the need for explanation.  True choice is so much easier when we follow the joy of our heart and know (know in our heart and in our mind) that it is aligned with our purpose in life. Follow our gut, be guided what our heart already knows. We have our own internal compass that we can follow.

In the same breath, I acknowledge and thank Jodl for the kind words. Salamat. Salamat.

Jodl, may you also recognize the blessings that our good Lord showers upon you always!

See you along the way, buddy!

ka edong
http://www.edwinsoriano.com

Allow me to share what I tell my friends when they ask me about this leap from a very secure and rewarding career in Smart to becoming an entrepreneur – my own boss, the captain of my ship.

ka edong in flight

Let me start by saying that I enjoyed my work a whole lot at Smart. I was involved in developing products and services around mobile internet. My work required a lot of collaboration with international companies like Google, Facebook and Yahoo. We did a lot of contract reviews, service descriptions and product testing. These were all right along my alley and I enjoyed doing these.

Some would ask: “If you enjoyed what you were doing, then why did you resign?”

I sum it up this way: “I just want to have my time back.” I just want to have 100% control of my time. There were times during my employment when I had to choose to forego some opportunities for growth, or opportunities to spend time with family and friends because I had obligations at work. By leaving Smart and becoming an entrepreneur, I have full control of how I spend my time, where I spend my time. That, in itself, is precious and liberating.

For the past 5 years, I’ve been preparing to leave employment. Thus, I’ve been developing myself and building up various streams of income. My streams of income have reached a point where I am now willing to let go of the security of employment. By letting go of my day-job, I definitely will have less cash coming in. But with the time freed-up, I’ll be able to create more value and more income which, at a certain point in the future, will be more than what I make at Smart. This day will come and I’m working towards it.

Q: What will you do after Smart?

A: I’ll be managing my businesses. Unknown to many of my friends and officemates, I’ve been building up my businesses for the past 5 years. I have three primary businesses.

I have a blogging business, from which I earn a significant income monthly despite the limited number of articles I’ve been writing the past year. With more time in my hands, I’ll be able to write more often and grow my blogging business further. I’ll also be managing a blog where I’ll be farming out article writing to freelance bloggers. Interested? Contact me directly ;-) .

Visit my blogs:

• www.technobiography.com
• www.eOFW.Net
• www.edwinsoriano.com

I also have a real estate business. I buy foreclosed properties, renovate them and put them up for sale via rent-to-own. It’s a very good use of time. We set up the property for 1-2 months (bank purchase, refurbishing, marketing), then when we find a buyer, we’re able to earn passive income for the next 15 years. Nice, huh! Most of what I do in real estate was learned through Larry Gamboa’s books “Think Rich Pinoy!” and “Grow Rich Pinoy!” When a couple of my friends discovered that I’m into this business, they’ve asked me to teach them. So now I have a real-estate business mentoring relationship with some of my friends. My brother and I recently purchased two houses in Cavite and we’ll be remodeling them in June. Anybody want to rent-to-own a house in Crystal Aire, Gen. Trias, Cavite?

Last, but definitely not the least, I have an online start-up that caters to the needs of runners. The company is called “Runners’ Runner” (www.RunnersRunner.com) . We provide online registration, online payment and race kit delivery for runners. Typically, runners will need to go to a sports store at the mall to handwrite on a paper form, pay a fee and maybe even come back 2 weeks later to get the race kit (containing the race number and singlet aka sando). Runners’ Runner makes this process worry-free for runners by offering the service completely online.

We have an upcoming run, the PTAA Run Run for Children’s Fun 2. Registered runners have a chance to win roundtrip tickets to Australia, Hawaii or domestic flights and hotel accommodations. There are limited slots so you better register quickly before race kits run out. Bilis, register na! :-) Click here to register: http://www.runnersrunner.com/store/events/run-run-for-childrens-fun-2.html

Those are my businesses.

Q: So, what is it like moving in from Smart to being an entrepreneur?

Oh, it’s been very exciting! I hit the the road running by immediately staffing for the PSI Youth Camp the day after my last day at Smart. It was an awesome weekend with very energetic Teens at Subic, Olongapo. (More on that in another article). Even more exciting was my personal retreat at Batanes. I joined the Awesome Batanes culinary and heritage tour by Anton and Ivan. It was a 3-day tour, then I stayed on at Batanes for two more days on my own. Take a look at some of my favorite photos and get a glimpse of the beauty of Batanes. (link to FB photos).

I haven’t really been “working” full-time on my businesses. That starts on Monday, June 7.

The Grateful Ed

As I take this step forward in my life and career, I’d like to thank the friends and colleagues I gained in the past 1.5 years that made my stay at Smart all worthwhile. Thank you Jim and Jerome for the opportunities you made available for me. Thank you Sir Polly for the one-on-one conversations we had – truly among the highlights of my stint at Smart. Thank you to the VADS team, the Internet Partnerships team, friends at Marketing and Public Affairs. Thank you for the friendship and the good work that we did together.

I am now definitely a better person than when I joined Smart in December 1, 2008.
I pray that I leave this company better off than when I joined the company.
And I pray that I have touched people’s lives through the work I did at Smart, be it the subscribers who used our services, or my friends and colleagues with whom we created some good stuff.

Mabuhay!

Edwin “Ka Edong” Soriano
www.edwinsoriano.com

Many people ask me, what’s the story behind my May 2 birthday? Here it is.

My pre-meditated “accidental” birthday

I joined the first batch of Gurong Pahinungod volunteer teachers in April, summer of 1998. Our group of 10 from UP Diliman, Baguio and Manila were taking courses at the college of Educ to prepare us for our year in the barrios.

On the first week of class, (in retrospect, probably on April 1) a sheet of paper was passed around to gather directory information. When I looked through the list, I noticed there wasn’t anybody celebrating his/her birthday that summer. Oh, that would have been a missed opportunity for bonding. I knew very well how birthday celebrations can bring together a team.

Fast forward to a month later (and it was reaaalllly fast). It was May 2 and we just wrapped up our morning class. My GP teammates were insistent that we go out for lunch together. I had other plans as I was giving a presentation after lunch. I wanted to have a quick lunch and prepare for my presentation. They tried, but they couldn’t get me to join them. Lunch came and went.

Now I was in our afternoon classroom and was getting ready for my presentation. Then trooped in my teammates, all looking disappointed and defeated. We went through the class unremarkably.

And THEN they brought in a cake! And started singing “Happy Birthday Edong”!

Boy, was I SURPRISED! Surprised like a guilty cat! I’m sure they were surprised that I was surprised! Then with a lot of teasing, they began recounting how “dense” I was at not getting it that they had something planned for my birthday celebration over lunch. The couldn’t understand why I didn’t join them for lunch on my birthday! Hahaha! I wasn’t dense, I was oblivious! Hindi lang nila alam!

I couldn’t break the news to them, they were having so much fun. Typically, I’d have fun too, but their birthday preparation was waaaay more than I could humbly accept.

When I couldn’t take my secret anymore, I brought my teammate, Rhea, to one side of the corridor and spilled the beans. May 2 wasn’t my real birthday! I listed it as such just to bring together the team. And this wasn’t going as planned, with the cake and icecream and all … oh, I forgot, there wasn’t any plan, at least from my side! It was all their plan.

I can’t remember how I broke the news to the rest of the team. What I remember is that I owed them big time!

To make amends with the team for the prank I pulled on them, I had to treat them for lunch around a week later.

From then on, we had an inside joke, referring to “May 2″ as “bola” or “drawing”. So if somebody’s pulling our leg, we’d say “May 2 ka naman, eh!”.

The tradition lives on

For many years thereafter, our batch of GPs together with the subsequent batches would gather on May 2 to have a little picnic or a lunch together. We’d share the story to the younger ones. And of course, I would take a bigger share of the bill.

It was all fun. I got what I had envisioned afterall. An experience that brought our team closer together. And a tradition that had been passed on through generations of GPs.

At least our team, the first batch of GPs, continues the tradition. We meet on May 2 to celebrate not just my birthday but our friendship which now spans 12 years. Last year, we had lunch at Dex and Grace’s home.

Tonight, I got a text from my teammates. While I am in Baguio, my team mates Rhea, Match, Grace and Dex were having dinner together at Chocolate Kiss in UP Diliman in celebration of my May 2 birthday. That was sweet!

The accidental tradition lives on!

More than just a fun day

May 2 for me has become more than just a prank or a tradition.

May 2 for me is a celebration of life and the blessings God bestows upon me.

May 2 means I don’t need to wait for an occasion to celebrate. I make an occasion and celebrate. Heck, I don’t even have to have an excuse to celebrate. I celebrate life with all its ups and downs, all its joys and its sorrows, all its blessings and challenges.

May 2 is a reminder that life is short and we might as well celebrate what we have today.

Celebrate! For this breath will not last forever. Our good God offers us every possible blessing that we deserve as a Child of God.

Celebrate!

ka edong
everyday is a birthday!