Category: Life Updates

The Greatest Miracle in the World

Post author By akosiallan
Post date April 28, 2012
3 Comments on The Greatest Miracle in the World

It’s been a really long, long time since I last posted an article in this blog. There’s been a lot of great things happening in my life that I haven’t really found the time to write all about it. One thing I realized is that when you’re having the time of your life, it can be a challenge to take a moment to reflect and appreciate everything. Now, I finally found the time.

Today, I’d like to share with you THE MOST SPECIAL blessing I’ve received in my entire life…the birth of my first born son, Ethan Gabriel. This early our baby boy Ethan Gabriel is growing up to be a strong and healthy kid, thanks to a lot of prayers and a miracle from God.

The past few weeks has been a whirlwind adventure of holding on to the promise of God’s hope, of witnessing a great miracle, and of experiencing a deep and profound appreciation of all of God’s blessing of time and spending it with your loved ones.

Last April 10, 2012 marked the day a series of unexpected events started to happen. It was my wife’s birthday. And it happened to be the same day as her prenatal checkup. To celebrate her birthday, I treated her to an early lunch at the Heat Restaurant in EDSA ShangriLa. We had a really great time, enjoying the sumptous meal together.

After our date, we went to the clinic for her prenatal checkup. It was supposed to be the last prenatal checkup before she’s due to deliver. She was 36 weeks pregnant, a week away from being full term at 37 weeks. It was supposed to be like any of the other almost a dozen prenatal checkups my wife have had the past 9 months. Nothing could have prepared us from what’s about to happen next.

While doing her checkup, the doctor noticed my wife’s unsually high blood pressure. It was 140/120. My wife also thought it was just a mistake because her blood pressure was normally at 110/70 on her previous checkups. She was not feeling nauseous or anything. She felt normal. When her doctor asked her to have her blood pressure taken again to make sure and to take a urinalysis test, my wife was worried to say the least. And when the doctor explained to her that if her blood pressure is really that high then she might have to be admitted to the hospital right away. My wife was shocked. And it showed very clearly. My wife’s blood pressure shot up to 160/120 in an instant. She never imagined that she’d get admitted to the hospital and might get into labor ahead of time. My wife’s doctor diagnosed her with pre-eclampsia, a rather critical condition for pregnant women. The doctor asked us to immediately get admitted to the hospital. So, with shocked and worried faces, we went directly to St Luke’s Medical Center in Global City.

My wife was admitted to the High Risk Pregnancy Unit of St Lukes. She was immediately given medication to stabilize her blood pressure, the hours went by which seemed like a very very long time…each time her blood pressure is taken, my heart stopped. I held my breath as I await the next reading of her blood pressure. Still high at 160/100…and then getting even higher at 180/110…my heart bled in worry as if each moment was being frozen in time. I was worried. I knew my wife was worried not only for her sake but more for our baby’s condition.

After more than a day of torture, my wife’s blood pressure finally stabilized. The doctor even contemplated of sending her home. But because a pre-eclampsia condition is very critical, not only for my wife but also for the baby, the doctor requested staying for a few more days. This way, my wife and the baby’s condition can be closely monitored. I thank God to this day that we heeded the doctor’s advise and stayed in the hospital.

The following morning, everything seemed normal. Little did we know that the nurses were already getting a bit worried. At about an hour before noon, the attending nurse seem to check my wife and the baby’s vitals signs a little more frequently at about every 10 minutes or so. Each time the nurse came by, a little bit of worry crossed my mind, curious why suddenly the nurse’s actions looked a bit more hurried. I wanted to ignore it so that my wife won’t be concerned. After another hour, the nurse once again entered the room but this time to hand me over the consent form for my wife’s emergency caesarian delivery. Panic-stricken, I managed to ask why. She explained that the baby’s heart rate has been dropping every 10 minutes or so and our doctor advised an emergency caesarian delivery right away. All they needed before proceeding was my signature for the consent form.

After signing the document, the nurse hurriedly prepared my wife for the emergency operation. Everything happened so fast. Next thing I know, my wife was already being transferred to the delivery room and I was trying to put on the scrubs on to be with her in the delivery room. I was scared. But I needed to be strong both for my wife and our baby.

I tried to reassure her that everything will be alright. We both needed to have faith. Perhaps, I needed it more than she did so I can have the courage to go through what’s about to happen next.

When the baby came out, I was both relieved and anxious at the same time. Relieved because my wife has safely delivered our baby. Finally, my wife can now sigh a relief and concentrate on recovering from the operation. Anxious because when our baby came out, the baby was under a lot of stress. Our doctor said that the umbilical cord of the baby got entangled on his neck causing him a lot of stress during the delivery. Considering that he has not yet reached full term, it was very critical that he becomes stable first. When the doctor tried to make our baby cry, his crying was very weak and his skin color was not very good. Our baby was handed over to the pediatrician right away. Our baby was having a hard time breathing because of all the stress that he went through. After our baby stabilized and was able to breath better, he was weighed in. He came out at 2,190 grams which is only a little over 4.8 pounds. After another 5 minutes, the pediatrician heared a little murmur from our baby’s heart. The pediatrician decided to consult a cardiologist right away and transfer our baby to the Neonatial Intensive Care Unit of the hospital. My initial sigh of relief was flustered with a very worried face.

After what seemed like a lifetime of waiting, the cardiologist did a 2D Echo on our baby’s heart and the look of worry came over his face along with all the other doctors once they saw what was happening. I was trying to calm myself down but I couldn’t have imagined going through something like this in my life. The doctor asked to speak with me in a room so he can explain it to me better. Good thing my in-laws were there with me when the doctor explained it to me. At the end of the conversation, my face turned from worry to desperation. The doctor explained that his diagnosis is pointing to a problem in our baby’s heart described as coarctation of the aorta and he might need to undergo surgery to solve the problem. My father in-law mustered enough courage to ask what were the chances of the baby surviving an operation like that. The doctor responded with a reassuring voice that it’s probably around 70/30. He explained that it’s a very delicate operation because it involves the veins of the heart, and also because the baby’s veins are very tiny. To which my father in-law asked again, how much would the operation probably cost? The doctor answered, "perhaps around P700,000 or so." I couldn’t even utter a single word at that point. I was shocked. I didn’t know what to do. Not only because of the HUGE amount, which is also shocking, but more for the well-being of our baby and my wife who was still in the recovery room at that time. There were so many "what-if" scenarios, fears and worries going through my mind. I didn’t have the strength to speak a single word after that.

The next few hours were the most trying moments in my life. I was advised by the doctors not to share the information with my wife because it might trigger her high blood pressure to shoot up once again. She needed to be stabilized first. At this point, I didn’t have anyone to turn to. I had to be strong both for our baby and my wife. But I couldn’t help myself. There comes a point in your life when you can’t do anything else other than to TRUST GOD that HE KNOWs what you are going through, and HE WILL MAKE A WAY. I excused myself from my in-laws and went to the hospital chapel alone. Not only to pray but to cry out for help from the Lord. I was like a helpless child crying out to his father in heaven to "please help our baby". It was all I could do. I wish I could say I was strong, but I was not. I was scared as hell.

The hours that passed seemed to take a life of its own. Our cardiologist was searching from the different hospitals and his contacts for a hard-to-find medicine that would temporarily help our baby’s heart and prevent it from crashing down. He wanted to transfer the baby to Philippine Heart Center that night, but after checking out the baby’s condition at the NICU, and a rather very fortunate event of him being able to get hold of the medicine from another doctor of PGH, he decided to postpone the transfer until the next morning. At about 8pm that night my very kind brother-in-law helped drive me to PGH to buy the medicine. He even offered to lend me the cash because I was still in state of shock aimlessly trying to look for an ATM to withdraw from. I don’t know if it was divine intervension, but I realize looking back that God’s miracles was already working it’s way at that point in time, and that perhaps that doctor in PGH was a god-sent angel from heaven.

After two-hours of waving through traffic going to and back from PGH, we arrived in St Lukes with the medicine on hand. The medicine was given to our baby immidiately. At 11PM, we asked if there’s someone from the St Lukes Chapel who can help us bless our baby boy Ethan Gabriel. Fortunately there was a resident pastor who’s available at that time. Pastor Chris came by and together with my sister and brother in-law, we prayed over our baby and for God’s healing to be upon him. Pastor Chris and I chatted a little bit afterwards and his message of hope for our baby was very reassuring. Up to this day, I am grateful for Pastor Chris for being there in our most trying time. Our friends in XTRM 1-11 also came by to visit and offered to pray over baby Ethan Gabriel and my wife Anna as well even if they couldn’t enter the room because it was already 2AM in the morning. Sleep-deprived. Shocked. Restless. I tried to rest and sleep aftewards but my mind and body was simply too worried to get a decent sleep. At 8AM, my mom who recently arrived from an overnight trip all the way from Ilocos came with me as I visited our baby in the NICU. When we arrived, the cardiologist was busy doing another 2D ECHO on our baby, and he signaled for us to wait outside and he’ll speak with us after checking our baby’s condition again that morning. While anxiously waiting for the result, I was busy praying under my breath for our baby’s miracle recovery. After seemed like a lifetime of waiting, the cardiologist came out of the NICU, his face beaming with delight as he puts his 2 thumbs up sign and walks over to where my mom and I were standing. He said, "Great news! It looks like your baby doesn’t have to go through surgery anymore." All I could say was "THANK YOU LORD!!!"

The cardiologist explained that overnight our baby’s condition improved significantly to a point where the initial diagnosis of coarctation of the aorta was no longer evident. The narrow nerve that was supposed to be operated on improved and was now pumping blood from the heart normally. It looked like the medication that they gave to our baby helped improve his heart’s function overnight. All I could utter at that point was, "THANK YOU LORD", over and over and over again. When the cardiologist waved goodbye, he said, it looked like OUR PRAYERS WORKED! And it worked indeed! Up to this day, I still don’t know what happened. It was a MIRACLE! To God be the Glory!

Until now, I can’t seem to thank God enough for giving us a GREAT BLESSING in our first born son Ethan Gabriel. Prayers really work. To our family, friends, and all other people in our community, my in-law’s Lifers community, my brother-in-law’s Light of Jesus community, our XTRM 1-11 family, and all the countless people who helped prayed with us that night and continued praying for our baby’s recovery, my heart will be forever indebted to you for your kindness. God bless you!

The experience reminded me once again, that every blessing comes from God. Each moment that we are living is a gift from the Lord. No matter how prepared you think you are, no matter how confident in your abilities you may be, no matter how financially secure you believe you are, God can take everything from you in a snap of a finger. Every riches, financial or otherwise, are only an accessory to the real riches we have in each of us all — a loving God who knows the desires of our hearts even before we are able to speak them.

My hope is that our baby Ethan Gabriel’s story help encourage you to hold on to God’s promise of hope in whatever challenges you are facing right now. God knows the desires of your heart. And just like a father who loves, He will surely bless you in ways you can never imagine. Miracles do come true. God bless you.

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How to Kick-Start Your Year with a Bang

Post author By akosiallan
Post date January 31, 2012
1 Comment on How to Kick-Start Your Year with a Bang

Time flies so fast. Especially when you’re enjoying what you do. A year ago, I was counting the hours at the office, eager to leave work and do my own thing. Now, I hardly have time to count because I’m having the time of my life in what I do. I am meeting a lot of very interesting people every day, learning from their own life’s journey, getting mentored by highly successful multi-millionaires and yet very humble individuals. This is life indeed.

Whether you started the year in January 1 or follow the Chinese calendar (Kung Hei Fat Choi!), it’s always a great idea to start the year right and on the right note. This is the season of new year’s resolutions. Of taking new beginnings. Of fresh new look, hairstyle, or even new hope for a brand new year.

Today what I’d like to do is share with you some ideas on how you can maximize this year by starting it right. Let me share with you how I started it, and hopefully you’ll get some ideas of your own.

Tip # 1 – Get Recharged

Right after the new year’s celebrations, I hit the ground running with a 3-day retreat with our guest speaker, none other than one of the most sought-after motivation speaker around the world, Mr Francis Kong! The retreat’s theme was aptly described as Recharge 1.0 because last year 2011 has been a gruelling, but very fruitful and rewarding year for most of us. It really helped me reflect on the past year’s blessings in our family’s, spiritual life, financial and personal. And also provided a venue to recharge for another great year ahead 2012.

This exclusive retreat was organized by XTRM 1-11, and spearheaded by one of my youngest but highly successful and driven mentor, Ms Ivy Dela Cruz. I’d like to share with you a video to illustrate how much fun we’ve had during that 3-days!

Tip # 2 – Get Connected

Right after that retreat I had to go straight to my hometown in the northernmost part of the Philippines to attend my grandfather’s funeral. He lived a long, healthy and meaningful 99 years of his life touching many lives. From what I heard, he died in his sleep and did not have to endure so much pain. But before he died, he was a very loving husband to my grandmother through all those years. I spent my time growing up in the provinces in the company of my grandparents when I was young and I have always had very fond memories of them. It’s an experience I would treasure for a lifetime.

Seeing all my cousins, uncles and aunties and relatives mourn and share their sadness, I realized how death sometimes connects each of us together. All walls break down. All shortcomings are set aside for a moment. All bitterness and shallow misunderstandings are temporarily forgotten.

More than that, while listening to my dad share a story of how my grandfather touched the lives of many people, I realized that we are all passers by in this world. One day, we too shall pass. What is left is the lives we’ve touched along the way. My grandfather certainly had an impact on many lives not only with his 10 children and countless grandchildren, but all the other people who seeked his help. My grandfather had the gift of healing, of being able to pray and be an instrument of God’s love to his people. My dad seemed to have inherited the same gift. What’s great though is that they both acknowledge that it’s simply God working through them to bless other people.

I’ve been very blessed to have a grandfather who had a pure heart. Yes, he had his own shortcomings. But aren’t we all? What matters more is the love he freely shared and blessed this world with.

Cheers to you my grandfather, lilong Kido! Your legacy will live in our hearts forever!

Tip # 3 – Get Organized

After getting a few days rest, I’ve had the chance to get my thoughts together and really plan for this year. I’ve had to really think long and hard what I want to do this year. Last year was really a great year for me and my family with all the blessings that we’ve received. And sometimes I still wonder, what more blessings can I ask God this time?

This was time to dream again. And dream I did! I have lofty goals this year but I’ll leave that for my next article. For now, my tip is for you to take some time to dream and set your goals for this year. Write it down. Cut out some pictures if you can and put it in your dream board.

After setting my goals, my next step was to plan. So, I got myself a planner. Last year, while it was very fruitful it was also a great learning experience for me. For the first time, I had to be accountable for my own results. I had no boss. There’s no one telling me what to do. There’s no one checking on me every now and then if I delivered what I promised.

The temptation was there to simply procrastinate and become lazy. And most of the time, I really was. Without a plan, it’s been a chaotic exercise of wasting time. This time I really wanted to take some time to get organized. So I bought a planner. And the first week I used it, it probably tripled my productivity, and for the first time, I actually got something meaningful done so fast and brisk free! 🙂

I’ll share with you some other productivity tools that I do next time, but for now just get a planner and create a plan to get your goals this year.

Tip # 4 – Get Going

Next step for me was to get going and take action. And that’s what I did.

In my business, I meet very interesting people every day, learning from their stories. I learn from their successes and challenges. It’s really amazing seeing through another world out there different from my own. For 9 years, I was in front of computers day in, day out. Now, for the first time in my life, I get to interact with people with colorful lives.

Here I am with my business partners from Cebu gracing our company’s convention in SMX Mall of Asia.

I also had the good fortune of being invited to share my thoughts on stocks investing with almost a thousand PUP banking and finance students this month. I had a really great time enjoying the event, especially in answering the very intelligent and interesting questions from the young and energetic crowd of future business leaders of this country. I still can’t get over this simple token they’ve given me. It’s the first time someone thought of giving me this kind of a wonderful gift. To the PUP banking in finance students, thanks again for inviting me to share with you. All I can say is you guys rock!!!

Tip # 5 – Have fun and enjoy every moment.

Have fun. Enjoy. That’s it. No gets out of life alive. So, enjoy every moment, for it shall pass only once. As Francis Kong always said during our 3-day retreat, “In all things, always GIVE THANKS!”

Here I am enjoying a nice barbecue party for new year with my family at our new home. One of the best new years I’ve had so far!

I also spent my birthday party with friends. Here’s a picture of us munching at Charlie’s Burger.

There’s another photshoot I had just last week which I am even more excited to share with you! Watch out for those pictures! 🙂

As you can obviously see, I am having the time of my life! Thank YOU Lord for all these blessings!!! Truly YOU are the greatest!!!

From the bottom of my heart, I would like to also take this time to say THANKS TO YOU my dear reader for sharing in my journey. You are one of the reasons I get excited each day gettting up in the morning, having fun and enjoying this wonderful life! I pray that whatever goals you set for this year, God will grant you the wisdom to create a workable plan to help you bring closer to your goals. I wish you well, and let’s go get our goals together this year with flying colors! Cheers to a successful 2012!!!

P.S. How about you? How did you start your year so far? What goals do you have this year and how I can help bring you closer to those goals? Contact me, if you want a more private discussion. Otherwise, simply leave your comments below. 🙂

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90 Days To Freedom

Around the same time last year, I was an overworked, physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted employee…this time, I feel healthier, more blessed and truly happy. Things change for the better, only if you want it to be and are willing to pay the price.

A year ago, I was trapped, and I didn’t know it at that time. I thought, I only needed to ‘work hard’ and the money will take care of itself. It could be the farthest thing from the truth. Just think, if working hard is the way to riches, then many hardworking jeepney drivers, porters and farmers would have certainly gotten rich by now.

If you’ve been working hard for quite some time, you know how mentally and emotionally draining it is, waking up early in the morning even when you don’t feel like it, mindlessly attending endless meetings every day just because you are forced to. I was in the same boat last year, and the sad part was, my body was literally telling me to stop.

Just when my vacation leave finally got approved and was ready to take a vacation, my body got sick…the ironic thing is, I was sick throughout my only long vacation of the year. Imagine going through a 3 days 2 nights stay in Bohol, island hopping, chocolate-hills trekking, and touring the island ala amazing race while nursing a nasty cold, cough and slight fever. Believe me, it is NOT the best feeling in the world.

That’s when I finally decided that enough is enough. There are more important things in this life other than earning a living. There’s spending time with your family. There’s being able to get back control of your own time. There’s living a passionate and spirited life.

And so I decided that this year will be different. And it WAS different, in more ways than one. I didn’t have the slightest idea what great blessings were waiting for me. All I knew then was that something’s got to change.

When I look back, I had the faintest idea that the CHANGE would be THIS GREAT!

The blessings have been pouring like heavy rain. I’ve already shared that one of most cherished blessing from God in my last article and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

What I haven’t told you yet, is that I have also gotten back control of my own time…and it excites me more knowing that I now have the time freedom to spend it with people who matter most to me, that is, my wife and my baby.

I get nostalgic sometimes, and it’s been an emotional battle the past few months not being able to share this with you. I feel now the time is right for you to get a glimpse of what it is like to take the journey. I want to share with you the same letter I wrote months ago titled, “90 Days to Freedom.” —

“Today, is the start of the 90 days before I finally resign from employment. It’s been 9 years since I started working in the IT industry.

I got lucky, I managed to land a job right after graduation. Even luckier, I managed to get promoted almost every year for the first 4 years.

Before my 5th year, I resigned from my employer and sought opportunities outside the country by working as an IT consultant in Malaysia. I only had one goal in my mind then – to earn enough money so my girlfriend (now my wife) and I can get married. After a year, my wife and I tied the knot.

Another year and a half and we decided to come back home to the Philippines.

It’s been a whirlwind 9 years of my working life.

In 90 days I will be saying goodbye to the 8am – 5pm job. Or should I say, 5am to 8pm? Considering all the time commuting to the office and back home, and everything you have to do in between I feel it is the more accurate description.

I don’t know if it’s a quarter life crisis (Yes, I want to live up to a hundred, healthy and living happily!). May be it is. May be it isn’t. But one thing is for sure. There’s no doubt in my mind. My heart is now craving for my next journey. I want to take back control of my own time. I am counting down to freedom. And I am excited for the next chapter of my life.”

On my last week as an employee, my bonus from one of my part-time income streams was more than I was being paid full-time in my job. A good omen indeed. And only the beginning of blessings that were about to come.

They say, luck favors the prepared mind. It is true. Everything in life is a preparation for you to be ready when the blessings come pouring through your door. Your blessing are already there in front of you…you only need to open your heart and mind to recognize it for what it truly is and be ready to receive it with open arms without any hesitation.

I can honestly say, I am blessed for God has been good to me. And because I am blessed, that’s why I also want to be a blessing to others. I thank God for giving me the opportunity to be a part of your life, if only to inspire you in your own journey.

Keep believing in your dreams. Act now. Act fast. For you will never know when your time is up.

P.S. If you’re looking for a change in your life and want to find out if you can do what I did and also get started in counting down the 90 days to your own freedom, add me up as friend in Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/akosiallan, PM me and we’ll take it from there. God bless you.

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Life Updates

New Financial Goal for 2011

Post author By akosiallan
Post date October 26, 2011
1 Comment on New Financial Goal for 2011

After my last financial goals update, so many great things have happened that I can’t even begin to imagine how and where to start sharing those blessing with you. Today, however, I’d like to share with you a quick update on the status of my financial goal for this year.

My original goal to create 3 income streams earning at least $100/month each has already been achieved from just one venture alone. Yehey!

Now, I have a new goal in mind — help 100 other people achieve the same thing by end of this year. By doing so, I hope 100 other people will have a better Christmas this year than last year.

I’ve managed to help 20 people so far over the past few months…80 more to go! It’s going to be hard. It’s going to take a lot to make it happen. I only have a little over 2 months from now. But I am confident, because I am not alone. I have a great team with me and I have you behind my back. It’s going to be a very exciting months ahead!

If you want to learn more on how you can take part and help me in my project, please CLICK HERE to read more. Limited slots only.

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Mid-year Financial Goals Update

Post author By akosiallan
Post date August 2, 2011
4 Comments on Mid-year Financial Goals Update

It’s now August and more than half of the year has already passed. It’s time to get back to my financial goals this year and share with you my insights into what what I’ve been up to the past months.

At the start of the year, I shared with you 3 personal goals I had in mind. One is financial in nature, the other two is for my health and personal development.

Goal #1: 3 income streams earning $100 each per month

The journey in achieving this goal has surprised me more than anything else. Last March, I was on my way to earning at least $100 income from affiliate income from this blog as well as ebook sales. I had to turn off Google adsense because while I already earned my first $100, I didn’t feel it was aligned with my long term goals for this site.

For the past few months my affiliate earnings from Bo Sanchez’ Truly Rich Club has been pretty consistent. It actually reached around $65 for the month of May. My affiliate earnings to Jomar Hilario’s Workshops and Seminar climbed up to $157 on the same month. The thing was, while my site got hacked, went down and its traffic plummetted to zero overnight last month, my affiliate earnings were hardly impacted at all. As for the ebook, that’s another story. It has not been doing very well the past few months.

But the most surprising thing I’ve experienced for the first half of the year is the result from one of my new ventures which was 5x all my affiliate earnings combined for the month. That’s why, like an aspiring entrepreneur would do, I’ve had to re-align my resources to focus on this new venture of mine. I’ve also had to reassess my goals for the year, given that I may not need 3 income streams to hit $100 each anymore. Focusing on one can practically earn more than the three combined. My financial goal has changed, and that’s one of the topics I will be sharing with you the rest of the year.

Goal #2: Weigh no more than 176 pounds by December 31, 2011

One of the main challenges I’ve encoutered over the past few months is in looking for healthier food to eat. Given the proximity of our condo to the mall and the convenience of a 24-hour store nearby, sometimes, it’s hard to convince myself to make the extra effort of looking for healthier food options. Compound that with the seemingly hectic (but actually just mismanaged) time that I have, that’s a constant battle I have to face everyday.

From my last quarter’s update, I was able to lose 13 pounds to bring down my weight from 200 pounds to around 187 pounds. I’ve had to change my habits to a healthier lifestyle over the past couple of months as part of my regimen to make that happen. And even though I still haven’t reached my goal, I still think I am on the right track to hit it by the end of this year. My goal is only a few pounds away as I am sitting comfortably at 181 pounds at the moment.

One of the great blessings I got in losing those extra pounds has to do with being able to stay healthy and not get sick as often as before. While I got sick because of stress and exhaustion due to my hectic schedule last month, I was able to get back to the office with only a day of rest. Compare that to the whole 2 weeks of vacation ruined last Christmas when I had to battle through with colds and fever while going on a 3-day vacation with my wife in Bohol.

I’ve never felt healthier in my life. It really surprises me that when I go up the stairs in the MRT station, I no longer need to catch my breath. In fact, I even take 2 steps at a time when I am in a hurry. Life is good, indeed!

Goal #3: Go somewhere I’ve never been to once every quarter.

This is a goal I’ve struggled to accomplish over the past 6 months and continue to struggle with as I look for travel opportunities for the next half of the year.

The last vacation I had was with my wife and her friends in Fontana Resort. I had lots of fun. The only problem? I’ve been to Fontana before a few years back. So I’m stil zero out of 2 for this year. I really need to catch up fast. Summer is gone and rainy season is here.

Looking back, I can give you a lot of reasons why I couldn’t take a vacation or go out of town. I have no time. I have a hectic schedule. My boss won’t allow me. In the end, though, they are all excuses. Instead of dwelling on those excuses, I think a more positive thing for me to do right now is to "just do it."

What amazes me is that while I’ve not had some vacation time the past months, I’ve had a lot of opportunities to catch up with old friends lately over dinner or a cup of coffee. It’s really amazing how time seem to stand still when you and your friends share old memories together and laugh at ridiculous things you did in the past. It’s really a great blessing to have such great friends. That alone makes me believe that God has really blessed me tremendously all these years.

Looking ahead to the rest of the year

I realized that in almost anything worth doing, you have to put in the time and effort to really see significant results. To tell you honestly, I’ve had days when I didn’t do anything at all on this site. If you noticed, I only had one article written for the whole month of June and July. There were times when I had to re-assess what I really wanted to do with this site…and that also means I had to rediscover what I really wanted in life. Is it money? Is it freedom? Is it being able to help others in however way I can?

While I have been blessed financially at my daytime job, I still wonder whether there’s more to life than just financial blessings. The more I think about it, the more I realize that one thing I don’t have is TIME. I am still a slave of the 9-to-5 job and all the things that come with it. My dream is to be able to have control of my own time. I want to be able to work on things that I really enjoy, and in the process, contribute however I can to also help inspire other people discover what it is they truly want in life.

How about you? How’s your first half of the year been so far?

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Life Updates Money Mindset

Rich Money Habits is being re-built to serve you better…

Post author By akosiallan
Post date July 8, 2011
8 Comments on Rich Money Habits is being re-built to serve you better…

Hey there!

Thanks for visiting Rich Money Habits by akosiallan.com. My blog www.akosiallan.com got hacked a few days ago and my old hosting account was cancelled as a result…I thought this will also be a good time to overhaul the whole Rich Money Habits blog so please be patient if the rebuilding takes quite a bit of time.

Anyway, I hope to have the site up and running as soon as possible so you can enjoy the helpful money tips and articles once again. While waiting, I encourage you to consider signing-up to my newsletter by filling-up the form below and receive the 8 ways to shift your money habits and be rich email series. It’s totally FREE!

God bless you!

Sincerely,

Allan Inocente

Life Updates Passive Income

Rich Money Habits 2011 Financial Goals First Quarter Update

Post author By akosiallan
Post date April 4, 2011

As some of you know, I started the year with 3 goals in mind. One is financial in nature (3 streams of passive income $100/month each), the other two is for my health and being (weigh no more than 85kgs and go somewhere I’ve never been to every quarter of the year).

Financial Goal #1 – Three streams of passive income earning $100 per month each

For the first goal, the short status is that it’s halfway there. I’ve shared my income report from Google adsense and the earnings form my ebook launching in one of my recent posts. While they are not yet earning $100 per month, the income has been up to a great start!

The ebook is not selling as much as I hoped for but I am not one to complain because it is purely passive income. I hardly do anything aside from promoting the ebook, which I must admit I am not doing a very good job at. Besides, I am learning a lot just figuring out ways on how the ebook can be made more useful and how it can reach a lot more people. That’s why I am excited because in the coming weeks there will be a lot more exciting things happening here at Rich Money Habits.

Also, Red asked me thru the comment section of one of my recent articles whether I’d be willing to share how much I am earning from being an affiliate of Truly Rich Club. I sometimes hesitate sharing actual financial results because it might be taken the wrong way. However, I feel being transparent to you and helping inspire you in your own journey is more important than my own fears. So here it is.

The great thing about it is that I didn’t have to create a product or ship anything. All I did is recommend a great product that I personally use myself, and would be very happy to recommend anyway with or without the affiliate income.

One of the challenges I’ve faced as an affiliate, however, was that because I didn’t have a way to contact those who signed-up as a result of my referral, I have no way to reach them and say thank you…and may be even give them a free gift or something. That’s one of the reasons why I launched my own product so that I can have more control and be able to give freebies anytime I want.

One thing you will notice in the report is that the affiliate income started only last May 2010, more than a year after my wife and I already signed-up as members to the Truly Rich Club. I honestly cannot remember why it started so late, but the great thing is, even if it was only a very very small amount in the beginning, it consistenly grew to PhP2,572.80 just last month. That’s US $59.83 already, more than half of my $100 goal! 🙂

There are other streams of income I’m planning to launch in the near future that are still in the exploratory stage, but I don’t want to spoil the fun and surprise. You’ll hear more about them once there’s something more concrete to talk about. In any case, the first quarter has been a great learning experience so far, one I totally didn’t expect.

Financial Goal #2 – Weigh No More Than 85 kgs

At the start of the year, I finally got the initiative to use our condo’s gym. Jog on the treadmill for 20 minutes a day, 3 times a week — that was my goal. I was able to do it consistently for the first few weeks and lost a few pounds…But after a few weeks of not going to the gym, I gained it all back. My wife and I even bought a Wii Fit board, just to get some added motivation in trying to enjoy exercising, but after a few weeks, we hardly ever use it anymore.

I also started trying to eat healthy. After learning from Bo’s book ‘Awaken the Healer In You’ that drinking fresh fruit juice can be a very healthy morning habit, my wife and I invested in a juicer that was offered at a 50% discount in one of our visit to the mall. So we started using the juicer in the morning and got ourselves small cups of fruit juice.

The only problem – we had to clean up the juicer ourselves. It’s not too much, but sometimes when you’re in a hurry to get to work in the morning, the last thing you want to do is spend some time washing your juicer. So after a few weeks of being very busy, getting our daily juice in the morning became less frequent. Of course, I could have hired a house helper to do that. And it is certainly part of our long term plan. But the thing is, our condo is small and just enough for me and my wife. Getting a stay-in house helper doesn’t look like a good idea at this point.

Then I discovered Nutrimeal, a nutritious mixed protein drink designed for those who are trying to manage their weight. I followed the recommended RESET program and in 10 days, I lost 8.6 pounds safely and easily without needing to starve myself and hardly any exercise at all. I’m currently at 187.10 pounds, just a hair thin away from my goal of 85kgs (i.e 187 pounds)…almost there! Yey! 🙂 And because it is very easy to prepare, I can have my “meal” in just 45 seconds. This solved my problem of not having any time to prepare a decent meal as I rush off to work in the morning.

The first time I took my weight and BMI was around January, when we bought the Wii Fit board. Just for fun, I tried checking my weight again after the 10 days of RESET program was over. Here’s a picture of my Wii Weight Loss Chart at exactly 190 pounds. I actually went down from being an Obese to just Overweight. And even though it’s not yet under the “normal” range, the funny thing is that I’m still very very happy because for the first time, I am now seeing some tangible results. There is hope indeed!

After another 10 days, I weighed myself again on the Wii Fit board and was even more delighted to find out that I’ve lost another 2.9 pounds. Sweet! Now, I feel more confident going to the beach! 🙂

I am not sharing these to you to brag but to help inspire you to keep on going for your goals and dreams no matter what they are. I’ve tried a lot of ways to achieve the results I wanted…a lot of them failed. But finally, one worked and my goal is now closer than I think. I have no doubt in my mind that I will be able to get to 85kgs (187 pounds) in no time flat. In fact, I am now re-setting my weight goal to now target 80 kgs by December 31, 2011 instead. My wish is that you achieve your fitness goals too.

If you are also trying to lose weight (and has seen limited success so far), this may be for you. Unfortunately, you cannot get the Nutrimeal from grocery stores or even at any retail stores like Health Options. If you want to find out how you too can get it, you can simply email me. No, this is nothing illegal or unsafe so don’t worry. I am no drug dealer, alright. 🙂

Financial Goal #3 – Go somewhere I’ve never been to every quarter.

This is one area I’m struggling with. Both because I’m always very busy at work and also for personal reasons I want to keep private for now. In any case, this is still one of my most cherished goals.

Recently, my wife and I spent a nice weekend getaway in Tagaytay. But that doesn’t count, because I’ve been to Tagaytay before. In fact, our wedding a few years ago was held somewhere in Tagaytay. So it’s a place close to my heart.

The reason I really want to travel is so that I can explore other places and meet other people, learn other culture and just be amazed. Sometimes, with the very hectic schedule at work, and the many urgent deadlines, I feel the fast-paced lifestyle is draining my energy. I long to find some time to just reconnect with nature…doing nothing, just relaxing. That’s why I want to go somewhere I’ve never been to before. To be surprised. To be mesmerized. To be refreshed.

It’s already April, so I better search for some place to visit fast! Wish me luck! Or better yet, if you know of a great place to visit that’s not too far from Metro Manila, feel free to mention it under the comment section below, so others will benefit too! 🙂

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Life Updates

Announcing the Winner of Jack Canfield’s Hardcover Book – The Success Principles: How To Get From Where You Are to Where You Want To Be

Post author By akosiallan
Post date March 26, 2011

Today, I’m delighted to announce the winner of Jack Canfield’s Hardcover Book – The Success Principles: How To Get From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be. This is part of the Rich Money Habits Guide Contest I kicked-off during the launching of my Rich Money Habits Guide Ebook where 10 of the best business and personal finance books of all time are given away for FREE to the first 10 affiliates who are able to refer a successful sale of my ebook.

…and the winner of the first book is…Neil Arias!

Neil is the one on the left, and that’s me on the right, wearing a collared shirt with dark blue horizontal lines.

This picture was taken during our recent Cashflow 101 game last March 12, 2011. During our conversation, I learned that Neil is also an IT professional like myself. That’s why I think we get along very well. He also attended Trace Trajano’s Think Rich Quick 2.0 seminar and I had the priviledge of listening to his thoughts and experience going through Trace Trajano’s Apprentice Challenge. One thing I noticed about Neil is his determination and willingness to learn…that’s why I am very happy to give him this valuable hardcover book from my own collection. I’m sure this book will help take him to “where he wants to be”, just like how the book’s title said it would. 🙂

Here’s the good news for you – there are still 9 more hardcopy books to be given away for FREE! Click here to find out how you can join the contest and get a chance to win one of the following best-selling business books of all time.

* All books above are actual hard copy version (6 HARDBOUND, 4 PAPERBACK) from my own book collection

Cheers to your financial success!

Allan

P.S. After my recent article about the 10 real-life tips from playing Cashflow 101 gameboard, I’ve received lots of emails from readers of this blog inquiring how they can join the next Cashflow 101 event this coming April. Here’s the good news – the date is finally set to April 3, 2011, Sunday from 1 PM to 4 PM in the afternoon. Click here for more details. There’s only a very limited number of slots available so better reserve early so you don’t miss out. There’s a minimal fee to cover the cost of the venue and some light snacks. Avail of the early bird price of only PhP200 if you reserve on or before Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 7PM PST (Philippine Standard Time). After that, the price will go up to PhP400.

P.P.S. Bo Sanchez will be holding his How To Create Millions Through The Stock Market Seminar next Saturday, April 9, 2011 from 8:30AM – 12:00PM at St Francis Theatre, Lourdes School of Mandaluyong City. Here’s the really great news — you can get a chance to win a FREE ticket to Bo Sanchez’ Stock Market Seminar if you join my Cashflow 101 Event this coming Sunday. See you at the Cashflow 101 Event!

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Life Updates

50% OFF to Jomar Hilario’s 1-Year Online Mentoring Club Until March 31 Only

Post author By akosiallan
Post date March 26, 2011

One of the reasons this blog has become popular is because of the valuable lessons I’ve learned from enrolling through Jomar Hilario’s 1-Year Online Mentoring Club. The results speak for itself…and it’s not just me.

To tell you the truth, you wouldn’t be reading this now if I am not 100% convinced that the Online Mentoring Club lessons actually work.

Now, here’s the good news…this month, Jomar Hilario is giving a favor to Bo Sanchez’s Truly Rich Club members by offering them the 1-Year Online Mentoring Club membership at 50% off until March 31,2011 (I know, I know it’s only 5 days left…that’s why I wished I announced this sooner.) If you are able to sign-up on time, send me an email because I have some special gifts for you.

If you are not familiar with Bo Sanchez’ Truly Rich Club, you just need to answer these questions:
– Do you want to gain financial wealth and spiritual abundance at the same time?
– Do you want to get Bo Sanchez’s Financial talks in CD, DVD or downloads and get specific financial advise from Bo?
– Do you want to find out what specific stocks to invest in and taught on when to buy and when to sell?

If you’re saying yes, of course, then you can consider joining the Truly Rich Club.

Once you’re a Truly Rich Club member, you can now avail of the 50% off of Jomar Hilario’s 1-Year Online Mentoring Club until March 31,2011 only.

See you at the club!

Cheers!
Allan

P.S. That’s not all, if you manage to sign-up on or before March 31, you will get my Rich Money Habits Ebook Guide for FREE including all bonuses, and you will also get a special reserved slot in my next Cashflow 101 event this coming April.

P.P.S. What are you waiting for? Join the Truly Rich Club now and avail the 50% off discount of Jomar Hilario’s Online Mentoring Club! I’ve only seen Jomar offer the 50% discount once or twice since I joined the club sometime in September 2009 so make sure you don’t pass up this incredible opportunity today.

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5 Surprising Truths Google Adsense and Launching an Ebook Taught Me About Earning Money Online

Post author By akosiallan
Post date March 7, 2011
1 Comment on 5 Surprising Truths Google Adsense and Launching an Ebook Taught Me About Earning Money Online

I’ve wondered a few times whether I’d share this information to you or not. I hesitate because the topic of earning money online invoke different emotions from different people. One of my main goals in this blog is to be as transparent as possible but my fear of being taken negatively is getting in the way. Today, I’m taking a leap of faith to share with you what I learned trying to earn income from Google adsense and launching an ebook to help inspire you in your own financial journey.

Google Adsense

Last week, I was able to finally claim my very first $100 Google Adsense earnings. That’s after 1 year and 5 months. The $100 minimum threshold was actually reached by the end of January but Google takes another month to compile everything to have the necessary payment issued. Here’s a picture of the payment.

While trying find the yellow receive money form of Western Union, I was surprised at first because the form was a bit different that what I expected. It’s now smaller than what it was previously. I filled-up the new form anyway and gave it to the Western Union agent. In less than 3 minutes, my money was handed out to me in cash. Hassle free. Of course, I had to bring two IDs (my driver’s license and employee ID) for identification purposes as well as print out the payment details in my Google Adsense admin page but that’s pretty much it.

Why am I sharing this to you? Simple. It took me 1 year and 5 months to earn $100. Hardly exciting. But when you think about it, this is purely passive income. I didn’t have to create or ship any product, hire employees or even actually sell anything. All I did is copy-and-paste an html code provided by Google upon signing-up for FREE to automatically generate Google ads. Whenever someone “clicks” on those ads, I get an income paid by the advertisers of those ads. Google tracks and manages every part of the process. All I do is copy-and-paste the code once and forget about it. After reaching the threshold, I received the $100.60 amount from Google. It’s a relatively small amount, but being able to earn it passively is mind bloggling.

How it all started…

A few years ago while still working as an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) in Malaysia, I started writing about my thoughts on money and investing and published them here at Rich Money Habits (you can check out my old articles at the archives section). In March 2009, I got interested in the potential of making money online and tried putting Google adsense ads into this site. After 8 months, my Google adsense earned me a whopping total of $1.08. 🙂

For some this was a very very small amount. And it is! That’s just enough to buy a small burger. But one thing that got stuck in my mind from earning that small amount is the realization that I can actually earn money online — it is indeed possible! That helped inspire me to try to learn about how to do it more effectively.

I really didn’t know much about Internet Marketing then, so when I found out from attending Bo Sanchez’ Financial Coaching Seminar that Jomar Hilario is offering an Online Internet Marketing Mentoring program, I grabbed the opportunity right away. From Jomar’s Online Mentoring program, I learned that you can display the Google ads in a certain way to maximize your Google earnings. I did apply some of it and noticed my Google earnings start to grow. It really suprised me because after a month of applying those lessons, I now earned $6.10! Still not that huge, but it is now more than 5 times what I earned in 8 months figuring it out by myself. 🙂

This could have been higher if I bombarded this blog with Google adsense to the point where you cannot read the articles anymore, but as I mentioned in one of my previous articles, I decided early on that Google ads will not be the main focus of this blog. For as good as the “passive income”sounds, there are still some things that are worth more — that is helping you read through the articles without disctractions, so you can focus and absorb the money and investing tips better.

Rich Money Habits Guide Ebook

Last February 17, I launched my very first ebook guide Rich Money Habits – 8 Ways To Shift Your Money Habits and Be Rich. Because it was my first time to publish a paid product, I didn’t know what to expect.

What if no one buys? Am I asking for too much? What will other people say? I had all these fears and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that these ideas are only in my mind…they reflected my own internal struggles that I had to battle through. I had to refocus my attention away from my own fears.

There was only one question I had to answer — “will this help other people?” My short answer was a definite YES! And because I created the product from beginning to end and applied the same ideas myself, I know how valuable it is. But I still didn’t trust myself enough. I had to go and ask other people, specifically those who have read the same information through my newsletter…and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. It was enough to give me the courage to actually launch the ebook.

Launching the ebook was my own little experiment. And it’s aligned with one of my goals this year to earn $100 monthly income passively from at least 3 income streams. I wanted to share with you the results (so far) not to brag, because there’s nothing to brag about, but to help inspire you to take your own journey as well. Here it is.

Total guides sold: 15

Total sales: $118.38 USD

Affiliate share: $8.97 USD

I am not a best-selling author and I don’t claim to be one. I am just like you, an ordinary person still working full time as an employee looking for ways to bring value to other people and earn income without having to spend so much of my time…because in reality the bulk of my time is still being consumed by my full-time job.

5 Surprising Things I Learned from Launching My Ebook

1) Comparing Ebook Earnings vs Google Adsense Earnings. The $100 amount was reached in just a week after it was launched. For a moment, I realized the same result ($100) was achieved a lot faster compared to Google adsense! 1 week vs 1 year and 4 months! It’s hardly a comparison. Of course, Google adsense pays only in cents while the ebook is priced at $9.95 initially.

2) The value of launch. As expected, the bulk of the sales (80%) was made on the launch day itself and continuing on to the next day. After that, the sales began to taper off in the next few days. Now, it’s 1 guide sold every other day. Which is not disappointing considering that this is now purely passive income. I don’t have to do anything anymore. Everything is being taken cared of by e-junkie, my shopping cart provider.

3) Being true to your customers. One buyer sent me an email asking when will the book delivered. After receiving the email, I was surprised. Suffice it to say, I didn’t expect it and was confused at first. One, because I was selling an ebook, not a hard copy version. And two, because I was totally clueless that the book description was misleading people. I checked my site again and realized that there’s actually no specific mention that the guide is sold as electronic copy only (i.e. ebook) and there’s no paper-based actual hard copy to be delivered. After calling the buyer, I figured out the miscommunication right away and promised to fix the problem. Unfortunately, I couldn’t ship a hard copy book to the buyer so I decided to do the next best thing. First, I decided to refund the payment immediately. Also, I gave away the ebook, including the bonuses to the buyer for FREE to help compensate for the inconvenience. Last and more importantly, I had to go and modify the description of the Rich Money Habits package to say that the buyer will get an ebook, not an actual hard copy paper-based book to prevent other people from facing the same problem.

4) Facing your fears by taking action. One surprising thing I learned from the whole experience is that — “your fears are not as scary as you might think.” My fears didn’t materialize. Someone actually bought my ebook. That alone gave me the confidence to think that this could actually work.

5) All the support that you need is nearer than you think. Some of my friends were delighted when they learned that Bo Sanchez wrote the Foreword to my ebook. The reality is that Bo Sanchez wasn’t even paid to write the Foreword. And I didn’t even have to meet him in person to make the request. One night, while thinking who should write the Foreword for my ebook, I asked myself this question — “if there’s one person in this world that you look up to and would like to write the foreword to your ebook, who would it be”. There’s only one person that came into my mind — Bo Sanchez. I learned a lot from Bo Sanchez so to have him write the Foreword would really be the greatest thing in the world for me — a seemingly impossible dream at that time. I hesitated because I felt my own insecurities cropping through my mind. Thoughts like “who am I that Bo Sanchez would take the time to write to foreword of this ebook?”was making my own personal doubts stronger. But I started writing the email anyway…and at the last second, I closed my eyes and took a leap of faith by clicking the send button. The next day at 9AM in the morning, I got the surprise of my life. Not only did Bo Sanchez read and replied to my email — he even wrote the Foreword and included it in his email reply right away, no questions asked! Wow! To say I was happy is an understatement. I was wearing a very wide smile the whole day! 🙂

Throughout this journey of trying to learn to earn income through the internet, I’ve met a lot of interesting people and learned a lot along the way. But my journey is only just beginning. I am still a long way from financial freedom…but I’d like to think I am inching towards my goal each and every day. My wish is that this article help inspire you in your own financial journey.

Cheers to your financial success!