Tommy passed his oral board exam!!! Yipee!!! That means he's now officially a general surgeon and can begin his practice! :D
This is the culmination of sixteen years of continuous studies and endless sacrifice. The story doesn't end here, of course. But it's nice to stop and just savor this moment of victory.
Congratulations, my love!
Anthony Lim, M.D.
General and Cancer Surgery
Clinic address: G/F Richtown Building, Masangkay St., Binondo (near Metropolitan Hospital)
Clinic phone: 251-7769
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Friday, March 16, 2007
Lessons From The Past Part 1
When I was in high school, I was a very self-conscious teen. I found myself cringing in humiliation whenever I recall embarrassing moments that I was so sure everybody would remember. Well, I got tired of rewinding my list of boo-boo’s, so at the ripe old age of fifteen, I decided on a new motto: “Learn the lesson and forget the rest!” The method worked for me because I found that remembering is not so painful if you’re looking for a lesson, and forgetting is easy once you’ve found that everything happens for a purpose. And that’s basically how I’ve lived my life since.
Let’s start from the beginning of my career: my first job. Before I applied for a job, I outlined the following:
1- I want to be able to use the knowledge I’ve gained from my thesis.
2- I want to be in the forefront of technology. I want to be responsible for making innovative new products on a wide-scale basis.
3- I want to be trained in UNIX because it’s the platform common at that time but it was never taught in school.
4- I want to have the opportunity to travel but only for short periods of time.
5- I don’t want to sign any contract binding me to the company.
6- I don’t want anything to do with databases.
I told you, it was very specific. I got accepted by a multi-national Japanese company that offered everything down to the last detail. Do you want to know how long I lasted in that company? One and a half months. Why? Because once I started, I learned that the highest position that a Filipino can achieve is to be a small-time Project Supervisor. That means you get to lead a team of 3 to 5 Filipinos on a single project and that’s it. There was no career growth. That was lesson number one: While shaping your present, you have to plan for your future. I needed a goal that went beyond simply getting a job.
I spent a month re-assessing my priorities and learning what I want for my future. Then I made a new plan which went like this:
1- I want to join a small company with great potential and help it succeed.
2- I want to grow with the company and attain the highest position possible.
3- I want my career to lead towards management, because I can’t be a programmer forever.
4- I want my officemates to be excited and passionate about what they do and likewise, I want to look forward to going to work each day.
5- I still want the product to be innovative and meaningful.
6- I still don’t want anything to do with databases.
When I started my new work, I was the first programmer in a company with only seven employees. Our leader was a great visionary and his enthusiasm was contagious. The goal at that time was to earn the first million. When I left four years later, it was already a multi-million company and has become a household name as the leading provider of investment software in the country. I was the Vice President for Software Development, responsible for several programmers, the maintenance and upgrade of existing products, and research and development of new software. Another dream fulfilled.
I left for two reasons. The first was because the owner and I no longer share similar values, and as I’ve pointed out, I don’t like compromising my principles. That was lesson number two: Don’t let success get to your head. Hold on to your values because character and integrity matter more than your wealth. I didn’t just abandon him. I talked to him, confronted him, and corrected him while still keeping up the morale of my staff. But to no avail. Another lesson learned: Learn from your failures. In other words, it's time to start a new plan!
The other reason why I left is because I got married. Watch out for part 2 – my first business venture!
Let’s start from the beginning of my career: my first job. Before I applied for a job, I outlined the following:
1- I want to be able to use the knowledge I’ve gained from my thesis.
2- I want to be in the forefront of technology. I want to be responsible for making innovative new products on a wide-scale basis.
3- I want to be trained in UNIX because it’s the platform common at that time but it was never taught in school.
4- I want to have the opportunity to travel but only for short periods of time.
5- I don’t want to sign any contract binding me to the company.
6- I don’t want anything to do with databases.
I told you, it was very specific. I got accepted by a multi-national Japanese company that offered everything down to the last detail. Do you want to know how long I lasted in that company? One and a half months. Why? Because once I started, I learned that the highest position that a Filipino can achieve is to be a small-time Project Supervisor. That means you get to lead a team of 3 to 5 Filipinos on a single project and that’s it. There was no career growth. That was lesson number one: While shaping your present, you have to plan for your future. I needed a goal that went beyond simply getting a job.
I spent a month re-assessing my priorities and learning what I want for my future. Then I made a new plan which went like this:
1- I want to join a small company with great potential and help it succeed.
2- I want to grow with the company and attain the highest position possible.
3- I want my career to lead towards management, because I can’t be a programmer forever.
4- I want my officemates to be excited and passionate about what they do and likewise, I want to look forward to going to work each day.
5- I still want the product to be innovative and meaningful.
6- I still don’t want anything to do with databases.
When I started my new work, I was the first programmer in a company with only seven employees. Our leader was a great visionary and his enthusiasm was contagious. The goal at that time was to earn the first million. When I left four years later, it was already a multi-million company and has become a household name as the leading provider of investment software in the country. I was the Vice President for Software Development, responsible for several programmers, the maintenance and upgrade of existing products, and research and development of new software. Another dream fulfilled.
I left for two reasons. The first was because the owner and I no longer share similar values, and as I’ve pointed out, I don’t like compromising my principles. That was lesson number two: Don’t let success get to your head. Hold on to your values because character and integrity matter more than your wealth. I didn’t just abandon him. I talked to him, confronted him, and corrected him while still keeping up the morale of my staff. But to no avail. Another lesson learned: Learn from your failures. In other words, it's time to start a new plan!
The other reason why I left is because I got married. Watch out for part 2 – my first business venture!
Friday, March 9, 2007
Step One: Own Your Dream
Larry Gamboa shared his winning formula by defining seven steps. The first is to own your dream, meaning you’ll have to put your dreams in writing to be better able to make them come true.
I know the power of visualizing your dreams. Before I applied for any college, I outlined specific plans. The end result: I got into the exact university with the exact course that I wanted. Before I applied for any job, I specified what my dream job was, even down to the last detail. Again, I got exactly what I was looking for. Before I got into a relationship, I defined the qualities of my dream man. The rest, as they say, is history. We’re now living happily ever after :)
Hard to believe? It’s true. But more than just building castles in the air, the first task before you’ll know what to be in the future is to find out who you are now. What are your strengths? What are your fears? What can you tolerate? What are your expectations? I found that if I aim for something a little bit greater than my expectations, uncover and quench the fears that can block my achievement, know that I can tolerate some imperfections, and depend on my strengths to reach my goals – then I will achieve anything that I can dream of!
This is actually the first time that I’ll put my dreams into writing. It makes me feel a bit vulnerable but here goes:
- My dream is for Tommy to feel free to say to his patient, “You don’t need to worry. I will operate on you free of charge.” I want him to feel free to join surgical missions and even sponsor them. I want his medicine to be a vocation, not a job that should put food on our table. All these can only be achieved if we have attained substantial financial freedom. I want this to be true ten years from now.
- Five years from now, I want a passive income of at least P100,000 every month. I should have established my own system of earning from my real estate investments and have enough confidence in the formula to be able to teach it to people who are willing to learn. I want to have a track record I can be proud of and which I can use to convince investors to put their trust in me. I want a simple lifestyle for myself and for my family.
- By the end of the year, I want to have purchased a property and sell it well. I want to have my own team that I can trust and depend on. I want to learn, learn, learn and put all my knowledge into action. I want to know why I’m having trouble breathing so it will cease to be a block to my success. I want to attain a good balance when it comes to work, family, and giving service to God.
- By next month, I want to be a part of Larry’s mentoring program. I want to leave Rockford with my boss’s blessing and with a window open for a future business partnership. I want to be forced out of my comfort zone and prove that I can be better than I thought I could be. I want a new direction, one that will lead to a better future.
And last but not the least, I want to achieve all the above with my integrity intact. I may compromise on business deals but I will not compromise my principles. More than being an investor, more than being a wife and mother, I am first and foremost a child of God, and my first concern is to please my Father in heaven. Even now, He is looking down on me with His loving gaze and I know that I am in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing, with the perfect settings that He has prepared, and I am at peace.
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