Jayson Lo

Adversity is the seedbed of opportunity

Thu, 31 May 2012 07:23:00 +0800

If every day were a good day, there would be no good days, because there wouldn’t be any bad days to compare it with. It’s the bad days that help us appreciate the good days! Sickness helps us appreciate health. Failure helps us appreciate success. Debt helps us appreciate wealth. And the tough times help us appreciate the good times. I’ve also learned that our worst days could become our best days.

Adversity is the seedbed of opportunity. Bad circumstances have a way of bringing the best out of us. Wild lions make valiant warriors just like rough sea make great sailors. Adversity is often a blessing in disguise.

In a pit w/ a lion on a snowy day by Mark Batterson

My Trip to Cebu

Tue, 29 May 2012 10:53:00 +0800

I had several talks in Cebu over the weekend, May 26 Saturday.

7am-930am Customer Service Excellence

I’m not a morning person, so I needed 2 cups of coffee to start this one off. The training is for Suntoys International, a company that owns several company-owned and franchised brands in Cebu: Crocs, Yogo Boy, IORA, toys@work, Eyes Candy, and Aquazorb. I had a great time with them, the only problem was the space for the venue was small; but it turned out better because the proximity created an atmosphere of camaraderie.

A few lessons from the talk:

The Customer is always right! Wrong!!! The customer is not always right, but you have to make them feel they are.
You wouldn’t rob money, but if you are late for work, you are a robber! It’s because you are robbing the company of time in which they pay you to be there.
None of you are employees, you are Team Members. A Team Member has ownership. Your role in the store is sometimes more important than the owners because the customers interact with you, not with them.

Next 1pm-6pm Steps to Financial Peace. I gave an hour talk on the Debt Myth:

We continue our personal finance run in Cebu. The crowd consists of upper management, sales, and some business owners. A bit formal, it was a challenge at the onset to make the seminar candid. I brought some balloons as props to pop. Three people almost jumped from their seats when I put a needle thru the first balloon. The formal setting changed into a fun-fest as everyone laughed and enjoyed the change of mood.

Personal Finance is 80% Behavior and 20% Head Knowledge.
Debt is not a tool; it’s a trap.
Life is about fighting, not just winning, because if you want to be a winner, you have to lose first. Failure is a prerequisite to success. Fight for what you love and the people you love. But always remember to fight for the right things.

Last one for the day 7pm-8pm Victory Cebu DC (Discipleship Coach) Talk:

The leaders of Victory Cebu are excited for the next phase where God is bringing them. Pastor Raymund Cañete, the senior pastor, has a golden heart and a fatherly stature that I admire. His love for God shows everytime he speaks, he just exudes so much joy and passion for the Lord. His team of pastors…Zab Panimdim, Alex Rivas, Cesar Bordalba Jr, and Tony Mendoyos (Victory Mandaue) are some of the best in the ministry.

We know the one word for Starbucks (Coffee), Toyota (Cars), Xerox (Photocopying machine). But we don’t know the one word for church. The one word for Church is Discipleship, and Discipleship is Relationship.
You cannot accomplish something great without a team.
Preach the gospel to yourself everyday. Discipleship is your relationship with God and with people.

I had a blast in Cebu! It’s always a humbling experience to have opportunities to serve people.

There is always tomorrow

Fri, 25 May 2012 04:09:40 +0800

I am a workaholic. I found out that no matter how hard you work, you won’t get everything done; but there is always tomorrow. Knowing there is a tomorrow can help you re-organize and continue what you’ve started today.

Tasks are left unfinished because you’ve forgotten your To Do list the previous day. You started with a new To Do list. To move forward today, you need to continue what you were doing yesterday. Synchronize your To Do list from the previous day and reorganize it to start the Day.

You know the saying: “Yesterday…that’s history, tomorrow a mystery. What about today? Today is a gift from God, that is why it is called the present.”

I’m off to Cebu for several speaking engagements — until Sunday. I feel so fortunate to have opportunities to be a blessing to others.

Is Jessica Sanchez going to win?

Thu, 24 May 2012 07:59:00 +0800

Today is the day, but win or lose, Jessica Sanchez has touched the lives of people (not just Filipinos) everywhere. She almost got eliminated from the show when the judges, who only can save one contestant per season, did so.

Her response when asked how she felt?

“I don’t expect anything. I just do what I do. Whatever happens happens, and I just want people to know that I’ve been working hard my entire life…”

How can you be a Jessica Sanchez and why is she considered a winner in my book?

1) She takes risks.

I don’t expect anything. I just do what I do.

Its absurd that some columnists predicted she has zero chances of winning, yet today she is the one to beat to win the crown.

She doesn’t expect anything from anyone but herself. She just do what she does, and give it her best, as seen in her performances. Jessica’s expectation comes from expecting that she will give it her all.

2) She has faith.

Whatever happens happens

Life is not what happens, it’s how you take it. If you act on your goals and dreams in life, then whatever life dishes out is a stepping stone towards success.

The Bible says, Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. It also says that Faith without action is dead. Faith is not just a noun, it’s also a verb. It is an action word.

3) She works hard.

I just want people to know that I’ve been working hard my entire life…

In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell gave a principle called “The 10, 000 hour rule. He says that according to research, 10,000 hours is the magic number for greatness. It means that a person who achieved great things has 10,000 hours worth of experience under his/her belt. This is not the first singing/talent contest she joined, the first one was America’s Got Talent at the age of 12. In fact, She started singing when she was 2 years old.

She wasn’t born to be a winner, she was preparing all her life to be one, and that is why she is where she is today, in the final two of American Idol.

Lastly, I’m touched by her humility. In a world where pride is considered a virtue, humility is not seen as a sign of strength, but of weakness. And that is where her true strength comes from…her heart. When she sings, it’s not just her talent that shines…its her heart. She sings with so much heart in it!

That’s why win or lose, Jessica Sanchez is one reason why I’m proud to be pinoy!

"Steps to Financial Peace" in Cebu

Wed, 23 May 2012 15:20:42 +0800

I will be in Cebu this weekend, Saturday, May 26 at the Parklane Hotel for “Steps to Financial Peace.” This highly regarded personal finance event was organized by my good friend Randell Tiongson. Randell is one of the best in the country when in comes to personal finance. You can visit his site at www.randelltiongson.com

For particulars, check out the poster below. See you in Cebu.

DZXL Bantay OFW: Their main problem? Financial Literacy

Tue, 22 May 2012 10:02:04 +0800

I was invited by Tita Toots Ople to be their guest last week in their weekly radio program at DZXL: Bantay OFW. You can see me with Tita Toots, Atty. Gwen Pimentel, and Roderick Marcelino. My topic was on money management and debt. I also shared a little about my book YOUnique.

One of the main problems of OFW’s is their financial literacy. They can earn so much working abroad only to lose it in a short period of time becuase they don’t know how to keep their hard-earned wages.

Debt is an issue for most of them. Some even borrow money to start businesses thinking they can pay it back. Borrowing money to start a business can be a trap, many have fallen using this misleading tool.

I shared a lot of my “kapalpakan” (failures) stories to inspire them that “it’s not how hard you fall, it’s how fast you get back up again.” I gave them 3 ways to start a business: Borrow money, Look for partners, or Be Patient until you have the money to start. The best way is the third option because you are not short-circuiting the process of learning. The risk is less and your commitment is much higher when the money you put in the business comes from the sweat of your brow.

OFW are heroes, but if a hero doesn’t learn how to handle his/her finances, even a hero can turn into a zero.

I had a blast being in the show, Tita toots and the gang are very friendly and accomodating. I can see that they do this for the love of it and for the love of OFWs all across the globe. Thank you for having me in the show. Till next time. =)

Hi Pastor Jayson, I've been thinking about getting a life insurance in Sun Life Financial. However, I am a bit skeptic whether to go for it or not because I am really clueless about Individual Insurance, Mutual Funds, Variable Life Insurance, Group Insurance and Pre-Need plans. Furthermore, I don't know what is the best for me. Hope you can help me decide. Thanks! :)

Tue, 22 May 2012 09:32:00 +0800

Everyone needs insurance, but the product we need differs depending on: your age, your goals, your budget, and your status in life.

The best way to decide is to study the different options presented to you. Don’t buy or get into something that you don’t understand. How will you know if you understood something? If you can tell it to a friend in conversational fashion.

Insurance by default is not an investment, it’s to protect you and your wealth from unexpected events. Although today, there are many hybrid insurance programs such as an insurance combined with mutual funds.

I am not in any way affiliated with Sunlife so I give you unbiased advise when I say Sunlife is a very good company. I myself have an insurance package from Sunlife, some I bought 12 years ago.

Remember that an insurance or an investment is just a product. Your financial strategy is what’s important because those products will have to fit in your overall plan. And the best time to buy an insurance is when you don’t need it because you won’t be able to buy one if you do.

Law of Category

Mon, 21 May 2012 14:12:00 +0800

A better way to be the first in mind is to create a new category.

If I ask you, who is the first president?

Your immediate response is of course: Emilio Aguinaldo.

If I ask you who the second president is? The third, the fourth or the fifth? Can you answer as fast as you did the first one? For most of us, we are even clueless! Why? Because of the Law of First — if you are the first, people will remember you the most. They won’t usually recall the others following the first one.

But let me ask you another question — Who is the first lady president? Again, your quick reply would be: Cory Aquino.

How did you know even though she wasn’t the first president? Because though she wasn’t the first (She is the 11th president), she created a new category. She is the first lady president among a category full of male presidents.

Therefore, a good marketing strategy is to create a new category; whether in a company, a product, your personal branding — creating a new category will enable you to give birth to the newest niche untapped by your peers or competitors. In fact, if you create a new category, you won’t have any competitors, until they start copying you by which you already have a firm hold on being the first in the market.

More Examples:

Richard Poon. He steered away from the usual pop and band music scene as he sang standards rendered by the likes of Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. He was the first young guy who sang standards in the Philippines ala Michael Buble.

Mang Inasal. The first Pinoy-Style BBQ Chicken. How many chicken restaurants are there? A Lot! But they’re the first one that offers a specialty chicken from Iloilo and brought it to Manila.

Me. My book YOUnique, is about the four different personalities. D-I-S-C: Dominant-Influential-Steady-Corrective. It’s a study conducted by William Moulton Marston in the 1920s; there are also a handful of foreign authors who has written about it ever since. I started teaching this concept 12 years ago. I know that Filipinos would greatly benefit from the D-I-S-C personalities so I waited for someone to write for the Filipino setting. I waited and waited for 12 years, until I got tired of waiting. I told myself, if no one is going to do it, then I might as well be the one to heed the call.

I’m the first Filipino author who wrote about this concept. I even used famous Philippine animals to represent each personality.

How many authors are there? Hundreds of thousands! What gives me the confidence to get the book out in the market? Because by using the Law of Category, you can have a higher percentage of success.

Hi! I am a lawyer who works for the government. At the same time, I share the same passion of further enhancing my financial literacy and knowledge so that I can also teach it to fellow Filipinos who are struggling financially. I have several streams of passive income aside from my work. Do you have any other ideas on other types of passive incomes, particularly in the real estate sector? Thanks -roel

Sun, 20 May 2012 16:49:34 +0800

Hi Roel! Your passion for Financial Literacy is a worthy cause. A lot of people are literate but not financially. Filipinos will greatly benefit from such an advocacy. That’s why we need more people like you.

Regarding your question:

One strategy to preserve wealth is to invest it in Real Estate. Our basic source of income is thru a salary or a business. Once you take off, landing your money in Real Estate is a wise choice, although it’s not for everyone.

I’m not an expert in Real Estate, but I have some friends who are. There are 3 main ways to earn from Real Estate:

1) Flip it. Buy and sell at a profit.

2) Rent it out.

3) Rent to own. Sell the house for a down payment; then peg the years to pay (15-30 years) at the prevailing (or higher) interest rate. If they’re finished, you transfer the title to the buyer. This usually works for a cluster of houses or a big property bought by a group of investors who pooled their money so they can afford the investment.

A good plan is to “Start Small, But Dream Big!” Hope this helps!

Discover what you love Doing!

Fri, 18 May 2012 08:32:00 +0800

I haven’t been able to blog in the past few days. My schedule for this week is quite heavy. This is the first time I have 9 different talks with different topics in one week. Usually, I will have talks of the same topic scheduled in a week; not in this case.

It’s easy to do a talk if the topic is the same as the one you always do. I call this a “power talk,” the talk that you have given tens or hundreds of times that you can do it in your sleep. But this week, I have to study extra hard to craft my messages.

My schedule for the week: a whole-day Team Building session, a half-day Public Speaking seminar for the youth, a finance talk, a couple of Preaching messages, an inspirational talk at a Psoriasis conference (I’m really looking forward to this one), and a business talk.

By the way, I’ll be speaking this afternoon at the Financial Peace event by my good friend Randel Tiongson, an authority in the personal finance field today. Mr “Chink Positive” Chinkee Tan will also be there. It’s an honor to speak with 2 of the most influential figures in Personal Finance.

I never wanted to be a public speaker, as an introvert, it’s just not my personality. I don’t like being in the spotlight. But if God calls you to do something, then you need to heed that call. If you do, then He will change your heart.

The Bible says that our gifts are irrevocable. I realized that you may be good at something but not actually like what you’re doing. I started that way; today I don’t just like what I’m doing, I LOVE IT!

For me, I do speaking for 3 main reasons:

1) To Glorify God.

2) The love of people.

3) To influence Life-Change.

In the movie “The Pursuit of Happiness,” Chris Gardner, played by Will Smith, is homeless and without a job. His wife left him along with their 2-year old son. They would sleep in the bathroom floor of Subways to have lodging. He would cry at night while hugging his little boy.

He eventually became a broker, but just like me, it’s something he didn’t want to do at the beginning. But as the job grows on him, and he starts loving it, he became one of the best.

He says, “Find something you love to do so much, you can’t wait for the sun to rise to do it all over again.”

I have finally found mine. What’s yours?

Law of First

Sun, 13 May 2012 09:57:36 +0800

In their famous book The 21 Immutable Laws of Marketing, gurus Jack Trout and Al Ries discusses…

The Law of first: When you are first in an industry, people will remember you best.

If I say the word Toothpaste…you say Colgate.

If I say Picture…you say Kodak

If I say Copy Machine…you say Xerox.

In other words, people remember the name of the product they encounter first.

So it’s simple, in order for you to be first, invent a new product that hasn’t come out in the market. Easy right? With hundreds of thousands of brands to choose from, yes it’s easy — it’s easy to get lost. You can swim with the sea of products out there that has a tendency to drown you from its myriad of selections.

If you’re an inventor like Thomas Edison, creating a new product is feasible. But remember how long it took him to perfect the light bulb, more than 1,000 times of trial and error. By the way, Thomas wasn’t originally the one who invented it. An Englishman by the name of J. W. Starr developed the first design, Thomas eventually bought the patent from a partner of Starr when he died.

You can invent a new product to be the first in the market, or you can choose another route to do it. In my opinion, an easier way to pioneer a product is to create a new category. (Next Blog)

The 97/3 Rule in Marketing

Fri, 11 May 2012 17:58:09 +0800

The 97/3 Rule states: “In every opportunity, the pioneering 3% will see it first, before 97% of the crowd will follow. The problem with this equation is that the first 3% would have already earned 97% of the income, while the remaining 97% who join-in late, would just share 3% of what is left. Do you want to be part of the 3% or part of the remaining 97%?

Let me give you an example. When the mineral water business started booming, Agua Vida was one of the first in the market.

When people saw proof of its success, they started copying it. You can see mineral water stations popping up everywhere. When you put up a mineral water station beside an Agua Vida store, yours is called… “Kontra Bida!”

I’m sure you still remember the shawarma craze. Or how about the Zagu rage? I call it a rage because of the many franchisees that were enraged with them when they started giving out franchises with no territorial boundaries.

When you start a business, start something new. Make a move that will place you in the first 3% rather than the remaining 97%. How? Tune in…

Financial Peace May 18 2012

Thu, 10 May 2012 22:43:30 +0800

Steps to Financial Peace 2011

Thu, 10 May 2012 22:34:24 +0800

Last Year’s Financial Peace Event

Celebrity Couple vs. Columnist

Tue, 08 May 2012 07:51:00 +0800

A video of a fight between a columnist and a celebrity couple has gone viral in youtube. It’s really sad how civilized, well-known, sophisticated people get involved in such a brainless fiasco. Why does one fall into this trap?

1) Pride

The Bible says, Pride goes before destruction, (Proverbs 16:18)

It is when we are full of ourselves that we tend to think that we’re above everyone else. Knowing our tendency to be proud can ground us to reality. The same Bible also says that Humility comes before honor. (Proverbs 15:33)

2) Lack of Character

“Competence is what makes us successful, Character is what keeps us successful.”

It takes a lifetime to build your reputataion but only a moment to destroy it.

Without character, the buildings we erect — no matter how tall and large they are — will fall.

3) Our Nature

Paul says in Romans 7, For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

It means that we should have a dependence on God knowing that He’s the only one who can help us defeat our sinful nature. Without God’s help, we will always go back to it, no matter how good we think we are.

When something similar happens to you, Remember that, “Anger falls one letter short of Danger.”

The Best Marketing Strategy EVER!!!

Mon, 07 May 2012 00:01:00 +0800

What is the best marketing strategy ever? CARE.

-Gary Vaynerchuk, Entrepreneur, Author of Crush It!

Pastor Jayson, is it okay to invest for a direct selling business like AIM Global (they sell food supplements)? They've produced 600+ million in just 6 years. I wonder if it's too risky or not.

Sun, 06 May 2012 11:31:00 +0800

Like all companies, there are good networking companies and there are bad networking companies. Whenever you make a decision in joining one, use the metaphor of a 4-Legged Horse. A horse with three legs can’t walk, much more if it has only one. It needs four legs to walk and run. Here it is:

1) Company. Is the company reputable? Does the leadership’s values align with your personal values?

2) Product. Will you buy the products even without the business opportunity?

3) Marketing Plan. How much does the company pay out in percentage of the sales? Is it too big that there might be danger of overpaying or is it too small that they are not giving enough to their distributors?

4) System. What benefits will you get even if you don’t earn? (Trainings, Relationships, etc) How do they sell and market the company and their products?

Have a Customer for Life!

Thu, 03 May 2012 15:44:00 +0800

If you want a customer for life, you have to first establish a relationship with them. Then tell them a “compelling story” about you, your company, or your organization — who you are and what you can give — then continuously engage them with “your story.”

Here’s an allegory to illustrate my point:

Hilda lived in an Arabian land ruled by a crazy dictator. Every day the dictator married a beautiful woman. After enjoying their honeymoon, he beheaded her.

When it was Hilda’s turn to wed the king, she knew that she might be cancelled the next day. But she knew how to keep a customer for life to keep her life. Her strategy was brilliant. That night, before she and the king went to bed, she told him a story. It was interesting, personal, and relevant so the king was eager to know what happened next.

As the story ends, Hilda decides she was too tired to continue and would finish the story later. The next morning she turned to the king and said, “I guess it’s time for my beheading.” The king, eager to hear how the story turned out, interjected. “No my dear. We can wait until tomorrow. Tonight you will complete the story.”

Each night for 1,001 nights, Hilda finished a story and told a new story promising to give the ending tomorrow. After more than 3 years, the king forgot beheading her. She had a customer for life.

My Secret in Reading Books

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 06:20:32 +0800

I’m a voracious reader. I try to finish at least one book a week. People often ask me how I fit it in my schedule. My answer is always, because I love to read. It’s not that I’m not busy. I just discovered that you would always find time doing the things you love in spite of a full calendar.

My secret is that I read five books all at the same time. What? You may think that reading five books induces infoglut (information gluttony). It does, if you don’t practice gathering just enough of what your mind can absorb. Knowledge is treasure but practice is the key, so practicing it until it becomes a habit is essential. Practice also makes it permanent. The more you do it, the more you can increase the material you can take in. Then you will become a wide reader.

Wide readers are people who read an assortment of books that may or may not be in their area of familiarity. It exposes them to different ideas, genres, and various types of material. It also increases their vocabulary, word recognition, and knowledge base. Reading from multiple subjects gives an air of variety that can break our old pattern of thinking. It opens us up to new ideas, even those that are contrary to what we believe to be true.

Being a wide reader is a discipline I recommend. I acquired this habit by accident though. Once, we went to a book fair sale that sold some book titles at P800 to P1,000 for only P150. There was even a store selling all their books at P100. We ended up buying a ton of books and we justified our purchase because of the cheap prices. I needed a pushcart to bring everything we bought to our car. When we got home, I was convicted of over-spending. I realized that the books I bought were good enough for a lifetime of reading, if I will read them from cover to cover.

Again, to justify my actions, I made a commitment to read as many books as I can within that month. That’s when I started flipping through a chapter or two from the books we purchased. I read five different books and it just so happens that the books I chose were from different subjects. I had fun doing it so I continued reading in this manner the next day, and the day after that. I ended up finishing ten books that month to console my conscience for over-spending. I became a wide reader ever since.

Whenever I prepare a reading set, my categories most likely include books about marketing, theology, a famous person’s biography, a hot interest topic, business, relationships, leadership, and the Bible. It may look confusing to read five different books, but it’s actually easier to process it because the ideas you pick up are different from each other. To use a metaphor, it’s like having five boxes in your head. You place one book in each box, therefore separating the ideas you get from each other. Every book becomes a standalone that is compartmentalized in your brain. Even if you have five topics and ideas, processing it is much easier because it’s isolated.

This method of reading also increases your retention. It’s easier to remember and digest a book when you read it chapter by chapter everyday rather than in one sitting. You can also get bored reading one book for a long period of time.

Here’s another tip for greater retention, “teach what you learn!” As the old saying goes, “The mother of all learning is repetition.” Teaching or sharing what you read makes you repeat the material to yourself.

Get a queue from listening to hit-songs. You accidentally memorize a song that is often played on your favorite radio station. You don’t realize, but you’ve already memorized it until you sang the chorus. You can sing along because it has been repeated over and over again. Then you can’t get it out of your head as you suffer from a “last song syndrome.”

Even ancient cultures used this method for retention. Did you know that songs or oral traditions were used in ancient times to pass on the culture, beliefs, precepts, and traditions of a people to the next generation? Even Old Testament authors used this method to record the Bible. The words were never forgotten because the songs were repeated over and over again. We learn by repeating something for a period of time. This applies from menial tasks to significant career advancement.

Finally, wide readers create an impression of being an intellectual giant during a discourse. Your peers won’t know that you are just sharing from the assortment of books you are currently reading.

There you have it. Be a wide reader through practice and then make it a habit. You should also teach what you learn to others for maximum retention. So for everyone who wonders how I can finish reading a book so fast, my secret is now out in the open. And it’s not speed-reading.

“QUALITY QUESTIONS CREATE A QUALITY LIFE.” Excited to preach: 10am & 2pm service....

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 08:45:00 +0800

“QUALITY QUESTIONS CREATE A QUALITY LIFE.”

Excited to preach: 10am & 2pm service.

Part 2 of our series: FAQ’s “Knowing the Will of God!