Category: Self-Help

Gratitude Shoutout to the Universe

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I’ve always been the grateful kind of person. It’s that one consistent attitude I have in life that has helped me a lot in combating my depressive moods, hormonal imbalances, and mood swings growing up. And I’m happy to say that these extremely negative emotions haven’t been cropping up that much in the last few years of my life; and whenever they do pop up, I still do feel the sadness, yes, because I am still human after all, but I think I’ve already mastered the art of not dwelling on the negativity anymore and I immediately get to change the channels I am tuning into, and of course, that one constant channel I go to is gratitude.

Just lately, after Mahal and I did our not-so-secret civil wedding and we’re finally and legally husband and wife, a barrage of grateful emotions have been and are constantly filling my heart. Who would have thought that I will be one of the lucky not-so-many who can get annulled and be married again when so many broken married couples haven’t been granted the same? Who would have thought that I will have another chance at a love like ours? The love, commitment, and loyalty we have for each other cannot even compare to the previous kinds of love I’ve felt in my life! Ours just constantly keeps getting better and better, and with a child like our son who is so good, so smart, so mature for his age, we feel so overwhelmingly blessed beyond words! I really cannot capture the right words for it, I end up just crying for joy! Thank you, God, for blessing us with more than we deserve!

I remember during those dark moments in my life when I kneeled on my bed, and cried my heart out to God with both my arms raised in heaven asking God for help… to help me get through that turbulent time in my life and help me find happiness again. What God has given us now is way beyond my expectations and I am eternally grateful! Thank you! Thank you!

You can read about my other gratitude posts here:

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How to Communicate Better With Your Significant Other? [Real Talk with My Then Live-In Partner]

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The recording of this video happened 13 months ago, Nov. 17, 2021, at Crimson Resort in Mactan as we were celebrating Tuz’s 6th birthday. I’ve always wanted to share this here in the hopes that it may give some helpful insights for other couples, particularly those living together for several years now, who are trying to be better partners and lovers and trying to find certainty about where their relationship is really going.

I mentioned it here on my previous blog post that Mahal and I have had our share of tough times in our relationship prior to getting engaged last April 25, 2022. There have been so many fights and we almost broke up for good. I believe that one of the major reasons why we were able to work things out, stay together, and continue to love one another was because of our willingness to be better communicators. We already know we love each other so, so much. That’s already a given. But if we don’t know how to properly communicate our wants, needs, thoughts, and feelings, we will continue to crumble as a couple.

So I’m very thankful for talks like this because it made loving each other much easier. Plus, looking back, it just makes me all the more proud of how far we’ve come in our relationship, how deeper our understanding of each other is now, and how much more we’ve grown to love each other, more than we ever did before…

So, here it is… bring some popcorn with you because this is quite long… ❤

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How to be Unbreakable by Rob Dial and Dean Devries

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OMG! I just finished the 1st of 2 live events of Rob Dial and Dean Devries. It’s about how to be UNBREAKABLE despite life’s uncertainties. They are teaching us, FOR FREE, how to be the person we want to be despite all the craziness we are all experiencing in the world today. It was so inspiring and uplifting!!! Thank you, guys!!!

Basically it’s about being a better version of you a year from now. They are teaching us concrete ways on how to go about it. I’m so excited to be Jen 2.0 or maybe 5.0? Lol! I’ve changed so much over the years I’ve lost count! It’s so motivating! Excited for the 2nd part tomorrow! In case you want to join, just head to https://www.robanddean.com/unbreakable-1 and try to register if still possible. Join also the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/538088811356136

Just a little background… Rob Dial is my go to podcaster every day when I do my workout and morning walk. The title of his podcast is The Mindset Mentor. You familiar with him? He’s on Spotify and Apple. He helped me a lot get to this level where I am now — more calm, more successful, more positive. And I just want to continue applying what I’ve been learning from him. He’s a great fan of Napoleon Hill’s Think and Gor Rich (a book I super love!), and I assume of Tony Robbins‘ teachings as well because many of his podcasts resonate with Tony Robbins’ teachings. 

One thing I want to share with you that Rob and Dean said is this: 

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10 Financial Tools and Tips That Can Help You Stick to Your Budget and Grow Your Money This 2022

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We’re heading to the 3rd week of the new year. Have you started working on your 2022 goals and dreams yet? Perhaps, my previous blog post can help you as I shared there 3 strategies I use to reach mine —> How to Get Anything You Want – 3 Strategies to Help You Achieve Your Goals in 2022

If your 2022 goal has something to do with finances like mine, then stick around because I’ll be sharing with you some basic tools and tips I’ve used and continue to use to keep my finances in check, stay out of debt, thereby helping me save more, invest more, retain a good cash flow, and let my money grow. 

I think even before one thinks about the more complicated nature of finance, it is best to tackle the basics first which is HOW TO BUDGET RIGHT. I believe this is an area where many of us fail from time to time, if not every single time! I’ve been there in my 30’s. I’ve always wanted to budget well but I’ve always ended up in debt… huge debts to the point that my precious house – the product of my own blood, sweat, and tears — almost got repossessed by the bank!                                    

Good thing I was able to start getting out of that rabbit hole and just before I hit my 40’s, I was finally debt-free! I even managed to finish my home mortgage payments back in 2017 making me a proud home owner of a two-story townhouse in one of our capital’s central business districts where real estate prices go high! I’m about to turn 44 next month and I’m happy to say that I’ve maintained my debt-free status ever since. Perhaps you might think it was wisdom that comes with getting older coupled with discipline. It’s both, but it’s also more than that too. I’ll share with you the basics below. 

The financial tools and tips I’ve used to help me budget well and which can help you stick to your budget too are as follow:

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How to Get Anything You Want – 3 Strategies to Help You Achieve Your Goals in 2022 

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As we begin our journey this New Year, many of us think about having new goals, new dreams, and basically how do we get about achieving them. I’ve thought about these things myself. Mine in particular is about increasing my net worth to a particular amount and this involves budgeting all of my money and assets well. This thought has been ringing in my mind since late last year, especially after Typhoon Rai hit us and I knew in my gut that I should make this financial goal my number 1 priority. 

So, to help me dissect the process of how I’m going to achieve this particular financial goal of mine this year, I listened to a podcast by Marie Forleo discussing the topic “How to Get Anything You Want?” This can actually apply to getting anything you want this year — whether it be getting your life back together, having the kind of relationship you want, traveling to a particular place, getting the job or career you want, setting up your own business, winning a nobel prize — you name it and the strategies here will help you make it happen.

I’ll share with you below the notes I took so that you too, can have some ideas on how to achieve your goals for 2022, especially if it’s a financial goal like mine. 

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The Root of Happiness (And How I Found It Around Halloween)

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I’ve been listening to Rob Dial’s podcasts. He’s a mindset mentor and one of the things he discussed was about happiness and the root of it or the key to achieving it. He based it on what Will Smith said before that it’s not the material things nor money that will bring you happiness (I think many of us know this already), but it’s peace. Peace is actually what I have been experiencing just recently, around Halloween time. It’s not because Halloween is my most favorite time of the year and this year’s celebration has been the happiest Halloween I’ve had so far (I thought last year’s Halloween celebration was the bomb! Didn’t think we’d top that off this year!), but it’s more than that. 

I’m not sure if I mentioned it here before or in some other diary of mine, but living here in Oslob, for as long as I can remember, wasn’t really a good idea for me because I know and I feel that there are people here who don’t like me… they don’t like me because I’m with Mahal… because I used to be married to someone else… and maybe because I am just the kind of person they couldn’t believe achieved so much in life without much help from others. The way people think here is that you can either only be successful if you work abroad or if you’re married to a foreigner. I’m neither, so, maybe that boggles them. Honestly, I don’t really know why they don’t like me. The reasons I mentioned above are just my assumptions. 

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5 Things You Can Do Instead of Social Media (Facebook Disabled My Account and I’m Thankful!)

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Oh my goodness! 

It’s going to be Christmas soon, then New Year, and I still haven’t blogged about the things I’ve always wanted to blog about (like the happiest Halloween we’ve ever had)! As usual, so many joyful and exciting things have happened and continue to happen in my life for which I am very much thankful! I’m living my dream beach life and each and every day I try my best to spend it as if it were my last but without sacrificing my health too much this time around (hence, I’m not forcing myself to stay awake and do more than what my 16 waking hours would permit) coz health is one thing that we really treasure the most these days plus, at this day and age, it could really be our last with Covid around and this endless pandemic!

Anyway, it’s a blessing in disguise that Facebook disabled my account last Friday night just because I was posting photos of Mahal and Tuz in a five-star resort bathtub! They weren’t fully naked and I didn’t know bathtub photos were not allowed so I immediately deleted the post only to be disabled afterward. I can’t post, I can’t comment, I can’t react… and it’s going to be for a week! Argh! Has this happened to you before? What did you do? 

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reduce stress

3 Simple Ways to Reduce Stress During These Hard Times

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How are you? We are on the 18th month of this pandemic and so many things have already happened… deaths left and right… Covid getting closer and closer to home (if it hasn’t hit yours already… it surely did mine. 5 of our family members caught Covid and thankfully survived it despite not getting vaccinated)… businesses shutting down… people suffering…. freedom getting suppressed in many places around the world…. and all this is starting to get on my nerves. Do you feel the same? Am I alone in feeling this way? If you’re on the same boat as I am, don’t fret. There are ways we can do to try to ride these waves. And we must. I just read an article on Bloomberg that this pandemic can last for a really long time. We can’t just give up, can we?

So what can we do to help reduce our stress during these hard times? Let me share with you some ways we try to do at home to help cope with this depressing worldwide situation:

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Sudden Death of a Great Man Weeks After Getting Vaccinated — My Grandfather, Almost a Centenarian

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I’m still in shock about the sudden death of my Lolo, Atty. Domingo L. Martinez. I didn’t think this would be my post here after a long hiatus on blogging. I have several vlogs lined up, so many exciting things have happened since we moved here in Oslob, Cebu but the news about my grandfather passing away really came as a shock to me.

It is our family’s theory that it’s all because he got vaccinated with Sinovac recently… Though official WHO (World Health Organization) findings reported that various Covid-19 vaccines pose as no threat to human health, and that the benefits of taking the doses far outweigh the risks, there is still news circulating about some people experiencing complications from getting vaccinated, one of which is dying. I’ve been seeing real-life accounts of both people I know and don’t know saying how the vaccines caused them grave illnesses with some eventually dying like my Lolo when they were otherwise in good health prior to getting those jabs. Getting that vaccine for my Lolo was the only thing he did differently in his routine in the last few weeks. And suddenly, he couldn’t breathe… He died of pneumonia according to my step-grandma. He was still very much alive and well just a few days prior to this.

To cut it short, please refer to screenshots of my Facebook posts below before heading to my current writing…

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New Year's eve

My Little New Year’s Eve Diary

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When I think about what 2020 has been for us, I have nothing but prayer of thanks. 

Though this pandemic did affect some aspects of our business, we were able to pivot, adjust, and not only survive but thrive. Truth is, in the 3 years that we’ve lived in Cagayan de Oro, 2020 has been our most successful year. And for that, THANK YOU, GOD! 

A huge part is because living and working from home is not new to us. We’ve always been the introverted type and my work has always been online, so it didn’t really change our routine much. And because most of the world turned online, business has never been better.  It also helped that we got out of our tiny pad. Since travel was restricted, our original plan of living somewhere half the time and living in the tiny pad the other half of the time was no longer possible. I needed space to breathe and just be and I’m so happy we got to experience living in a cozy house here in Cagayan de Oro City. Before the year approached its end, we even got to host online and overnight parties. 

But don’t get me wrong… There were dark days, yes. Days when I felt like the world was going to end as if we’re entering the era of zombie apocalypse…

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