How are you, Ronjie?

I asked this same question more than three years ago. In fact, that was exactly 3 years and 1 month ago.

Is there that kind of a cycle that happens in everyone's lives? That "roller coaster" thing about life? Of course, not everyone's life roller coasters are created equal; some have very high highs and very low lows, some have little highs and little lows. But that's beside the point. The point is I'm at a low right now.

And I just recently received my masters' degree three weeks ago, although I unofficially submitted all requirements 5 months ago. I haven't been employed for 24 months of the last 26.5 months. Does that have something to do with this?

Talk about LOST. I'm at an intersection of three major highways. Do I take Highway 1, Highway 2, or Highway 3? If I take Highway 1, do I take the northbound side or the southbound side? If I take Highway 2, do I take the eastbound or the westbound? If I take Highway 3, do I go northeast or southwest? Where do I go from here?

Suddenly, I don't believe in these graduate programs anymore. But I guess it's not that. Somewhere along the way, I sort of lost interest in what I'm doing, although it's something I'm good at, and it's something I've loved and still love doing. But I guess as you grow old, new priorities come up.

You might be playing basketball every Tuesday and Thursday night with your buddies, and it's something that you absolutely love doing. But when your mother becomes ill or when you get married or when you now have a child, you will need to alter your Tuesday and Thursday routines, and your life certainly will change drastically. But it's not to say that you don't love basketball anymore, or that you love basketball less, or that you don't like to spend that much time with your buddies anymore. It's just that, there are new cards that have been dealt on the table.

For those of you who might be getting ideas... No, my mother is not ill (thank God), I am not yet married nor getting married soon nor am I having any child within the next couple of years, adopted, unplanned, or otherwise.

So what's wrong? Don't get me wrong. I am not complaining. In fact, I think that having these numerous options in my career is such a big blessing. How many people in the world see only one option for their careers? I do believe we all have choices, we just need to see them. And here I am, I'm fortunate enough to have accepted the gift of sight. Now all I need is to know how to harness the power of the gift of wisdom and discernment.

So I believe that we all have these different gifts, and it's our choice if we'll use them or not. Of course, we might have been brought up by our parents in such a way that our brains automatically choose to not use a certain gift. For example, we may all have innate skills in entrepreneurship, but if we were brought up to study hard and get a safe and secure job with benefits, we might think being an entrepreneur is too risky.

Anyway, the point of this post is really, what do I wanna do? What should I do? I wish I have the answer right now. But I know I do, I just can't extract it from my mind just yet.

To do that, I planned on taking this exercise that I got the idea from Jim Collins' bestselling book, "Good to Great." By the way, it's a great book. (Reminder to self: post this also at the Coach Potato's Corner and create links to Amazon)

Anyway, Jim Collins talked about the "three circles" - three questions that executives of the "Good to Great" companies continuously asked themselves and their peers, and on which practically all their major decisions towards directing their business were based on. I am therefore looking at my individual self as an individual company, which I think is nothing new, although I do not recall if Jim Collins said that you could do something like that in his book.

Question 1
First is, What can you be the best in the world at? Oh, this answer is difficult to answer, but that is if by "world" we mean, the world. If the Philippines is my world, then sure. We have a few answers to that. Maybe even just one. I can be the best in the world in Structural Wind Engineering. I can also be the best in the world at English, or writing, or even in lecturing. Maybe I can write a book on Structural Wind Engineering, and practice and teach it also. So why not do those? See my response to the Question 2.

But, I can also be the best in the world at... business, or at software design and development, or at web design and development, and maybe a couple of other things, for as long as I will take time to study them. Oh, and I mean time. I'm looking at half a year at least upto one year to study any one of those, plus I'll need experience. In contrast, I have studied practically for 10 years to learn (some) Structural Wind Engineering and practiced practically 4-5 years of that whether in design or application, or in research.

Jim Collins also said something that struck me. He said something like, if I was very good in math let's say back in high school or in college, it does not mean that's what I could be the best in the world at. And that's precisely me. I was best in math, and best in physics back in high school. I was tutoring my classmates back then... Sure, there was passion there (see my response to Question 3). But is that really what I could be the best in the world at?

Unfortunately, I didn't know any better about what I really wanted to do, and so I somewhat accepted my parents' advice: study Civil Engineering. It made sense, I was good in math and physics, and engineering was about math and physics. Unfortunately also, I didn't know a thing about Civil Engineering, but yeah that's what I was going to college for. But no, what I meant was I don't know anything about the Civil Engineering profession. I didn't know they got paid less than people in other fields (this is true here and in other countries). And well, back then, I didn't know that I wanted more than what I could get from being a Civil Engineer. I just didn't know. So here I am.

Question 2
Question 2 is, What drives your economic engine? This question really means to ask, what thing, what single denominator has significantly coursed a company's growth and/or profitability towards previously unrealized highs?

I am stuck at this question, really. I do not know.

I used to look at this question to be similar to "What are your goals? What do you plan to achieve? What is your target monthly financial inflow?" I'll be honest. I want to earn at least P180,000 a month if I have a family of four (me, wife, and 2 children). I started at ~5% of that, and in 6 years, I can make ~17% of that from a certain employment opportunity. That has been so far a 2%-of-target annual increase in income per year. At that rate, I can reach my goal... Oh about 40 years from now. [sarcasm on] Great, I'll only be 70 by that time. Not bad, some people retire at that age. [sarcasm off] But really, with the annual inflation rate between 5%-8% in that past 6 years - can you see how much poorer I've really been? One other problem is, that P180,000 now will only be worth around P25,600 in today's value 40 years from now at 5% annual inflation rate. So really, to be there, I should be earning P1,267,000 a month at the value 40 years from now.

Of course, the good thing is, I have been able to set my target monthly income. Not a lot of people have actually done that. They earn X a month and spend practically X a month. They get a raise and now earn 2X a month, and then spend practically 2X a month. That's not how I would like to be. Sure, I can choose to have just X a month for years, if I can reach my target of 700X a month in so many number of years.

Anyway, that's not the question. What could drive my income generating power? Do I go and stick it out with that structural/wind engineering job? Right now, that is my sole income generating power. It can bring in the dough month in and month out. The problem is, I won't be seeing Question 3.

Anyway, now the follow-up questions are: Should I just change my target? Or should I look at other things that could drive my economic engine? But if I go in that direction, what about Question 1? Do I try to change that? Should I study and be the best in the world at something? Can I create something, an invention maybe, that I could be the foremost expert in the world at? Ah, here goes the options again. But hmmm... Things are clearing up. If I invent something and it becomes very profitable for me - that would be the greatest thing. I like "creating" things. Inventing things. Improving things. Creating something from nothing. Making things move, making things work. Solving problems. Or just simply, providing solutions.

So that is the problem, how do I make something profitable? And can I create something that can be profitable? I guess this is the direction I should take. And it's probably the one thing that I could be the best in the world at. I will need to study though, how to make it profitable.

Or I can hire someone to do that for me. Or I can find a business partner who can make my idea profitable for the both of us. Gee, that really is the point.

Question 3
Question 3 goes, What are you deeply passionate about? Sure, I have some passion for math, for programming, for engineering, for saving lives. But those are my basketball passions. I now have my new-baby passion: earning money.

By the way, I hope you don't look at me as some very money-hungry, very greedy guy. I do intend to donate to charity a significant portion of what I will earn. In fact at my target monthly income, I can donate four homes a year to four very poor families. That is still small, but if I do exceed my target monthly income, then I can give even more, because I do not intend to live a life much more luxurious than what my target monthly income can give me.

And again, it's not that I don't love my basketball. It's just that, I have aged. I have a new passion, which I did not see coming when I was younger.

Once I have found my economic driver, which also actually drives what I am deeply most passionate about at the moment, then I can address my other, basketball passions. And what am I the best in the world at? Thinking. Creating ideas. Creating solutions. And so on. And perhaps that's why I've been good at engineering.

Do I now have my answer to my original question - "How are you, Ronjie?"

Jim Collins also said that companies also ask "What am I not the best in the world at?" Right now, business and entrepreneurship and networking are things I am not the best in the world at. So I guess that's why I should find someone who is. After all, it's the WHO that should come before the WHAT.

So that's the question I should be asking... Who? With whom?

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Anyway, how about throwing this back into the mix: I haven't worked for 24 months in the past 26.5 months! I need money, now! That's the problem... I guess that's the answer to the question, "How are you, Ronjie?": "I don't have income right now."