my life planner

my first planner

I started using a planner when I was in grade school. (yeah, in grade school...akala mo napakabusy na tao eh) It was actually a planner/diary. Then, when I reached college, and since I am a coffee lover, I started patronizing the so-famous Starbucks planner.Well, having a planner helps you to be organized and to be less forgetful of your tasks. And though you could just use your phone or any gadget to serve as your planner, I still prefer to have my plans hand-written.

Then one time, instead of the traditional planner,  I thought of having a planner where in it has no dates. It will just contain all the things that I want to do in my life. With this kind of planner, there will be no pressure since there will be no deadlines to meet. I can take all my time to accomplish all those things. 

So as of now, here is my list:

1. I want to travel the world and learn different cultures

Traveling for me is one way of seeing how beautiful the creations of God are and understanding those creations. (may it be the people, the environment or the country itself) And traveling also allows you to unlock the doors of the past. 

• South Korea
• Singapore
• Taiwan
• Thailand
• Malaysia
• Japan
• go back to Hong Kong 
• experience Macau once again
• China
• Indonesia
• Europe (France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, UK, Vatican, Ireland)

These are the countries I have in my mind right now and I know that in the future, more countries will be added in to this list. (wow! after writing these countries parang naisip ko na I have to have more jobs to be able to visit all these places!)

2. Be a CFA holder (this is the only list that I included a deadline for me to be more serious in achieving it)

• Pass Level I by 2012
• Pass Level II and III within 5 years (until 2016)

3. Enroll in a graduate school - It is always my dream to study abroad but since it needs a huge amount of money, studying here in the Philippines is fine with me.Besides there are good grad schools in our country like the Asian Institute of Management. By the way, I'm planning to take an MBA or MS Finance.

4. Invest 

I am saving for two things: one is to travel and the other one is to invest

• stocks
• UITF
• Time Deposit

5. Learn a foreign language

• Korean (since I'm so hook to korean dramas)
• Mandarin (knowing how to speak mandarin is an advantage in the corporate world)
• Italian (inspired by Elizabeth Gilbert - Eat Pray and Love)
• French (I used to study French when I was i high school and I want to revive my knowledge)

6. Learn photography

Traveling will not be complete without a camera! And I just don't want to take pictures, I want to capture the beauty of every place I will go to. 

• buy SLR
• enroll in photography class
• learn photoshop and other photo enhancing technique

7. Be physically and mentally fit

• enroll in yoga class or in gym
• learn badminton

8. Join a community

• volunteer
• serve the church
• expand your network

9. Don't be contended for being just an employee - open a business!

I don't want to work as an employee until the retirement age. I want to have my own business where in I will be the boss and I can handle my own time so I could travel anytime I want. In fact, I'm planning to retire by the age of 35 so I'm really saving hard right now. By the way, I'm thinking of putting up a resto or a cafe or maybe both. =)

10.Treasure your memories - do scrapbooks!

Though some of the items here may seem impossible, especially the travel part, I will not stop on dreaming. As long as you believe and put your heart and mind into it, you can achieve anything you want. Having goals in life gives you direction and motivation. 

"No heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity. " - Paulo Coelho