What skills could be developed by a person in times of AI

 Many jobs will be lost. But some of them cant be copied nor be substituted by AI especially to a person.

1. Personal mastery especially on matters of death.  You have to focus on things that are real and which

    matters most

2.  Selling  cant be delegated nor relegated to AI,   Selling is done human to human and it has to happen through alive human beings.   AI cant sell

3.  Reality of money  Many people including AI do not understand well yet:   inflation, compounding and diversified portfolio.  Here we can strengthen our knowledge

4.  Building other people  giving praise, thanking good performance.   AI cant do that.  Only humans, you can do this

5.    Judgement and choice  We notice that AI does not make good response because it tries to please the general majority.  But not a particular person -  you.  Because AI can t make a choice or judgement Only a real person can

Deal making

 I could no longer and cant tolerate anymore detailed nitty gritty of operations I spent decades minding that.  Although we are trying to build a system of performance evaluation now.  

What I mind now is deal making, creating big wealth on new projects.  There are 2:   one in NL one is in an island province now being claimed by an imperialist be theirs.   

The one in NL is a dream to be because 1.  the land is untitled,  2. it is based on future road being built connecting 2 towns and 1 major city.  The none in an island province. It used to be dead deal. We are now reviving it.   But the land is expensive.  The NL is more likely to proceed.   

Learning: Last week July 4- 11 POINTERS IN RUNNING A BUSINESS

 2026 007  Summary of things we should remember when running a business.  From YT

      1.   Cash flow, not profit is paramount in business.  Thus the terms of AR and  AP must be in favor 

            of cash build up.  Prefer payment in cash for receivables and sales, and prefer deferred payment

           instead of cash.    CASH IS KING

     2.   Selling is the MOST IMPORTANT ACTIVITY IN business.  Selling creates value, and wealth. 

          It needs clarity of the brand,  and trust must be built.  However trust build in decades can vanish

          in seconds

    3.  REPUTATION is a very important business asset

    4.   In business you need clarity of  communication to CUSTOMERS AND EMPLOYEES

    5.  When you expand, you need clarity

    6.  FOCUS in few ideas and products.  Focus creates depth and intensity

Areas for self improvement

 Self improvement is contained in Pete Senges 5th discipline.   Senge believes that the best strategies are not the brilliant ones but more of internal:   improve self and people and we improve the execution

The areas that are candidates for self improvement are:

    1 Health and physical fitnes  through diet, exercise, hydration, regular check up 

      Especially at past 70, you have to fight sarcopenia (loss of muscle) and dementia (foggy  memory

      and forgetfulness.  For physical, it is advised that the senior strengthen his leg muscle to avoid falls

     and lift weights to fight sarcopenia.

     There is another and maybe unacceptable advice:   train harder than before;    Add reps ride faster

    because if not you speed up your aging.    Youth has to come from within  And when you increase

    intensity, metabolism speeds up and new cells birth speed up to 

   2 . Emotional:   being more mature, taking on problems  and streses,  social adaptation - with family

        workmates, club members

  3.  Mental and psychological

      1.  Learning 

      2.  Memory

      3 Public speaking

 

Learning July 4 to 11, 2026 continued

 

2026 006   HIDDEN LESSON FROM THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS

               We often focussed on the first two servants who followed the master and multiplied by two

               the talents that were given by the Master.  It is about risk taking and welcoming with joy

               the invitation of the master to partkake of his blessings and let it grow for their and others

               benefit.  

              We forgot about the third servant who was overcome with fear, distrust and fear, blaming 

              others for our misfortune.  The third servant thinks his master is unjust and takes what is not

              his  So instead of welcoming the invitation of the master, of multiplying his talent, he

              buried and hid it   Thats like what we do with our talents.   We set our limits

            THE IDEA IS TO BE HOW TO BE A NO LIMIT PERSON

A Cautionary Tale from the Third Servant

“He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’”

Matthew 25:24-25

Now let’s take a look at the third servant.

It’s easy to criticize the third servant for his inaction, but let’s look deeper into the underlying cause: fear.

While caution can serve as a guide, it can also become a hindrance that holds us back from fulfilling our God-given potential (just like in the Parable of the Minas).

The third servant allowed fear to paralyze him, an obstacle we must all be cautious to avoid.

The tragedy here isn’t just a buried talent; it’s a buried opportunity for positive influence and growth. The biggest risk is often not taking any risk at all, especially when entrusted with something as invaluable as a talent.

Instead of taking responsibility, the third servant chose to blame his master for his own shortcomings. Accountability isn’t just for the times we succeed; it’s also for the moments we falter. Acknowledging our fears and limitations is a key part of authentic personal growth.

What did I learn last week - July 4 - 11, 2026

 

2026 001.  Importation of equipment from China Alibaba:  

     1. Usually the price quoted at Ali Express is the deposit (misleading)

    2.  One of the best way to import is via I wish bag.  You send them URL of the product desired;

         1. You pay them and they pay (using your payment) to Ali express and they handle 

             the customs, forwarding, DTD

        2.  There is still risk about Iwishbag.  You lessen though the hassle of Phil custom and the DTD

     That takes the mystery and guesswork about importation from China of cheap equipment 

2026 002   Flail lawn mower

                  vs Hog mower or the slasher.

                  1. Flail is more expensive and is usually borne by a tractor for effectiveness

                 2.  Flail has a rolling cylinder that either has hammer cutter or the y cutters.   about 30

                      to 40 cutters arranged in a helix

                 3. Can be used for both lawn and brush cutting

                 4. Can be 3x more expensive

                 5. Y blades can be set at 3.5 mm and can do golf course like cut.  Slasher leaves a line 

                    and has coarser cut

                 I was offered a flail mower.  RC, or tractor attachment?   

Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed on an equal or greater benefit- Napoleon Hill

 To paraphrase :    Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed on an equal or greater benefit ( OPPORTUNITY)

 Many of us despair when we fail, lose a business, a loved one have an accident.  Its not how we fall but how we rise.  Failure is just a stage.  It is not permanent.   We fail forward not backward.

This post comes from a poor family, father was a janitor in a govt office when he married my mother, My mother was a labandera to make both ends meet.  But thrift and perseverance got us through and we rose to become better off than others, better than before.

Many  great enterprises  rose from difficulties and hardship:  Netflix was rejected  by blockbuster,  Apple got rejected by banks, Musk was fired at Paypal, Job was fired at Apple,   Google was not bought by Yahoo.   and many many more stories of rejection

It has been said, after the rain comes sunshine.

Nylon was an overcooked plastic; penicillin was a strange spore that grew on a Petri dish that killed other bacteria.  Many breakthroughs did not come from lab, clean office environment.  They came from advesity.

Problems are treasures

 A business is an entity that solves problems  If you head a business, or are working in a business, always expect that hundreds of problems will confront you and your co workers everyday:   delayed OR, missing docs, lousy service, complaints here, complaints there,    an uncooperative, cocky co worker, traffic in coming to work, and you are late etc.  

But these are treasures, and if you are teachable and coachable you will adjust change and be a much better person  If you are not then you get mad, you become emotional and resist further efforts to change and improve you.   

You dislike problems and get annoyed, then dont work.  Life is hard.  And according to Scott Peck,, a famous psychiatrist, this is the reality of life,  And the greatest sin is being a sloth, being indolent.  That gives rise to crimes (as theft and rape) and host of psychiatrict problems:   catatonia, schizoprenia -  these are all persons mechanism to deal with stress and problems which he/she cant handle in a healthy manner

Problems are opportunities.   Every problem brings with it endless opportunties to improve and be better.  Mahy inventions and entrprises were borned out of problems ie, answering the question:   WHAT PISSES YOU OFF, rather than coming out with ideas from nowhere about a new product.   If the invention or the new business answers a definite problem, then it is more likely to be successful.  If the problematic market is big enough there will be enough gp for BE and profitability.  

A well known hotelier was well known for entertaining customer complaints and problems,  He thinks these are treasures to make the business better. 

What about you?  Many staff are rattled by many problems and even to the extent of bringing their problem to the office, work site.  It should not be the case.  We will be overwhelmed by personal problems and business problems.

I  have encountered staff who cant give more time for the company because a family  member said there is problem with family or house   Or that he/she is attending to a separation/divorce case.  We sympathize with personal problems but we cant be nursing home for those with broken heart or relationsip.   

We focus on our goals and problem solving

We need to train our staff on problem solving

We used to receive quotes that problems are given by the Lord not to put us down give us pain, or make us grovel in the gutter, but to make us better person or learn from the situation Bud do many people  take it that way.  

Fly with the eagles, dont crawl with the roaches; dont settle for less

 Associate with successful people not with your own kind or those who are lower.  This will motivate you and and lift up your skills,  and atitude and lift you up to be a successful person.   Be with your own mastermind group as what Napoleon Hill said.  

That is why it is important to enroll in MBA, join seminars because you associate and speak with people of like background.  Or join gcs and groups in social media.  The interaction makes you informed connected (networking and thus you have additional resources)    You can benchmark your ability with the peer group and the metrics will set you free.

One idea is to benchmark have an idol CEO or business leader.  This post remembers a prof, Mr. Gene Navarro (in problem solving but might as well be a Leadership or Entrep subject) to interview a millionaire, find out what made him a millionaire.  This is flying with the eagle at its best.  He said MBA must be able to teach students how to be a millionaire and be rich, not just be rich intellectually and academically.  This post interviewed Mr.   _____....les who headed a garment factory exporting baby dresses to NYC.  That surely motivated me.  Then I interviewed the richest businessman in our place a Chinese who ran a lumber yard and hardware store.    I learned a lot from him, knowing how to be unlike or like the Chinese in business.    Sadly his wealth was dissipated by the adopted children, who knows little about how to be successful

Fly with the eagles, Think like an eagle.  An eagle soars past the clouds and other weather disturbances and glides with the wind and does not exert much effort in flying.  Those who fly at lower altitude have to flap their wings more and harder.

AIM HIGH  not lower.  Raise your expectations and so will you drive persistence and determination.  

Why I need to journalize my learning?

 These are the reasons why:

     1  Since I am a senior, I may forget some of them.   A journal makes the learning safe, for jogging t

         memory

    2.  It serves as a motivator.  You see the learning piling up and you are encouraged to improve more

    3.  It adds to your presence in the world,  Hopefully your post will benefit the world.  The post will

         be read by other people, so that they too will embrace the ideology of self improvement.   The                     imporatnt learning do not bet burried in realm of forgetfulness, and waste

    4.  This keeps me busy.    Learning and journalizing

Being a better version of yourself

 

You must be better than yesterday, better than a month ago or better than a year ago.   When you improve you become the most powerful man in the room.  Because you have improved, you become:

      1.  More certain

      2.  More confident

     3.  More authoritative

     4.   Gain leadership and influence.

Thus read to lead is an important adage.  

You cant remain static and conserve your image and skills unimproved.  You become obsolete and sooner or later, like the dinosaur, (unless a meteor disintegrates you) or its the end of the world, you become irrelevant and extinct

It stuck in mind that Nonong Pedero  (Celeste Legaspi)  proclaimed in a newspaper post that you must reinvent yourself

What is your greatest responsibility as a corporate staff?

 This was asked by a now deceased supervisor who later on became an EVP of the largest local pharma in the Phil.  It was  birthday party of a pharma promotions rep (a dentist) an oldtimer who may be very well be a supervisor.   He was imprisoned (or his mind was) in state of complacency and good life from his current job.  

Some answer:

1.  To master the job;

2.  To communicate the company policies;

3.  To report and make sure that every body does his job well

What does that make you?

1.  To master the job;  --->   a craftsman, a journeyman

2.  To communicate the company policies;  --->  a communicator, a town crier

3.  To report and make sure that every body does his job well-->   a sekyu.

What is the correct answer?   To improve yourself.  Its kind of selfish.  But as you improve, you make yourself a better citizen and better employee, and a Christian, a true brethren of the Christian world.  Your duty is to find your gifts and make that gift useful to others.

The Lord calls you to be a co creator, to continue creation.  To gain dominion over the earth, and continue creating miracles.   

Many of the miracles were not religious miracles but miracles made by man.   

      1.  Doctors treating an infections deadly disease

      2.  Comforts and convenience offered by new inventions as gadgets, cp, solar energy etc.

      3.  Lessening of pain and disease through medicine

      4.  Roads and bridges that make travel and accessibility to other places better.

This is to be my journal of self improvement

 I intend this to be a memoirs of the things I learned everyday.  It is my goal to improve every day.  Most the time the new learning gets posted elsewhere as an entry in another site.

I intend to abide by the acronym of MIT monk to make my learning long lasting

ACTOR

A  -  im

C -  ompress

 T  - each  (the ultimate or learnign what was read  My test is powerpoint presentation or making

       a mindmap.

O -  own;  the application of the learning to your life:  work or day to day life

R - ead.  others like a book.  Situations as if it was deja vu.  You have seen this before.  Like

      in Blink of Malcolm Gladwell.  You take seconds to assess a situaiton.  It takes minutes for

      you to assess a sick person or emergency case.   Maybe a half day to decide an acquition

      They say you must spend 10,000 hours to be able to reach this level.   Maybe its lesser