Ten Commandments To Get Ahead in Life

It’s Gratitude Sunday. Yay!

Today, I am grateful for my Father, the late Salvador Jr.

I celebrate being my father’s daughter!

I celebrate his life with all of its ups and downs that taught us valuable lessons.

I celebrate his perseverance and GRIT which enabled him to rise above hardship to achieve a good life.

Mostly, I celebrate his wit and wisdom.

Just so you have some idea, where this is all coming from, here’s a little backgrounder about my Father:

He did not come from a wealthy family. He was self-supporting since the age of 15. After Highschool, my grandparents could not afford to send him to college. But he was determined to get a Degree, so he looked for a way to support himself.

The only job he could find with his age and qualification was as a daily wage laborer. He worked in road construction during the day, shoveling sand and mixing cement. It was a physically demanding job that required him to work under all weather conditions, rain or shine. At night, he would go to school. There were times when he would fall asleep in class because of fatigue.

To stretch his salary, he had to live very frugally. As he had barely enough, he learned to differentiate between true needs and wants. He considered clothes and shoes as more of wants. He saved the money instead of buying new ones. He wore his clothes till they damaged beyond repair. He also wore “hand-me-downs” from his cousins, oftentimes, too big for him.

Whenever, we would ask for money to buy new shoes, he would tell us that story on how he had to wear “smiling shoes” for a time because they had already ripped at the seams from being over worn. Yes, he wore “smiling shoes” but that didn’t make him sad, because it meant, he will be able to pay his next tuition fee.

My father was very determined to have a better future. He would always say, blood, sweat, tears were his capital to success.

His success? A Degree in Commerce which became his ticket to a good career in the government. He was able to build his own home, provide a comfortable life for his family, get their family farm out of debt, and made it profitable. He started a trucking business from scratch and over the years made it profitable as well.

He taught us many valuable life lessons. Many of which my sisters and I have continued to live by these past years and some of which I am still learning to practice consistently.

I now realize, the greatest gift our Father ever gave us…was his strong presence in our developing and growing years. He was always there to love, guide and support us. And he did those by giving us these lessons.

I like to think of these lessons as My Dad’s commandments on How to Get Ahead in Life.

How did he teach us these lessons?

Pretty much from the heart-to-heart talks he loved to give during our mealtimes and during our quiet family times at home when we were all just hanging out. I used to jokingly call them, my Dad’s “sermons” and jokingly roll up my eyes when he was about to give them.

He liked to incorporate jokes, sarcasm, and quotable quotes in his “sermons”. Recalling them still make me smile to this day. How I wish I had the foresight to record his wise quips before he died.

He also taught us these commandments from the way he lived his life. He was someone who truly walked his talk. I only had to see how he lived his life to see how right he was (well, most of the time

Today, these commandments are still very much relevant and helpful, so I’m sharing them with you.

10 COMMANDMENTS TO GET AHEAD IN LIFE!

(LIFE LESSONS MY FATHER TAUGHT ME)

LIVE BELOW YOUR MEANS:

Learn to Live below your means!

Just because you can afford it, doesn’t mean that you should buy it!

Earn like a King but spend like a Pauper!”

Always Live Below Your Means. This means…you have to SPEND LESS THAN WHAT YOU EARN. Pay your monthly obligations first, then commit to an amount for savings and deposit this to your savings account.

Know the difference between a “need and a want”. A need is something that is absolutely necessary for your survival or your productivity while a want is something that is just nice to have, it is something you can do without.

If you are not sure, wait a few days or weeks and reconsider if it is still a need or a want. Oftentimes, a “want” loses its necessity with time.

SAVE FOR EMERGENCIES:

Save for a Rainy Day!

Tomorrow is Another Day!

This lesson is related to # 1.

The money in your savings account, the one you committed to save is money for your future “needs”. You may withdraw it only in case of emergencies like illnesses, hospitalization, urgent home or car repair.

Just like a rainy day, we never know when emergencies will happen. Emergencies usually cost money.

Learn to budget your money. Learn to hold off spending until you are close to the time when you will receive your next salary. Don’t spend all you have in one day for there is still tomorrow.

Don’t bring your ATM card with you. It’s a sure way to get tempted to buy a “want.”

Move your savings out of your ATM account so you do not have easy access to it.

NEVER EVER ASK FOR MONEY:

People love you when you give them money but hate you when you ask for money!

When you are rich, you have lots of friends and relatives but when you are poor, you are alone and an orphan!

As much as possible, never put yourself in a situation where you have to ask for money from other people because of emergencies or unforeseen circumstances. Do not expect people to give you their money. Always remember that they also worked hard for that and they are also saving money for their own emergencies.

In any case, if you really need funds desperately, do not ask for money, rather, borrow the money but be responsible enough to specify when you will pay it and always offer to pay it with interest. This way, it becomes a win-win situation for both you and the person you borrowed from.

No matter what happens always pay back what you owe. That is good karma.”

BE PUNCTUAL! BE THERE!

“Respect other people’s time.” Respect other people’s money”

Making other people wait for you is impolite and a sign of disrespect.

Always remember, other people’s time is as important or even more important than your time.

When you do not show up when you said you would, it just shows you don’t have any manners. It shows you are not a professional, or worse, you are uneducated.

Always have the courtesy to inform people if you cannot make it to your appointment.

Always honor your commitments. Especially any debts or loans.

Be there! Be there for your spouse, your children, your family when they need you. They are your priority.

PROTECT YOUR NAME AND GOOD REPUTATION.

A good reputation is as valuable as money!

What do people think when they hear your name?

What others think of you or perceive you is important, especially in terms of being honest and trustworthy. If you lose your good reputation, it will be hard to get it back. When People do not trust you, it will be hard to get ahead in life or in your profession or in your business.

Be careful with your actions, how you behave, how you deal with people. Whatever you do, you carry your family’s name. Your actions reflect on how you were brought up by your parents.

BE DETERMINED AND WORK HARD.

Blood, sweat and tears were my capital

Do not whine, do not complain, just work harder

You can still go to school even if you do not have money or even if your parents have no money. You have the capability to work. Use this capability. It’s useless to cry and whine about it because that will not solve your problem. Learn to get up and do something.

Do not wait for someone to save you, you can save yourself.

Do not wait for graces to fall from the sky. You need to go out and do something, and then the graces will fall from the sky

STUDY HARD AND GET A GOOD EDUCATION:

We have no riches for you to inherit, but we can put you to school so you can have a life better than ours.

Education is an asset no one can take away from you!

If you want more opportunities in life, finish your schooling.

People or circumstances can take away your money or riches but not your education.

Besides, if you lose your all your money, your only possible way to bounce back is by using your education. You will always have work.

Education is what will get you back on your feet even if you lose everything.

BE DEPENDABLE! HONOR YOUR COMMITMENTS!

Do what you say you will do!

When you commit to something, do not back out of your commitment.

Always be dependable and Reliable especially when it comes to money. That is how you will gain the respect and trust of people around you. Otherwise, no one will believe you. You will be like the boy who cried wolf.

Pay your employees fairly and on time. Just like you, they have needs that have to be met. If you always do this, they will be happy working for you and you will earn their loyalty.

PRAY EVERYDAY, GO TO MASS EVERY SUNDAY!

Going to Mass Every Sunday is not optional, it is an obligation!

For Catholics, the Sabbath is Sunday and keeping the Sabbath Holy is to follow the commandment to attend mass.

Do not miss Mass!

You are only required to give one hour of your week to go to mass, for prayer and giving thanks for all the blessings you have received in that week. There is no excuse not to do it.

Pray every day for guidance. Prayer brings you closer to God. When you have done everything, but there still seems to be no solution, no way out of your problem, TRUST IN GOD. He will give you the solutions.

PUT YOUR FAMILY FIRST:

Blood is thicker than water

Avoid fighting with your siblings. Especially, do not fight about money or material things.

It is normal to have misunderstandings and disagreements but you should always settle it amicably right away. Do not allow these misunderstandings to destroy your bond as siblings.

The worst thing that can happen to siblings is to become mortal enemies.

Remember to defend, protect, support your siblings more than you would a friend or acquaintance.

I will always be grateful to have a Father who I not only loved but truly admired and looked up to. He was such a strong moral compass and pillar of support during my growing years.

Honestly, in my youth, I did rebel against some of these commandments.

But wisdom really does come with age and experience.

I only started to appreciate the relevance of these when I already had my own family.

I now fully appreciate that many of the values I now live by are influenced by these commandments from my Father.

By posting these commandments on this blog, my hope is that they will be immortalized so that it is a way to pass on my Father’s wisdom to my children and their children too.

By the way, my Mother also had commandments of her own. But that is another story on its own and a topic for a future post.