Journal 14: Growth and Development

I believe one day Id stand infront of everyone sharing my own success story, bring all the talent to community that created me...

I recently attended a conference for Life Underwriters in the Philippines at Resorts World Manila. I received several career opportunities from the first world countries such as: Austria, Germany, New Zealand, Bulgaria and recently United States. I remember telling on of my professors about it and the remarks I received was "you are such a #€%#%& girl! how come you let go of such opportunity?!"

I knew Im going to leave, I just never felt belongingness and comfort in the Philippines, never had any intimate relationship in Filipinos as well. Main reason is the culture, a success driven and a person who continuously grow would not want to stay here or ask help from their parents. I am different from most and usually people find it difficult to understand. I came from a province near Manila - Cavite. Although most thought of it as a progressive city, most people my age their only want one thing.. To get married, live a simple life - with their parents and work as an employee. Thats it.

I never wanted those.

So i reached higher, I aimed for something more and now craving for more. It took hardwork,  a lot studying, sleepless nights of making things work for my previous bosses such as events, trainings, presentations. It was harsh in the beginning but I learned to much from all those hard work.

I remember hearing this once and it never left me:
There is no growth in your comfort zone, and there is no comfort in your grow zone.

I definitely believe in that; now I found myself working in a multinational company hailed as a European brand giant. Youngest in the team and continuously learning, my teammates and boss always say this "kakaiba siya"

Change really is inevitable, technological advances and innovations are fast approaching. If we keep on doing the same thing, are we gonna grow? Todays workforce promotion is not about the seniority anymore but performance. Social media has influenced our lives in just a matter of few years. According to a study “In 2011, the US hit a milestone – more than half of all adults visit social networking sites at least once a month.” As social media has evolved and matured, these consumer technologies have started to make the cross-over into the enterprise. This is often referred to as the “consumerization of IT,” where consumer technologies such as mobile and social are making way into the business world for better productivity.

Not only is business changing at a rapid pace, the workforce is also undergoing a major shift. As baby boomers are reaching retirement age, 75 million millennials are expected to hit the job market at the same time. These youthful workers possess a fresh perspective and approach; qualities that are highly desirable for any company seeking to remain competitive, relevant and ahead of the curve.

This emerging workforce has grown up connecting through networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. They welcome and expect social tools in the work place, e-mail is perceived as an outdated form of communication. Companies that lead this trend and leverage social technologies will be seen as innovators by the new workforce.

So at age of 24, I now find myself conducting trainings and having people 2-3x my age in class. I found myself uploading online resources and multimedia, aggressively cutting through and paving way to changes in the business.

While many baby boomers see Gen X and Gen Y as having little work ethic and immense entitlement, This is what I believe. continue to be different. It is you who will move away from the traditional “brick and mortar” business, who will continue to create unique 24hr business services, create methods that allow you to sleep in and work from home, it’s you who will change the lines of what a work environment and corporate culture will look like, it’s you who will keep breaking social norms that will lead to more equality and acceptance of what is different. So, continue to be different, because those differences are what propel the world forward. Challenge the norm: keep innovating and leverage on new technology

Its not time that's passing, it is us. 

I personally believe that in order to succeed nowadays, you have to make yourself difference and I only have one question to whoever would come across my blog: 

The world is changing, are you?