If you have read my ABOUT page, you already know that one of the goals of my blog is to share with you tools that can help you live the life you’ve always wanted. This tools my friends are summarized in my monthly favorites posts.

Once a month I’d share with you a thing or two of the stuffs that had helped me and that I thought would be helpful for you too. It could be a book, a smartphone app, a productivity tool or tangible stuffs. So without further ado, here it is:

TINY SCANNER

I had mentioned this app already in my previous post on howto organize documents and papers and yes, I’m still using it.

Tiny Scanner is my choice of scanning device because of its portability (since it’s in my phone), ease of use and easy sharing. With this, I’m almost paperless. I scan most of my documents and store them digitally.

One of my favorite ways of using this is scanning my planner and notes. You’ll never know when you’ll need to get back on your previous notes or check out a previous appointment. With this, I had an archived of my notes and planner that I can access from my phone.

Like last time when we went to the pedia for my son, the doctor wants to know when our last pedia visit was. I get to access my planner just by checking on my scans. Tiny Scanner is available through itunes and google play. The link is below.

MAC LIPSTICK in shade Twig

I know this is not a productivity tools or something but you can never underestimate the power of a good make-up. Go check out the beauty gurus online and let them show you how empowering make-ups are.

Every woman should find her go-to lipstick. I blog about it on One minute make up.  No matter how busy you are, it is important to pay a little bit of attention on how we look. This affects our mood and most importantly, this affects how people see us. A little bit of lipstick can boost your confidence and can boost people’s confidence on you. Studies had proven this.

If you haven’t found yours yet, here’s my pro tip (a.k.a. how I find mine). Go to Mac cosmetics counter near you and ask the lady in charge on what’s the most natural shade of lipstick for your lips. These ladies are not just there to take orders; most of them are pro and can give you the best advice on makeups.  So go, find yours now.

THINK AND GROW RICH by Napoleon Hill

This book was written in 1937 but no, it is not outdated.  This is what I call the “Grandfather of personal development” book. I’ve read quite a lot of personal development and financial improvement books and I can say that the main concepts of most books are the same as what’s in this book. It’s funny to see that the things of the past, or in these case principles of the past, are still applicable to today’s needs.

What I like most about this book is on how he emphasized the importance of FAITH in achieving what you want. I’m a big believer of this principle too. Here’s a little takeaways from the book but best if you read it yourself.

“Desire backed by faith knows no such word as impossible”

“Desire backed by faith, pushed reason aside and inspired me to carry on”

“Faith is the starting point of all accumulation of riches!”

Available in google play.

That’s about it.  Feel free to share your tools that make you productive, empowered and inspired. I’d love to learn from you too.

Go give these tools a try and remember, you can always live the life you’ve always wanted.

I don’t know about you, but me I want to have more money. Let’s be honest, money is a powerful tool to make a difference, to contribute and support a cause you believed. Whenever I see hacks on how to grow my finances, I’ll jump into it and share it with you as well.

Basically, there are four ways to have more money: earn more, save more, spend less and invest more. But today, I’m not going to go through any of that. We will be talking about money mindset. Because no matter what steps you take in having more money, if you don’t have the right frame of mind about money, you’ll just feel that you don’t have enough.

That my friend is poverty. Contrary to popular belief, poverty is not about how much or should I say how less you have in your bank account. It is a mindset, a feeling of scarcity. I know people who has thousands of dollars in their savings account or people who own properties but still consider themselves financially poor. This proves my point that it’s not about how much you have but it’s all about thinking rich or thinking poor.

So today, I’ll share with you four tips on how to cast out the poverty trolls and start thinking rich.

GRATITUDE

Find time to list down at least three things you’re thankful for. Do it every day.  By acknowledging your blessings, you’re setting your mind in the right path. This helps you focus on what you have than what you don’t have. When we focus on what we have, our mind is more inclined to think of ways on how we can grow what we already have. On the contrary, thinking about what you lack, sets your mind in the dead-end point, limiting yourselves and blinding you on what you can do.

STUDENT OF LIFE

No matter how much you know, realize that there’s a lot more to learn. Always be hungry to learn and increase your knowledge. Consider this as personal investment whenever you educate yourself. If your financial goals are not yet materializing keep on reading, studying and exploring. Copy the success of people who had achieved your goals.  If ever you hear yourself saying “I think I know enough”, beware! That’s Mr. Pride creeping in. Be a student of life. Keep learning and be a doer of what you learn.

AFFIRMATION

I used to think that I’m totally free from poverty mindset. But little did I know that I have a tiny poverty troll dwelling in my mind, hiding and making his appearance only once a month – whenever I’m paying bills. I say this because whenever I’m paying bills, even though I have enough balance to cover the bills, I don’t feel good paying it. I feel like I want to puke or poop or whatever! I thought maybe I felt this way because this is my hard earned money and I don’t want to depart from it (separation anxiety?). But I realized it is poverty mindset, a fear of losing.

That’s why I decided to create a positive affirmation. Whenever I’ll pay bills or spend money, I’ll say to myself “I have the capacity to produce wealth”. Sounds crazy I know, but there is a power in the spoken words. It takes the same energy to say negative things and positive things, so choose to declare affirmation over your life.  By doing this, I was able to question fear of losing and strengthen my faith as I declare that I can earn more. With this, I say bye-bye to money separation anxiety!

CONTRIBUTE

Poverty trolls are in full force whenever we can’t afford something for ourselves. Giving in to this thought will discourage you and will feed the fear beliefs. As I always say, to counterattack any fear is to question the fear and do something about it. The best antidote to poverty is giving. Contribute; give to others who are in need. Whenever you give, you’re sending a signal to your brain that you know that you have enough. That’s why it feels good after giving. It’s more than feeling good, after all it is good to give.

We have a rich God who is willing to open the floodgates of heaven to anyone who’s willing to take charge and be an avenue of His blessings. Be that person.

There you have it. I hope these four tips will help you send poverty trolls away. Every battle starts in the mind. If you win it, you are sure to win the actual one. Take the first steps today – think rich and be one.

I was born in the Philippines. At a young age, I’m aware that there’s a God who created everything and rules the earth. I profess that I believe in God however, I have this doubt about God that I keep inside me for at least 18 years of my life. I wonder, if God is really powerful, mighty and perfect, how come He doesn’t know how to build a family?

I’m a product of two broken families. My mom and dad had failed relationship with their first partner to whom they had children. They fell in love and then I was born. While it’s clear that this is something I didn’t choose for myself, I can’t understand why people around me, neighbors, friends and even my teachers tend to point this out. I felt that my identity is linked to my parents’ choices.

Because of this, I made a commitment that “I will do my best to be the best in the all I do, until it will no longer matter to people how my birth came about”. My goal is to please everyone around me, my friends, teachers, siblings and my parents. I can vividly remember that one night, I’d recall how proud they are for what I’ve achieved in college, but to me, it’s nothing but a   façade. I created the Romanelle people will want to see, but the real one is unhappy, empty and despises her own birth story.

On my 18^th birthday, my friend Therie lent me the book “Purpose Driven Life” written by Rick Warren. She intentionally wanted to give me a copy but she had no budget. I realized she really wanted me to read this book, so I go ahead and decided to finish soon not knowing that it is a 40-day devotional book. I thought, okay, I will scan through it and send it back, but this phrase from the book changed my mind, “You are not an accident”. These words hit me hard as if it were written for me, to answer the question I had for a long tie. 

“Your birth was no mistake or mishap, and your life is no fluke of nature. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did. He was not surprised by your birth. In fact, he expected it”.

Excerpt from The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.

Long story short, I finished the book in 40 days and it changed my life. Finally, I get to know who God really is. Finally, I accepted myself for who I am and what my life is all about. After reading the book, my life was never the same again. I started to build my relationship with God and appreciate life more.

As I recall, I realized there had been a lot of opportunity for me to know God; Salty, the Korean missionary I’d met when I was 8, my brother who became a Christian and my Christian seatmate when I was in 2^nd year in college. Every day we are given an opportunity to know God and His plans for us. But it takes a decision to grab the opportunity. 

Maybe, you’ve read this blog post for a reason. Maybe, it is not an accident. I want to encourage you to get to know God, if you haven’t known Him yet. Don’t settle for being aware of God, but you don’t get the chance to know Him personally and have a relationship with Him. 

Reading that book is one of the best decisions I ever made. In knowing God, I found clarity in what I believed in and I found clarity in my identity.