Ending 2010 with high positive energy after making it through my Unilab Revalida and having accomplished my 2010 travel checklist, I felt like I was poised to conquer the world!
But has 2011 really been epic? Has it played level to my expectations?
2011 involved a lot of mental and emotional ups and downs. I have never felt my ego and self-esteem go so low at one point causing me to doubt my capabilities and question whether I really had made the most of my college education. At one point also I found myself pretending I'm really solid with my chosen career path that when reality finally caught up with me, I felt lost. Nevertheless I cannot deny the maturity my experiences this year has brought upon me. l've become more realistic. I've also become less ideal, and I hope this shift of mentality wouldn't mean I've become less hopeful of my future goals. I guess I really am transitioning to real adulthood.
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January - Wanting to start the year with a bang, I also celebrated my birthday with a bang! Courtesy of CashCashPinoy, I staged my 22nd birthday celebration with my HS friends at Victoria Court, Malate! Wanting to save on cost, I shared the expenses with my friend Jheric whose birthday falls on February. Back-to-back celebration! Maturity at it's finest!
February - vowing 2011 to be epic, I embarked on a new adventure yet again. I spent the weekend with my HS friends in the historic island of Corregidor! It's a small sperm-cell-shaped island that has guarded Manila against invaders for hundreds of years. After being destroyed by WWII, the structures have never been restored and for ghost-hunting enthusiasts like me, this is a potentially good place to spot for one! No sightings however, but I enjoyed the trip!
It was also in February that I attended my 2nd Unilab National Distribution Conference held in Holiday Inn, Clark! It was a night to rememebr or rather it was a night I should remember but can't! First time I got really drunk and couldn't remember the events that transpired during the party that I just found myself waking up in my hotel bed the following morning! Truly an epic night! =))
March - this was supposed to be Coron month! But had to cancel my travel plans the last minute because I felt guilty leaving work at the end of Q1. We haven't been hitting our sales targets for my key account St. Joseph Drugstore and it would look really bad if I take a leave amidst of it all! Stuck in Dagupan. Little sidetrip in Lingayen. Nothing much for this month, on to the next!
April - Now this month's oozing with activities being the peak of the summer season and having a few days off for the Holy Week.
There was the April Fool's night pig-out in Mercato - a first for me!
There was also my overnight stay at The Manor, Baguio City - again a first for me!
There's also my little sidetrip down Ma-Cho temple and Thunderbird Resort in La Union! Two other firsts for me! =))
Felt like I travelled from Beijing to Santorini in a day!
Such hefty prices to pay to survive boring summer weekends up north, BUT I cannot let my summer weekends go to waste!
For the Holy Week, my family decided to pay me a visit. We originally planned to visit only our relatives in Baguio but our adventurous spirits brought us all the way to Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte!
From Baguio City, we headed directly to the historic city of Vigan - truly a touch of Europe on Asian soil; a fine example of a well-preserved Spanish city in the country.
Spent the night at Gordon Inn before heading out to Laoag City first thing in the morning. We paid a visit to Paoay Church then went on to visit Paoay Lake.
From here we briefly stopped by Paoay beach, took a few pictures, before heading out to visit the Ilocos Sand Dunes!
We then had our lunch at a sea-side carinderia that offered us magnificent view of the West Philippine Sea. Konti na lang daw Pagudpud na sabi nung may-ari ng karinderia.
After lunch, we visited the Bangui Windfarm. I think there were 20 huge windmills lined up along the coast roughly a kilometer apart.
At 2 in the afternoon, we finally arrived in Pagudpud. But with still a few hours before sundown, we felt the need to add one more tourist spot to visit before finally checking-in to our hotel. From Pagudpud, we travelled another hour to the Patapat Viaduct - the fourth longest bridge in the Philippines! At roughly 600km north of Manila, this was the farthest I have travelled yet by land!
After all these comes our reward - the magnificent beaches of Blue Lagoon, Pagudpud!
To gloriously end my summer, I spent 5 days touring the other end of Luzon with my HS friends. Caramoan-CWC-Legazpi!
Save for the gruelling travel time by motor boat, the sceneries in Caramoan were all worth it! I was also able to finally see Mt. Mayon up-close - another one down from my 25 to-do things in the Philippines!
May - Revalida month! Almost forgot such a thing exists! We were supposed to have one last January but it got postponed. So after 6 months in Key Account Management, this was the only chance I got to move on to the next round.
It was bad. Didn't turn out quite well. Quite a big blow on my ego.
This made me think even more if I really am on the right career path - a thought I 've been pondering since I started this program. But with all of us extended on our KA assignments for another three months, I decided to give it another shot. To momentarily forget my disappointment, I embarked on another adventure with my friends: Anawangin Cove!
For the longest time, I've been wanting to go to this place! It was a back-to-basics experience. No electricity. No signal. No wi-fi. Just you, your friends, your tent and some canned goods.
June - After the Revalida, I swore to myself that I would exert all efforts possible to come up and implement an excellent project for my KA. June was a social hiatus month. No lakads. No trips. No adventures. Pure work. Save for just one dinner out with my friends in Mercato. But back to pure work after that.
Then finally it hit me! A project I was highly confident would put me back on track. After getting approval and highly positive feedbacks from my boss, I was uber excited to propose and implement this for my Key Account. My self-esteem somehow got a boost, still I should not feel assured. Anything could still happen. I always make it a point to expect a worst-case scenario. But I cannot deny, this was a good sign!
July - I finally proposed my project to my KA and I was really glad to see they liked the concept. A full-blown implementation was still a long shot nevertheless, and with only a few weeks before judgement time, the only feasible thing to do was a concept test for my project. Again, it yeilded positive results.
After all these work, I felt the need to reward myself a bit and finally bought an iPad 2!
It was in July also that I attended my 3rd Unilab NDC in Marriott Hotel, Resorts World. Partied at the Republiq after! Not wanting to repeat what happened the last NDC, I restrained myself from drinking too much.
Then Revalida came. I wasn't as nervous as the four previous ones and I'm pretty sure I got everything rehearsed. After seeing positive signs after positive signs, I was relatively confident this time. A few minutes before I presented, I found my worst-case scenario unimaginable. I felt that what separated me then from success was just a presentation - and a sure-win presentation this time!
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They didn't like it. They didn't even let me finish. It felt worse than the previous one. I wouldn't anymore go into the details of what transpired, but the moment I shut my mouth, closed my laptop and stepped out of the door, I knew it was over.
I was in a denial stage the first few hours. I even slapped my face to make sure I wasn't dreaming.
Where had I gone wrong? After exerting the best of my abilities, it was still a failure. Was this a sign that I really am in the wrong career? Was I really not meant for sales? Was accepting the MT program a mistake then? Perhaps choosing management was really not the thing for me. Science perhaps?
Several things shot through my mind the first few hours. I was literally confused. I was trying to justify and giving myself good reasons why I failed. Perhaps it's time to move on from sales? Or move to another company even? Surely a new industry would prove all these wrong? Or would it?
Over the weekend, I tried to bring myself together. I was not ready to accept these realizations yet. In the end, I decided to give my management career another shot. Perhaps I was just overreacting; overreacting over a simple mistake, a blunder I committed on my project, a blunder I refused to acknowledge and accept, hence the realizations.
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Almost a week after our presentation, the official results finally came out. Once again I felt like I was in a reality show. The original 14 down to 6 - and perhaps one more less after this.
<drum rolls>
"You failed to meet the expectations of the MT program." I was officially out. The thing I've been dreading about finally happened. Two of us shared the same verdict. Accepting it was not as hard and as difficult as I imagined it to be. Maybe because I already knew it was coming.
Like a spell being lifted, I felt lighter. I felt libreated. I was not sure whether these feelings were the proper thing to feel then. A result of my coping mechanism perhaps? I felt as if all the pressure in the world disappeared as I was relieved of my MT post. I would no longer be defined by it. I would no longer be judged by it.
I guess a major factor also that steered me to failure was the pressure of it all. A fast-track career path was at stake. Not to mention the judging and piercing eyes of the people around plus the compensation package that comes along with it. Being too concerned of all these three became rather unhealthy. I refused to see the blunders of my project, afraid to even admit to myself that there could be something erroneous about my project (with only a few weeks to go before Revalida) that my efforts were all coursed to making the project look good. This is my only chance, I have to make this work. I was too afraid to fail because I was afraid to lose this opportunity.
Realizing these, I guess it's not much about jumping to another industry or jumping to another company that would bring about the right answers. I guess it's about setting the right goal, my purpose for keeping my job - a goal not primarily driven by fine titles and financial rewards (I'm a human being after all), but rather a goal driven by what I really want to become.
This part's still not clear to me, however. There were times I see blurry images of myself as an entrepreneur, the reason I took MAC. Sometimes as an academecian. Sometimes as a scientist winning the Nobel Prize, or an astronaut discovering that black holes do in fact transport us to parallel universes. I could still jump. I could always jump.
A very simple question we were faced with during our childhood, but a very difficult one to answer as we grow old. It's a bit bothering not knowing the answer to this now that I'm in my early 20s. It's scary not knowing where my choices now would lead me. But I guess the very thing that keeps life exciting is not knowing where to go.
Should I jump? Not now perhaps. A part of me still wants to be an entrepreneur, and I shall like to keep this desire alive and burning. And having not such a solid entrepreneurial upbringing, my goal now is to learn. And for now, I stay to learn.
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By the end of July, the very thing I've been anticipating all my life finally came! The epic conclusion to the ultimate series of our generation finally hits the big screen - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II!
This movie for me qualifies as the best if not one of the best Harry Potter movies ever made. This too symbolically marks the end of my childhood. Since 11, I've been an avid Harry Potter fan. I grew up following their story. I grew up learning their spells. I grew up imagining one day I would soon receive my Hogwarts letter. But everything ends this month. Good things in life come to an end too.
August - "Welcome to Unilab Company Cares!" A new life. A new place where I could start on a clean slate. This was what Company Cares meant to me. A chance to prove myself again without the MT pressure. A chance to learn anew. Our task sounds simple: open new accounts, build a pharmacy and grow the business. How hard could this be in reality? Very! Haha. But what I like about this new job is it's entrepreneurial training. You meet with clients. You negotiate with them. You close deals. You implement. You manage enablers and agencies. You manage your store. You grow the business. You everything! Felt like the perfect training ground for me, a blessing in disguise I should say.
By the end of August, I felt like I was back on track again. I embarked on a new trip with my friends to Subic, my first adventure in months!
Also had a night out with my blockmates whom I haven't seen in a long time!! Truly, August has been a good month for me.
September - First month as a non-MT and shall I say I've never been happier! As a great start for this month, we did our Cluster 2 Planning at Pico de Loro, Hamilo Coast, Batangas! Definitely one of the best resorts I've been to so far. Lucky it was sunny the day we went!
It was the first time I get to bond with people outside of our MT circle. Being the shy type, it's not very typical of me to reach out to other people. But now I take this new opportunity to meet new people and hopefully make new friends.
October - Next thing you know it's 2012! Such a fast year, too fast I still feel it's 2010 turning 2011. Almost 2 months in Company Cares and I've never felt this satisfied and fulfilled in my career. I guess this was the reason I was waiting for. I felt my brains has been put to proper use again. First time I felt I'v really added value to the company. I was back in my element.
It was this month also that a new series got me hooked - Game of Thrones! Not really that new though haha! I've been hearing a lot about this lately but it was only this month I decided to watch. Needless to say, I've become a fan! Spent several nights finishing the series and I can't wait for April 2012!
November - I finally bought a PS3! Woot! I have this thing for rewarding myself everytime I feel happy! Haha! I was supposed to buy this thing on Christmas so it wouldn't be a distraction for work, but I can't help it! ;p
Several games for lineup this year and the next including FFXIII, FFXIII-2, Star Ocean, Assassin's Creed, Skyrim and a whole lote more!! The kid in me would always be alive!
Hoping Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Kingdom Hearts 3 to come out soon!
Another epic moment this month was my Antipolo adventures with my HS friends in Phillip's Sanctuary! First time to crawl in mud, first time to dive in mud!
December - It was truly a fast year! December na! Haha! And finaaaally I was able to open my first three Company Cares accounts! Back-to-back-to-back launches! My experiences so far haven't proven me wrong - it really gave me the entrepreneurial training I want. This happiness lead me to give myself another reward - a Samsung Galaxy S II.
This reward system has been draining a good portion of my savings already, not to mention the mini-rewards I give myself in the form of new clothers, new shoes and guiltless dinner-outs! To impose better control on my finances, I decided to keep a huge portion of my savings in the BSP SDA through BPI. I also opened a new savings account under BPI that would only receive PXX,XXX from my payroll account monthly (scheduled funds transfer). In this way, I would only have limited cash to work on. Hoping for a better financial goal this 2012!
Enjoyed the Christmas season with countless parties here and there from Company Cares to Distribution to Unilab to Ptolemy to Family!!
Even without taking a trip down to our weighing scale, I know I have gained so much weight! I need to hit the gym again (this time with more regularity!). Spent the last few days of the year at home the traditional way, counting down to the last few seconds of 2011. Talon para tumangkad!
Weclome 2012!
Happy New Year everyone!!
2011 ended simple and smooth. It may not be as travel-filled and adventure-filled as 2010 but it was a priceless year for teaching me and making me realize a lot of things about life. The world won't be a Harry Potter world where everything would ultimately work in your favor because the author had written so. The world wouldn't always dance with you. You make the world dance with you. I'm still in the early stages of my life and I'm still to experience more and bigger failures the coming years. I should not feel too attached to my failures as those don't define me! Learn from it rather so we could better manage the next big ones!
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Of course I wouldn't end my memoirs without revisiting my travel list! Despite everything that happened I still was able to accomplish a few. :))
Naka-tatlo pa pala ako kahit papaano! Haha. For the coming year, I want this!
And this!
And this!
And this!
Happy 2012 everyone!
