Regis Cebu Leadership – Leader Ivy Eleanor Ko - Reflection Paper #3 – My Passion

Regis Cebu Leadership – Leader Ivy Eleanor Ko - Reflection Paper #3 – My Passion

According to the Urban Dictionary, Passion is when you put more energy into something than is required to do it. It is more than just enthusiasm or excitement, passion is ambition that is materialized into action to put as much heart, mind, body and soul into something as is possible.

In the past reflection papers I have mentioned that work and my corporate life was a passion because I enjoyed it so much I didn't mind the back breaking workload that required my mind, body, and soul. I love the excitement and the challenge, I love the solving issues and creating value in the organization, I love to travel, explore new places, create new experiences and continuous learning. All these I get to enjoy at work. However, that passion for my career changed when I started a new family. 

 "Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it" – Steve Jobs. 

As I became a wife and had a child, my priorities changed, and the things I was passionate about also changed a bit. Instead of focusing on just ME, my focus became FAMILY. Over the last two years, my passion has been to have career-family-student life balance with my family as my anchor. What is my passion and how did I know that it was my passion?

• Having a healthy lifestyle. Since diabetes and heart condition is in our genes, the family is very conscious of our food consumption. As much as possible I exclude deep fried, fatty, and preservatives in my diet and encourage everyone to do the same. I also complement the diet with proper exercise, skin care and dental hygiene. I join exercise classes or swim at least three times a week to be physically fit. We are blessed with good skin in both sides of my parents, to ensure I will age gracefully, I discipline myself to moisturize my skin, hair, and nails. I am happy that my husband has the same principles and I want to teach the same to our child/ren. I am a firm believer that health is wealth, and this is one of the values I want to teach my family and the next generations to come.

• Continuous learning and growth. Just because I stopped being in the corporate world does not mean I stopped learning. Learning has no boundaries. Learning could be as simple as getting oneself involved in current events or reading books. It could be going back to school like what I am doing now. Being a new wife and mother is also another learning process, of which is learned thru experience. No books nor school course can ever prepare me for the parenting things I am discovering right now. Just as long as you keep an open mind, there is something new to learn in living life everyday in the biggest school – the world.

"Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow." -Anthony J. D'Angelo

• Breastfeeding. In my nineteen months journey of exclusively breastfeeding, I have been enjoying it to the fullest. Yes, it is not easy, it entails sleepless nights, evaporation of social life, a lot of sacrifices on my part, but the benefits are immeasurable.   Aside from the economical savings it generates, I can see my baby is generally healthy, smart, easy to manage and listens to mommy. I have to ensure I take good care of myself, eat healthy and keep myself hydrated as I am sharing myself to my baby. Luckily, I have been blessed with ample supply of "liquid gold" way beyond the demand of my child, thus I was able to share it to mommies and babies in need.

• Travel. I consider travelling as an education, wherever you go. You start learning the moment you decide where to go, or arrange for your trip as you should do research. Observing the different travelers, passing thru different airports, check in and immigration counters, dealing occasional concerns while on a trip is another experience. In particular, I want to learn about the culture, food, and history of everyplace I go to. I have a wander lust and there are still a lot of places to go to in my bucket list. I tried my best to travel as much as I can before I had my baby as I know everything will change once he is around. My travel definition then and now has changed three hundred sixty degrees. Travel before was "cowboy style", budget airfares, sleepless nights. I've tried River rafting, Bungee jumping, bridge climbing and everything seems so enjoyable. But now, I even think twice about travelling as I don't only think of myself, but also for Klive, as he goes wherever I spend the night in. Traveling light is no longer in the vocabulary. It is as if I am bringing the whole house just to ensure baby is and will be comfortable. Gone were the days where budget airfares and sleepless nights was the norm, but travelling now means to comfort and convenience. Yes, I do still travel. My favorite travel buddy these days are my husband and my baby. In fact, Klive's first travel experience was when he was three months old. He has been to the US when he was nine months old. The essence of the travel – to enjoy, eat local delicacies, unwind, discover new things and learn about the new place and from one another. Hopefully, as our family grows, I hope we can still continue to travel and enjoy the marvels of the world. 

• Responsibility for my parents. I was raised up lovingly by my parents, and now as they reached senior citizenship, it is my role to reciprocate the love that they shared to me. I want them to enjoy the finer things in life as they now reached their "retirement stage"  I don't want imagine the time when they become old and immobile, as for sure, that will be a difficult time for all of us. Us siblings, we try our best to make them happy and satisfied and in return, they spoil our kids! As a daughter, I am very lucky to see them at their stage right now. How I wish I could freeze time that they will no longer grow old, be like this forever. My prayers are for them to have a happy and healthy life everyday.

• Teach. When I was a student, I hate reporting and being in front. I learned to be comfortable speaking in front when I joined Toastmaster's Club, and it was further developed when I had to conducted Financial seminars to the Aboitiz Group of companies when I was a Finance Analyst. My mentors taught me the skill to impart technical terms into a simplified manner, making the audience relate it in their personal level. From then on, I realized that it is so fun to teach and impart knowledge as long as you put your heart into it. If my college undergrad teachers had that passion, I would have aced all the difficult subjects. I've always welcomed facilitating seminars when I was in Pilmico and I am happiest when I am able to impart knowledge and see the Aha moments of my audiences, be it my subordinate, peers, or my bosses. Now, I always find ways to conduct trainings to my Consultancy clients so I can multiply the speed of my knowledge sharing. Going to the academe and teacher undergraduate college school has crossed my mind. With my work experience, I know I can simplify the bookish approach of things being taught in the academic level, thus I prefer molding the theoretical foundation of younger students in a more practical ways. Teaching professionally could be something I might do in the future, but the push is not yet there.

"One of the beautiful effects of living your passion is that it inspires other people to live theirs" - Alexander Den Heijer 

What are my new learnings? 

During the holidays, I had more time to reflect and gauge how I am in terms of my personal growth. There are still things I need to further improve, and one is my role in the kitchen. I have basic kitchen skills, but I don't have the passion to cook, whip up dishes and explore the culinary arts like my in-laws. It could be because I'm insecure of my abilities, thus I'm reluctant to awaken this, or I may have totally no interest at all. This is a role I am challenging myself to take up in the coming months. I want to try to have gourmet cooking abilities and have at least 5 dishes that I can mark as my specialty by the end of 2016. 

Second, I am also yearning to deepen my relationship with the Lord. When I got married, I am not able to attend Catholic mass every Sundays or holidays of obligation anymore, as my husband's side of the family are not Catholic. As much as I could, I find ways to attend masses with my parents but at times, when there is conflict in family activities (which is often a lot, as my husband comes from a huge family), I am not able to. My husband's side goes to Christian Services intermittently. At times, I also go with them, at first, as a sign of respect. Having been raised as a devout Catholic, I often feel bad about missing this regular Sunday ritual, but at times I also always justify that being with family is also one way of praise and worship. In the holiday season, I was able to enjoy the Christian Services, and much more, piece it together that at the end of the day, it's all about my relationship and my family's relationship with the Lord that we want to establish. I want our child/ren growing up having a deep relationship and love for the Lord, and not being confused on Religious practices. I want him to enjoy the values we learn from the church and grow their spiritual aspect. I told myself that I should not be confused which service I attend to as it is the same divine being we glorify to, we have the same Lord, God, Yahweh, Savior, just in different ceremonies. But I also know that I should also make a choice – do I continue going to my Catholic services or together as one family – Dad, Mom, and kids. Our goal is to raise children who remain devoted to God as adults. Our desire is to raise children who use prayer, God's Word, and the solid core of family, friends, and church community to guide their decision-making, their life goals, and their relationships. Parents should step into the role of spiritual mentor with enthusiasm, recognizing their children as God-given gifts (Genesis 28:3).

Lastly, I also want to start on a new hobby. It could be cooking, painting or music. I think I'm too old to go intro sports (haha). I could say I was never exposed to arts as a kid, as my summers were always summer jobs – time was spent in the stores, as a clerk. I don't have memories of playing ball, musical instruments, drawing or anything. Yes, I've learned guitar in Music class (I think I got a barely passing grade on that). My husband is a very good singer and he is now part of an orchestra. I envy the times I see him enjoy the performances so much. How I wish I can also play an instrument and not just be a spectator. Our baby is also showing signs of interest in music. He loves playing with real instruments, and I promised myself that I will have him enrolled to Drums and Piano lessons the earliest a teacher would accept him. Maybe I can have lessons together with him, and be able to learn the basics like read notes or play the keyboard together with him. Maybe, when the children becomes bigger, our family could perform together have these as one of our bonding sessions. Hopefully, this will come into a reality.

What is the relation to what I already know?

I am really amazed that 450 years ago, the Jesuit order has already identified the four guiding principles of self-awareness, ingenuity, love, and heroism. In today's world, these seem very basic, but sad to say, we don't see these values often practiced. "The Jesuit team doesn't tell us much we don't already know about what leaders do. Nor do they teach us anything about what leaders achieve. But they have a lot to say about who leaders are, and how leaders live, and how they become leaders in the first place"- Chris Lowney

Leaders face the world with a confident, healthy sense of themselves as endowed with talent, dignity, and the potential to lead. They find these attributes in others and passionately commit to

honoring and unlocking the potential they find in themselves and in others. They create environments bound and energized by loyalty, affection, and mutual support – places marked by "greater love than fear." - Chris Lowney

We are leaders everyday in our lives, be it we do it well or poorly. It is in the everyday, ordinary activities and choices that I am a leader, and this has no switch to off the leadership function we have be it at work, at home, or the community we live in. As I grow and improve, so does my group, company, family. "In your life you only get to do so many things and right now we've chosen to do this, so let's make it great." – Steve Jobs. 

To borrow Stephen Curry's famous quote: "I Can Do All Things Through Christ". This phrase says it all. I should continue to believing in Christ makes me grounded and make me a better person, a better leader and helps me achieve the best that I can be. Quamplurimi Et Quam Aptissimi

What have I done, am doing, will be doing for this topic?

Now, in the new chapter of my life, my definition of passion is having career-family-student life balance with my family as my anchor whereby my heart, mind, body and soul is happy and blissful. I am now living in a newly discovered passion – feeding my soul, finding a hobby and learning to be a home maker. I will continue to search for whatever that me happy with my existing time, talent and treasure. I can continue to travel, explore new places, create new experiences and continue to learn with my family. As a consultant, I can continue to solve issues and create value in the organizations I work with, and find excitement and challenge in it. And, in the future, if the push is already there, I want to teach undergraduate Basic Accounting or Finance course, so I can give back and share to the community what my experience and mentors thought me, and pay it forward.

Thank you Prof Jorge for the teaching me to reflect and document these things I have inside my inner self. I hope i can continue the "self examination" i have started. 

Best Regards,

Ivy