Principles for Success by Dick Gordon

1. BE AMBITIOUS. Umaasa tayo
lagi sa tulong. Kahit anong hirap
mo, you have to be ambitious.
Being ambitious is not negative.
2. HAVE THE RIGHT WORK
ETHIC. Bawal ang tamad. Lalong
bawal ang tanga. Manage by
objective. Instead of a quick fix or
instant gratification, practice
delayed gratification. We should
go for meritocracy. Hindi
palakasan.
3. LEARN A SKILL. Poverty is an
absence of choice. That's why you
have to continue learning. You
have to learn a skill. I never tell
people "good luck". I always tell
them "good skill". Be creative.
Nasa Diyos ang awa, nasa tao ang
gawa. God gave you skills. God
will not help you if you don't help
yourself.
4. WORK, SAVE, INVEST AND
PROSPER. You have to work.
Address your needs but always
save. Get into a business. Get life
insurance or a personal accident
insurance kung 'yun lang ang
kaya mo. We need a provident
fund especially for our OFWs. We
have 11 million Filipinos abroad.
You put them and our people
here in a provident fund, we can
prosper ourselves. Combine GSIS
and SSS funds and come up with
a provident fund, just like what
Singapore did.People have to
learn to save something.
5. HELP. Find extra time to help.
Volunteer with the Red Cross.
Kapag alam mong ginawa mo,
bibiyayaan ka. Helping others is a
reward in itself.
6. LEAD BY EXAMPLE. The
Philippine would improve if it
elects a leader who can inspire,
able to communicate by word
and deed, provides a vision,
extracts values, and display
integrity. Demand from your
leaders. Ask for their
qualifications. Look for their
record.
7. BE INDEPENDENT. I had to
fight big guys but I couldn't tell
my dad. He encouraged me to
learn judo to protect myself. You
have to learn to survive. You have
to learn to stand your ground.
Those guys who tried to bully me,
I stood up to them.
8. LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES.
I learn from my mistakes. I learn
from other people's mistakes.
There's only one thing I can never
learn: to be overly materialistic. I
don't pay the media to cover me.
I don't pay for my press releases.
If my being straightforward is a
mistake, that's a mistake I'll keep
on repeating.
9. BE ASSERTIVE. We are like
makahiyas. We shouldn't be. We
shouldn't be an adapting culture.
We're resilient but we don't assert
ourselves. We're a happy people.
That's good psychology. We laugh
at ourselves. We're an
accomodating culture. We
shouldn't be. We should live by
the national anthem, by our oath.
10. MAKE FEAR YOUR FRIEND.
During the Mt. Pinatubo eruption,
I told myself we're not going to
allow ourselves to die here. I
prayed, "If you're going to tkae
me, take me. Please though,
don't make me look bad as I
lead." You must make fear your
friend.
SOURCE: MONEYSENSE
MAGAZINE, November-December
2009 Issue