What Am I Living For?

The search for the purpose of life has puzzled people for thousands of years. That’s because we typically begin at the wrong starting point-ourselves. But the reality is, focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life’s purpose. “You were made by God and for God- and until you understand that, life will never make sense”. That quote woke me up from my senses. Before I have read the Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, I was one of the thousands of people searching what on earth we are living for. That book made me realize a lot of things. The purpose of your life is far greater than our own personal fulfillment. If you want to know why you were placed on this world, you must begin with God because you were born by His purpose and for His purpose. In science, the easiest way to know the purpose of an invention is to ask the creator of it. That is synonymous to our situation. If we want to know what really our purpose is, we must ask God. As I read the Bible, I have realized that God has clearly revealed His purposes for our lives there.

·         I was created to become like Christ

                Though it is very hard to be like Him I believe that it is one of my life’s greatest purposes. It is a great privilege for us human beings to be created in the image and likeness of God. My goal is not to become a god but to become godly-taking on His values, attitudes and character. As a daughter of God, I must defeat temptations, I must grow through temptation, and I must learn from my mistakes and be transformed by the truth. I know it’s not easy, it takes time, a lot of time, but through Him and my faith in Him I believe I can do it.

·         I was created to become part of God’s family

Because God is love, he treasures relationships. He didn’t need a family-He desired one, so He devised to create us and bring us into His family. I believe that I was created to help cultivate our community, to make people feel how happy to experience life together, to help restore broken relationships and lastly and most importantly to help protect our church.

·         I was created for a mission

In our school, we are given assignments by our teacher; it’s just the same with what God wanted us to do. In this crazy world, God wants us to join Him. I have read in the book that, God wants us to have both a ministry in the Body of Christ and a mission in the world. Our ministry is our service to believers and our mission is our service to unbelievers. Again, it is not that easy to fulfill that mission because, I know in myself know that I am not that worthy to spread the words of God because I myself is not fully doing what must be done by a true Christian. I make mistakes often times but as I become a Youth for Christ, I realize that God is very kind. To the fact that even though I did not follow Him for a long period of time, He still forgives me and gave me the honor to serve as a leader in our campus. I am very blessed to be a leader in YFC because by that I learn to believe in myself and in what I can do. Now, I will continue to serve God and spread His words through the Youth for Christ.

The ultimate goal of the universe is to show the glory of God. It is the reason for everything that exists, including us. Without God’s glory, there would be nothing. Living the rest of my life for the glory of God has made a change in my priorities, my schedule, my relationships, and everything else. It will sometimes mean choosing a difficult path instead of an easy one. Real life begins by committing yourself completely to God. If you are not sure you can do this, all you need to do is believe and receive. First, believe. Believe that you are not an accident. Believe that God loves you and he made you for His purpose. Believe that you are made to last forever and believe that no matter what you’ve done, God wants to forgive you. Second, receive. Receive Jesus in your life as your Lord and Savior. Receive His forgiveness for all the sins that you have committed and receive His spirit, who will give you the power to fulfill your life’s purpose.

“Unless you assume a God, the question of life’s purpose is meaningless”

Bertrand Russell, atheist

My Reflections on the Personality Test I have taken………

 
            Being an entrepreneur is not an easy job to do. You must posses many things for you to be successful in this career. It was nice to know that as I have taken the personality test in our IT Elective 1 subject which is Technopreneurship I got a high score which was interpreted that I am somehow entrepreneurial. Honestly speaking I did not expect it because I am not the business type of person but as our professor introduces technopreneurship, I was slightly moved by it. Being an entrepreneur is about more than just starting a business, it is about having attitude and the drive to succeed in business. Successful entrepreneurs need to see success. Taking the test makes me realize about these things:

• As entrepreneurs, we must accept Constructive Criticism and Rejection

Entrepreneurs are often at the forefront of their industry so they hear the words "it can't be done" quite a bit. They readjust their path if the criticism is constructive and useful to their overall plan, otherwise they will simply disregard the comments as pessimism. Also, the best entrepreneurs know that rejection and obstacles are a part of any leading business and they deal with them appropriately. As what the bible says, God has a purpose behind each problem and as what Newton’s Law says, in every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. So we should not be worried about these criticisms and rejection because these will lead to the better us. The truth is, we face circumstances twenty-four hours a day. No one is immune to pain and insulated from suffering, and no one gets to skate through life problem-free. Life is a series of problems. Every time you solve one, another is waiting to take its place. Not all of them are big, but all are significant in God’s growth process for you. We must not look down to ourselves if others criticize us. We should take it positively, making it as our inspiration to stand up and make them believe that you are not what they are saying. In these kinds of situations, we must respond to these problems as Jesus would. Many people become bitter, rather than better and never grow up. Problems don’t automatically produce what God intends. These are the things we should bear in mind if we encounter trials in our life especially as entrepreneurs:

Remember that God's plan is good.        
God knows what is best for us.” If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. But if you look at Christ you’ll be at rest!” Don’t give in to short-term thinking.
Rejoice and give thanks.
        God tells us to give thanks “in all circumstances” not “for all circumstance”. He wants us to thank Him that He will use our problems to fulfill his purpose. We can also rejoice in knowing that God is going through the pain with us. We just need to remember that He enters into our suffering.
Refuse to give up.
         Be patient and persistent. Whenever we try to avoid or escape the difficulties in life, we short-circuit the process, delay our growth, and actually end up with a worse kind of pain-the worthless type that accompanies denial and avoidance. If you are facing troubles or problems right now, don’t ask, “why me?” instead ask, “What do you want me to learn?” Then trust God and keep on doing what is right.

• As entrepreneurs, we must develop Friendship

A customer's positive feedback is the greatest personalized asset that exists. We must be friend to the people we encounter in our business. Entrepreneurship is not just all about money. It is also about how you manage the people involved in your business (employees and customers). Even if you are the boss you be still humble down yourself to deal with your employees not looking on what position they have but respecting the moral rights they have as a person. As much as possible, you must find time to socialize with your workers and have fun with them. Intelligence is not enough. You can stand alone just using our intellectual capacity, our brains; you need to incorporate it with our hearts. “No man is an island”. No man can stand alone. The happiness of others can be ours too. The grief of others can be our grieves. God created us to work together, not to work individually. It’s not bad to be goal-oriented and to persevere on what you want to do but just don’t forget that you are not the only one living in this world, there are plenty of us. You must connect to the community you developed. Cultivating your business relationships reinforces your stature in your community and increases the number of referrals you receive. Expand your reach by aligning with other businesses and organizations that serve your customers.
Tell the people around you that you love what to do. People often speak from their heads rather than from their hearts, but speaking with passion immediately personalizes your business. It's inspiring to hear someone speak with affection about their goals and ambitions. When you are enthusiastic about what you do, people know you will work hard to deliver on your promises. Show people that it works. Develop success stories and testimonials that demonstrate the results your product or service provides. Highlighting benefits reduces consumer hesitation and fear about purchasing from you. Use these narratives in your marketing materials and in conversations to accentuate your message. Establish an immediate personal connection by using testimonials from people with backgrounds similar to your customers. A successful entrepreneur must have an air or a grace about him that will demand respect from other individuals.

• As entrepreneurs, we must be Open to Changes

The only constant thing in this world is change. If something is not working for them they simply change. Entrepreneurs know the importance of keeping on top of their industry and the only way to being number one is to evolve and change with the times. They're up to date with the latest technology or service techniques and are always ready to change if they see a new opportunity arise. Successful entrepreneurs search for new ideas and innovations. All entrepreneurs have a passionate desire to do things better and to improve their products or service. They are constantly looking for ways to improve. They're creative, innovative and resourceful. In this kind of world, people are not satisfied with what they have. As entrepreneurs, we must suit to the changes the people want. We must apply changes, good changes, in our industry as our world evolves.

• As entrepreneurs, we must have Inner Drive to Succeed

Entrepreneurs are driven to succeed and expand their business. They see the bigger picture and are often very ambitious. Entrepreneurs set massive goals for themselves and stay committed to achieving them regardless of the obstacles that get in the way. Success lies in your hands. You are the only one that can make your industry successful. To do this :

You must be Highly Motivated and Energetic
Entrepreneurs are always on the move, full of energy and highly motivated. They are driven to succeed and have an abundance of self motivation. The high standards and ambition of many entrepreneurs demand that they have to be motivated. 

You must have Strong belief in Yourself
Successful entrepreneurs have a healthy opinion of themselves and often have a strong and assertive personality. They are focused and determined to achieve their goals and believe completely in their ability to achieve them. Their self optimism can often been seen by others as flamboyance or arrogance but entrepreneurs are just too focused to spend too much time thinking about un-constructive criticism. 

You must be Passionate
You have to love what you are doing to do it effectively and successfully.

You must manage your Time properly
There’s no point in spending a whole day over a task, when in reality it will be cheaper and more effective to hire someone to help you with a certain task, thus enabling you to produce more profit. Delegating jobs and staff and being able to manage as well as bringing in the bucks is a true mark of an entrepreneur and one who knows what he is doing. “Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its shortness” — Jean de la Bruyere. In business, time is important to manage because the supply is fixed, and cannot go up regardless of the demand.

You must have Emotional Stability
They have the stability to handle stress from business and from personal areas in their lives. Setbacks are seen as challenges and do not discourage them.

You must take an Objective Approach
They take an objective approach to personal relationships and are more concerned with the performance and accomplishment of others than with feelings. They keep their distance psychologically and concentrate on the effectiveness of operations.

You must be Competitive by nature
Successful entrepreneurs thrive on competition. The only way to reach their goals and live up to their self imposed high standards is to compete with other successful businesses.

A personality test aims to describe aspects of a person's character that remain stable throughout that person's lifetime, the individual's character pattern of behavior, thoughts, and feelings. Each and every one of us was created uniquely by God. We are not an accident. God prescribed every single detail of your body. He deliberately chose your race, the color of your skin, your hair and every other feature. He custom-made your body just the way He wanted it. Because God made you for a reason, He planned the days of your life in advance. Nothing in your life is arbitrary. It’s all for a purpose. We discover that meaning and purpose only when we make God the reference point of our lives. If we will just surrender everything to our Creator and Redeemer, He will let the desires of our hearts happen.
True entrepreneurs are resourceful, passionate and driven to succeed and improve. They're pioneers and are comfortable fighting on the frontline. The great ones are ready to be laughed at and criticized in the beginning because they can see their path ahead and are too busy working towards their dream. Technopreneurship is not all about money. It’s also about the way how you reach out to the people. It’s how you handle situations and how you response to the problems you encounter. It’s not all about money. It’s also about how you can help the people, especially those that are unemployed, to be employed, how you help your country in terms of economics and how you accept mistakes. It’s a risk-taking business. Failure and entrepreneurship go hand-in-hand. If you’re not fully aware that your business could fail -- or if you’re terrified of failure – go to work for someone else. If you’re not willing to take risks, you shouldn’t be in business for yourself. Risk means stretching, taking chances, trying new tactics, making mistakes and learning how to work through them. Do some reading about successful entrepreneurs. You’ll find that most have had failures along the way -- either companies that didn’t succeed or ideas that failed. It didn’t stop them from starting again.
We just need faith in ourselves and faith in our Divine Creator to achieve our goals, to be successful in the field we are going to choose. We must not forget to surrender all these things to God because life on earth is a temporary assignment. We must not live for worldly things. We must not live to be rich in the eyes of men. Always bear in your mind that even though we are the poorest person here on earth, in God’s eyes we are rich if we just do things according to his plans and purpose.

  Make the best use of your life..!

  God Bless =)

1.) What are the factors that contributed to the success and failure of Steve Jobs as a technopreneur?


Technology and entrepreneurial skills are driving many economies to prosperity. Technopreneurship is not a product but a process of synthesis in engineering the future of a person, an organization, a nation and the world. It is the only source of long-run sustainable competitive advantage. In an era of man-made brainpower industries, individual, corporate, and national economic success will all require both new and more extensive skills sets than have been required in the past. A technopreneur is an entrepreneur who is technology savvy, creative, innovative, dynamic, dares to be different and take the uncultivated path, and very fervent about their work. They take challenges and strive to lead their life with greater success. They don't fear to fail. They take failure as a learning experience, a stimulator to look things differently and walk for the next challenges. By themselves skills don't guarantee success, but without skills and technopreneurship there are no successful organizations.
Steve Jobs is one of the famous technopreneurs in the world. He is the Chairman, CEO and co-founder of Apple Inc., a leading manufacturer of electronic devices including the Macintosh Computer (MAC), iPod, iPhone, and the music and video software itunes. He was well known for his innovations. IPod - most carried gadget by young population. Below are the factors that contributed to the success and failure of Steve Jobs as a technopreneur.


Success

 Be passionate
You have to love what you are doing to do it effectively and successfully. Steve Job’s passion for what he is doing was reasonably startling. He did say that he doesn’t care about the money he would earn. All he wanted is to do want he wants to do. He was not that good in electronics but he used his passion for that matter to think of ideas on how he could achieve his goals.

Know thy time
“Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its shortness” — Jean de la Bruyere.In business, time is important to manage because the supply is fixed, and cannot go up regardless of the demand. Steve Job did not waste any time to study and strive hard to improve Woz’s work. It was not uncommon in there place to see engineers fill their garages with all kind of electronic devices, and Steve Job was one of them. 

Make Good Decisions
Unless a decision has "degenerated into work" it is not a decision; it is at best a good intention. Steve Jobs made great decisions in his entire life as a technopreneur. Sacrificing was one of it. He dropped –out in the first semester of his college life to spend time learning about the things he wanted to do. He even decided to abandon his responsibility as a father to his daughter and as a husband to his wife to focus on what he has doing. Good decision making does not seek consensus, but disagreement. Why? Because disagreement helps to safeguard the decision maker against his own cognitive biases and predispositions.

Motivate others with enthusiasm
“If you are showing the people that you are very enthusiastic in what you are doing, you can influence them to be the person you are”-anonymous. Steve Jobs had shown that he was very passionate of what he is doing that’s why the people around him are inspired to do the best they can to contribute on Steve Jobs success. I can say the he is charismatic, because whatever he says it looked like the people are easily convinced. He has that “salesmanship” quality that makes him and Woz a good partner knowing that, Woz has the brains but lack the compelling powers. 

 Have Faith
Steve did not lack faith to believe that he can do what he wanted to do. He didn’t quit even though it seemed like the world was falling on him by the time he was kicked out of Apple. He was stunned. Apple was his life. But his life did not end there. He spends his time traveling around and looking for ways to spend his energy. 

Failures

Unpredictable(erratic) personality

As the manager or the head of a distinct group or company, he has the power impose rules in his company but abusive use of this power is one great subject to failure. Steve Jobs is very temperamental (moody). He was very unfair to his employees even though they (employees) are doing the best they can to finish their tasks as fast as they could. He often discriminate them and even shouts on them for no reason. It is not good to have this personality because you must treat nicely those people who are working for you even if you are paying them. He must respect there moral rights. "If you blame someone else, you'll never learn from your mistake. If you blame, you give your power away."

Giving full trust to strangers
The greatest failure Steve Jobs has done was to allow Bill Gates to enter in his premises without knowing was he was and what are his objectives. It was too late for him to find out that Bill Gates was just fooling him and what his goals was the Graphical User Interface (GUI) Steve had.

Making decisions on his own
Steve Jobs was very narrow-minded. He always makes decisions without asking opinions from the people around him. These characteristics had made a big gap between him and his workers. As a person on a higher rank, you must create a good relationship between you people because “no man is an island”. There will come a time that you will need them.

Steve Jobs was indeed a good technopreneur in spite of the factors he posses that leads to failure. Success in any technopreneurial venture is unlikely. Ineffectiveness just compounds the challenges that already exist when starting something new. Shotgun management doesn't work for technopreneurs. You can't spread yourself out everywhere and hope all those little pieces have enough impact to make a difference. Technopreneurs need to be effective. That doesn't mean you have to stay the course when the course turns out to be the wrong one. It doesn't mean you ignore parts of your company. It simply means you have an optimization problem – how to make the most impact with your limited time and attention. 


2.) How do you see yourself as a technopreneur?


An entrepreneur is one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise. Entrepreneurs live in the future. They have creative personalities, are innovative, and thrive on change.
Since I was a child I have been dreaming to be one of the successful entrepreneurs in our country and even around the world. I am looking forward to a restaurant business. I know it at that time that it is not that easy to put a food business. You must consider lots and lots of factors. But it did not stop me to believe that I can be that person someday. I was inspired by my older brother who was now running his own business. I was just stunned on how fast money was circulating in a business. But, as I have read business books, you must be someone and must have something. I don’t want to follow those rules because I believe, that time, that I can run my own business in my own ways. As I grew up, I slowly understand what the word “Successful Business” really means. In order to be a successful entrepreneur, you must be competent, you must have viable business concept and has access to adequate capital. I must have these qualities:

1.Good health. Successful entrepreneurs must work long hours for extended periods of time. When they get sick, they recover quickly.
2. A Need to Control and Direct. They prefer environments where they have maximum authority and responsibility and do not work well in traditionally structured organizations. This is not about power, though. Entrepreneurs have a need to create and achieve by having control over events.
3. Self-confidence. Findings showed that as long as entrepreneurs were in control, they were relentless in pursuit of their goals. If they lost control, they quickly lost interest in the undertaking.
4. Sense of Urgency. They have a never-ending sense of urgency to do something. This corresponds with a high energy level. Many enjoy individual sports rather than team sports. Inactivity makes them impatient.
5. Comprehensive Awareness. They have a comprehensive awareness of a total situation and are aware of all the ramifications involved in a decision.
6. Realistic Outlook. There is a constant need to know the status of things. They may or may not be idealistic, but they are honest and straightforward and expect others to be the same.
7. Conceptual Ability. They have superior conceptual abilities. This helps entrepreneurs identify relationships in complex situations. Chaos does not bother them because they can conceptualize order. Problems are quickly identified and solutions offered. The drawback is that this may not translate well to interpersonal problems.
8. Low Need for Status. Their need for status is met through achievement not through material possessions.
9. Objective Approach. They take an objective approach to personal relationships and are more concerned with the performance and accomplishment of others than with feelings. They keep their distance psychologically and concentrate on the effectiveness of operations.
10. Emotional Stability. They have the stability to handle stress from business and from personal areas in their lives. Setbacks are seen as challenges and do not discourage them.
11. Attraction to Challenges. They are attracted to challenges but not to risks. It may look like they are taking high risks, but in actuality they have assessed the risks thoroughly.
12. Describing with Numbers. They can describe situations with numbers. They understand their financial position and can tell at any time how much they have in receivables and how much they owe.

By then, I realized to jump off that dream and choose other options. As years passed by, I have observed that technology has been playing a vital role in our economy. Technology-oriented companies are growing fast and are opening doors to many applicants. As I was thinking of what course I will prefer to enroll in college, that realization comes into my mind. I don’t say that taking Bachelor of Science in Information Technology was really my choice. Honestly, my sister just told me to take it but as times goes by I am starting to love my course because of the advantages it brought me. Seeing myself as a technopreneur seemed to be funny because I am not that techie person but I came to my understanding that Technopreneurship is not only about technology, it also deals with entrepreneurial skills. My course allowed me to think beyond the limitations. I was stars trucked by what computers can really do. it greatly affects our daily lives. Even in simple ways, computers are very useful. This was the time that I came back to the dream I dreamt before, to be an entrepreneur in terms of technology. A technopreneur. There are great opportunities technology can offer in terms of business. As what I have observed outside our school, there are many small businesses that are using computers as their main source. It was very attractive to the people especially to the youths who are very exposed in a highly technological kind of society. Now that I have I Technopreneurship subject, I am looking forward to apply the concepts that our instructor would impart to us. I am looking forward seeing myself as a successful technopreneur someday, allowing great opportunities to people who are unemployed. I am also planning to have an internet-based business like the well-known EBay. It is very easy to circulate money in this kind of business because nowadays people are very inclined in the internet. As the era of high technology approached, I will help the government refocused its efforts on creating a workforce and industry ready to lead the world in new high-tech industries. Knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurship are now globally valued commodities, and can be capitalized on anywhere. 
But I know before I can achieve my visions, I must be focused on my studies and seek God’s guidance because He only knows what’s best for us. Even before our mothers have given birth to us, our God had planned for our future. I believe that He created me by His purpose and for His purpose.
“It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, He had His eyes on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose He is working in everything and everyone.”
-Ephesians 1:11


3.) Would you take the same career path that Steve Jobs took? Why or why not?



Straightly speaking, I will not take the career path that Steve Jobs took. 

Even though he have been successful at the end of the path he has chosen, as a person and daughter of God, I cannot anticipate to discriminate the capacities of my employees, I can’t anticipate to have a non-sociable environment in my soon to be company. Even if I am the boss I would be still humble down myself to deal with my employees not looking on what position they have but respecting the moral rights they have as a person. If God treat us equally, why should I treat them like that, right? It was not right in God’s eyes to step on other people, to shout to them with no definite reason, to treat them like slaves and to insult them. He only thinks of himself. He does not care about others, he is very selfish. I don’t want people like that and I don’t me to be like that. As much as possible, I will find time to socialize with my workers and have fun with them. Intelligence is not enough. We can stand alone just using our intellectual capacity, our brains; we need to incorporate it with our hearts. “No man is an island”. No man can stand alone. The happiness of others can be ours too. The grief of others can be our grieves. God created us to work together, not to work individually. It’s not bad to be goal-oriented and to persevere on what you want to do but just don’t forget that you are not the only one living in this world, there are plenty of us. That’s why you must be considerate and be careful on what you are doing.
I will not also forsake my child and my husband for my own selfish reasons, as what Steve Jobs have done. There are many options to handle that situation. It’s just a matter of balance. If there’s a will there is also a way. God did not give us problems if He thinks we cannot solve. He gave us trials because he trusts us. It’s just His instruments to strengthen our faith in Him that whatever happens He is always at our side to give us guidance. If I am Steve Jobs, I will accept my responsibility as a parent of my child no matter what consequences I need to face because it was the result of my action. I can’t blame anyone for that because I did it for myself. No one has forced me to do that. Anyways, I can’t turn back the time so what I need to do is to face the cost of my actions. If it is not God’s will, then I’ll accept it. Maybe he had prepared me something that was more special than the opportunity I have missed. I’ll be optimistic. I will see things in the bright side.
I am not saying that Steve Jobs had only made negative things in choosing his path for his career. There are also things that he did which I can say was admirable. I was astonished by his determination to innovate the work of Woz. It is very inspiring, especially to those people who are inclined in technology works because I can say that doing that job is not an easy part because you need to burst out what you have and imagine beyond your limitations in order for you to make an incredible and unique creation that the people will accept and patronize. It puts a great pressure in the part of the creator because he must first think of the disadvantages and advantages of the “machine” or invention he will be doing. I am also amazed by how passionate he was for his work. He allotted many sleepless nights in order to arrive in what he wants. He had also set bigger goals than having a small business in their garages. He thinks beyond his imaginations. He thought of a bigger opportunity which he believes will make him to the top. And he made it! 
Technopreneurship is not all about money. It’s also about the way how you reach out to the people. It’s how you handle situations and how you response to the problems you encounter. It’s not all about money. It’s also about how you can help the people, especially those that are unemployed, to be employed, how you help your country in terms of economics and how you accept mistakes. It’s a risk-taking business. Failure and entrepreneurship go hand-in-hand. If you’re not fully aware that your business could fail -- or if you’re terrified of failure – go to work for someone else. If you’re not willing to take risks, you shouldn’t be in business for yourself. Risk means stretching, taking chances, trying new tactics, making mistakes and learning how to work through them. Do some reading about successful entrepreneurs. You’ll find that most have had failures along the way -- either companies that didn’t succeed or ideas that failed. It didn’t stop them from starting again. Call it gumption.
The moral lesson of this is just we need to believe in ourselves and what we can do. If we don’t believe in what we can do, we cannot do anything. We cannot be that someone we are dreaming of. Whatever rough roads we face in waiting for our desires, take it as a compliment. Waiting is indeed one of the hardest things to do. But it is a beautiful gift from the Lord. It is a beautiful gift because it is God’s way of purifying our desires. When that time comes, that we achieve what we are waiting for, we will soon realize that His timing is always right. We can say that He always do what’s best for us. Though you hear nothing, He is speaking. Though you see nothing, He is acting. With God there are no accidents. Every incident is intended to bring us closer to Him.

God Bless!