Frank -The Way I see it

A question that few ask...

2012-01-18T23:41:00.000-08:00

About 4 years ago, I met a guy from Kenya during a group activity where we were given a task in pairs. The task was simple: "Tell each other the story of the happiest moment in your life".

In the day to day we tend to forget that we all are unique in

our own way and the things we have lived deserve to be recognized and valued

I barely knew him then, however we started talking as instructed. He started his story, and I remember how his expression would slowly change, as he got more into it, his eyes lit in joy and he could not help smiling while sharing the details of that happy moment of his. He would sometimes stop and laugh as if remembering a part that could not be shared, he was living it again.

Yesterday, someone made my day in the most unexpected way. And it was during a job interview.

I had an appointment at 9:00 a.m so I woke up early and decided to go to a cafe next to the place where the interview would be held. I had an orange juice, and in the few minutes I had, I started thinking of the things I had done in the past. Faces, smells, countries, pictures started appearing in front of me and I couldn't help smiling just thinking of them.

It was time for the interview, I met the lady, a very energetic, tall woman with blonde hair. She came into the waiting room in a rush and apologizing for a small delay.

I had prepared with the possible answers to any professional questions that might pop. I was expecting an all out interview, however she only had for me a big smile and this question:

"What have you done and what do you wish?"

I started sharing my story with her and the things that I really wanted, which reminded me of how few opportunities we are given to share these things. After a while, I guess that I as my Kenyan friend had a big smile in my face and a good feeling for being able to talk about this. I left the interview with a renewed spirit and feeling good for what my life is and very grateful for the opportunity of sharing it.

It made me think of when was the last time that I asked someone to share their story and just listened to them with the only intention of letting them understand the value of what they have done. Although we might think we would ask this for ourselves, the odds are we are doing more good to the other person by just asking.

In the day to day we tend to forget that we all are unique in our own way and the things we have lived deserve to be recognized and valued, mainly by ourselves.

When was the last time that you told your story to someone? What are the good things for which you deserve to give some credit to yourself?

There is no regular story. Perhaps, it's not bad to ask more often... "what have you done and what do you wish?"

After all, there is no need of a group activity to make someone feel good about what they have lived.

Walking in the edge

2011-07-21T23:35:00.000-07:00

I guess some people's lives in a way or the other are a story of taking risks for what they believe, and what they stand for. Not because it is easy, but there is no other way we can find true happiness if not walking very close to the way of finding true misery.

It is when we truly care for what is in front of us that we make decisions that lay in the edge of awesomeness and insanity. It is because we care so much that it can rip us apart and throw us to the ground when it is not there, but it is by standing in that line that we give a chance to the possibilities to play their part in the infinity of destiny.

It is in the edge that we learn things we never imagined we could learn.

Is it the right step? Is it the right time? I don't know if these questions have an answer. What I know is that it is in the edge that we let our life take turns, be unpredictable and teach us things that we never imagined we could learn about ourselves and the way we see the world.

Who cares what's next? Take today with an open heart and make tomorrow the best shot at being you.

I had forgotten what was to walk

The most inspiring people I know do.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

— Marianne Williamson (A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of a Course in Miracles)

-Thanks Sunny

The most beautiful story...

2010-06-27T16:19:00.000-07:00

How to tell the story of such an incredible journey?

When we live the things we've lived and felt the things we've felt, so near to the ideal of how the world should be, it becomes difficult to tell a story and have others understand the power of that story to touch our very core and to mark us for what remains of our existence.

We came from different places and through different ways, we coincided in the same place at the same time and we created the beauty mixed sense of family, ambition, achievement and authenticity.

This story can't be told, neither understood by those who haven't been there to witness it. What we are and what we will be is the way we'll tell this story. We will tell our story through who we are and hope we'll find in other places that that feels so much like home.

There is nothing better than finding love in the eyes of those who know you.

Your Life: what are you going to give it for?

2010-04-03T17:36:00.000-07:00

The more time I spend thinking of it, the more I realize that when people talks about feelings they are also talking about leadership. The same way processes relate more to management than to the first concept. There are many things we can lead in our lives, but our lives themselves are the first thing we need to look into. Where we are now is only the natural consequence to our decisions and the decisions we make now will be the natural path in which our lives will develop.

It seems like we always have options, all of them leading to a complete different outcome. How to know where to go?

There are a couple of questions I wrote down to give myself clarity on this issue. I did so understanding that in the end, the most difficult thing is to make ourselves questions rather than to respond to them.

Here is a sample:

What makes me happy?

I sat down and thought what the most valuable moments of my life had in common. I realized there were some things that seemed to be constant. The main one being LOVE: To have the love of my family, friends and to be able to fall in love for people, places, music, projects and causes. Other was achievement and sense of impact: feel that i've made a difference and that I do what I wanted to do, I love starting things. Places: I like places where I connect with the culture, where I have a network of friends and where I can dance and eat good food. Travel: I like to be amazed by the beauty of continuing finding commonalities in a world where most of the people look only differences across cultures. Strengths: I like to work with my strengths.

What do I wish?

This questions is a difficult one as it is focused on the future and on the infinite potential that someone's life has. I still don't know if I have been able to solve it completely. But I wish among many other things to be able to find a place where I can make a difference. For this I refer to my stand: Education. I also wish I could give back to my parents what they have given to me so far. I wish I'm as good to my children as my parents have been to me. I wish I can help others to follow their wishes. I made my wishes for 1,5,10,20, and 30 years. They will definitely evolve. But it's good to know what you wish with all your heart. It just puts you in the right direction I guess.

Those are only two questions of others I gave a long thought. Among those questions were:

What are my Strenghts?
What do I like?
Where do I start?

The answer to those questions are my guiding principles now to make a decision. It is easy to make decisions that will steer our lives out of our control. I do not believe we need to plan our lives. I believe we should take life for what it is: A unique opportunity to live. I just believe each person has one life to give for something... I guess it is worth thinking what you are going to give it for.

True and Beautiful - Women

2010-03-21T09:15:00.000-07:00

"I urge a sixteenth amendment, because 'manhood suffrage,' or a man's government, is civil, religious, and social disorganization. The male element is a destructive force, stern, selfish, aggrandizing, loving war, violence, conquest, acquisition, breeding in the material and moral world alike discord, disorder, disease, and death. See what a record of blood and cruelty the pages of history reveal! Through what slavery, slaughter, and sacrifice, through what inquisitions and imprisonments, pains and persecutions, black codes and gloomy creeds, the soul of humanity has struggled for the centuries, while mercy has veiled her face and all hearts have been dead alike to love and hope!

The male element has held high carnival thus far; it has fairly run riot from the beginning, overpowering the feminine element everywhere, crushing out all the diviner qualities in human nature, until we know but little of true manhood and womanhood, of the latter comparatively nothing, for it has scarce been recognized as a power until within the last century. Society is but the reflection of man himself, untempered by woman's thought; the hard iron rule we feel alike in the church, the state, and the home. No one need wonder at the disorganization, at the fragmentary condition of everything, when we remember that man, who represents but half a complete being, with but half an idea on every subject, has undertaken the absolute control of all sublunary matters.

People object to the demands of those whom they choose to call the strong-minded, because they say 'the right of suffrage will make the women masculine.' That is just the difficulty in which we are involved today. Though disfranchised, we have few women in the best sense; we have simply so many reflections, varieties, and dilutions of the masculine gender. The strong, natural characteristics of womanhood are repressed and ignored in dependence, for so long as man feeds woman she will try to please the giver and adapt herself to his condition. To keep a foothold in society, woman must be as near like man as possible, reflect his ideas, opinions, virtues, motives, prejudices, and vices. She must respect his statutes, though they strip her of every inalienable right, and conflict with that higher law written by the finger of God on her own soul.

She must look at everything from its dollar-and-cent point of view, or she is a mere romancer. She must accept things as they are and make the best of them. To mourn over the miseries of others, the poverty of the poor, their hardships in jails, prisons, asylums, the horrors of war, cruelty, and brutality in every form, all this would be mere sentimentalizing. To protest against the intrigue, bribery, and corruption of public life, to desire that her sons might follow some business that did not involve lying, cheating, and a hard, grinding selfishness, would be arrant nonsense.

In this way man has been molding woman to his ideas by direct and positive influences, while she, if not a negation, has used indirect means to control him, and in most cases developed the very characteristics both in him and herself that needed repression. And now man himself stands appalled at the results of his own excesses, and mourns in bitterness that falsehood, selfishness, and violence are the law of life. The need of this hour is not territory, gold mines, railroads, or specie payments but a new evangel of womanhood, to exalt purity, virtue, morality, true religion, to lift man up into the higher realms of thought and action.

We ask woman's enfranchisement, as the first step toward the recognition of that essential element in government that can only secure the health, strength, and prosperity of the nation. Whatever is done to lift woman to her true position will help to usher in a new day of peace and perfection for the race.

In speaking of the masculine element, I do not wish to be understood to say that all men are hard, selfish, and brutal, for many of the most beautiful spirits the world has known have been clothed with manhood; but I refer to those characteristics, though often marked in woman, that distinguish what is called the stronger sex. For example, the love of acquisition and conquest, the very pioneers of civilization, when expended on the earth, the sea, the elements, the riches and forces of nature, are powers of destruction when used to subjugate one man to another or to sacrifice nations to ambition.

Here that great conservator of woman's love, if permitted to assert itself, as it naturally would in freedom against oppression, violence, and war, would hold all these destructive forces in check, for woman knows the cost of life better than man does, and not with her consent would one drop of blood ever be shed, one life sacrificed in vain.

With violence and disturbance in the natural world, we see a constant effort to maintain an equilibrium of forces. Nature, like a loving mother, is ever trying to keep land and sea, mountain and valley, each in its place, to hush the angry winds and waves, balance the extremes of heat and cold, of rain and drought, that peace, harmony, and beauty may reign supreme. There is a striking analogy between matter and mind, and the present disorganization of society warns us that in the dethronement of woman we have let loose the elements of violence and ruin that she only has the power to curb. If the civilization of the age calls for an extension of the suffrage, surely a government of the most virtuous educated men and women would better represent the whole and protect the interests of all than could the representation of either sex alone."

Elizabeth Cady Stanton - 1868

Tales of Passion

2010-03-13T04:10:00.001-08:00

Your emotions have an impact

2010-03-08T09:13:00.000-08:00

One of the things I believe in is: that we are like mirrors. No surprise leaders are considered stars when they have "bright" people around them.

This is other of those things that as simple as they sound it requires time to understand and to put into practice.

How can we shine if others don't shine with us?

How can others shine if we don't?

Yesterday I had a late night conversation I want to remember. It made me think long time about this simple, yet difficult thing to understand.

Believe in What You Do

2010-03-02T12:43:00.000-08:00

"I wish you could find something so

worthwhile that you deem it worthy of

investing your life with it"

-Extract of A Wish for a Leader-

A few days ago I put myself to the test of becoming a member of AIESEC International once again for the next year.

For those who know it, it is a long, demanding process that sees you through your very best and your not so good moments. You stand along with other bright individuals competing for the opportunity to give, rather than to take.

People that put their dreams and aspirations forward, so that others decide upon them.

A challenging, yet beautiful experience to go through.

"I did not succeed".

How do you feel? - Became the most common question of the following days. And this is my answer:

I feel that beautiful things are waiting for this global youth movement.

I feel optimistic because more than a failure this is the biggest opportunity I have had in my life in the last few years.

I feel free to finish this year in a high of success and open space for the new generation. I feel free to listen to my calling in life and excited because I believe that good people is good people wherever they go and this is something I have deep into my heart.

I feel intrigued by what the future brings and at the same time tempted to aim higher than ever.

I feel blessed for having the opportunity to experience what is to "fail" and to see it come with a smile in my face and hope in my heart. We can't know what success means if we don't know failure.

I feel different because of the way how I manage my emotions.

I feel happy because I have beautiful people in my life.

I feel now my life starts...

This is a small thing compared to other things that will come in the future. I know the way we manage these things will define the way we manage bigger things in our lives.

We are not perfect, but understanding that is the first step towards happiness.

"Believe in what you do" was written in a present I got before this process started. That's what I am doing. That's what's in my heart now.

Climate: This is not the world I was born in.

2010-02-12T13:48:00.000-08:00

This is not the world I was born in.

If I was to close my eyes in 1990 and open them in 2010 seeing the world as it is now. That would be my first thought.

Even thought we have developed incredibly fast in certain areas as medicine and telecommunications we are still moving "relatively" slowly in some others as energy and supply chain efficiency.

If you are a kid now, you would see in the world an environment that differs completely with the one we lived when we were children. It is a bit too obvious now that a change is happening and it is happening fast

Back in the 1990's we saw the generation after 2010 as a futuristic panorama, conscious, sustainable and highly innovative. The truth is, we need to do better as we became that generation. We are now slowly becoming the leading generation still with the idea that is someone else and not us the ones that are shaping the world.

A technical report that I was reading stated that unless any major technological breakthrough we will not be any different in our energy consumption habits now and in 2030. (unless of course Mother Nature strike in a way that we will see, not as a unfortunate event of a small country. But rather as a catastrophic event for a "large economy").

We will need to move faster as a society if there is anything of the world that we knew as children that we would like our grandchildren to live.

This is not the world I knew. And it seems that every year it is a new world, new weather, same habits, same mindsets.

As in the news you can still find people debating wether this is natural or unnatural. It seems that no one thinks, that for whatever reason it is..things are changing and what some cities learned in centuries of dealing with snow, rain, heat, etc, others need to learn in a month or two. What's our contingency plan? What's leadership now?

Human influence or not...something's changing and it is the climate....just saying.

Dream Big

2010-01-30T16:42:00.000-08:00

If there were ever a time to dare,
to make a difference,
to embark on something worth doing,
it is now.
Not for any grand cause, necessarily—
but for something that tugs at your heart,
something that’s your aspiration,
something that’s your dream.

You owe it to yourself to make your days here count.
Have fun.
Dig deep.
Stretch.

Dream big.

Know, though, that things worth doing seldom come easy.
There will be good days.
And there will be bad days.
There will be times when you want to turn around,
pack it up, and call it quits.
Those times tell you that you are pushing yourself,
that you are not afraid to learn by trying.

Persist.

Because with an idea,
determination, and the right tools,
you can do great things.
Let your instincts,
your intellect,
and your heart guide you.

Trust.

Believe in the incredible power of the human mind.
|Of doing something that makes a difference.
Of working hard.
Of laughing and hoping.
Of lazy afternoons.
Of lasting friends.
Of all the things that will cross your path this year.

The start of something new brings the hope of something great.
Anything is possible.
There is only one you.
And you will pass this way only once.

Do it right.

Artists of life...

2009-12-18T17:51:00.001-08:00

Spending holidays away from family, is not the easiest thing...

Every day I realize how special is the experience I am living in AIESEC International. Not only because my job role and the amount of countries we get to visit, but also because of the group of people that form our AI 0910 team.

Today we celebrated Christmas together in the office, not as a team but as a family. Candles, food, desserts, hugs, sharing, dancing, pictures, reflection, and gifts. We celebrate diversity, we celebrated our differences and commonalities. No matter what is our religion, we came together and we had dinner as a group of friends and as a group of siblings.

What makes the difference between any individual and an artist is the time they dedicate to their art. Some people are meant to be artists in the world - they are meant to leave a legacy. They are meant to do big things even when they are not able to perceive it themselves. I believe we have those people in this family and I am sure it is not a matter of wether it is going to happen or not, it is just a matter of time.

This I believe.

These are the thoughts I shared with someone special today, and the thoughts that I continued to have in my mind as I would stare at the candles in the long table where we were sitting all together.

If I knew what I know of this experience now, I would have made my mind earlier regarding coming to AIESEC International.

Big Decisions: 3 Principles

2009-12-03T16:27:00.000-08:00

So, 2 years ago I was talking to a friend who was also my teammate in AIESEC Central America South (Panama and Costa Rica), where I was working on External Relations at the time. The topic: The future, decisions, what to do.

In the conversation I learned some things that later I used as principles for making tough decisions in my life.

If you are good, you will be good wherever you go. Don't worry too much.

Yesterday I had a phone call again with other friend in a similar situation. This made me remind of those principles. He encouraged me to share them in this blog as they might be useful for other people in other places.

They are 3 simple principles:

Good People is Good People Wherever They Go: It is not your decision that will define how happy, successful, lucky or positive your jorney will be. If you are good at what you do you will find your way wherever you go, no matter how difficult or easy, you will will make it positive, or you will stagnate if you are mediocre. This release the pressure as there is no good or bad decisions. They all have the potential to be the best decision in your life if you have the attitude to let them become.

Make sure you like your options and what they bring to you: Would you be happy if you go for any of your options? Would you be OK with all the possibilities in the future that an option brings to you? Do they make sense in the longer run and they lead to what you want to be and where you want to be in life? If so, then keep them as options. If you won't feel happy with one of them coming true then discard it. This gives you satisfaction that whatever your final decision is, it leads to something you are comfortable with.

Go for the one that you can only do now: Usually one of those decisions are things that we can only do there and then. If so, go for that one as the others you will always be able to come back and consider them.

When a decision is made, just put your mind and heart in going after what you decided and forget about the other options as they were screened using these 3 principles.

An AIESEC Experience

2009-11-15T08:37:00.000-08:00

Maybe this is a story you could relate to...

What is behind the power of finding what we are a stand for.

A couple of days ago, I wrote what we did in AIESEC International and what I decided that is what I will be a stand for in life.

However I want to share the part that I did not write in the post before this one. The main reason being it is something I would like to keep record of, and second it is for me the outcome of an experience that many of us go through in a way or the other.

Five years ago I joined AIESEC. Through all these years I have been able to understand my power to make an impact, lead and convert dreams into reality. At the same time there was a big question teasing me more and more as time passed.

"What is it that I want to do in life? How is it that I will make a positive impact?"

Without an answer, I made a few decisions in my life - triggered by some stories that would serve an entire post. Among these decisions was:

I will learn and take every opportunity life would bring me to get to know myself, without worrying about the details of the future until I became 25 or 26.

At the age of 26 [I am 24 now], I would look back gather all my experience and knowledge and would put that the service of my calling (the one I would still be waiting to discover).

Time has passed.

I have been able to meet many people from many countries. I have traveled and thought about my own values, those of my family, thinking constantly where I come from and asking myself where I am going. I have had the chance to touch the life of hundreds if not thousands of people, and above all I have been able to increase my self confidence to understand that our world is not as big as we think and that there are things that we can change if we really make it our purpose.

During my AIESEC Experience I did not only get knowledge but I also got to understand what were the topics that would stir my blood. I only had broad words in my head:

"Latin America, Education, People need to follow their dreams, Entrepreneurship, Fairness, no one should be hungry in a continent where the food comes from the soil."

That's all I knew. It was never a conviction, only broad topics to me.

What we did a few days ago, was for me the answer of a question that I have been asking myself for the last 5 years. And If I may say, the outcome I feel most satisfied of having out of this intense career.

It is what I want to do in my life.

So this is what I am a stand for and what that means:

I am a stand for education, and for fair and human development of Latin American Communities

This sounds very broad but here is how I am connecting this in actionable ways in my life.

Education:

I stand for formal and informal education of Latin American youth and children. For responsible media and massive communications understanding its power in shaping the future of our nations.

I find that AIESEC is the place where I need to be right now - enabling youth.

From my External Relations Role, I have already connected with global public relations agencies, well connected business leaders and leaders on youth and children education in Latin America.

I am building a network, and I am identifying the source of the knowledge I need (in this case, the communications part).

Now I know that as part of my identity, these are the projects and opportunities I will say YES to.

Fair and Human Development

I stand for entrepreneurship and its power in driving change. For improving the self esteem of our communities and countries. For creating opportunities and having more people finding their own stand in life.

I have started my own business before. But now I have decided that first I need to work in order to understand what that is. To build my network. I will be an entrepreneur, not in things related to what I mention in my stand but in things that give me the capacity to impact more people and create more jobs. I will do so with the aim of creating opportunities so the scale on which I will be able to start something will definitely be defining.

In Latin American Communities

I stand for a continent that is rich in many ways but still has big differences. For the power that our cultural similitude give us to make a substantial improvement. For a continent where there shouldn’t be any individual left without eating.

I already have strong connections to Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, and other countries. This is my friends network and my business network. I know CEOs, Chambers, well linked people who is willing to grant access to other networks. I have friends who are 70 yrs old, and friends that are just starting with their first jobs, millionaires and people like me - with dreams and determination . Musicians, Engineers, Entrepreneurs, Consultants. This is the people that I know I have to bring together. They know we will do something together in the future, and when time comes I will start enabling these people.

All of this is the content behind those nice words. It is how I am acting towards my purpose. I know my actions will be flexible, and I know I might do things in a different way. But I know I found through my AIESEC Experience, what I want to live for, now or when I turn 60.

This is for me the real power of a self development experience. Guide you to a bigger purpose in this world that belong to each one of us.

This is why I volunteered for so many years, why I engaged in so many talks with so many friends, interns, aiesecers, alumni, family, unknown people. This is the final answer to all those reflection times of enya music, closings at conferences and team building experiences. This is what I was looking for in every single achievement and set back.

...This is an AIESEC Experience.

I am a stand for Education, fair and human development of Latin American Communities

2009-11-13T03:33:00.000-08:00

Today, we are doing something in AIESEC International and that is thinking of Our Stand. So I am sharing some extracts of what we did.

We all have implicit stands - things we care about deeply and principles that guide our actions. We tried to make our stands explicit.

Gandhi was a stand for freedom and non-violence, Martin Luther King was a stand for civil rights and the dignity and equality of all people regardless race. To be a stand is not about playing safe. It is about staking your identity and your very future on what you believe.

Being a stand is to find that cause concern or need in the world that you are passionate about attending to, and staking your life on your capacity to make a difference.

After reflection and different conversations. This is what I stand for:

I am a stand for education, and for fair and human development of Latin American Communities

Education:

I stand for formal and informal education of Latin American youth and children. For responsible media and massive communications understanding its power in shaping the future of our nations.

Fair and Human Development

In Latin American Communities

...What do you stand for in life?

Today: Think Big

2009-11-10T15:17:00.000-08:00

"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood... Make big plans, aim high in hope and work." ~ Daniel H. Burnham (1846 - 1912)

Thank you Ana Lau.

What's Next? - The big question of every year

2009-10-26T14:08:00.000-07:00

What next? So that's a big question that some of us regularly ask ourselves, while there are people that might not even stop to think about where they want to go be

fore starting their journey.

Recently I had the opportunity to have a breakfast with a man that was able to give me some sound advice that I thought was worth sharing.

The breakfast started asking about what I wanted to do in my life, and where I would like to go. Soon after that it turned into a conversation about personal future, professional career and how to get the most out of every single experience we get in life.

I must mention this gentleman is well experienced in global talent and mentor to master's graduates of one of the best business schools in the world.

Some professional advices he gave me were:

Learn First and then Capitalize:

We need to take time to build our own experience, through corporate, non corporate, personal and professional interactions that would allow us to kickstart our future in a different level and with different wisdom.

Build a strong network:

Use every instance to know people that might support you in the future. There is nothing unethical about doing this, while you strive to give the best for the organization you work with. Every interaction is an opportunity. Scale up, go national, regional, global. Keep moving, keep building relations. In those relations most of the capacity of you having an impact relies. No matter how good you are, you are going nowhere by yourself.

Choose the Company, not the Job:

Sometimes we think too much of the job without paying attention to the development opportunities we might have. Be wise, choose a place where you can grow fast. Smart companies want people able to capitalize on their life experience, its not about being a specialist, there might be many specialists better than you. But not many people might have the experiences you have, and that is raw talent. Smart companies and managers understand that if they don't you might not want to be there. Talk to the right person.

Stretch yourself:

Don't stay in your comfort zone. Expand your horizons, grow, go where you haven't been. Think of new experiences, jump from one experience to the other, gain knowledge and move. It is easy to accept something safe and certain. But the true potential is where we haven't been yet, dare.

Tell people what you are doing:

It is important that you let others know what you are doing, what you are planning to do. Let others tell you what your opportunities are and then choose the best for you. It is totally ok to let people know that you have been offered something better and that you are taking it. Doing this will open you doors to opportunities you didn't know you had. Tell them what you are doing, when time comes they will know you are thinking of your next steps and they will connect with you. Who knows what you are doing you right now in your life and what you are looking for?

Invest:

Your decisions are investments. Take them as such. Don't think so much in the salary... that comes later.

Live Traveling...

2009-10-08T16:12:00.000-07:00

...It is good to open your eyes and understand what you know and what you dont. Break your paradigms and even allows you to see yourself through the eyes you use to see others.

It challenges you to build friendships in short times, to let go and live independently, to value small things, friends and self confidence

However, in the end of the day it is like building sand castles before the next wave comes. Just to find yourself building the next castle, different and more beautiful based on your experience. But in the end between wave and wave.

When you come back, what you lived made an impact in you (people, friends, moments) and it might be that it made an impact in others, or it was only a bit of sand (a few days in their lives).

Sometimes it feels like we build just to let go and start over again. You feel there is nothing left other than the memory.

A friend told me, you build those sand castles between wave and wave just to learn how to build the most beautiful things when those waves are gone.

A Foot in the Ground

2009-09-19T13:34:00.000-07:00

What goes through the mind of someone able to put a life to an end?

Every day it happens that people lose their life because someone decided that he´s got power to rule over the destiny of someone else.

The more I think about it, the less I know what could be done.

I fail to understand what goes through the mind of someone able to kill.

Out of so many beautiful things, there are still some other things that remind us that this world is real, and everything happens - from the divine to the awful.

Sometimes people die in ways no one deserves to die. It happens. I just hope as there is the awful, there is also the divine to give strenght to those who go through these experiences.

I admire those who do, and keep their capacity to love others.

After International Congress in Malaysia

2009-09-06T19:02:00.000-07:00

Emptiness - A powerful feeling after the great closing.

Lights go off, the stage is clear, 600 souls remain in the silence of this beautiful moment. We came together, we created, we shared. I am not sure of how many times in our lives we get to feel and connect with so many hearts around a single meaning and passion.

Emptiness: A beautiful feeling when it is loaded with beautiful memories. Love, excitement, fear, joy, dreams, friendship. A unit in diversity.

So many stories that are still shaping and so many more that already have. Stories that tell us about the power of humanity to create and to evolve.

We are all left with a question different from the one we got when we came. A different question for everyone, a different source of inspiration for every heart.

Emptiness is what we feel when we give everything and it is also when we are given beautiful things that we should let go.

Seldom in life we have the opportunity to give and take as much as in the last few days.

Some might remember it as the International Congress in Malaysia. I will remember it as a discovery of the power we have to create. A moment in life that will continue to repeat itself for future generations as it is an echo of those who preceded us.

I leave a part of my heart in the stage and other part with that magic moment we shared together.

There is no crowd now, the stage is empty, but there is something in the air that remembers those magic minutes. The energy and the beauty I take with me as I walk off.

A good show and a beautiful audience. After that, emptiness is a beautiful feeling to leave with.

Thank you: those are the most powerful words I gave and the most powerful words I was given as the ink vanishes in my skin. Thank you is the feeling I leave with.

We created the beautiful and now it is up to us to share and to transcend.

IC in Malaysia. Lights go off, the stage is clear, we leave. Powerful words to be remembered:

“It’s not the end, neither the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning.”

Thank you.

My Pillars: People, Strenghts, Family

2009-08-05T10:45:00.000-07:00

These days I have been in the need to explore where my passion comes from as things change and so do my emotions.

I realized my life is based on a few Pillars - who are a person, a group of people or abstract things - that in a way or another are the base upon which I build whatever I am, whatever I do, whatever I aspire to be.

When I talk about pillars, I refer to those things that keep us stable so that by having a few things in place, we are able to get our maximum potential to build upon other things.

When one of these pillars is hurt or gone, this affects me which then affect the rest.

I know my pillars are people, my strenghts and my family.

By people I mean the person I love, my friends and the daily interactions with other people. Having the first two being the most important for me.

By Strenghts I mean doing what I am naturally good at. Being in my element.

By Family I mean, knowing you´ve got from someone a love that is bigger than any problem and a blind trust to let you go any time.

The reason they are all pillars is because they support my emotions. I know I am driven by passion and it is by that passion that I can dream, work and live at my best.

I take a look at my pillars to understand my emotions to then think on how to build.

I wanted to share this today, just to remember it in the future.

Being Separate Without Growing Appart.

2009-08-01T06:38:00.000-07:00

"Nobody said it was easy..."

-Coldplay-

There is something we are told over and over until we actually live it and understand the meaning of it. And that is, all about living abroad for the first time.

I have learned that where you put your thoughts eventually you put your heart, and so a lot of the experience you have when being away is shaped by the things you are focusing on.

It is all a big give and take. In some ways it seems like you have to open your heart to new things and thoughts, and in the other side, there are those people and things that you don't want to let go.

I believe that when you are going through this kind of experience you start to better understand your values - meaning what you value in life.

I have gotten to understand the importance of my friends and being part of their lifes as they are part of mine.

A deep and sincere answer to the question "how are you?" is sometimes what defines a happy day from a regular day. Most of the times, big conversations are not needed, but time is needed.

Even if it is a minute, to have that minute to feel part of the life of your friends as they are part of yours, without rush or stress or work or problems. These little things matter in the experience.

You test your limits, professionally and emotionally. In the end, this builds your character, the way you think, and the things you value.

I believe that when we are asked questions, the first thing that comes to our mind is usually the right answer.

I was asked yesterday, What I miss the most besides my family?

All I thought was: "A hug from my friends".

A thing to learn: By doing what we do, we become who we are...

2009-07-29T14:33:00.000-07:00

When I started this blog, I decided to call it "The Way I See It" because I expected to share my way of thinking, in an effort to share and create. As I believe when we explain the way we see things and we are opened to see things in the way others do, then we might get to a higher level of awareness and understanding.

As time goes by, I learn how much our thoughts are shaped by our past experiences, our current experiences and also by those things we learn from people around us when we listen with attention.

It is my belief that every day contains magic words, moments and experiences that contain great wisdom willing to be explored by us.

Today we went through an excersise that consisted of thinking of the things we should do if we want to achieve those things that are more important to us. Then we thought of how we wanted to be remembered by our beloved ones and friends by the time we are 90 years old - in our last birthday.

Then we were asked a powerful question: "By doing what you said you have to do...what type of person will you become? is that the same person you want to become?".

It is simple, but strikingly powerful.

We become. Sometimes even without wanting, we become in people shaped by those things we do during our life.

The principle was simple. Don´t say what you want to become, but what you really become by doing those actions you mentioned.

Even when it is difficult to answer these questions when we have to make them ourselves. I would say it is an eye opener and contributes to help you find a way to be balanced in your life and pursue your real dreams and passions.

Every day there is something to (re)learn. This is what i learned today.

Staying Connected with our Values

2009-07-26T11:00:00.001-07:00

Latin America. What a beautiful continent. A whole continent full of color, stories, mysteries and wonders.

I believe Latin America is a beautiful continent as we have over 600 million people that seem to find a reason to smile even in the toughest situations. There is a song everywhere, the hug of a friend or the smile of a stranger. We can see a tree and take a fruit from it, we value our family and our friends. Every country unique in its pride and nationalism and still a common language root.

Gabriel García Marquez, Jorge Luis Borges, Pablo Neruda, Carlos Fuentes, Ruben Darío, Gabriela Mistral, Carlos Santana, Ruben Blades, Shakira, Astor Piazolla, artists inspired by the beauty of a continent.

And still a continent that seems to be, in the way I see it, staying back in the whole development competition going on in the world.

We still struggle with making the so called development to reach more people in the continent with the most unequally distributed wealth, as our educational systems collapse, our media trashes our minds, our youth lack opportunities, our health is deteriorating and it seems like we are all in a num state...waiting for someone to rescue us.

Being in Europe, it is clear to me something that perhaps it was not as clear before. That is:

No one is going to change those things we would like someone to change, unless we change it by ourselves.

It seems to me that technology is giving the people more and more power to drive changes everyday. But it is also true that it is important that young people start answering themselves powerful questions that would lead to a change.

What is development?
How can it be sustainable?
How can we make it reach more people?
What is our role in making the change happen?
Who do we have to connect?
When will we start?

No change will happen if we don´t make it happen ourselves. It is not enough to talk, we need to act.

Sometimes we underestimate the power we have to make changes. If you ask enough people, there are more people wanting to make that same change than you could imagine...they just need someone to start it.

So should we all be social entrepreneurs? should we all forget about having a successful corporate career and go save the planet?

The answer is NO!

Here is where I see the important thing is to keep connected to our values. This might sound fluffy. But, as hard as it is to accept, - but as someone mentioned to me a few days ago - money won´t buy anything after the second level of the Maslow Pyramid. So we will need more in life if you want to be successful, and that is: purpose.

I wish more people stood connected with their values and keep in mind while they go through life what are those little things that would make it all better if someone did. Because maybe...that same little thing, is that thing that you will have to do by yourself to make this world look better, and our continent´s beauty to reach more people.

Changes can be made from any place in society, but it takes leadership and decision to say "today I start". After that, changing it to "Today, We Start" won´t take long.

Find your "what?" because you will need more time to think on the "how?" and one day soon...we will all need to act and stop thinking.

Leadership Need - Content Matters

2009-07-14T13:31:00.000-07:00

Leadership is something interesting as it usually derives from someone taking action without waiting for someone else to answer the question "what shoud be first?".

I thought about this when coming back from Sweden.

I took a free newspaper in the door of the plane and took my time to read it. It was about environmental issues and smart alternatives, political difficulties in nigeria, my country winning moving to the 8-finals in soccer and conflicts over scarce water in the middle east, among other opinions and views I found more valuable than the one offered by any newspaper I had read back home.

What a big role media play in shaping our world view.

Now I can see a bit outside the proverbial box.

So what happened in countries where we only get written trash or gossip news?

Is it that there is no market for other content? Or is it that there is no content for other market?

Who needs to take the first step? Our readers or our journalists?

_________________________________

I hope some day we have responsible leaders in the communication sector that understand their role in culture and knowledge shaping of our countries and our people.

Eat unhealthy every day and you might just turn out unhealthy... read unhealthy every day... and ...you get the point with what happens if you have poor content reaching our people every day.

The way I see it... we all have the right to be treated as people capable of thinking, beyond the red headlines and the mediatized gossip. We will never find out what we can become unless we challenge one another.

In the Right Place at the Right Moment

2009-06-26T11:42:00.000-07:00

When is it that we are where we are supposed to be?

Today I feel peace in my heart and joy with my life. I have this strange feeling, similar to the one you have when you are in love - which is not the case at this moment.

I believe it is because sometimes in our life we feel the need to stop and check. Only when we stop and connect with ourselves, we know if what we are living is the way we should be living our life.

"I Did it My Way" is a song I always keep close to some of my most loved memories. I believe when we have the feeling of doing the things we love we also have the sense of fullfilment and purpose.

If we are doing what we love, we challenge ourselves and give us permission to dream, we have the love of our friends and family and we balance our life in a way that we enjoy every single minute of it, making small things matter, then the feeling we will have is that of being in love with life, being thankful with God - if we believe in one - and being ready to share.

It is that "you are in the right place at the right moment", a dear friend told me.

It makes sense...when you are where you are supposed to be...you just feel it to your guts. In the end this feeling is drived by passion and love for what we do and for those who share a part of their lifes with us.

Dare to dream, take care of your friends and make every day matter...one day you might just feel you are in the right place at the right moment.

Talent: What they are looking for...

2009-06-25T09:12:00.000-07:00

There are many things we get to understand while working with External Relations, and normally we all understand those things differently.

It is just that sometimes we believe that the way we see things is so obvious that there is no need to say it. The truth is...sometimes the obvious needs to be said.

And so I thought it would be good to share my perspective on talent and what the market is looking for taking into account some experiences, conversations, meetings and own conclusions.

First, there is one thing to be understood and it is that enterpreneurship is always an option, and in my perspective one of the most rewarding ones. However this is not a post for enterpreneurs.

Said that, currently the world is going through big economic changes and this has pushed companies to hiring freezes and layoffs. However, there are still some opportunities left - but only a few.

According to studies made by some of the most important companies:

"The skills CEOs most frequently identify as critical are the ability to adjust rapidly to internal and external change, the ability to lead and develop others and the ability to collaborate. But although they favour these ‘soft’ skills and others, such as global experience, leadership skills, creativity and innovativeness, at the same time they also worry that it is difficult to find people with the right combination of technical and commercial skills."

Nowadays, the challenge most companies face is the ability to find

Talent = leadership skills + sound professional experience.

Non of them is enough by itself.

So these are the obvious things we sometimes forget:

Think Down to Earth Business:

Even though it is good you can interact with people and that you can learn fast. Be results oriented, focus on business and understand where you add value. Your intentions won´t take you too far. Prepare to compete with other people with a lot of experience and lots less of fluffiness. Leadership is needed but it is needed to drive results, cut costs and increase benefits. Be nice in the way you treat people, be aggressive in the way you see business.

Prepare a CV that makes sense:

A CV [curriculum vitae] needs to have relevant experience connected to the position you are applying for. Have a clear description of what were your main responsibilities and what were your key achievements. - Anyone can hold a position with responsibilities and do things, only few can get some results out of it.

Some studies indicate that 2 pages is good but if you really don´t have anything to write...keep it one. People notice when you have nothing to write.

Get FEEDBACK from someone who has hired before, your best friend might not be that person. And apply for something that makes sense for your experience.

Study and Get some Experience:

Learning by doing is not the best way to become a top talent. You need to take an active role in your own development and you will need to apply theoretical knowledge to make your experience relevant.

"Project Management is more complex than just writing down some milestones and deadlines. If you really want to say you have PM experience, then study and apply what you learn. "

Get the knowledge, apply it to your experience, get results, communicate it!.

Do your Homework:

Prepare for the interview. Some things you might need to do is to understand the position you are applying to and the company you are applying for. Make a list of your main achievements, your main challenges and how you solved them.

Prepare what is your experience in key areas needed for the position you are applying. Be ready to explain what you wrote in your CV.

Be yourself:

An interview is not intended to make you fail, it is just intended to know you better. If you got the interview is because they believe you are good. Believe in yourself, take the right attitude,

"They are human beings not serial killers"

Smile, be nice, be sincere and focus on what you´ve been asked not on what you feel like saying.

_____________________________________________

Some could read this and say...Duhh!!! so obvious....but trust me. Sometimes the obvious is the most difficult thing to do.

What is it that you need now? Is it leadership, guts and self confidence or is it technical knowledge?

You = leadership skills + sound professional experience.?

There are some opportunities and hopefully there will be more as the situation evolve, but you will certainly need to understand how companies think if you want to get those opportunities.

AI Team Days: Living Diversity

2009-06-17T15:36:00.000-07:00

Something I have realized in the last few days is that sometimes as individual we limit ourselves, perhaps without knowing, in how meaningful our interactions with others can get to be.

How many times do we really challenge ourselves enough to listen others stories or find the courage to share our own?

I found in unusual ways how powerful could be the stories of people around us and how by listening with intention and without any judgement you can find a strong sense of connection and humility.

Living Diversity - AI0910 Team days

AI Transition has been one of the most powerful reflection experiences I have gone through during my AIESEC Experience, as it has showed me that every single story matters and every single story deserves to be told and heard.

It happens so many times that we do not take time to understand and to listen to those who surround us. It is only when we listen to these stories with our mind and heart opened when we will be able tap unto the meaning of diversity.

Our stories allow us to respect our differences while building in our commonalities, as it is important to recognize the very existence of both aspects.

Sometimes we do underestimate the challenge that it is to Live Diversity. But if I have to come with a single word of how to manage it, I would think of LISTEN.

When was the last time we were amazed by someone´s story? When was the last time we shared our story truthfully and without holding back?

Stories do have power to connect people... The important thing is to let them be heard.

Rotterdam - Changing Glasses

2009-06-07T12:16:00.000-07:00

Picture: Part of the AIESEC International 2009-2010 Team

Once a friend shared this story about how going to other countries and living in different conditions is like changing the color of the glasses we wear to see our life and what surrounds us. That´s what this first week in Rotterdam has been to me.

Before sharing my thoughts, I share a few things that would define my conditions in this city: I´m working with a team of outstanding (18) people coming from 14 countries. Currently I´m sharing a nice room with an old african Friend, I will be working Managing External Relations, 7 global accounts of AIESEC, selling in over 6 countries and will provide support to 2 Important regions in the world. We are in the first out of 7 weeks of transition with the outgoing AI team and have already had the opportunity to meet the dutch LC of Rotterdam.

Picture: Rotterdam seen from our apartment building.

Said that, this week I have wondered what is the power we all have to make a difference and where lies our capacity to understand that power. How in some countries people can work 5 days a week for 7 hours and live lifes that in other countries and continents a person with 2 or 3 jobs, working over 60 hours a week can only dream of. Moreover, how can we accept it? Not to mention deaths and conflicts going around.

I turn on the news and it seems we are living in a world of changes. I remember this from movies in the past talking about a distant future. They mention Climate change, technology bringing us closer, (and further) Powers understanding the need for a positive change, huge economic changes, "less poors in the world" while increasing differences between the poors and the rich. Less resources, more people. All sums up to the big picture.

Out of all this, listening to the US President's speech in Cairo these words drafted my attention: "You [youth] More than Anyone have the ability to re-imagine this world, to remake this world..." . This is something we should all think of. I believe the key of achieving the fullfilment of humankind potential lies in our ability to understand this statement.

I believe it is our responsibility to understand the power we have and being able to use it wisely understanding our differences and commonalities and understanding that any positive change we seek will be drafted from the power we have together and not only as individuals.

Are we leading the change?

A good time to leave is when you have no reasons for leaving

2009-05-30T16:19:00.000-07:00

It seems that sometimes we need to change in order to understand what we`ve got and where we are.

I just arrived into Rotterdam, the place where I will be living for the next 14 months.

I have been thinking all these days about the mix of feelings caused by having to leave your country and friends for something totally uncertain in hopes of learn and gain new friends without losing touch with the old good ones.

I realized that when you leave a place and it hurts to the point when you cant beat the tears it is because perhaps, that´s the best moment to do so. This way you take with you the love of your friends, your family and your culture and wherever you go, as far as it gets you still keep the warmth of all those feelings.

You don´t run away...you start a journey in hopes of discovering yourself, as it is the hope of many of us during our lifes. No way to understand how much you care about being close unless you are far way.

As they say - "The greatest discovery two people can make is that they can live separate without growing appart."

By Loving the People You Love the Country.

2009-05-11T12:30:00.001-07:00

Life changes in ways we can not forsee nor expect, however there is no experience as the one of finding friends in places you never imagined as a result of small decisions triggering big changes.

In the last 30 days I went and came back from Brasil. I had the most amazing opportunity to understand how people can change one conversation at a time.

I got into this country without expectations one day at 5 am, with an uncertain future and without understanding what was it that made me start that journey. Soon I would understand.

MC Circus were the main reason for making the decision of going to Brasil. Lubi, Conrado, Lili, Pablito, Mari, Super, Celim, Be, Ju, Cintia and Markel. A team I did not have the opportunity to meet before. I learned from them that people can have an impact in your life only if you let them do so, even with the smallest things. And by doing so..you might end up finding long lasting friends.

In the end I just went to Sao Paulo and one conference of 500 people of all Brasil. But after all I can say, There is no need to see mountains or beaches or monuments or cities when you have the opportunity to share with people their daily activities finding with them a second home and a pack of friends. This only let us understand why we do what we do and why we try so hard to make things happen.

Even after being in many countries, and sharing with many people. Each conversation keeps its strenght and power to change your life in ways you never thought. Each conversation is different as so it is every person. No one is too experienced to be changed, no one is too young to change others.

In a couple of weeks I will be in Rotterdam, starting my role in AIESEC International. And the only thing I can say is that if 30 days can do what these 30 days did to me...I can´t imagine what 14 months will be able to do.