petiks

i have been working in the family business for more than a year now, serving primarily as the company auditor. in doing so, i work in very close contact with my very entrepreneurial relatives, the experience of which have been nothing more than eye-opening. it is quite interesting to observe how the money-making brain works, but even more interesting than that, is the behavior of the money-managing mind.

it's not all about just making money, apparently, but also spending it... to make more. they best explained this to like sowing seeds, that most often times, you have to let go of some, even spend your best, in order to reap better gains.

this concept is quite difficult to grasp for someone like me. i was raised under the thrifty hands of my mom, who basically taught me to live within, even below, my means. whatever i get to save, i save. spending it is to be considered a very last option. my immediate family isn't really very business-minded as well. i think i inherited a lot of my maternal family's attributes wherein most of my mom's siblings are professionals, salaried based on the amount of work they churn. they live honest and honorable lives, turning their backs on the more lucrative, yet questionable, ways of business.

i understand this simple existence. it makes a lot of sense to me. i appreciate the structure and the non-competitive environment of the workplace this existence permits. it allows great internal growth i believe, more so, a more focused mastering of one's craft, undistracted by the need to make more money. my mom's relatives have done this, becoming world class teachers, physicians, and lawyers. their mastery of their work made them very valuable assets to their workplace and has thus provided them the comfortable and stress-free lifestyles they all live now.

so you could only imagine how difficult it is to wrap my head around the way things are done here at the office. the transactions and the sales we make, i'm sure, would feel like a caffeine-high to a money-making junkie... however, i'm not a money-making junkie.

i have been working here for more than a year now. i am trying to be better at my job. commit less mistakes. be mindful. be sharp. be attentive. be as helpful as i can... despite the fact that even after a year, i still have no idea what i am doing.