My Lola (grandma in Filipino), sadly and unexpectedly lost her husband in the 1970s. In his wake, he left behind five young kids with my mom being the oldest at 16 years old and my Tito (uncle) being the youngest at age 3. My Lola was also the oldest of 10 (TEN!) siblings. And if you ask all of her siblings, they would all testify that my Lola raised every one of them too. Needless to say, my Lola was a badass. Growing up in a third world country like the Philippines, as you can imagine, brings about a lot of hardship and challenges. The gap between the wealthy and poor has always been an extremely wide one, so being able to build wealth and move up the social ladder was already hard enough. Imagine making life work as a single parent with five kids.

Apparently, no one gave that hardship memo to my Lola.

The stories that I've been told about my Lola are stories of determination and resiliency. It has only been recently that I've been told about her entrepreneurial spirit. You see, my Lola worked for an organization called Comelec - or the Commission on Elections. That's where she met my Lolo (grandpa). They fought for providing widespread voting access to all Filipino citizens. The organization consisted of smart and powerful lawyers (some who were sadly corrupt) that served as a potential market for my Lola’s entrepreneurial venture. When my Lolo died, it became immediately evident that she couldn't work under one income from Comelec to provide for her family of five. So, she created a side hustle. She started to travel to wholesale markets and at that time, these markets were primarily owned by Chinese-Filipinos. She established a completely new network of relationships, bought all sorts of goods at wholesale, and would resell them to her lawyer coworkers. When I imagine her doing this in the 1970s, the feeling of being in awe is an understatement.

If I asked my Lola right now about that time in her life, she would probably say she was just trying to make it work. She was just trying to get her kids through college and survive. But when I reconsider the stories about her, I see something else emerging. I see the engine that was driving it all.

My Lola had a vision. It was a simple vision, but it was powerful.

Her vision was this: An access to a better life for her family.

That's the thing about having a powerful vision, it can be the most simplest thing. But if it's meaningful, if there's depth to it, if it lands within our gut & bones; it can provide a potent purpose.

And my Lola's purpose was this: Getting all of her kids properly educated so they can have the access to a better life.

That was it. Simple, potent and it drove my Lola everyday to do what she did. She got entrepreneurial, she lived way below her means, and she sacrificed easy wins for long-term gains. I've heard stories of how each one of her kids would only have one pair of shoes, pants and t-shirt for at least a year; often more than that, in order to budget everything else within their livelihood. And the #1 priority was to get everyone through college.

My Lola succeeded. Through her hard work, extreme sacrifice and entrepreneurial ventures, she was able to get all five of her kids through college. Not only that, all of her grandkids are experiencing the benefits of those sacrifices. I live in America, I own property, I have assets, I have a healthy savings account, I have stocks -- I enjoy the lifestyle that I do and I attribute so much of it to my Lola.

When you have a vision & purpose that's so powerful, this is what happens. There are ripple effects that can keep going for many generations. The ripple effects for my Lola started with her kids. My mom used her education to create a better life for her and for us. My grandkids will be far better off because of the sacrifices my mom made. And my grandkids' kids and their grandkids will hopefully be better off because of the dreams I pursued for myself, as I anchored deeply into my vision and purpose. Maybe hundreds of years from now, they'll read this blog and trace back to the sacrifices of a woman a long, long time ago that led them to where they are.

My Lola's story has helped cement my vision & purpose.

My vision?

A world where more humans have more access to a better life. In their personal and professional arenas.

My purpose?

Unlock the vision & purpose of one human, one powerful conversation at a time, so that they create exponential ripple effects in their little corners of the world. I believe that each of us has a unique story inside of us and when it's unlocked, it can serve as an anchor to why we do what we do. When we discover that deep truth for ourselves, anything is literally possible. I mean that, ANYTHING. What we create from this deep place of truth can have a vibrant shape and texture to it. It can serve as a wellspring of inspiration for others for a long time.

That's my vision & purpose. It's simple. And real to me. It drives me to pursue my dreams everyday. The sacrifices don’t feel like sacrifices and I’m happy to make them (generally speaking). It might change and I might find sexier ways to say this vision and purpose. But the core of what I'm up to is pretty much already in there.

Pause and consider these questions…

What would happen if you locked into a vision & purpose that's so powerful, nothing can stop you? What sacrifices would you willingly make as you root deeper into your vision and purpose?

Fiercely Loving You,

Jomar

My Lola, back in 2015, in the striped shirt behind me laughing at my silliness.

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