The Pablo Mentality

Doggy

(Why this mixed breed puppy will teach us how to reach our goal… much faster than we ever expected)

I have a question for you? Any of you have reached their goal? What is your ratio of success? Is it 8 out of 10? or 3 out of 10? Please tell me, I like to find out… Mine is pretty bad! My success rate is 1 out of 10. I barely reach my goals.

A good example is getting a pet dog. We’ve been out without a dog for 5 years now. I thought of getting a Rottweiler for guarding my family and property protection.
My second choice was acquiring a Jack Russell Terrier for me to have as a Jogging partner and join us for mountain trekking. Neither one of them turned into a reality. Nope, I never had any dog of any kind during those 5 years.

While it was easy in getting or buying those breeds that I mentioned. The problem is not the dog, but the person… the problem is me.
I was very choosy! Choosy on picking the perfect month and year, the perfect puppy out of the litter, and the perfect kennel. Aiming for perfection was dragging me for having something that I longly desire for a long long time.

In comes Pablo. The puppy who came from San Pablo Laguna. His mother is a cross breed of Mini-Pinscher and Chihuahua. While the father came from a breed that I don’t know where. When we visited our relatives in San Pablo, we saw Pablo (unnamed at that time) along with 5 of his siblings still milking with their mother.
As cute as they are, I was just amazed by their colors and sizes. I never had the intention of asking for a puppy.

But there is something about Pablo. Whenever I picked him up, he was like telling me to stop hesitating and start pulling the trigger. Pablo was telling me to “Go ahead and pick me”! “We’ll just figure it out when we get there”! “Let’s start this adventure of a lifetime”!
Funny as it seems, I did the unthinkable and ask the owners If I can have one puppy. They said Yes!

Pablo has been with me and my family for about a week now. And I have to tell, it was one of my biggest decision yet. It’s not about just getting the dog… it’s way-way more than that. It taught me a lot of things.
It’s telling me that if I want something I should go ahead and take it… even if it’s a stepping stone. It will eventually reach you to your main goal. “I don’t let my Ship come in… I swim out and meet it”!

Now we have a dog that we long for many many years. I might still buy a Rottweiler for my farm or get a Jack Russell for our mountaineering escapade. But our hunger for a dog was met the day that we got Pablo.
Pablo will be a nice complimentary companion to us along with our pet Siamese cat named Nia (she too was given to us by my wife’s aunt).

Obviously, we need to spend, invest, purchase something to get that goal that we are aiming for. But sometimes we are forgetting that some of them are for Free (or incredibly cheap). Pablo is one good example of that.
Wanna dine out in a fancy restaurant? Why don’t you go to your friend’s house (like Baguio City), buy fresh veggies in the market, cook in their backyard, set up the table, and “Voila”… you got yourself a fancy restaurant plus you get to meet your long lost friend (good time for catching up).

Wanna buy that Ducati that you desired for many years? Why don’t you try driving your friend’s bike first (even just for a short ride inside the village). Or rent it for a day. Or maybe buy a cheaper version like a Yamaha before getting the real thing.
The important thing is getting that “Stepping Stone” in an instant, not because it is free or cheap, but because it gives you the momentum to move forward to your goals… astonishingly much faster. Suddenly your goals are now more reachable because you acquired those stepping stones. Everything now is more attainable!

So if you want to finish an Ironman triathlon, travel the country in an RV, publish your own book, go cliff diving, to eat whatever you want without gaining weight, to be attractive as you age, buy the house that you wanted, date your dream girl, retire early, or any other weird ideas…. just remember my dog Pablo.

By having the “Pablo Mentality”, you will be creating multiple stepping stones that will surely turn most of your ambitions from dreams into reality.

Written on July 13, 2018