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November 2014 - Cesar Carbajal - the Blog
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Monthly Archives: November 2014

How do you define success?

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Back in Acapulco, out of thirty boys in my elementary school classroom, only fifteen made it to adulthood. At least 50% were killed in this violence-ridden city. Surviving this environment made me a successful person in my neighborhood.

In my late teens, I was able to finish high school, that put me in the 10% of teenagers from my neighborhood that got a high school diploma. Once again, that made me a successful person.

Then came the time to emigrate to the US, illegally, and I made it through the cold southernmost point of the border. It was January, 1992. It was raining and the smuggler told us to take our clothes out, we would put them in a plastic bag and would hold it above our heads while we walked through the wetlands west of San Ysidro, CA. The mud was cold, with little pieces of ice getting between my toes. I wanted to get caught, it was so cold, but the Border Patrol had their hands full already with some other people they had caught. So, I made a successful crossing.

In the US, I enrolled in ELS classes to learn English, starting from the Kinder Garden level and subsequently advancing until I got my GED diploma. Once again, that made me a successful person.

After 20 years in the US, I’m a US citizen, I have a steady job that I’ve held for 17 years, I’m a homeowner, receive rental income, have a car, own a website and a blog and have a nice family. Seems to be that all the ingredients are there to consider myself a successful person as some people says it. Really? Is this how success is measured?

There are several public figures that many of us consider successful, we look up to them and wish we could attain some of the things they’ve achieved. But, it happens to be that their personal lives are a mess. Domestic violence, drug abuse, sex scandals, you name it. Still, they are successful in what they do. Right?

Then, what does it mean to be successful? Can you be successful in one area but fail in others and still be considered a successful person? My personal life is not perfect but I strive to be successful in all areas of my life.

The way I see it, success is the sum of achievements, goals that we accomplish during our life time, whether small or big.

How would you define success?

Motherhood principles apply to every business

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My mother raised us alone since I was 10 years old because my father abandoned us to start a new family. She is illiterate, she can’t write and can barely read. Nevertheless, she was always able to provide for me, my three brothers and two sisters. Somehow, she managed to steer the boat (our family) in the right direction. Her leadership skills would be the envy of many 500 fortune companies’ CEO’s. Every morning she knew that she had to do better than the day before to keep our company (our family) afloat. There was competition, several gangs in the area recruiting for entry level positions, and my mother’s combination of excellent customer service and accountability would keep us from joining their ranks.

When it comes to budgeting, she knew exactly how to manage our finances day by day. It is not an urban legend, there were a couple of specific days during the week that we got to eat meat and drink milk. She was not stretching our money so that it could last until the next payday; there was no payday, she was stretching our money so that it could last one day. From time to time, she would go to the local store to ask for a line of credit, her credit history was great and she would always pay back or would exchange for her seamstress services. The line of credit was so generous that it would help us get some bread, eggs and beans. She was a very fiscally responsible CEO, would not spent more than what she could afford and would not waste any resources. She would not jeopardize our family’s future by spending in nonsense perks, no TV, birthday parties or expensive coffee. One litter soda was converted into two by adding one litter of water. Coffee was replaced by tea made from oranges leaves stolen from our neighbor.

She also did a lot of marketing; people in the neighborhood knew that she had a bad temper and nobody dared to mess with us. And sales too, making sure that our neighbors knew that we all were available to do some chores for them.

See? My mother was a great CEO, she is now retired but during her tenure our family had wonderful moments and it is now up to us to manage our own successful families.

I know she didn’t see it as a company, her only motivation was loved.

 


 

 

The big loser

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Results from Tuesday’s elections are still coming in but it’s clear that the Republican party will have control of both legislative houses. The anger against Obama’s policies has fueled the wave and the GOP has done a marvelous job at taking advantage and now are riding it to the top.

I am sure Democrats are losing big with these results but if there is one big loser that is the immigrant community. Obama had promised that after the mid-term elections he would sign executives orders that would help millions of immigrants to stay in this country. Now, that might need to be put on hold as Obama moves now to the opposition and has to make deals with a Republican congress to advance his agenda. Even for the GOP, immigration reform is not a top priority and will be put in the parking lot for later discussion. Most likely they will fight to reform Obama Care and will work to position their candidates for the next Presidential election.

Again, as it has happened during the last 30 years, we have to wait to see if politicians have the guts to take on this issue. The blame is on everybody, Democrats, Republicans, the White House and more important, on us. Yes, we have to drive the change, we have to get every immigrant eligible to vote TO VOTE. In Tuesday’s election in Los Angeles, less than 15% of Latinos voted. There is no way we can accomplish anything or put some pressure on our politicians with those numbers.

Also, if we get everyone to vote, we need to choose carefully. Don’t blindly vote Democrat, or Republican, get the facts! We have very short memory, neither Democrats nor Republicans nor Latinos remember that it was a Republican who signed the last biggest immigration reform bill back in 1986. Yes, thank you Mr. Ronald Reagan.