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Ready To ReBound

8 Actions to a Better You After This Crisis

BO SANCHEZ

Philippine Copyright © 2020 by Eugenio R. Sanchez, Jr.

Published by Bo Sanchez, Inc.

Address requests for information to:


Bo Sanchez, Inc.
60 Chicago St., Cubao, Quezon City
Mobile Number: 0917-819-4285

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be


reproduced, except for brief quotations, without the prior
permission of the publisher.

Layout by Rey de Guzman


Table of Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................. i

1st Action: Give Yourself a Gift ....................................................... 1

2nd Action: Dream Your Dreams ................................................. 9

3rd Action: Rise to Your Rhythm ............................................... 21

4th Action: Manage Your Media ................................................ 29



5th Action: Build Your Body ........................................................ 35

6th Action: Focus on Your Family ............................................. 47

7th Action: Soar Your Spirit ........................................................... 53

8th Action: Serve the Suffering .................................................... 61

Epilogue: What’s Your Plan After the Crisis? .................... 67

About the Author .................................................................................. 71


READY TO REBOUND

Introduction

Don’t Waste
This Lockdown!

I’m a semi-old man.


I’ve never experienced a global lockdown before.
Until now.
Very few people saw this coming.
And when it came—BOOM! People didn’t know
how to react.
I also didn’t know how to respond.
I remember the first day of the lockdown.
For almost the entire day, I sat on the couch—
paralyzed—as I allowed the COVID-19 news to crash
on me like a series of gigantic tidal waves that pulled
me deeper into the ocean of fear. I felt my mind was
hijacked.
Thankfully, just in time, I woke up from that mental
daze and I literally jumped off the couch. I said to myself,
“I’m better than this. I will make this lockdown the best
training boot camp of my life!”

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Introduction

Here was one compelling reason that woke me up: I


knew so many people were desperate for help.
I started calling up our top Feast leaders. All of us
were of one heart and mind. And a few minutes later, we
organized the project called #TheFeastsLittleActsOfLove
(check it out on Facebook). The very next day, our small
Feasts scattered in various parts of the country began to
deploy massive amounts of love to frontliners and the
hungry poor. (More on this later.)

The Purpose of This Book

Friend, I wrote this little book for you.


I want to help you make this crisis your training
boot camp.
NEWSFLASH: This quarantine can break you or
build you, depending on the repeated actions you will
take.
In this book, Ready to Rebound, I recommend eight
powerful actions.
What you can do in the next few days—until the
quarantine is lifted—will determine who you will be
after this crisis.
Will you make these important decisions?
Let me ask you. When you get out of this lockdown,
will you be the person who says, “My greatest
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READY TO REBOUND

achievement is watching 57 Netflix movies” or “I


reached Level 1867 of League of Legends” or “I binge-
watched eight seasons of Games of Throne”?
Or will you be the person who says, “I used this
difficult season to grow in my personal, emotional,
professional, and family life. I’m now ready to rebound!”?
Note that the powerful truths I will share with you
in this small book are applicable even during “normal”
times. But I urge you to use them while times are not yet
back to normal.
I really hope this lockdown will never happen again.
But while it’s here, use it to create your amazing future.
Let’s go to work and unpack the first action you
need to make.

May your dreams come true,


Bo Sanchez

P.S. Watch three of my inspiring video talks that will


change your life, plus my Soulfood newsletters. Go to
www.BoSanchez.ph now!

iii
Only love can defeat fear.
And appreciation is love . . .
Heal yourself by appreciation.”

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1st Action:

Give Yourself a Gift


You didn’t choose this lockdown.


And you didn’t plan for this quarantine.
But it’s here.
Question: Will you see it as a curse? Or will you see
it as a gift?
Here’s a very important principle I’ve learned early
in my spiritual journey: You may have very little control
over what happens to you, but you have total control over
what you do to what happens to you.
It’s a powerful life-changing spiritual principle. You
can see the lockdown as a great inconvenience, or you
can see it as a training boot camp for your life.
Perspective is everything.
What I’m saying applies not only to this lockdown
but also to every single area of your life . . .

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GIVE YOURSELF A GIFT

What Is Your Default Question?

There’s a default question that you ask yourself a


thousand times a day. This is like your OS or Operating
System, working in the background.
For many people, their default question is this:
“What’s wrong?”
They wake up in the morning and unconsciously
ask, “What’s wrong with this day? What’s wrong with
my life?”
And throughout the day, they keep asking their
default question about everything else in their life:
“What’s wrong with my husband?”
“What’s wrong with my parents?”
“What’s wrong with my kids?”
“What’s wrong with my job?”
“What’s wrong with my friends?”
And the deadliest default question they ask is,
“What’s wrong with me?”
Some people ask this question again and again
throughout the day, it kills their spirit—because they
find so many wrong things about them. No wonder they
don’t like themselves!
Don’t get me wrong. The question “What’s wrong?”
is a very useful question—not as a default question
but as a question during emergencies. For example,
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during this pandemic crisis, I had to ask this question


constantly: “What’s wrong? Who is in need? And how I
can help?” And it pushed me to take massive actions in
helping people. (I discuss this in the 8th Action.)
But I will never use it as my default question because
that will discourage me and lock me into paralysis.
What then should be our default question?

The Key Is Appreciation

The default question we should ask is: “What’s


right?”
Ask it a thousand times a day.
“What’s right about this day?”
“What’s right about my husband?”
“What’s right about my kids?”
“What’s right about my job?”
And especially the question, “What’s right about
me?”
If the Bible is right that you’re made in the image
of God, then by golly gee, you must be a phenomenal
human being. You’ve got fantastic stuff in you—and you
need to take time to appreciate them.
Remember: Only love can defeat fear. And
appreciation is love.
When Jesus healed the ten lepers, only one came
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GIVE YOURSELF A GIFT

back to thank Him. He asked, “Where are the other


nine?” On that day, ten were healed physically but only
one was healed completely. Ten were healed physically
but only one was healed physically and spiritually.
Heal yourself by appreciation.
Can I give you two powerful assignments?
Before you continue reading this book, get your
notebook and do these assignments:

Assignment #1: Write 100 Blessings



On your notebook, list 100 blessings you’re very
grateful for.
Friends who followed my advice tell me this activity
was life-changing.
If you can only write 32, or 47, or 79—that’s fine.
But try to write 100.
NOTE: The smaller the blessings, the better—
because these are the things we often take for granted.
Blessings such as “I can see,” or “I can eat,” or “I can
hear,” or “I can walk,” or “I’m handsome, or at least my
wife thinks I’m handsome!”
Celebrate your blessings. Thank God for who you
are.

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This assignment will change your world view, your


attitude, and your inner disposition.
All of a sudden, you will realize how loved, blessed,
and special you are.
And slowly, you’ll start thinking very differently.

‘Be an Inverse Paranoid’

I read about this from Jack Canfield in his book, The


Success Principles, and was quoted by other authors.
What is an inverse paranoid?
You know what a paranoid is: a fearful person. He
thinks that the world is out there to get him. To steal
from him. To hurt him. To put him down.
Well, an inverse paranoid is a happy person who
believes the universe is conspiring to bless him. To serve
him. To love him. Yes, even in the middle of a crisis.
An inverse paranoid expects the best out of life,
even when things are difficult. An inverse paranoid
expects great things will happen. An inverse paranoid
expects that he’ll walk into fields of blessing each day.
An inverse paranoid believes that the world is plotting
to fulfill his dreams. An inverse paranoid looks at bad
things as merely disguised blessings.

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Are You a Blessing Expert


or a Problem Expert?

Why do grateful people become inverse paranoids?


First reason: Gratitude is one of the most powerful
forms of love. And you know that love casts out all fear.
Paranoia is fear. So gratitude casts out fear from your
life.
Here’s the second reason: Because grateful people
focus on blessings in their life, they become blessing
experts. What does that mean? They know how a
blessing looks like, sounds like, smells like, tastes like,
and feels like. Because of this, when they open their eyes
and look around their life, they smell a blessing a mile
away! They zero in on it and grab it.
Ungrateful people are problem experts.
When they look around their lives, they can’t see the
blessings right in front of their eyes because they don’t
know how they look like.
I hope you become an inverse paranoid—a blessing
expert—very soon.
Believe me, it’s outrageously fun.

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Assignment #2: Write Your ‘Lockdown


Blessings’

Start thanking God for the blessings you’re receiving


and will be receiving during this lockdown. (Thank Him
in advance!)
You can write things like . . .
• “I have an opportunity to help those who are
suffering.”
• “I was able to bond with my kids.”
• “I had time to look at my stuff at home that I can
give to the poor.”
• “I learned new skills for my career . . .”
• “It forced me to grow in my trust in God.”
I repeat: How you look at an object changes that
object.
If you see something as a blessing, you’ll experience
it as a blessing.

Give yourself a gift.


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When God appoints you
to a sacred task, you will find
an anointing in that area
that blesses many people.”

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2nd Action:

Dream Your Dreams

A few years back, I decided to write my life


dreams.
I forced myself to carve out a couple of days from
my insane schedule, shut down my busyness, closed
the door of my room, sat down, and started praying,
reflecting, and crafting my vision statement. I wrote a
picture of what kind of life I wanted to live twenty years
down the road. I wrote about the kind of work schedule
I’d keep, the relationships I’d nurture, the projects I’d
want to create, the poor I’d want to help, the simple
house I’d live in, the simple car I’d be driving, even the
kind of person I’d like to become. I basically wrote down
my life dreams. And the little document that is kept in
my laptop is titled as such: Bo’s Life Dreams.
Believe me, it was one of the most pivotal times of
my life.
Listen. You can do this now. In one sense, you don’t
have to “carve out” a couple of days from your busy
schedule. Make this lockdown your spiritual retreat.

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DREAM YOUR DREAMS

Sure, you may be working from home. And your family


is still around you. But each day, you’re saving three
hours from traffic. So I urge you to make use of those
hours to create your life dreams and define your destiny.
Your life dreams document consists of two parts:

First: Write Your Mission Statement

When I wrote my life dreams, I believe I coauthored


it with my Creator. I have a firm conviction that God is
involved in my daily affairs and He has dreams for my
life.
The first part of your life dreams document is a
simple mission statement. What is God’s mission for
your life?
I wrote mine. Let me share it with you:
My mission in life is to communicate God’s love to
others, by language, leadership, and life.
“Language” means my preaching and writing.
“Leadership” means the organizations I started. And
“Life” means my role as husband, father, brother, and
friend—in my personal and spiritual life.
Every time I read my mission statement, I feel
electricity come up my spine. I now stick to this mission.
I don’t manage, I don’t do administration, I don’t build
buildings. I focus on my life purpose.
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How do you write your mission statement?


Start by asking two questions.
First question: “What is my core gift?”
You have many skills, but what is the one skill that
is potentially your greatest gift to humanity? What do
you do that, potentially, will be your greatest impact to
the world? What do you love to do even if you don’t get
paid for doing it?
For example, here are my known skills: I know how
to write songs in a somewhat reasonable way (my genre
sounds like the Voltes V theme song), I can sometimes
sing in tune, and I can do administrative work (if there’s
a sharp knife pointed to my neck), but my core gift
has always been communication. I can write and I can
speak.
Second question: “How does God want you to serve
others?”
Ask yourself how God has used you in the past
because that’s a hint as to how He wants to use you in
the future. When I was thirteen, I started to preach to
thirty-plus highly biased people because half of them
were my parents, sisters, cousins, and friends. After forty
years, I’m still doing the same thing, only in a different
level. It’s amazing what God will do through you if you
say yes to Him.

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After you write your mission statement, this is what


you need to do next.

Second: Write Your Vision Statement

Have fun writing this one.


It’s also called your list of dreams.
How do you discover those dreams?
Three steps.
First, discern the holy desires in your soul. Because
deep down, your Divine Architect made you desire
the very same things that He wants you to work on as
your life project. It may not be evident at first and it
may take years for you to stumble upon it, but once the
vision takes hold of you, you cannot but move toward
that direction. And your mission will fit these dreams
perfectly.
Second, discern the raw materials that He gifted you
with.
When God appoints you to a sacred task, you will
find an anointing in that area that blesses many people.
Suddenly, you realize that all your training, all your
trials, and all your experiences are preparation for the
life projects waiting for you all along.
Third, discern the open doors of circumstances. There
will be opportunities that will open up before you to
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take your first steps toward the fulfillment of your life


dreams. Be open. Persevere. And have faith.
Brainstorm now with your God.

What Kind of Life Do You Want?

Do you want to travel?


Meet new people and share life and love?
Operate a retreat house?
Adopt and live with twelve orphans in a huge house?
Write a novel that will inspire thousands?
Work part-time so you can help the poor?
Start a small catering service?
Build your own cottage in an island?
Set up your own school?
Be a full-time mother to your children—and your
children’s friends?
Dream your life dreams.

Make It Emotional

As you write your life dreams, check the fire in your


belly.
Here’s what I realized: Transforming your life
doesn’t depend so much on your method as on your
motive. If you want to elevate your life, the most
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important question isn’t “how” but “why.”


Life dreams have two qualities: (1) they have to be
emotional, and (2) they have to be enormous.

Quality #1: Emotional Life Dreams



Psychology tells us that we make most of our
decisions based on emotional reasons. But once we
make them, we look for logical reasons to justify our
decisions.
This fact corresponds to our brain anatomy.
The newest part of our brain is called the neocortex.
It’s responsible for analytical and rational thought.
The deeper part of your brain is called the limbic
brain. That’s where all your feelings reside—happiness,
sadness, love, fear, trust . . . Guess what, this part of your
brain is responsible for most of your human behavior
and decision-making.
Problem: It has no capacity for language. Because
the limbic brain can’t explain itself, it will rely on your
neocortex to explain why you did what you did.
Let me give you an example.

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This Doctor Didn’t Lose Weight Until . . .

Danny was overweight by fifty-five pounds.


For the longest time, he wanted to start an exercise
program. Specifically, he wanted to take a walk every
morning. Danny had all the logic in the world—because
he was a doctor. Danny’s neocortex was brimming with
the right information. He knew all the facts. He read
all the books. He knew all the statistics. He knew the
lectures. But no matter how “logical” his reason was to
lose weight, he never kept his exercise program. Because
his pillow was soft, the blanket was warm, and the bed
was so inviting . . .
But one day, something happened.
Danny was at home one afternoon, sipping his
coffee while reading the newspaper.
That was when his little eight-year-old girl, wearing
a pretty princess dress, complete with a shiny crown on
her curly hair and pink high heels on her feet, walked up
to him and said, “Daddy!”
“What?” Danny asked, while still reading the paper.
“Daddy!” she shouted louder.
“What is it?” he asked again, still reading.
That was when his little princess pushed his
newspaper down, stared straight at her father’s shocked

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face, and said, “Daddy, will you still be alive when I get
married?”
Suddenly, everything stopped for Danny. The walls,
the ceilings, all the furniture at home became a giant
blur—except for his daughter in front of him, asking
him this terrifying question.
When she said those words, he felt intense pain. It
was so real, it was like someone planted a sharp dagger
on his chest.
Slowly, a vivid picture grew in his mind. He
saw himself walking down a church aisle, beside his
daughter, now a beautiful young woman, and giving her
away to a well-dressed monster waiting at the altar.
He also realized how he needed to live a long life.
Because who will protect his little girl from unscrupulous
suitors? In his mind, he devised a plan: The moment a
suitor—any suitor—knocked on the door, he’d open it,
and without any warning, simply punch the punk on
the solar plexus. As the punk crumples to the ground,
curling in pain, he’d say in a low growling voice,
“Imagine, you haven’t done anything wrong yet and I do
that to you. Imagine what I’ll do to you if you hurt my
daughter.”
The next morning, Danny went out to exercise. And
two years later, he still exercises every morning. So far,
he’s lost thirty pounds.
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Logic didn’t change him. But he found an emotional


reason big enough to make him change.

Quality #2: Enormous Life Dreams

You’ve got to find a big enough “why.”


The reason people don’t elevate their life—even if
they want to change—is because their whys are small.
Here’s a clue: It can’t just be about you. It’s got to be
bigger than you. When you do it for someone you love,
it gets bigger.
Danny always wanted to exercise because he was
concerned about his health. But when he was doing
it just for himself, it wasn’t big enough. The moment
he decided it was no longer about him but about his
daughter, the reason became gigantic in his mind.
But to make it even bigger, don’t just do it for your
family. Do it for your bigger family—your city, your
Church, your country.

I Wanted to Finance the Kingdom

Once upon a time, I was a poor missionary earning


P800 a month. And I was very happy. I loved my life.
But my pain came whenever I met a needy person I
wanted to help—but couldn’t. It was utterly frustrating.
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I also felt that inner pain when I wanted to launch


a new ministry, but I couldn’t because we lacked funds.
My favorite fantasy? To pull out my wallet and start the
new ministry with my own money.
That emotional reason was enough for me to
cause drastic changes in my life. I took a crash course
on learning how money works. Then I launched
my businesses, failed, launched again, failed again,
launched again . . . I persevered amidst many failures
until I succeeded. Today, I run a few small businesses
and manage my investments in the stock market.
My desire to change my financial life—from poverty
to abundance—came from a desire to bless the world. I
didn’t do it just so I could drive a sleek car. The force that
woke me up in the morning to work on my businesses
and investments was a desire to finance the Kingdom.
What dream can be bigger than that?
Here’s the truth: If you find a reason big enough to
change something in your life, you can change absolutely
anything.
I urge you to dig deep and find that big-enough
reason.
For example, in our spiritual family called Light of
Jesus, we have a big vision. We want to build 1,000 Feasts
in the world. We want to build Feasts even in China,
Africa, Eastern Europe . . . This enormous vision is the
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reason I want to be a better husband, a better father, a


better friend, a better preacher, a better writer, a better
leader, a better person . . .
To elevate your life, find your emotional and
enormous life dreams.
Talk, walk, eat, and sleep with these dreams every
day.
When the “why” is clear, the “how” will come to
you.

Do It Now!

Stop reading.
Schedule a few hours to write your life dreams.
Get your appointment book and cross out this “Date
with God” with a fat red pen. No one touches that time.
It’s your date where you discuss your life with God.

Dream your dreams.

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We win the battle
not in the battlefield
but before the battle begins.”

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3rd Action:

Rise to Your Rhythm

For a lot of people, they marched according to


the beat of an external drum. They rose to the rhythm of
the world around them: They woke up in the morning,
ran to the bathroom, gobbled up their breakfast, and
rushed to work, hoping to arrive before the boss did.
The lockdown removed all that routine. Without a
structure, some people become like twigs adrift on the
sea called “whatever happens, happens.” When they
wake up, the first thing they do is grab their phones,
and before they know it, they lost forty-five minutes
mindlessly thumb-scrolling Facebook if they’re my age,
or Instagram if they’re younger, or TikTok if they’re
the age of my youngest son. When they get bored, they
move out of bed to look for something to eat. While
munching leftovers, they realize they didn’t finish the
eighth episode of Black List on Netflix. They slept at 3
a.m. trying to finish it, but their eyelids didn’t cooperate.
So, while having breakfast, they finish the last twenty-
two minutes of the episode. But it was such a cliffhanger,

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they decide to watch episode 9, and then 10, and 11,


and 12 . . . By the time they feel leg cramps because of
inactivity, it’s already evening.
May I suggest something different?

Follow an Inner Rhythm

Define what you will do today, tomorrow, and the


entire week, following your mission statement.
For many, this is time management. But I don’t like
to call it that way. Because from my experience, when
I tell them to create a schedule, the temptation is to
overstuff it with twenty-eight things, and when they
don’t accomplish it, they get discouraged and throw the
entire scheduling thing to the waste basket.
I believe that happiness, productivity, success,
and holiness don’t come from adding but subtracting.
They come from simplifying your life. The only way to
simplify your time is to focus on what is most important
in your life. Subtract everything else.
I find the most helpful way of understanding this
comes from author Stephen Covey.

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The Four Quadrants

Decades ago, I read his book, 7 Habits of Highly


Effective People, but it’s so useful, I still review it regularly.
Covey explains that you can divide your activities in
Four Quadrants.

Quadrant 1: Important and Urgent

These are emergencies in life.


These are all your firefighting activities.
When a daughter is taking drugs and you need to
bring her to rehab.
When your marriage is breaking down.
When work projects are about to fall apart.
When creditors are threatening legal action for
non-payment of debts.
When you are very sick after neglecting your health
for years.
Obviously, you need to address these first.
Sadly, for many people, their life is filled with so
much fires, their entire schedule is filled with nothing
else but firefighting “Quadrant 1” activities.

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Quadrant 2: Important But Not Urgent

This is what you should have done with your


daughter—so she could have avoided drugs. For
example, spending time with your daughter, chatting
over a cup of tea every night, listening to her, entering
her world—all of these activities are important but
they’re not urgent. She doesn’t demand for this time.
Most often, she’s avoiding you. But unless you spend
enough time with her, you may have problems in the
future.
I’ll give you another example. Quadrant 1 is going to
the hospital because you’re having an impending heart
attack. Quadrant 2 is actually changing your lifestyle,
pacing yourself, sleeping more, drinking more water,
eating more fruits and vegetables . . .
Here’s the result: If you do enough Quadrant 2
activities, you’ll avoid Quadrant 1 activities. Quadrant
2 is the only way you to avoid Quadrant 1.

Quadrant 3: Urgent But Not Important

Many text messages, e-mails, and FB posts fall in


this quadrant. They’re urgent because they beep, ring,
vibrate—calling our attention—only for us to read our
friend posting, “Eating lunch now.”
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I urge you to eliminate Quadrant 3 activities.


Studies have shown that people check their
smartphones 221 times a day. That means we glance at
our phone every four minutes and three seconds. That’s
nuts. That’s 221 interruptions a day. This is the reason
people rarely reach peak performance at work. It takes
a few minutes of total concentration to be very good at
something. But if you allow yourself to be interrupted
again and again, you lose your creativity and flow.

Quadrant 4: Not Urgent and Not Important

These are mindless things such as purposeless web


browsing, channel surfing, and distracted reading.
Like Quadrant 3, I urge you to eliminate Quadrant 4
activities.
The key to happiness and success is not addition
but subtraction. Focus your entire life on Quadrant 2.
Subtract Quadrants 1, 3, and 4 from your life.

Create Nourishing Rituals

I believe in rituals. Doing something wonderful


once in your lifetime won’t make you wonderful. Eating
vegetables once a year won’t make you healthy. You need
to make it a ritual.
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Today, I’d like to leave you with two sets of powerful


rituals: (1) magnificent mornings and (2) daily delights.

1. Magnificent Mornings

I strongly recommend that you rejuvenate yourself


before the day begins. I always tell people: We win the
battle not in the battlefield but before the battle begins.
You need to create magnificent mornings.
If you want a magnificent life, you need to have
magnificent mornings. If you have a magnificent
morning, chances are very high that you’ll have a
magnificent day. Do this every day and you’ll have a
magnificent life. But if you have a miserable morning,
chances are very high that you’ll have a miserable day.
Why? Morning sets the tone of the entire day.
Make a decision now that you’ll have a magnificent
morning every single day. What do I mean by
“magnificent morning?” When you’re able to empower,
energize, and equip yourself for the whole day. Examples:
Exercise. Prayer. Meditation. Journaling. Inspirational
reading, listening, or viewing. Healthy breakfast.
Stack up your Quadrant 2 activities in the morning.
Take a morning walk. Talk to God. Meditate. Read
the Bible. Journal. Read inspirational books. Listen to

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inspirational talks. Watch inspirational videos. Plan for


the day.
This is what you should never do: Do Quadrant 3
or 4 activities in the morning, like scrolling through
your newsfeed. That can wait later during the day. Don’t
let the world define your day; you define it by having
magnificent mornings.

2. Daily Delights

What makes you happy?


Follow your bliss.
Find ways to restore your energy.
I love what English writer and theologian G.K.
Chesterton said: “There are two ways to get enough: one
is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other
is to desire less.”
If you want to be really happy, you need to learn this
very important skill: to see the divine out of the ordinary.
Because if you develop the capacity to suck all the joy
that simple life has to offer, you’ll always be happy no
matter what happens.
When we were not yet on lockdown, I was not
ashamed to say that the simple act of walking around
our little village gives me so much pleasure—because I

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RISE TO YOUR RHYTHM

would surround myself with God’s beautiful creation.


The sky above me. The happy trees. The semi-polluted
air around me. (Just being honest.) They’re all beautiful.
Now, I just walk in our tiny backyard and it still does
the trick. If I want to be refreshed, I just look up at the
blue sky.
Some have made owning a Rolls Royce the source
of their pleasure. Or taking a luxury cruise in Europe.
Or buying diamonds. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with
these things per se. But if you have to do these things to
be happy, you’ll be rarely happy.
I’ve chosen the simpler path: If I can talk to my wife,
chat with my sons, take a quiet stroll under a canopy
of stars, read a good book in my home, or laugh with
friends (online), I consider myself richly blessed.
My message: Focus on what you have, not on what
you don’t have.
Because satisfaction doesn’t come from getting what
you want but in wanting what you already have.
Think about it.
Live on less and delight in them more.

Rise to your rhythm.

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READY TO REBOUND

4th Action:

Manage Your Media

Imagine a stranger entering your house.


He sits down on the sofa, leans back, crosses his
legs, makes himself comfortable, and starts talking to
your eight-year-old girl.
And he starts telling her stories of rape, murder,
adultery—complete with details and using the foulest
language.
Tell me. What will you do?
You’d get a big stick and drive him out of your house.
But here’s the sad fact of life: We’ve allowed that
stranger to enter our home, enthrone him in our lives,
and made him enter our living rooms, kitchens, dining
rooms, bedrooms, and bathrooms.
I’m talking of media—online, TV, radio, print.
Sadly, we fill up our minds with mental
garbage.
How do you clean your minds?
There’s a way to do it.
Choose what you receive every day.

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MANAGE YOUR MEDIA

Bad News Sell

As props for my talk, I asked my staff to gather for


me newspapers from the previous months. I then asked
them to divide the newspapers into two separate piles,
simply based on whether their headlines were “good
news” or “bad news.”
I guess you know what happened. I got a really tall
pile of bad news, and an almost nonexistent pile of good
news.
Because media sells bad news.
We’ve been trained to focus on the bad news.
Sadly, when you focus on your problems, you get
tunnel vision. You become like a horse with blinders. You
miss out on the fantastic opportunities for expansion
and growth outside your narrow vision.
This is what happens if you don’t manage your media
and just accept the fire horse of negativity bombarding
you every moment.
I believe that because of this bad news, you need to
wash your mind every day. Here’s how to do it.

Do This Easy Experiment

To make this more graphic, do the following three


simple steps.
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READY TO REBOUND

Step 1: Get a glass of clean water. That’s your


mind early in the morning—after you prayed, read the
Word, digested a spiritual book, wrote on your journal,
listened to an uplifting podcast, or watched FULLTANK
(shameless plug).
Step 2: Drop soy sauce into it until the entire glass
of water gets blackish. That’s what happens when you fill
your mind with negative thoughts on a constant basis.
You get discouraged. You’re filled with worry. What
should you do?
Step 3: Go to the sink, put the glass under the
faucet. Open it and let clean water flow into the glass of
blackish water until it overflows.
Do you see what happens?
In a few seconds, the clean water displaces the dirty
water.
Keep on doing that and the entire glass of water will
be clean again.
Do you want to clean your mind? Keep pouring
God’s Word into your mind through prayer, meditation,
spiritual songs, growth-oriented messages, videos,
podcasts, and books.
I urge you: Choose what media you receive every day.

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MANAGE YOUR MEDIA

Two Wolves Inside You

Remember this Cherokee story?


Within you, there are two wolves. The good wolf and
the bad wolf. The bad wolf represents anger, jealousy,
bickering, temper, resentment, selfishness . . . The
good wolf represents forgiveness, gentleness, kindness,
humility, selflessness . . . And each day, they’re fighting
each other.
Here’s the big question: Who will win?
The answer? The one that you feed.
Feed your mind with the best mental, spiritual, and
emotional nourishment the world has to offer.
Here are some of the enriching materials we produce
that you can use to feed your soul:
o Daily inspiration through my online show
called FULLTANK on Facebook.com/
BrotherBoSanchez and YouTube.com/
BrotherBoSanchez
o My SOULFOOD newsletter which you can sign
up for at www.BoSanchez.ph
o The Feast online at Facebook.com/
TheFeastOfficial
o Read my books at FeastBooks.ph
o Be part of my TrulyRichClub at
www.TrulyRichClub.com
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READY TO REBOUND

Listen to the best music.


Watch the most inspiring movies.
And hang out (online) with the wisest people you
can find.

Professional Growth

I always encourage people to keep their day job and


have a side hustle. Have at least three income streams:
your salary from your job, your profit from your
business, and growth from your long-term investments
in the stock market.
Instead of watching YouTube videos with dancing
cats, why not watch videos about digital marketing? Or
how to sell online? Or how to do graphic design? Or
how to build a website?
My sons—because they’re young—know that when
they want to learn a skill, they let Google and YouTube
teach them. As an old person, I’m still flabbergasted
how they do it.
When you return to work after this lockdown is
over, I also challenge you to arrive at your office with
brand-new skills and a deeper understanding of your
industry.

Manage your media.


33
A lack of exercise
is often the cause
of body pain.”

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5th Action:

Build Your Body

Eighty percent of people who get the COVID-19


are asymptomatic, or they experience the regular
symptoms of the common cold. But for the other twenty
percent, it will be dangerous, especially for those who are
older and whose immune system is compromised. More
than ever, you have to use this lockdown to strengthen
your body’s power to heal itself.
Remember your crazy schedule before this crisis?
You slept five hours a day, hardly had any time to
exercise, could not get any sunlight because you were
too busy, and all the while you were running around in
a frenzied, stressful pace. Now, the lockdown is giving
you a chance to reset your body.

Work on These Four Basics!

I believe you can regain optimal health by meeting


your body’s basic needs. Like anything else, people like
to complicate things. For example, to become healthy,

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BUILD YOUR BODY

we like expensive medicines or cutting-edge medical


treatments. Because of this, when people listen to my
simple talks on health, they get disappointed when I
advise them, “To become healthier, drink more water
every day,” or “Take a daily walk . . .”
They come up to me and ask, “Bo, is there anything
more serious you can tell me? I really want to be
healthy.” So I smile and say, “OK, seriously drink water.
And seriously take a walk every day.”
Obviously, there is a long list of diseases that do need
more advanced, complicated, and expensive medical
attention. But there’s no harm in working on the basics.
Especially during this lockdown, you must strengthen
your body to heal itself and focus yourself on these four
essential things. (There are other basic things to work
on, but because this is a short book, I want you to focus
on these essentials.)

1. Sleep

Try to get seven to nine hours of sleep.


Fact: Today, most people don’t sleep enough.
People ask me all the time, “Bo, you do so many
things. How many hours do you sleep at night?” They
think that because I do a lot of stuff, I probably sleep
only three hours a day.
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READY TO REBOUND

Not true. I love my sleep. I try to sleep between seven


to eight hours, and when I’m extra-tired, I listen to my
body and sleep more. In fact, studies show that highly
successful individuals in various fields (musicians,
athletes, scientists) sleep an average of eight hours and
thirty-two minutes daily.
When I get enough sleep, I love waking up in the
morning totally refreshed. I love feeling strong in the
morning. This is the special gift of sleep: a fantastic day!
At the end of the day, I believe that real sleep does
not come from sleeping pills or an expensive bed. I
believe real sleep comes from trusting God.

A Deeper Source of True Rest

Do you trust in the Lord for all your worries? When


you trust Him deeply, you can sleep. The Bible says, “It
is useless to work so hard for a living, getting up early
and going to bed late. For the Lord provides for those
He loves, while they are asleep” (Psalm 127:2).
The Pope says he writes his petitions on a piece of
paper and puts it under the feet of the sleeping figure of
Saint Joseph The Worker. Yes, the patron saint of workers
is sleeping! In one Bible story, Joseph was sleeping when
an angel spoke to him in a dream.
Pope Francis said he has a Sleeping Saint Joseph
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BUILD YOUR BODY

image on his desk to remind himself that while he


sleeps, God is blessing the Church.
I can relate. I’m a leader. And as a leader, I
sometimes think everything depends on me, that unless
I do something, nothing will happen.
So every day, in fact many times a day, I like placing
my hand on the feet of the statue of the Sleeping Saint
Joseph. Whenever I need peace, I place my hand there
and, instantly, I relax. Because when I do this, I declare,
“While I sleep, God is solving my problem.”
Obviously, I’m not recommending laziness or
abdicating one’s responsibilities. But there are days
when you have done all you could to solve a problem
and what you need to do is rest. Churning the problem
in the worry machine of your mind over and over again
will cause you to get sick. After doing all you can, say,
“While I sleep, God is solving my problem.”

2. Water

Because we’re so busy, we don’t hear our body say,


“I’m very thirsty.”
Many are constantly dehydrated and they don’t know
it. There are two thirsts: mouth thirst and body thirst.
When your mouth is dry and thirsty, sometimes that’s too
late. Your body has been thirsty for a longer time.
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READY TO REBOUND

My friend Dr. Renato Paragas has written a


book titled The #1 Reason Why You’re Sick. He says,
“Most people are not sick, they’re just thirsty.” What a
revolutionary insight! But because they think they’re
sick, they take a handful of pills—even surgery—instead
of the simple act of drinking enough water every day.
Dr. Paragas has healed his patients with
hypertension, arthritis, diabetes, even cancer, by simply
increasing their water intake consistently. I know that
sounds wild, but this is his experience.
Get yourself some quick wins.
Do you experience frequent headaches?
Do you find yourself exhausted often?
Do you suffer from constipation?
Start drinking enough water and you may solve all
these problems.
Ever since we were kids, our mothers have told
us, “Drink eight glasses of water a day.” But that
recommendation may not be enough, because our
bodies are different. Some people are big and tall; others
are thin and small.
Dr. Paragas prescribes that you multiply your weight
in kilos times fifty milliliters of water. For example, I
weigh sixty-eight kilos. That means I should drink 3.4
liters of water per day. (Obviously, this is the “general”
guideline. Some may have specific health conditions
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BUILD YOUR BODY

that will need more specific instructions.)


Everywhere I go, I always bring my water jug. It
helps me know if I do drink 3.4 liters every day. So far,
since doing this, my health has improved in leaps and
bounds. I feel my colon is so clean because I now do a
“number two” two or three times a day.
In the past, my wife asked me to always put lotion
on my dry skin. But since drinking enough of water, I
feel my skin is smoother. And my wife says I’m more
handsome (ha, ha!).
During this lockdown, you have no excuse. Fill a
one-liter water bottle and put it beside you while you
work at home.
Listen to your body and drink more water.

3. Sunlight

When you were a newborn baby, your mother


exposed you to the morning sun every day for at least
fifteen minutes.
If a neighbor asked her why she was doing it, she’d
echo what her mother told her, “Para tumibay ang buto”
(to strengthens my baby’s bones).
And she was absolutely right. Because the body
needs the sun’s rays to produce Vitamin D, and Vitamin
D strengthens our bones.
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READY TO REBOUND

But think about it: If babies need it, why not adults?
Why have we stopped going under the morning sun
for at least fifteen minutes? As the Bible says, “The light
is pleasant, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun”
(Ecclesiastes 11:7 NASB).
Many people are sick because they lack Vitamin D.
Here are a few diseases we can get when we lack Vitamin
D: heart disease, osteoporosis, prostate cancer, breast
cancer, depression, diabetes, and obesity.
Why do people lack sunlight? Because no one
is marketing sunlight as medicine. Because no one
can earn from it. No one can bottle sunlight and earn
from it. In contrast, there are many companies making
sunscreen lotion—and they’re telling you to protect
your skin from the sun. Yes, I agree, staying under the
sun for many hours is bad. But don’t protect yourself
from the sun completely, or you get sick.
Note: Osteoporosis is more common among
African Americans because people with dark skin have
more pigment, making it harder for them to absorb the
sunlight. So they need to stay longer under the sun to
get their daily dose of Vitamin D.
During this lockdown, try to open your door
or window and get fifteen minutes of morning sun
every day. If you live in a condo, can you go up to the
roofdeck? If that’s not possible, stand beside an open
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BUILD YOUR BODY

window when the sun is shining through it.


The rule is, the longer your shadow is under the sun,
the longer you can stay under the sun—fifteen to thirty
minutes. The shorter your shadow, the shorter you stay
under the sun—five minutes is enough.
Henry Ward Beecher said, “I think you might
dispense with half your doctors if you would only
consult Dr. Sun more.”
Listen to your body and get some sunlight every
day.

4. Movement

Don’t let this quarantine prevent you from moving


your body.
Let me tell you a story. I’ve been married for twenty-
one years, and in that entire time, my wife had never
kept any form of regular exercise. She didn’t even like
walking. When we’re going someplace, and Google
Maps says it’s just a fifteen-minute walk to that place, I
tell her, “Let’s walk!” But her usual response was, “Fifteen
minutes? That’s faaaaar! It’s hooooooooot! Please know
that Google Maps is made for people with long legs. For
short people like me, it’s not fifteen minutes; it will be
thirty minutes.” In other words, she was asking, “May
we just get a Grab?”
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READY TO REBOUND

But almost six months ago, I was surprised when I


saw her walking down the stairs in shorts and sneakers.
She opened up her laptop, turned on a walking exercise
video, and she began walking in place for thirty to forty-
five minutes straight.
That was not all. The next day, she did it again. And
the day after that. And the day after that. She did it for
two straight weeks.
At that point, I knew I was witnessing a miracle.
On her own, she just exercised every day with passion.
I saw her sweat, and she’s very sexy when she sweats.
(OK, I probably shouldn’t have said that. I realize there
are single people reading this book now. Pretend I didn’t
say that.)
So one morning, I couldn’t stand it anymore. Even
if it was absolutely girly and corny, I found myself
strapping my rubber shoes and joining her. And I’ve
been joining her ever since. Get this: We exercise daily.
No more breaks. No more excuses. Inside the house!
My point? You can exercise at home.

Listen to Your Body and Move!

Fact: Sitting for too long causes many diseases.


When your body lacks movement, it starts to complain.
At first it could just be a feeling of tiredness,
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BUILD YOUR BODY

especially after you go up a short flight of stairs. Or


lethargy. Or feeling heavy. Or a headache. Or insomnia.
Important: A lack of exercise is often the cause of
body pain.
Weak lower back muscles and weak core muscles
are often the reason behind lower back pain. And if you
work at your desk the entire day, without exercise, your
muscles and connective tissue around your neck area
will weaken, causing pain.
Face it. You sit down for long stretches of the day.
Your muscles pay the price for this constant sitting.
Your joints get stiff. Your muscles get weak. And this
is not because of age. It’s because you’re not using your
muscles. I don’t think God designed us to sit down the
entire day. Hint: He gave us legs.
Centuries ago, we used to hunt for our food, till our
soil, plant our farms, harvest our crops, and fish our fish.
We used our muscles constantly.
Today, the most strenuous thing we do is tap our
phones and type on our computers. Worse, some
people’s only exercises are carrying grudges, pushing
their luck, and jumping to conclusions.
Here’s a law of the universe: What you don’t use, you
lose.
Haven’t you noticed? People are getting old at a
young age.
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Even the Bible says, “Physical training is good”


(1 Timothy 4:8 NLT). Regular exercise will stretch
your blood vessels and eventually improve your blood
circulation. It also improves bone growth. It decreases
your stress and strengthens your immune system.
Listen to your body and move!

Build your body.

45
Creating patterns
of connection isn’t enough.
You need to determine
the quality of
these connections.”

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6th Action:

Focus on Your Family

One of the biggest blessings of the lockdown is


time with loved ones.
Use it. Take it. Don’t waste it.
Invite everyone to eat together and ban all gadgets
at the table.
During each meal, I love asking everyone, “Did
God speak to you during your prayer time today?” Or
“What significant things happened since you woke up
this morning?” Or “What was your high point today?”
In other words, I don’t let things happen.
I make them happen.

The Key: Be Deliberate

Do you want to have happy relationships?


Your relationships are just like plants.
You need to water them daily, or they die.
For relationships, their water is love.

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FOCUS ON YOUR FAMILY

If you don’t give your relationships enough time,


attention, respect, or kindness—all of which are
expressions of love—they, too, will die.
Happy relationships don’t just happen. You make
them happen.
How do you create happy relationships?
Here is the secret: Deliberately nurture them.
The key word is “deliberate.”
I know of husbands and wives who live under one
roof but whose hearts are so far apart, you’d think one
lives in Venus and the other in Mars. (Hmm, why does
that sound so familiar?) I know of parents and kids who
no longer connect at a deep level—because they’re not
deliberate in nurturing their relationship.
All the happy people I know in this world are
fantastic experts in building happy relationships. No
exceptions.
In this chapter, I want to share with you two
powerful steps to create happy relationships in your life:
(1) create patterns of connection, and (2) be kind.

Step One: Create Patterns of Connection

Spending time with each other must be a pattern—


or it won’t happen.

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You can’t say, “When I have free time later, I’ll play
with my kids,” or “Whenever my schedule lightens
up, I’ll talk with my spouse.” Believe me, they’ll never
happen.
For the past twenty-one years of marriage, my wife
and I set aside Tuesday night for our weekly date night.
And so even in this lockdown, we still do it.
Nothing touches that sacred time, unless the Pope
calls me up to ask for my opinion on some theological
issues. Or the president of the United States requests for
a video conference with me on certain world issues he
needs clarity on.
This is what “Create Patterns” means. I don’t accept
any speaking engagements or place any of my meetings
on Tuesday nights. This isn’t easy. I lead a number
of nonprofit organizations. I also run a few small
businesses. But no matter what, my wife and I have been
faithful to our Tuesday nights.
And for my boys? On Mondays, I have separate
dates with Bene and Francis. We talk about life and how
they want to conquer the world.
Patterns don’t just happen. I make them happen
regularly, or they don’t happen at all.

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FOCUS ON YOUR FAMILY

Relationship Rituals

Remember Quadrant 2 in Rise to Your Rhythm?


One of the core Quadrant 2 activities is relationship
rituals.
Every morning, I kiss my wife. That’s a ritual. Each
night, we chat over chamomile tea. That’s a ritual, too.
Every day, I hug my boys—no matter how big they
are now. That’s another ritual. Every evening, before
bedtime, I pray over them. That’s a powerful ritual, too.
I know of a couple who makes Monday night a
special night for family. During that night, the TV set
is turned off, the ringer of the phone is muted, and the
bedrooms are marked off-limits.
Everyone—parents, three kids, and Lyla, their
half-mongrel, half-German shepherd—sits, squats,
or lies down on the living room for prayer, a game
of Pictionary, a book-reading session, and mom’s
homemade brownies.
This is how to structure your life around what is
most important. It’s saying no to some things so you can
say yes to the bigger things in life.
But creating patterns of connection isn’t enough.
You need to determine the quality of these connections.

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Step Two: Be Kind

I know. Boring, right?


Some of you may be asking, “Bo, can you be a little
bit more sophisticated? Call kindness something else.
Invent a big word.”
OK, I can play that game.
If you want to be happy, enlarge your
psychoneuralsensitivity and affective-interpersonalization
skills.
Nah. Solutions are simple.
Friends, do you want to have happy relationships?
Be kind.
Oh, if only husbands become kind to their wives—
and vice versa—a lot of marriages will be saved. And
if only parents become kind to their kids—and vice
versa—a lot of families will become great again.
Yes, I’m talking about old-fashioned kindness!
• To speak with respect.
• To be courteous.
• To show affection. (Hugs.)
• To give affirmation.
• To be gentle.
• To serve in the little things.
• To smile and delight when you see them.
• To encourage.
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FOCUS ON YOUR FAMILY

I’ve seen many people who are kind to visitors and


friends, speaking to them with great gentleness. They
smile at them. They make them comfortable. They
defer to them. And yet these same kind and respectful
people will turn around and scream at their own family
members. All of a sudden, they’ll be rude, selfish, and
uncommunicative.
If you want to create happy relationships, make a
decision to be kind to everyone—your family members
included.
How many times do you say “I love you” to your
parents? (Answer: Daily!)
How many times do you hug your kids? (Answer:
Many times a day!)
How many times do you praise your spouse?
(Answer: Seven times a day!)
Show kindness every day!

Focus on your family.

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7th Action:

Soar Your Spirit

This lockdown is also giving you time to meet


your spiritual needs.
Many years ago, a woman called me up to pray for
her sick husband. “Ben is sixty-one and he’s dying,” she
said, her voice breaking. “My husband has cancer.”
That happened when I was a teenager, but I can
never forget him. Meeting him had such an incredible
impact on my young life.
The next day was Valentine’s day, so I told her, “I’ll
visit your husband tomorrow and he’ll be my Valentine’s
date.”
The next morning, I saw their huge home.
The woman told me that her husband was a
doctor—a very successful one.
When I entered the living room, I saw him seated
on a chair, wearing his pajamas.
I tried to imagine him before his sickness.
A strong man. A powerful doctor. So in control of
life.

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SOAR YOUR SPIRIT

Now, he was a broken man, totally dependent on


others.
We greeted each other.
“Hi, Doctor Ben,” I said, “before I pray over you, can
you tell me your story?”
He nodded. “Six months ago, my doctors discovered
the cancer in my body. They gave me six months to live.
That was eight months ago. I’m living on extra time.”
“Wow!”
“Bo, when I found out I had cancer, I prayed to God.
I started going to Mass on Sundays. I even went to a
prayer meeting with my wife. I was too busy to do all
those things before. Bo, I wasted sixty years of my life!”
That was when he began to cry.
A successful man, sobbing before me.
In between sobs, he said, “But . . . but . . . after a
while, I had to stay home because of the pain in my
body. Most days, I cannot do anything else but lie down
in bed . . .”
He gripped my hand.
“Bo, please,” he said, “I want you to pray that God
extend my life. Even just a little bit more. Just a little
bit more. Because all these years, I was so busy earning
money. I didn’t spend time with God. I want to serve
Him . . . I have so many plans. So many things I want to

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do for Him. If only He’ll give me more time.”


I prayed over him.
Driving home, I felt God was speaking to me
through this man’s life.
When I arrived home, I knelt down and said, “Lord,
when I grow old, I don’t want to be like Doctor Ben. I
don’t want to have regrets in my life. While I’m young, I
want to serve you.”

You Hang on to Life by a Mere Thread;


It Can Snap Anytime

Thousands have died because of the coronavirus.


But even without this pandemic, historically,
statistics say that there are three people who die every
second.
Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.
That’s fifteen people who died in the past five
seconds.
If it took you fifteen minutes to read this chapter
alone, 2,700 people would have already died all over the
world. (When you’re done reading, please check your
pulse. Just in case you were part of the 2,700.)
Friend, life is so incredibly fragile.
You hang on to life by a mere thread.

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SOAR YOUR SPIRIT

Anytime, it can snap.


Every moment is a great gift from God.
The Bible says, “Teach us how short our life is, so
that we may become wise” (Psalm 90:12).
You see, God never promised you that you’ll wake
up tomorrow morning. Every time you wake up in the
morning, you should throw a party. Celebrate! It’s an
undeserved gift.

While You Have Breath

While you’re alive, I urge you to give your time to


God.
While you have breath, love God.
While you’re still strong, love the people in your life.
Jesus says, “As long as it is day, we must keep on
doing the work of Him who sent me; night is coming
when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am
the light for the world” (John 9:4-5).
Jesus knew that night was coming “when no one
can work.”
All of us will one day face that “night.”
Today, I want to remind you of that stark reality.
Here’s a wild suggestion: To know how short your
life is, count the number of Sundays you have left. I read

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that the average life expectancy in the Philippines is


sixty-six years. That’s pretty short.
There are 3,432 Sundays in sixty-six years.
I’m now forty-four. That means I’ve already used up
2,808 Sundays.
If I live until sixty-six, I only have 624 Sundays to
go.
My gosh.
Here’s my suggestion: If you want to be reminded
by how short your life is, get a jar of seeds. Any kind of
seed would do. The seeds should be the exact number of
Sundays you have left in your life.
And every Sunday, remove one seed from the jar.
Every Sunday, you’ll see the seeds in the jar decrease.
When you reach sixty-six years old, and no seeds
are left, each Sunday becomes a big bonus from God.

Spend Time with God Daily

Each day, spend time with God.


Let this be your special “date” with Him.
How should you pray?
Based on your personality and gifting, you have a
prayer language—a way of praying that makes you more
connected to God.

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SOAR YOUR SPIRIT

For example, I’m a writer, so I love writing in my


prayer journal. I also love walking, so I converse with
God in my morning walks—and together with God, I go
through the day, sanctifying each meeting and activity.
My friend is a music lover and every day, he connects to
God by listening to worship music. I met a woman who
loves gardening and she told me that she loves praying
in her garden, sometimes communing with Him for two
hours. My parents went to Mass every day for more than
fifty years—and would say their personal prayers before
and after Mass.
Find your prayer language. It will be much easier
to pray.
Choose also the best time during the day for your
daily prayer time—when you are alert and awake. Give
your prime time to God, not the leftover time of your
day. Give Him your best. For some people, this is the
first thing in the morning. For others, it’s before lunch.
For others who are more “night persons” rather than
“day persons,” they feel most alert in the evening.
Within your prayer time, read the Bible. I
recommend following the Mass readings of each day.
You can find them in Didache, Sabbath, or Companion,
our daily devotional sets (visit FeastBooks.ph). You can

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READY TO REBOUND

also download The Feast app and read it from there.


After you read the Bible readings for the day, you can
watch FULLTANK as I give a reflection on the Gospel
for each day.
I repeat: Make this lockdown your retreat with God.

Soar your spirit.

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Do one thing for another
person every single day.
Serve someone
who won’t be able
to pay you back.”

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READY TO REBOUND

8th Action:

Serve the Suffering

This crisis is a very special gift because it gives


us a real opportunity to love the suffering around us.
Ask yourself: “Who are the people who need my
help?”
Perhaps someone you know is feeling lost, anxious,
discouraged, or lonely. A phone call from you may make
that person’s day.
Perhaps you have a poor neighbor in need of food,
and sending him a part of your lunch will go a long way
for his family.
You can also donate to various organizations that are
sending help to those badly affected by the pandemic.

It’s the Key to Health and Happiness

Receiving love is important.


But giving love is important, too.
In a huge study done by Cornell University, they
gathered 427 married women with children. They

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SERVE THE SUFFERING

hypothesized that the more kids a mother has (and thus,


more stress), the earlier she dies.
They were wrong. The number of kids wasn’t a
factor at all.
They were shocked to discover that the determining
factor of a mother’s longevity was something so simple:
whether she did volunteer work or not in a volunteer
organization.
After thirty years, they went back to these 427
women.
Here were the results:
• Among the women who didn’t do volunteer
work, fifty-two percent had major illnesses.
• Among the women who did regular volunteer
work, only thirty-six percent had major
illnesses.
You get sick because you move toward separation.
How does healing happen?
When you move toward connection.
When you love and receive love, your body rejoices.
Your body is happy.
And your body becomes strong.
My prescription for health and happiness?
Do one thing for another person every single day.
Serve someone who won’t be able to pay you back.

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READY TO REBOUND

Serve with Us!

Come and join us.


The Feasts, scattered all over the country, are
serving during this crisis. We call our small projects
#TheFeastsLittleActsOfLove.
I’m honored to be part of a spiritual community
that has not stopped sacrificing for others no matter
how difficult.
We’ve donated thousands of surgical masks and
personal protective equipment to frontliners. Some
Feasters have also sent food packs to them, even with
some “love notes” to cheer them up. We’ve also asked for
the frontliners’ prayer requests and became their prayer
partners. Some have reported being burned out and we
made video messages to encourage them.
The Feasters also started feeding tricycle drivers,
construction workers, laundry women, and other daily-
wage earners who could no longer earn money during
this crisis. Just to make this concrete, let me share one
experience. When we visited a tricycle driver’s family to
give ten kilos of rice and P500, they became teary eyed.
They said that before we arrived, they didn’t know how
they were going to eat that day.
The second important service was mobilizing the

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SERVE THE SUFFERING

trained pastoral carers of the Light of Jesus Pastoral Care


to serve from their homes. As I write this, hundreds of
people, gripped by fear and anxiety, call up our pastoral
carers for prayer and advice. If you need someone to talk
to or pray with, please call via FB Messenger at www.
Facebook.com/lojpastoralcare.
The third important thing The Feast did was to
encourage our lay preachers to go online more often
to add to the voices of hope and to fight the negativity
flooding social media. By the second week of the
lockdown, I had two to three online shows per day. It
was wild.
(NOTE: Just in case you want to support our
mission, you may donate at this bank account: Light of
Jesus Family Mega Manila Inc., BDO account number
00397-014-561-3.)

Join Our Lifelong Crusade

For decades now, The Feasts have always been


serving the suffering.
Here are some of our Partner Ministries:
• Anawim, home for the abandoned elderly;
• Grace to Be Born, center for pregnant women
in crisis;

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READY TO REBOUND

• Jeremiah Foundation, a home for abused


children;
• Pag-asa ng Pamilya Scholarship Fund for Poor
Children;
• He Cares, a streetkids ministry; and
• Light of Jesus Pastoral Care Center, a pastoral
counseling ministry

We have many more: a ministry for lepers; a


ministry for poor cancer patients; prison ministry in
Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

Serve the suffering.

65
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READY TO REBOUND

Epilogue

What’s Your Plan


After This Crisis?

One day, this crisis will pass.


Will you come out of this storm as a better version
of yourself?
Will you come out of this trial wiser, stronger, and
brighter?
One of the most glaring differences between
successful and unsuccessful people is the timeframe of
their thinking.
Unsuccessful people always think short term. When
I was doing ministry work in the slums, I’d ask the
people, “What do you want in life?” and they couldn’t
think beyond that day’s needs.
But I noticed successful people always think long
term. The longer their timeframe, the more successful
they are. Successful people think about the next five to
ten years, but the most successful people I know think
about the twenty to fifty years before them. (Spiritual

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EPILOGUE

people are the most successful because they think really


long term: eternity.)
Let me tell you why it’s important to plan.

Your Life Will Either Come


from Your Memory or Your Imagination

Your life is a manifestation of your most dominant


thinking.
In other words, your mind is the computer—and
your life is the printout.
That’s why it’s important to plan.
Because there are two kinds of thoughts: your
memory and your imagination.
If you don’t plan, your life will be based on your
memories—and that’s tragic. Because your future will
simply duplicate your past. That’s why an addict remains
an addict. That’s why a depressed person remains
depressed. That’s why a fearful person remains fearful.
That’s why an unsuccessful person remains unsuccessful.
But if you plan, your life will be based on
your imagination. That’s why Albert Einstein said,
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
Let me go back to my computer analogy.
Some people print out the old files and old data

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READY TO REBOUND

stored in their computer memory. If you do that, you’ll


have the exact same printouts again and again. Nothing
will change in your life.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
You can write new files.
You can create new documents.
And you can have new printouts.
People ask me, “So, Bo, how do I plan?”
In three words, I’ll tell you how to plan.
Are you ready?
Here it is: Make it up!
Manufacture the plan from your imagination.
Planning is creating a nonexistent future reality in
your mind.
I urge you to continue to elaborate what you wrote
in Action #2: Dream Your Dreams, specifically your
vision statement.
This crisis will end.
Who will you be after this crisis?
• Will you be a better husband, wife, father,
mother, sibling, or child?
• Will you be a better artist, accountant, call
center agent, entrepreneur, doctor, or sales
person?
• Will you be a better disciple?

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EPILOGUE

God is inside you.


With Him, you create your own destiny.

May your dreams come true,

Bo Sanchez

P.S. Do you want to work on your finances? We’ve been


helping thousands of people grow their financial life for
more than ten years now. Join the TrulyRichClub today.
To join, go to www.TrulyRichClub.com now.

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READY TO REBOUND

About the Author

Bo Sanchez is a bestselling author of more than fifty


books. He has founded many ministries that help the
poorest of the poor, such as Anawim, a special home
for the abandoned elderly, and Grace to Be Born, a
center for pregnant women in crisis. Bo also started a
media ministry, a counseling ministry, and formed a
community called Light of Jesus Family that’s found in
thirty-six countries.
Privately, Bo also started the TrulyRichClub that
has helped thousands learn financial stewardship,
and Catholic Filipino Academy, a homeschooling
organization that helps parents teach their kids at home.
Bo is also an entrepreneur to support his family. In
this way, for many years now, he has refused to be paid
a salary from his ministries. He also donates his book
royalties to the mission.
Above all these, Bo believes his first call from God
is to be a loving husband to his wife, Marowe, and a
devoted father to his sons Benedict and Francis. They
live in Manila, Philippines.

71
Connect
with BO /brotherbosanchez
/brotherbosanchez

/bosanchez trulyrichclub.com

72
don’t Waste your Lockdown!
When you get out of this lockdown, will you be the person
who says, “My greatest achievement is watching 57 Netflix
movies” or “I reached Level 1867 of League of Legends” or
“I binge-watched eight seasons of Games of Throne”?
Or will you be the person who says, “I used this difficult
season to grow in my personal, emotional, professional, and
family life. I’m now ready to rebound!”?
In this book, Bo Sanchez wants to help you make this
crisis your training boot camp through eight powerful actions:

1st Action: Give Yourself a Gift


2nd Action: Dream Your Dreams
3rd Action: Rise to Your Rhythm
4th Action: Manage Your Media
5th Action: Build Your Body
6th Action: Focus on Your Family
7th Action: Soar Your Spirit

Bo Sanchez is a much sought-after Catholic lay preacher and


bestselling author of more than fifty books. As a public speaker and
servant of God, he has received three recognitions from prestigious
award-giving bodies in the Philippines. But over and above all these,
he considers his relationship with his wife, Marowe, and two sons,
Benedict and Francis, as his greatest achievement in life. They live
in Manila, Philippines.

www.trulyrichclub.com

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