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We did not have much growing up. We never had lavish food nor plenty of money. We were a big family with two hard working parents. So I do not have memories of extravagant Christmases with plenty of toys or gifts. But what I do have are precious memories of Christmas traditions. Filipino culture is steeped with traditions especially during Christmas. Sadly, some of those practices have been eroding but some families have stubbornly maintained these traditions.

It looks like we will have a jolly holiday season this year, with many of us preparing to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Eve with more festive activities than in the past three years. It is the time of the year when the family members gather around the dining table to thank God for the blessings they received in the past 12 months, and talk about the future.

Nobody is born an entrepreneur. I am not aware that anyone has discovered a gene that particularly makes a person a successful entrepreneur. But years of being an entrepreneur and understanding the life lessons of many successful entrepreneurs has brought me to the conclusion that there are certain behavioral DNAs that contribute to one’s success in business. In the first part of this article, I mentioned a couple of them — hard work and a risk-taking attitude.