WBW 3: "Scatter like light!" Explore many paths to find your PASSION

When you were still a kid and somebody asked you what you wanted to be, did you answer “a doctor”, “a lawyer”, or “a businessman”? Looking back, was it REALLY your answer, or was it your parents? Not that were saying it’s wrong to listen to the elder, we’re just saying it’s MORE right to listen to yourself. In this session, Aman Santos, a professional painter and graphic designer, discusses his journey of multiple “forks” and how it showed him – and still being revealed to him – his lifetime calling.

*Bonus lesson at the end area of the video: PERSIST through fear.

Who is Aman Santos?

Amando Santos III, better known as Aman, was a former “conyo boy” living wealthy and carefree in Alabang in his younger years. In college, Aman decided to pursue medicine – considered to be their “family field” – even though at the back of his head, dipping in creative work was what he loved. Medicine was his main priority, but on the side, the passion for the arts lead him to make hand-painted shirts for local resorts, paint murals, create effigies for street demonstrations, and take on some graphic design work for corporate clients. After graduating from Physical Therapy in the University of the Philippines, he soon found himself caught off guard in difficult circumstances as his family encountered financial and personal problems during the Asian financial crisis of 1997. That experience then triggered Aman to finally put aside medicine and take on the arts full time and he never looked back. Since then, Aman made his name in more than 10 painting exhibits and several internationally acclaimed museum and coffee table books. He also became a sought-after Creative Advertising professor at the University of the Philippines, a personal finance guru speaking in several financial literacy seminars, and a beloved friend and mentor to his peers - of which includes the EntrepBuff team.

When asked what's his greatest failure?

When asked what's his greatest success?

Show notes:

I was supposed to be a doctor. But I am thankful with no regrets.

• It’s not bad to go on a single path of focus. Although eventually you’ll have forks on the road and decide to turn left or right, thus sometimes the fork will lead you to another path.
• Aman was expected to be a doctor, but decided otherwise to become an artist.
• The shift was difficult for the “expecting” family and especially for him.
• Aman considered his pre-med course a “blessing” since it proved useful in the arts.
• Skills and tools previously gathered could be used as instruments to try out new things - new ways, trades, businesses and endeavours.

The new path. Then the next. Then the next...

• His decision to work in a different field enabled him to working with other people, friends and even strangers.
• He was able to work without previous apprehensions and inhibitions because of that new, chosen path.
• “It’s like tabula rasa.”
• Word of the week: tabula rasa, 1) a mind not yet affected by experiences, impressions, etc. 2) anything existing undisturbed in its original pure state. According to dictionary.infoplease.com.
• He was able to confront people from a blank slate, his previous reputation did not precede him.
• Aman then went to teaching wherein he was not only able to learn how to “export” what he learned, but also to “import” from what his students know.

The benefits of exploring

• When painting, he uses anatomy that he learned during his pre-med. In business, he uses creative ways of marketing and advertising to relate to his clients.
• In exploring, you create a network, not only of people you’ll work with, but also of hidden traits, skills and talents that can be used and improved.
• With his explorations and through finding the arts, he reached contentment.
• Aman’s next paths to explore: farming, cooking and real estate.

The lesson

• Exploring new paths is like a light bulb, hollow with filaments that intertwine. Light bulbs glow and its light scatters, affecting others in a positive way. And for you, you become more relevant.

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