“Pass or Fail?

How to be the Best Youth Ever”

By Ronald Molmisa
A Book Review by
JAMES DANIEL DELOS SANTOS
CRISTY CAMACHO
JUSTINE COLINE HERMOGENES
RICARDO MOLINA
Introduction
This book was covered and illustrated by Nixon Na based on an illustration by Cyrop.com. Also
it was published on 2015 in the Philippines by OMF Literature Inc.

This book by the author Ronald Molmisa have been a manuscript in his laptop, and have been
stocked for a long time for he was writing a book series at that time. He has been serving in the
youth ministry for more than 17 years. He is the author of the best-selling relationship books:
Lovestruck (Love Mo Siya, Sure Ka Ba?), Lovestruck: Singles Edition and Lovestruck: Sexy
Edition, published by OMF Literature in 2010, 2012 and 2013, respectively. Another book on
studying habits was published in 2011, Pass or Fail? (How to be the best student ever). Pastor
Ronald is the founding president/Head Pastor of Generation 3:16 Ministries, a ministry focused on
disciplining the younger generation. Ronald is an academic researcher by training and discipline.
He graduated Valedictorian at Rizal High School-Pasig City (Batch 1995). He obtained his
Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration and his Master in International Studies (major in
Political Science) in 2001 and 2005, respectively at UP-Diliman. He is currently finishing his PhD
in Political Science, also at the same university. Before embracing full-time ministry in June 2013,
he served as a professor of political science at the following universities: UP-Diliman (2010-
2013), Lyceum University of the Philippines-Manila (June-October 2010), De La Salle University
Manila (2007-2009) and Ateneo de Manila University (2006-2008). He started as a researcher at
the Third World Studies Center (UP-Diliman) (2002-2005). The main reason why he wrote this
book is because God has been the center of his life and he believes that it is the time to share what
God has accomplished to his life. Being in the seminary for about 20 years taught him about a lot
of things about God, himself and about the people around him. He always wanted to preach other
people and teach them not to waste the prime years of their lives. By successfully finishing writing
this book he was enlightened by his will to influence the lives of people. To help people be
successful in their own little ways. And if we were to ask what we can relate to his life, it’s about
his failures because he once failed and become hopeless but then he figured out himself what to
do and that is why he cope up with it but also with the help of our father. Lord, God.

Body
This book is written in conversational Tagalog-English
"After makuha ang diploma, ano na?

OK lang na pagkagraduate ay bumawi ka muna sa tulog (from your many sleepless nights
kakatapos ng requirements) pero wag maiwang natutulog sa pansitan.

Young person, welcome to the real world of getting no more allowance and paying your own bills!
Eto na ang moment mo to shine. Prove to yourself and to others na kaya mo nang tumayo sa sarili
mong mga paa.
And with God by your side, who knows kung gaano kalayo ang mararating mo?”

Its Chapters are.

Serving Size: 1 reader
Wala nang Pabebe
Ikaw Na!
Ramdam Kita!
Push Mo Yan!
Bahala na si Batman?
Grow pa more!
Para Kanino Ka Bumabangon?
Achieve na achieve!"

The best thing about this book is that it has areas in which you can analyze yourself, about your
strengths, weaknesses and your personality. Every part of the book comes with a biblical
explanation of something happening in our daily lives. Remarkable quotes by famous people such
as philosopher and writers can be found in this book. One of my favorite lines and quotes about
this book is “You can spend the entire second half of your life recovering from the mistakes of the
first half”. It is well explained in a certain part of the book where Ronald Molmisa tells about a
story in the bible where King Solomon once have been a failure and judged by the people in his
community. Just like us humans, no one is perfect and we should accept that.

I also like the part where appreciating ones’ personality is highlighted, there he explains that every
person has four basic personalities such as Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholic, and Phlegmatic. He
also proved it by adding supporting facts about the DISC PERSONALITY TEST by the American
Psychologist Willian Marston in 1920s. He explains that people may complement or doesn’t meet
to one another. In general Ronald Molmisa pointed out that it seems fairly obvious to be the best
versions of ourselves with the right people around us. Everyone’s success depends on how we deal
with situation and also with the people around us.

There is also a part where Ronald Molmisa teaches the readers what to prioritize and what to
sacrifice. He gave this table about SMARTER GOALS, He introduced George Doran which is a
consultant and the one who planned a SMART CRITERIA as a strategic planning in such
activities. The Doran Concept explains SMARTER GOALS furtherly, where S stands for Specific,
M is Measurable, A is Attainable, R is Result Oriented, T is Time Bound, E is Evaluated and R
stands for Recorded. He also gives example of situation where we can apply this SMARTER
GOALS. It was such Idealistic and Realistic.

In the latter part of the book, Ronald Molmisa imposes numbers of advices which we can use to
be that ‘BEST YOUTH' which is indicated in the title.
Activity and productivity are two different things, being workaholic is different from being a high
performer. You must learn that to be efficient is to be effective. You need to accomplish what you
really need to do. To be efficient is to produce more than you are expected to do.

Narrow your focus. Busy people think they are doing a lot. Productive people focus on few tasks
because they want to deliver quality of work. If you are engrossed with work, you tend to multitask.
And if you do it, your productivity decreases by at least 40 percent because you shift from one task
to another. Our brain can only do one thing at a time. The less you do, the greater things you will
accomplish.

Declutter your Schedule. Being busy is a decision. Do not let yourself to be overpower by too much
toxic and stress that can give you so much negativity and can cause you to have lack of energy.

Golden Rule: Don’t Sacrifice your Relationships. This is the bottomline of all: if you are busy, you
are not present to do other things. There are lots of people who chose to be a mile away from their
families just to earn money. But our loved ones do not primarily need our salary, they need our
attention.

Those are the learnings I get after reading the book, Ronald Molmisa make sure that he can affect
his readers not just after reading his book but forever. The readers can embody their learnings in
the book.

Conclusion
It's a very practical and straightforward book for those who want to have success in life at this
point. Youths will really appreciate it especially that every word are made in full relevance to
them. Every insertion of conventional and also biblical quotations are in here and detailed in
footnotes. Tables are easily understood. Life applications are made simple. It's a must-read book.

Reading this book taught me lot of things. “You cannot short circuit success. You need to endure
the process how difficult it may be.
I highly recommend this book, by Ronald Molmisa, both for young and old who can't find focus
and purpose in life, it is an easy read with just 140 pages. The author's tips and suggestions is
both biblical and logical.
Chapter 1 - Talks about knowing yourself, self-love and acceptance is very important.

Chapter 2 - Ikaw na, talks about knowing "who am I", appreciating your personality, cultivating
a healthy self-esteem and knowing about God's purpose of your life.

Chapter 3 - Ramdam Kita, is all about increasing emotional intelligence (EI), getting rid of toxic
relationships, taming tongue, forgiveness and love
Chapter 4 - Push Mo Yan, is knowing and learning to be the child of God, ability to do things
and loving what you do.
Chapter 5 - Bahala na si Bayman is all about knowing your priorities.

Chapter 6 - Level-up Pa More, Chapter 7 - Para Kanino Ka Bumabangon, Chapter 8 - Achieve na

Achieve- Is about the unending learning, trials, and sacrifices in life.

It's a good book. Helpful specially to disorganized people. Informative, because of the tips and
stories provided. But it's still up to the reader if he/she is going to adjust his attitude and follow the
suggested solutions indicated. Read this book couple of weeks ago and it is a very light and positive
books that motivates you. It is not the kind of book wherein the words are so deep that you'll end
up closing it. It was really entertaining and helpful.