Seriously

September 30, 2008

“Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.”
- Elbert Hubbard -

What a great quote this is! We often take ourselves way too seriously, don’t we? Most of our problems are problems of our own mind. We can focus as easily on the solution as on the problem, but most of us tend to stick with the problem. The others, not you, of course :-)

Haven’t you experienced it before that in front of a challenge that you were terrified, having difficulties to find a way out and it looked like you were stuck and your whole life depended on it, while afterwards, when reflecting on it, how could you have been so seriously about this? It wasn’t such a biggie after all…Sure, it was a lesson to be learned! And did you learn the lesson or what? What do you mean: NO? So you had to go through this a couple of times? Right, so did I, but no longer…

Do you take yourself so seriously all the time? Why? Are you that important? Really?
Loosen up, have fun and enjoy more :-)

In fact: Enjoy Every Day,

Bert Verdonck
Create, Connect & Contribute

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Today’s Contract

June 17, 2008

In today’s cell phone, internet, fast moving society we see a contrast with a few of the most common human challenges we face.

Fear and insecurity. A human basic need, but so many people today are gripped, almost paralysed with a sense of fear. The vulnerability often fosters a resignation to riskless living and to co-dependy (or is it interdependeny?) with others at work and at home. The problem, in my humble opinion (imho), is that we are living in an interdependent reality, and our most important accomplishments require interdependency skills well beyond our present (and future?) abilities.

Next is the lack of life balance. Our lives are increasingly complex, stressful and exhausting. For all our efforts to manage our time, do more, be more and achieve greater efficiency (through lifehacking?), why is it that we find ourselves in a situation of subordinating health, family, integrity and many of the things that matter most to our work? Go in earlier, work harder, more efficient, stay later and sacrifice more, seems to be bringing peace of mind, but is it really worth it? I don’t think so, but who am I to state that? I’ve been there (+100 hours/week for years), done that (bought the T-shirt if you like) and didn’t want it no more.

I consciously choose to do the work that I love (it hardly feels like work nowadays!), and focus on what I really want in live. I delegate “stuff” I don’t want to do or get rid of it in some way, so that I can dedicate almost all my time to enjoying what I do. I’d say I became pretty good at it by now :-) And where are you? When do you start living (the life you really want)? What’s keeping you? When did you decide not to go easy on yourself? Get rid of that limiting believe and start living what you really dream of…I did it and so can you!

Something to think about, right? ;-)

Enjoy every day,
Bert Verdonck
Lifehacker & Coach

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May you live…

June 13, 2008

May you live all the days of your life.

- Jonathan Swift -

A nice wish by a great author (Gulliver’s Travels) to think about our daily lives. Why are so many of us just surviving and not really living their lives? Start realising that life’s too short and that you have to focus on your purpose in life. It may be over sooner than you think! What if today was your last day? How would you live it? What would you do? And why aren’t you living more days like this special “last day”?

I am grateful for every day and the magnificent opportunities and lessons that are coming my way. I am living my life! On top of that I am focusing on doing what I love to do and enjoying every bit of it!

So, what’s your excuse?

Enjoy every day,

Bert Verdonck

Create, Connect & Contribute

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Create your own business?

March 8, 2008

How many of us are dreaming of creating a business from doing something we are passionate about? How do you know what your passion is? Do you really think you can make money by just doing what you love? No? That’s why most people stop here and return to their daily job, being unhappy and remaining stuck for the rest of their lives. 

Of course, this is not about you ;-)  

What can you do to break this pattern? Start by creating a vision and dreaming again! Make a list of things you really, really love to do. It doesn’t matter if these have no correlation at first sight. Start writing now! 

Just come up with a list of stuff like driving luxury cars, dining in fancy restaurants, flying around the world to explore nature, etc. Wouldn’t it be great to do this for a living? Be paid for what you love to do…just make sure you choose something you really love! 

When you have this list, just Google and find out who else is doing this? Find out about your competitors. It would be great if you find them. That means there is a market for it,right? And if they can, you can too ;-)  

Now, think about this activity. Do you love it so much, you are dreaming of doing this every day? Would you enjoy it every day? Great! If not, go back to updating your list until you find something you are daily passionate about… 

The next step is to think about the business model. Most people never get started because they think they don’t have what it takes to build a successful business. In their mind they are lacking background (education, experience, age,…), resources (people, money, equipment,…) and guts (giving up security, positive attitude, business feeling,…). But guess what? No one does! Every entrepreneur is learning along the way! And who said you can’t start small? 

Before you do actually start, write a business plan and talk to some specialists. Most of them are willing to have a first look at your plan for free. All you have to do is ASK them! You might be surprised how many are ready to help a fellow entrepreneur… And if after a while you are absolutely sure, you didn’t find anyone, just ask me ;-)

The most important thing to do is to start working on the “What” you want to do. Make sure you are passionate about it! If you have found it, you can start working on the “How” of your business. You will see how much easier it gets once you have the “What”! 

Enjoy every day,

Bert Verdonck

Create, Connect & Contribute      

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