Author Archives: Guus

Belief

I somehow lost all belief recently, or at least I had put all kinds of negative beliefs, thoughts in my mind. And somehow it all goes back to history, to the things I did in the past and didn’t work out. So in that process I kind of stopped, in a not so convenient way I guess, and didn’t feel like doing anything anymore, as I just believed that the result of my actions would be negative or not be there. And this whole thing just got me in some negative spiral which I didn’t find a way out of. And I’m not sure yet if I’m out of it, but at least I started writing this post now and am trying to share something.

And I’m not sure if you recognize, but my ‘doing nothing’ just made me feel worse, made me feel guilty, especially as Napoleon Hill, and many other ‘self help’ guru’s somehow state that in the end it’s all about action. But I also know or believe that uninspired action doesn’t work either. So yes, somehow stopping is better than doing some kind of action without the right feel, without the right intention, even though I’m not fully sure if that’s correct in all situations. Just doing ‘something’ may also have a positive effect if you feel stuck or blocked or paralyzed. And my main worry(?!) is and was planning, as I still don’t have a proper plan for how to move on with Inspiration for Success, with achieving my personal success through it as described in many posts and especially my desire document related to Inspiration for Success.

So after feeling very bad and kind of helpless for the last few days I finally found some positive answer in the chapter about faith in Think and Grow Rich. And one of the things I found was that negative thoughts are fatal to success. But this was (and is still a bit) exactly happening to me: thinking negative thoughts. So I felt even more guilty as I was doing exactly the opposite of what was needed. But the chapter also gives clues how to get out of this type of thing and the main answer lies in autosuggestion. So my start was follow one of the instructions and reading the self confidence formula aloud. And that made me feel better already. And I just typed it, not copied it, to repeat it to myself in a different way. You may also want to do that, reading aloud and/or typing, as I believe it is a very powerful formula, including things like patience and being careful with one self, not ‘forcing’ action, the thing I was describing earlier in this post.

So where am I right now? Well, getting anxious again about my planning, that I don’t have and don’t know (yet) how to make, how to formulate. Let alone put into action or have others perform action from it.

But I want to share one more thing, as I also read aloud my one million dollar desire document that I made for this project, for the project Inspiration for Success. And this was the first time it really came alive and felt good, as it was one of the first times I read the current version that I made a few days ago. And that’s a bit weird, as many people would say, including me, that it’s kind of a weird, or ‘impossible’ document. But to me it’s proof that indeed the principle of auto-suggestion works, that you can make the mind believe virtually anything you want. And that’s indeed what the principles of success faith and auto-suggestion are all about.

And I’ll stop now, as I made a small step. And going from full-stop to running might not be wise.

Keep writing

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Yes, somehow I know the only thing that will make this site successful is to keep writing. Somehow I know it’s all about content. Somehow I know this site, this project is all about me. Like Ford was from Henry Ford and like the Trump stuff is Donald Trump. It is not someone else, it’s just them. They were the face and the decisive force, not anybody else. And somehow they found people to do the work, to believe in them, to advise them. But in the end it was just one person who was the face, who was the leader, maybe even who was the dictator. So with Inspiration for Success it’s me, Guus. No one else and I can’t hide behind anybody else or democracy in the team or something.

So yes, I guess I’ll just keep writing, just keep doing things, until other forces, other people will take over what I have in mind. Until I can somehow convey my ideas to other people and inspire, or just plainly motivate them to continue the work, do the work.

So this weekend I started doing things again, like sending an e-mail to the CEO of Wikipedia. By sending an e-mail to Allan Sweeney again. By trying to contact Cesar Millan to see if I can get in direct contact with him to talk about success, and failure. To talk about personality, mood and suicide. To how he managed to become famous where I did not yet.

And I started writing again. And putting the sign up box in the theme. As the team can’t find the time, as I wasn’t able to motivate (or inspire) the team.

And yes, the team gives feedback, sometimes. And sometimes they do things. But in the end I still feel alone, but maybe that’s how all leaders feel in the end. Maybe that’s the price you pay for leadership, for taking a stand, for believing in something, for believing crazy things.

So yes, I guess I’ll keep on writing. I guess I’ll pick up the plugin stuff that hasn’t been taken over by someone else yet. As everybody is too busy (and I’m not). And oh, yes, how much I would love to be busy, love to do some paid work. But last week the prospect for a major project decided to choose another supplier. And I was devastated. As there is nothing else at the moment. Except some other small stuff.

And the guilt keeps piling up still. As I could have done, should have done some things. Some things that should have been finished weeks ago. And yes, I did have the time. Just not the spirit, not the inspiration.

So here I am, complaining again. Trying to get some attention, from the team, from the world, from you. But I guess that’s not how it works. That’s not how success, the success I have in mind comes into being. I guess in the end it’s just me, at least for now, and no one else.

Ah, and I forgot. I wanted to write about the virtual Master Mind that Napoleon Hill created. An idea that I finally kind of copied somewhere last week. Creating some advisers, some committee in my mind. And I did. They are Donald Trump, Queen Beatrix, Richard Branson, Napoleon Hill and Cesar Millan. And indeed, after a few days it’s starting to take shape. They do have their own personality. And they are starting to get their own ways. Weird, but I think they can help me, guide me. And indeed, I’m in control.

Success and happiness

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Important post

Well, looking at the statistics this seems to be an important post, so maybe we should make this into a page in a later But for now we’ll just improve the content.

I liked this one, so copied from happiness and success.
And some interesting content there about this subject,but a bit scientific.

Related or the same?

And thinking about happiness and success they seem quite related or even the same. But somehow they’re not. Yesterday, November 23, 2013, I was watching a documentary about Leslie Cheung, a very successful actor and singer and probably much more. Actually this documentary inspired me to work further on the subjects happiness and success and their relation. But apparently Leslie Cheung was not very happy, no matter how successful he was, So success is certainly no guarantee for success.

And looking at some quotes and stuff while searching on Google for this subject I find thing like success does not bring happiness. It seems like the opposite is more true when I have to believe what is written and what people say.

So how to continue with this, how to make this into an inspiring post, how to make this article into something useful. Not easy, except that I have the feeling that in the end happiness is the most important thing. In the end I think humans just want to be happy. And the weird thing is, right at this moment, this very moment, actually I feel quite happy. And there are no real facts or so that supports this feeling, except that I was playing some music and finally decided to play it over the sound system instead of through the (very bad) speakers of the laptop I’m using right now. But somehow it has also to do with success, with the success I feel that I managed to build this website, build Inspiration for Success continuously. That I hardly skipped a day adding content, writing my daily post, no matter how good or bad and that I kept on sending my daily quotes, no matter that I don’t or didn’t know if people like it or appreciate it or not.

And another weird thing is that this morning I felt very bad, very unhappy. And as of the moment I’m certainly not successful (in ilfe). And the last makes me feel unhappy in general most of the times. But somehow, sometimes it turns around, apparently for not reason.

Happiness or how this article started

I just realized we missed an important subject on this site, in this project: happiness. Which I think is kind of weird. You see, in my mind ‘success‘ and ‘happiness‘ are somehow related, somehow the same. But there are two words for it, so apparently they are NOT the same. And also thinking, feeling about the words ‘happiness’ and ‘success’ they feel different. So happiness and success are different things, similar to the difference between ‘inspired‘ or ‘motivated‘. Also these two words have a different ‘feel’ to me and I guess to most people. Although of the last I’m not sure. Or not so sure anymore. As for me ‘success’ means something like ‘being able to do the things I like to do, want to do’ which is the same as ‘being happy’. But that’s for me? And I’m starting to wonder if it’s the same for all people, or for some, or for many.

So well, yesterday or so I started to dig into ‘happiness’, presuming I was digging into ‘success’. And apparently I wasn’t. And I was pointed to that by a reply of Prof. Ruut Veenhoven who I contacted being an expert in happiness (which I thought was ‘success’). And he said something like ‘nice site, convenient for people who are looking for greater happiness through success’. And that made me realize that happiness and success are definitely not the same, although I still believe success leads to happiness. But I’m not so sure anymore.

Happy or not?

As just like five or ten minutes ago I was asking myself if I felt happy or not. And as of the moment I’m quite OK, relatively happy. But I certainly don’t feel successful. Or do I? And I’m not playing with words here, I’m just stating my feelings.

So indeed, you can be happy any moment. As right now, as of this moment, I’m certainly not successful, my (financial) life is in ruins, my partner is out which I don’t like, I was not able to do the things I wanted to do today, but I still feel OK, even kind of happy while writing this.

So what made me feel happy? Did I have any influence on it? Did I do anything specific? I’m not sure. As this morning and the last few days I was in a terrible mood which somehow I did not feel to be able to change. And somehow, somewhere today I managed to start doing some little things and slowly I felt like coming to life (again). And I don’t know how I did it. And I wouldn’t know how to repeat it. And looking back it somehow started with doing some little things I knew I could finish, I knew I could be successful with. But going from that kind of bad mood into ‘doing something’ is a very big leap. And I don’t know how I did it. And I know this normally starts with ‘doing something’. So I know rationally what to do. But when I’m in that type of mood my ratio doesn’t seem to be working. In that type of mood somehow I want to stay in that mood, just feel bad or something. Just feel pity with myself and blame all the world, or blame myself.

Success (again?)

So is this what successful people do better? Somehow moving themselves into action faster than I do? And is it indeed ‘habit’? But if so, then why can’t I seem to be able to do it ‘at will’? Ah, willpower. Another subject I’ve been thinking a lot about recently. And yes, somehow that’s part of the basics of success: willpower, being able to control your mind, control your thoughts. But why can’t I do that (yet)? Even if I can reason that out? Or indeed, one may end up with things like “your desire for success needs to be greater than…”.

And how to convert this into inspiration for success?

Useful feedback on this article

And I just got feedback from John on how to make content more useful to our readers. And he said to provide a solution for a problem. But I don’t really have for changing my mood, except that I somehow know it started with ‘doing something’, doing something small I was sure I could finish. And maybe that’s what success is all about in the end. Just doing little things and finishing them.

So what now?

Well, it’s November 24, 2013 and I am just trying to make this post into something more useful as it appears many people are interested in the relation between success and happiness. Or just in success. Or in happiness. Or they think success implies happiness or vice versa.

But somehow it’s not. Although, as I started this article, I believe in the end we all just want to be happy. And success is just a means we think that could lead us there. And maybe sometimes it does. But I guess often it also doesn’t.

So I’ll just end with something that came to me through Abraham Hicks, who says something like:

“Just find something to be happy about and be happy, no matter what. Just be happy.”

This article started as a post by Guus but as it seems to be an important subject we may want to convert it into a page in a later stage. Last edited by Guus on November 24, 2013.

Comparison

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Jealous

I notice more and more that I am jealous on many people, especially famous and rich people, and recently even something like on anybody who has a job or some kind of (decent) income. And as I often read to not compare yourself with others and as jealousy is considered a negative emotion I am thinking about those things a lot.

And one of the things I was thinking is how happy those rich and/or famous people actually are. And how often they are happy or considered successful. And indeed, if I would want to change with them.

But most I am thinking about especially actors that my image of them is certainly not true and that there are probably only a few actors who are really successful most of their lives. And people may be successful or happy with their (acting) job or with their business success, but often I also read about their problems in relationship and/or problems with their children and such.

And being really famous probably means you need security 24/7, even if you don’t have a job. And of course actors jobs are temporary, as movies are relatively short term projects and TV series mostly don’t last for more than a few years or seasons.

So I was thinking to make this more real and make a list of people who I consider are successful and/;or people I’m jealous with. And then maybe do some research and try to figure out if they are really more happy than I am.

And I was just shocked finding some, probably based on research, figure that you can only influence happiness for only 40% yourself and that the remaining 60% is defined by character or circumstances. Something to look into I guess, because I thought happiness (and success) was just a choice, relatively independent on character or circumstances.

Famous and rich people

So let’s make the list of famous and rich people I am jealous of. For now in random order, with some comment if I know some more about them:

Leonardo DiCaprio: very famous actor, famous since relatively young age. Probably very rich. Considered a very good and successful actor. Seems to have problems in relationships.
Donald Trump: very rich and somehow famous public personality. Came from a rich family and continued his fathers business as far as I know. Has problems with relationships and has been bankrupt at least once.
Andrew Carnegie: very rich ‘sample’ of Napoleon Hill. Don’t really know something about him, especially that he was one of the tycoons when ‘America was built’.
Oprah Winfrey: very rich and famous TV personality. What is she doing different from me (and you?). Fully don’t understand why she is where she is. Her personality?
Justin Bieber: very famous singer at very young age. As far as I know he started singing, performing at very young age. I presume and as far as I know his mother ‘pushed’ (or helped?) him to get where he is now at very young age. Seems to have quite some personal problems, e.g. with girls/relationships.
Matt Damon: famous actor. As far as I know he had his struggles to become a famous actor, but as far as I know he realized his being famous at relatively young age.
Rick Harrison (Pawn Stars): seems to be quite rich from his business (that his father seems to have started) and now famous through his TV performance in Pawn Stars on History. Interesting story in Wikipedia though about Rick Harrison trying for four(!) years to get his shop in a TV show. So some dreaming and persistence involved. Or maybe even a lot. Divorced twice according to Wikipedia, so not so lucky in relationship/marriage it seems.
John Travolta: famous actor. Is older than I thought. Seems to have had quite some ups and downs in his movie career. Main issue in his life I guess is the loss of his son, where as far as I know the loss of a child is the worst thing that can happen to a human being. He also lost his first wife and seems to have (had) some marriage problems with his second wife. He owns several planes so must be quite rich.
Bill Gates: the face of Microsoft and is one of the richest people on earth. As far as I know he is more of a visionary than a business man and I feel some connection with him in also being a bit a visionary and (maybe?) technical. Still wondering how he made it so far and I didn’t even really take off. The right time, the right place and the right people? There must be more thinking of the Principles of Success. Also older than I thought.
Steve Jobs: for me especially important as he seems to thrive on being charismatic. Had his ups and downs, but as far as I know financially never as bad as I have and had. Had his ups and downs business wise though which must have hurt him badly. Struggled with cancer and finally died from it. Was older than I thought, but died relatively young.
Al Pacino: don’t know much about him. Always think his name is fake, but I’m not sure.
Jon Voight: always liked him, but weird to me that he is not so handsome. But why would an actor be? Quite some serious family problems, so happy?
Steve Buscemi: the ugliest actor I ever saw in movies. And I guess the actor I admire most, as he turned his looks into an asset playing roles that really fit his looks. I guess I takes courage to do something like that and I cannot imagine it must have been easy for him. And weird, until just now I didn’t even know his name. Bravo!

Other actors, not so impressive to me, but worth mentioning:

Tom Hanks.

Some conclusions

As indicated in the introduction I have been thinking a lot about rich and famous people recently. And I still can’t figure out why they ‘made it’ and I didn’t. I can’t imagine they’re that much better than I am or you are. They can’t be all those people who work 24/7, work hard, are persistent beyond all means, etc., etc. So what is it? Is it attitude? Is it still something like Law of Attraction? Is it indeed this ‘break’, this opportunity they saw or had? Is it this person they met? Is it the location they were? Do they have a different personality? Or is it still something like luck?

I’m still not fully sure what it is, but I’m sure they’re all not that different from you and me. So maybe persistence is still the biggest thing and I’m going to find out. With this site, this project I’m more and more determined to figure out how all those people I consider famous and successful and I’m not are where they are now. And how they stay there.

And yes, another thing I found out and see more and more. There are an awful lot of famous and rich people around. Not like ten or twenty, but hundreds or thousands or even ten thousands. And rich people there are even more. So there is room out there and it is possible to get there, also for you and me.

So what would I write?

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Leondardo DiCaprio Today’s quote made me think about what success means to me:

“Define success on your own terms, achieve it by your own rules, and build a life you’re proud to live.” – Anne Sweeney

And it brought me back to my history, where success just meant like finding a job (and I was supposed to have a good job as I’m quite intelligent) and just work and live a happy life, live the life I knew as a child and that was pretty OK with me. How different did my life go, but maybe that’s just how life goes.

So this quote of today made me think of how I would define success today. And I think I wouldn’t define it much different than when I was a child, when I grew up. And today I read this page about what ‘successful people’ do: 10 high performance habits that lead to success. And I know somehow those things are true, but it’s not the whole truth. Because I did win the morning, somewhere in my life. And I did do the hard things. And yes, maybe I didn’t embrace feedback. But I think I did learn from failures, although looking back maybe not enough. And yes, maybe I’m not good at choosing the right attitude. But I did do a lot, an awful lot of one more. And it didn’t work out mostly, so I’m very careful doing one more at the moment, or doing anything. And I think I have a purpose, although the desire might not be big enough or clear enough. And maybe I’m not recommitting every day. And yes, patience has not been my strongest side. But in the end I think I do not fear anyone.

So looking back at this I think I have not done that bad in those success habits. So I should have success. But I don’t. And looking at all kinds of other lists with similar ‘success things’ I think I’ve not done bad on those also. So what’s going on? What’s the secret? Why don’t I have what I think I should have, I’m supposed to have? Something is still missing, and there wouldn’t be so many websites and self help books and training and courses and what else if I were the only one. And it seems also that mostly ‘those who are already there’ benefit mostly of it. And good samples for me in the ‘self help industry’ are people like Esther and Jerry Hicks, Anthony Robbins, Bob Proctor, maybe Joel Osteen and there are many more. It seems they’re doing pretty OK and I guess they do. Or are they mainly keeping up an image? Or is it their personality? Do they have certain treats I don’t have, you don’t have? And the hard part is that it would be hard to ‘counter’ them. As they have made it and I have not. And somehow they have the power and I have not.

And some other successes I also don’t fully understand, where people seem to have achieved success at very young age, like Leonardo DiCaprio and Justin Bieber, although (young) people who succeed (early) in life seem to have one thing in common: having the right support from someone else, which I feel never had. But again, this is basically the reason why Inspiration for Success exists as I want to find a way to give everything that external support he or she needs.

And that’s what has been bothering me for a long time, that it’s easy to say what you should do or shouldn’t do or how to do it when you’re already ‘there’. But if you’re not there, you keep wondering what you’re doing wrong, at least I do. So yes, somehow I still intend to be ‘there’, probably through this website, this project. But as of now I’m not and I’m suffering quite a lot of ‘not being there’. And yes, somehow this is still the answer, that if I keep doing this, keep writing, keep pushing Inspiration for Success, no matter what, I’ll be ‘there’ one day.

But I’m not there yet, and that’s not always easy.