Author Archives: Guus

Fundamentals of leadership

Somehow I started reading in the book “The Leader Who Had No Title” from Robin Sharma, even though I don’t like it so much. And I was not really into doing something, just wanted to relax, and didn’t really know what to do, so I just opened the book and started reading. And again, I don’t like how the book is written, the style, but somehow I kept reading and the content of the book is good, that is what I know, as I read most of the book before. And as before I started at the beginning, and started getting a bit bored, a bit annoyed with the style of writing, this time I decided to start pretty much at the end, as I presumed that was a part had not read before.

And the content was quite interesting, kind of linked to things I am currently doing, linked to spirituality, so I kept reading for a while. And while reading I was kind of struck by the “Seven Fundamentals of Leadership” as stated, even so much that it inspired me to write about it, share it here. Maybe just because I like lists, like the Principles of Success :).

And I have no clue what to write about them, but here they are:

Learning.
Affirmations.
Visualization.
Journaling.
Goal setting.
Exercise.
Nutrition.

Ah, and now I remember why I wanted to share, as especially ‘affirmations‘ and ‘visualization’ are things I can related to, especially affirmations, as I started doing affirmations quite recently. And somehow having a list of (positive) affirmations seems to work, even though I have not been that serious with them the last few days, the last week.

Mmm, and I am not sure how to continue now, as I don’t have much more to say about this. Maybe that it also struck me that what I read today also had strong relations with the ideas of Napoleon Hill, the author of Think and Grow Rich, the book that was the foundation for this site. Like our life is the result of our thinking, is the result of how we think. And that we can influence the way how we think. But that is another story and can be found elsewhere, probably better in other sites than in this site.

My affirmations revised

Leave a reply

A while ago I started writing down a list of affirmations, based on a suggestion of Louise Hay. And I made some revisions that I wanted to share here. This is my current list:

Affirmations of Guus Ellenkamp:

I am a unique and precious creation with my own desires. I have the right for them to become true.
I am willing to start to believe that money can and will flow to me in many different ways and that it will come in the right quantities and at the right time.
Every hour of Coda Step work is bringing me more happiness and prosperity.
Every day my world opens up more, which is confirmed by seeing more of the world through the view of The Malasag House.
I deserve more prosperity in my life.
I deserve more happiness in my life.
I deserve more joy in my life.
<private>.
I deserve a loving https://www.inspiration-for-success.com/higher-power/.
I deserve the ability to be able to memorize more.
I am working around 40 hours per week in service of other people in a relaxed way, with services that suit me as a person and that make me happy to give and that make other people happy to receive.
I am using the remaining time for things that give me fun and joy.
I am willing to let go of superstition.
I am willing to let go of the part of me that drives people away from me.
There are many forces in the Universe willing to help me and helping me.

And I wanted to share that if I want to change something I don’t believe yet, can’t say yet, I just start with a very careful statement, like what I did with the second affirmation: “I am willing to start to believe…”, where I even went beyond the “I am willing” as that was still a too strong statement for me.

What I notice with these type of things, especially with my Desire Document, that after a while I can make the statement stronger, so maybe I could already change the “I am willing to start to believe…” into “I am willing to believe…” or “I am starting to believe…” for my second item. Actually this happens automatically for me, that after a while I am just starting to believe one notch, one step more of the statement.

And I noticed I didn’t like to put an item in the number thirteen position, which made me realize that somehow I am superstitious, which according to Napoleon Hill is a negative emotion. So I just made an affirmation of it related to superstition.

Just wanted to share this, if you don’t know how to start with doing affirmations or how to phrase them. What did not work for me was copying them from e.g. the affirmations Louise Hay stated in one of her tapes, but feel free to copy my list or part of my list and start from there.

I just started small, with some things I wanted to become true and could believe, could say aloud without feeling uncomfortable.

And my latest revision is just on the page My Affirmations again, so this page does not make much sense anymore, as the original is just gone.

Starting again

Leave a reply

For quite a few days I wanted to write here again already. But I didn’t know what to write, so I kind of postponed. But today I thought, well, let’s just start, same like the sharing in my Twelve Steps group. At first I didn’t have so much to share and was often finished within the time allowed, but lately I just talk and mostly I just keep talking. And also there, I just start, not knowing what I want to share. I only know participating in my Twelve Steps groups and sharing helps me, makes me feel better, as I noticed if I don’t share, it makes a difference.

And looking back this whole Inspiration for Success thing was about sharing, was about wanting to be heard. And I still want to be heard, want to achieve something. But more and more it is about me, about sharing myself, sharing my thoughts, helping me, and hopefully also someone else, you.

So one of the thing I encountered today was this:

“Wikipedia describes guilt as “a cognitive or an emotional experience that occurs when a person realizes or believes — accurately or not — that he or she has compromised his or her own standards of conduct or has violated a moral standard and bears significant responsibility for that violation.” The purpose of guilt is to enable us to make amends or right what we did wrong. When we wallow in guilt however, or think of ourselves as bad people, then we have moved on to toxic shame which is mostly unhealthy and unproductive.” – Anon

And the main reason is that I am feeling an enormous amount of guilt. And I asked something like what the purpose of guilt is. And this was the answer someone gave.

Another thing I encountered today was the daily, or regular e-mail of Leo Babauta. And I won’t copy it here, as I think it is too long, but you can just read it at Meditation according to Leo Babauta.

And I don’t know what to write further, so maybe I’ll write here later on, maybe not. But at least I started again, and that feels very good.

Better to reach or receive

Leave a reply

For quite a while I have the feeling to start writing here again, or just write maybe once. And I already started with that a bit, but somehow I want to go back to the regular writing, but it seems it is still not the time for that.

But today I want to share something important, which was triggered with some changes in my Desire Document. And don’t get me wrong, I never made substantial changes in my Desire Document, even though in the end I may do that. But as time passes I am learning new things, have learned to look at things different, and that made me rephrase some things in my Desire Document as that just ‘felt‘ better.

So today I was sharing part of my Desire Document with someone, and I realized there was still something like ‘achieving goals’, and recently my believe changed in the way that I believe that we as human beings cannot ‘achieve things’, ‘achieve goals’. Somehow these things are given to us. As without God or Infinite Intelligence or whatever Higher Power you believe in, agrees with things happening, things won’t happen. And I started believing that based on the idea of Higher Power in Twelve Step programs and it seemed fully contrary to all self help stuff and even contrary to everything written in Think and Grow Rich. But to my amazement starting to read Think and Grow Rich again after I had put it away for a while because it was just ‘too much’ for me to handle, I saw Napoleon Hill states exactly the same thing: that without invoking Infinite Intelligence nothing will really happen. And I guess that is the secret he is talking about in many places in the book, at least for me, as you may read and interpret the book different than I did.

So I was triggered by something like achieving a goal. And with my current beliefs I cannot ‘achieve’ a goal, cannot achieve anything without some Higher Power helping me or doing it for me. And no, I don’t know how that works and why it is like that as I am only human and cannot understand how the world works. But as Napoleon Hill also states, things happen according to the laws of the universe and this seems to be one of them, that without any help or approval of the Higher Power of The Universe nothing happens.

So I am starting to change things like ‘achieve‘ into ‘receive‘ or reach and things like ‘goal‘ into ‘desire‘. As I can’t do it alone.

And I am starting to agree with Napoleon Hill and what I find in many other places: that you can’t get to the point where I am right now in an easy way, like by just reading this article. You have to (oh, how I hate this phrase ‘have to’) do the work. But indeed, it is not hard work, it is more like searching for the spiritual. And looking back it also doesn’t feel like ‘have to’.

Higher Power

Leave a reply

There are two things in my mind to write about right now and the first is about Higher Power related to Think and Grow Rich. And the second is how would I remember to share my stuff when I am successful. Would I forget all the misery I went through and not give you the information you may need if you are still in the position where I am still now and was when I started Inspiration for Success?

Well, let’s just start with the concept of Higher Power, a concept derived from Twelve Steps programs, where part of the program is developing a connection with a self defined Higher Power, so not a God as defined in most religions.

And one of the things that is beginning to strike me, and actually has for quite a while already, that (virtually?) any religion or spiritual program is based on something like God, or Higher Power, or as Napoleon Hill calls it, Infinite Intelligence. And looking at the Twelve Step program I am working on, the concept of Higher Power is something to be developed. It is not something that just is, contrary to the Gods of the religions that I know. And I am actually a bit amazed, as for quite I while I felt stuck in Step 1, the powerlessness, and I was very anxious to move forward to Step 2, as that is about Higher Power, the thing I read and heard about in many places and it seemed to be the wonder thing that would solve my problems, so I really wanted that also. But it didn’t show up and I kept stuck in Step 1 for quite a while.

And then somehow, while still working on Step 1, something like Higher Power started to show up, just out of nothing. And it was not the wonder thing I was hoping it would be, but where I was so anxiously searching for it it somehow showed up, and as said, not as the thing I wanted it to be, but it was just there, presenting itself to me in the form I was ready for, the form I could handle.

The amazing thing I encountered recently though was that I started reading Think and Grow Rich again, after I had given it, to, yes, something like my Higher Power for a while, as I couldn’t deal with it anymore and gave it to my Higher Power to deal with, maybe even already somehow available for me anyhow, and while writing this it could be that my Higher Power has been with me and helping me for much longer than I realize.

So while re-reading some chapters in Think and Grow Rich it appeared that a whole new world opened for me, as there it was, the concept of Higher Power also standing in front of me all over this book I thought I know so well. And the idea of repetition and continuing going and doing the work as mentioned in the book started to make much more sense to me then ever before. And similarities with the Higher Power of the Twelve Steps programs and even some texts from e.g. the bible seem to say the same thing. And of course concepts like The Secret and the ideas of Abraham Hicks point in the same direction.

And I am not there yet, having the success what I am looking for. But I think I am starting to see what it is all about, no matter how depressed I am right now or where I stand. And it seems to be about doing the work, going through a process, and indeed not about just working hard. So just start anywhere, start from where you are right now. Start with any spiritual or self-help program or religious concept and go from there, work it.