Tag Archives: Sharing

Dreams of the poor

Today we were driving through a very poor neighborhood. You could call it slums. And while driving there I was wondering what people in those neighborhoods are dreaming of, what people in those neighborhoods want to achieve in life. And I have thought about that more often lately, as e.g. I have been trying to help a fourteen year old boy from a poor family dream bigger. And I am not sure if I arrived, as in the end he cheated on me, so I didn’t trust him anymore. And I told him that. And then he didn’t come back. So maybe I have given him something, something for a better life, maybe not. Time will tell.

And no, I’m not so much upset about those things anymore. As it is his life, it is life, and I just tried to do my best and it is up to him what to do with it. And yes, I know a person like me, a grown up, a foreigner, might make quite some impression. And as I know what other people can do to children, like the influence parents have over how a child developed, I have been very careful what I told him, what I tried to teach him. And yes, I was a bit disappointed he didn’t come back. But that is maybe partly because of the culture. As I didn’t have any clue how to deal with the trust issue. But somehow I was hoping we could repair it, continue with finding some more success for him than his family has, than I had until now.

But yes, today I was confronted with the fact again that I have no clue what people in those poor neighborhoods dream about, what they consider success, what would inspire them for, well, do better?

And I still don’t speak the language here, which is kind of a handicap in a situation like that, if you want to know more about the lives of those people and trying to help them find a better life. As Philippine people may be happier than average, still, living and/or being born in a neighborhood like that I guess is not really an advantage.

Inspiring, again

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As you may have noticed I guess my posts were not that interesting lately and probably not really inspiring. But slowly I am getting into a more inspiring mood, so I hope soon I will add some more inspiring stuff to this site again.

And I guess this is not the easiest period in a web project, as I know it takes about two years for a website to kind of take off. And it is only like one and a half year ago that I started Inspiration for Success, so I can’t really expect a lot, especially as I have been doing most of it alone and as my ambition like writing a post every day and creating inspirational tools and those things just take time and effort.

So yes, often the statement of Abraham Hicks about people who seem to have nice things coming to them quite easily sticks in my mind. As I still don’t know how that works, I still don’t know how I would allow that to happen to me. As when I started the project I thought I had some people working with me to make this site, this project a success. But they all backed out, they hardly put any time in the project, except the weekly meetings, the weekly conference calls. And yes, a few times a few hours or something. At least that is what I know about. But I have been writing every day, sending an inspirational quote every day, so I have put quite some time and effort. And yes, I made the start with the inspirational tools. So did things come easy to me? Well, not really in my opinion.

So while writing this right now I’m thinking something like ‘what’s next’. As I am not planning to give up on this, even though this project did not really bring me anything yet, at least not the thing I was looking for, the thing I was asking for. And yes, the site, the writing brought me a lot, like writing everything down, having something to look back to. And it taught me about persistence. And it taught me about leadership, like accepting more that probably a leader is often alone, that he or she has to set the pace, guide the team and not be part of it.

And yes, while writing this right now, I am thinking of my original goals with this site, with this project, where I think the main original goal was to achieve success fully in the open using the Principles of Success as described by Napoleon Hill. And this thinking brings me back to the beginning, to the start of Inspiration for Success, where I did a lot more work with a lot more enthusiasm and I guess a lot more result.

And yes, of course I am thinking also of stopping, like where does this whole thing lead, as Inspiration for Success certainly does not have the traffic, the users I originally had in mind. And while writing I have no clue how I would get everything to the quantity and quality of inspiring people, motivating people I originally had in mind. But that is maybe also where I should go back to right now, just redefine, or better revive my dream: offering inspiration for people like me, people who didn’t find inspiration all their life within their environment.

So if that applies to you, please let me know. And maybe I can help you, and probably others, if I know where you stand, what you want and what you are going through. So please let me know.

You have a problem

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I am kind of upset as my partner keeps telling me I have a problem and I’m not sure how to deal with that. And we were sitting with a friend and it seems she kind of agrees and that hurts me very much. And it seems neither of them seems to see how much I am hurting and affected with what is being said and how I feel attacked by what is said. And somehow I don’t seem to get what my partner expects from me as he wants me to have more understanding and I have no clue what he means. And part of this may be cultural, as I am European and they are Asian and it seems there is quite some difference in how culture works, how individual thinking or group thinking works.

So finally my partner asked me to leave as he was about to hit me again. And no, physical violence in a relationship was never in my vocabulary and somehow it still isn’t, but I know now a bit how it works, at least from the perspective of the person on the receiving end.

So what am I doing wrong here, as it seems the two friends seem to agree that it is me who is the problem. And so yes, I am the one alone and making a stand for what I believe in. And indeed, that is different from a while ago, as I have gained a lot of self confidence and now stay with what I believe in, no matter what others say.

So now, while writing and not knowing what to do, not knowing about this ‘you have a problem’ or ‘you are wrong’ as it arrives, I am not fully sure what is next. As the strange thing indeed is that ‘everybody’, as my partner states it, agrees that I have a problem.

So am I really wrong? No, I don’t think so. But yes, there seems to be a problem, except I don’t know what it is. And while writing I realize that somehow everybody wants to solve this problem.

So how to solve a problem where you don’t understand what’s the problem.

And if everybody wants to solve the problem, then why can’t it be solved?

Late again

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It is late again, but this time a bit a different reason than usual, as for the last few days I have been a bit ill, which meant I couldn’t sleep because my nose was clogged and I was coughing in a very bad way. And even right now I don’t know exactly what to do, as I’m not sure if I can sleep with my cough, even though I feel better than yesterday.

And with this all, even being a bit sick, I feel still very calm and sure about my daily planning, my daily to-do list. As I know I am going to finish it, no matter what. So again, what I think I wrote before one of these days, something has changed, somehow I am more confident, more calm, feel more secure. And it shows also I guess, in private as well as business conversations. As tonight I had a very open discussion about my private life, my private challenges, with someone who I don’t know that long yet and who is actually a business contact, a customer. But she feels good and I am trusting my inner being a lot more now about what to do and whom to trust, contrary to before, where I mostly listened to my partner or other friends about what to do, what to tell and whom to trust.

So there must be some truth in the suggestion of Napoleon Hill to shield yourself from the opinion of other people, especially the people closest to you. As apparently I am starting to do that and it feels good, it feels great and it gives me a more overall feeling of confidence. And there must be something in this discipline and planning thing, like “plan the work and work the plan” as even though my planning is very minimal, just ‘working it’ gives me, again, a feeling of self confidence.

And yes, my partner is gone (again), emotionally as well as physically, but again, the suggestion related to the fear of loss of love to then ‘just do without love’ has made me less vulnerable to all kinds of emotions of despair. And keep in mind, this is still not easy for me, as love, relationship and the related idea of having a home, are the most important things in my life, as they are for most people I guess. But I am also starting to see that the more relaxed and easy I am about this, the more likely it will be that things will be okay. As desperately clinging to your partner or something is probably not something your partner likes.

So yes, despite I was ill and was kind of desperate the last few nights, not being able to sleep and feeling alone, right now I feel pretty good, pretty okay.

So there must be something in all those ideas, those Principles of Success. As since I started working from the book Think and Grow Rich, and yes, also some other books and sites, it seems somehow my life is getting better, at least I have gained a lot of self confidence. And no, I’m not ‘there’ yet. But if there is a road to ‘there’, than I am certainly on a road leading there.

So if you are interested in those principles, you might want to sign up to the tools section of this site and put your score on each of the Principles of Success. As that may give you some insight on what areas in your life you would want to improve, change things.