Finger pointing, is… pointless. Blaming something or someone else for your situation may feel good at first, but really, it doesn’t get you anywhere. Even when you’re right, it doesn’t change anything and worse, it makes you powerless: you give all your energy away. Saying something or someone else is responsible, makes you dependent. Like you have no say in what happens to you. Taking responsibility for yourself however, gives you options. You can make choices, change things, take action, in other words: you’re calling the shots. Taking responsibility can feel as a burden, but it sets you free in how to deal with life. I read a nice quote the other day about finger pointing: “When you point your finger at someone else, remember that four of your fingers are pointing at yourself”.

I’ve been getting some questions about the focusNjoy logo. People wonder what kind of sign it is or what it stands for exactly. So I thought it’d be nice to elaborate a little and explain. It’s quite simple really. You see an f, right? This is the f of focus and it’s attached to an n. This n runs all the way down and turns into a j. Now we have fnj. And that is short for: focusNjoy. That’s it, hope you like it.

Like a rocket is not meant to stay on the ground, your dreams are not meant to be ignored. Whatever they are, big or small, something you want in the far away future or next week, going after your dreams ignites your passion for life. It makes you feel inspired and you’ll inspire others. So gear up, gain momentum, start counting down and have lift off. Don’t let the thought of gravity pulling you back again scare you off. Don’t dream about your dreams, go after them.

I think, to a certain degree, we all want to be original. Being original in whatever it is we do, seems worth pursuing. The word original in general terms means: ‘preceding all others in time’. That sounds like a competition doesn’t it? If you want to be original, you have to beat all others and be the first. Quite an exhausting rat race… A while ago I came across a note from film director Jim Jarmusch and interestingly enough, he points out that nothing is original. He encourages us to be authentic, rather than original saying: “Originality is non-existent, authenticity is invaluable”. Authenticity means: ‘the quality of being genuine or not corrupted from the original’. Original in this case means your soul. He also quotes Jean-Luc Godard, another filmmaker: “It’s not where things come from, it’s where you take them”. In other words: it’s not about being the first, it’s about being genuine.

You know that situation where you expect an important email from someone but you don’t get it? At first you think the other person is busy, but soon you find yourself making up conspiracy theories. That usually doesn’t help so the next time this happens, keep the following in mind. I found it on Wikipedia and it’s called: ‘Occam’s razor‘, a principle from philosophy and named after William of Ockham, a Franciscan friar who studied logic in the 14th century (yeah, quite a long time ago). The principle says that if the only difference between two explanations is how complex they are, choose the simpler one, for the one that involves the fewest guesses, is probably the right one. Another way of saying it: the more assumptions you have to make, the more unlikely an explanation is. Example: Two trees have fallen down during a windy night. Consider these two possible explanations: A) The wind has blown them down. B) Two meteorites have each taken one tree down, and after that collided and removed any trace of themselves. Even though both explanations are possible, the second explanation needs several assumptions to all be true and is probably the wrong answer. Occam’s razor also often comes up in medicine when there are many explanations for symptoms and the simplest diagnosis usually is the correct one. If a child has a runny nose, they probably have the common cold instead of a rare birth defect. Medical students are often told, “When you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras”. That’s if you don’t live in Africa of course.

I think we can all relate to this situation: You’re up and about, living your life, minding your own business and all of a sudden… you meet someone else and you experience something that makes you think: the grass is always greener on the other side. In other words: I’m good, but that other person really has got it all together. That’s a normal response I guess, as we all want to feel like we’re on top of things. But the funny thing is (and this really is funny) it’s most likely that the other person feels the exact same (but opposite) way. He or she thinks you got it all mapped out, crystal clear. Yeah, people envy each other. Even about the smallest things. That’s what they do. I know I do. Until the moment I realize, that everything outside of myself (the way I experience things, the way I judge things etc.) is a reflection of myself. It’s me creating that image. It’s about me (focussing on my own imperfection) and not about that other person (being really perfect). So whenever I’m in a situation like this, I stick to myself and think: the grass is always green. There’s no need to pick sides.

Whether you want to be financially independent in the future or enjoy the company of your best friends later today, it all starts with an idea. Fortunes come in many ways, but what they all have in common is that they all start with an idea. Or two. Ideas about what you want, how you want it, when you want it. Ideas are the beginning points of every fortune. So don’t be shy, have ideas. Lots of them! About Napoleon Hill, check here.