Imagine yourself waking up in a maze. After hours of searching but not finding the exit, you come to the conclusion that you’re completely lost. Bummer maybe, but an opportunity for sure. Because with everything and everyone gone – there’s only one person that you can turn to. And that person is… you. You will find yourself, because being lost means there’s nothing else to focus on except yourself. I always tell people: “You are the only person that’s with you 24/7. From the second you were born until your last breath, nobody spends more time with you, than you. For that reason, starting a really loving friendship with yourself is a really good idea”. Yet, in life we don’t always connect that well with ourselves. We are so focussed on the outside world, that it becomes the compass we live by. Until the moment we get lost and the outside world is no longer the beacon that we can hold on to. Then we can only hold on to ourselves. That’s what I mean with getting lost is a great way to find yourself.

To achieve success is one thing, but how do we sustain it? “Why do many people reach success and then fail? One of the big reasons is: we think success is a one way street” Richard St. John opens his TEDtalk with these words and an interesting (and funny) talk it is. Speaking from his own experience he says: “When we become successful, we must not forget that success is a continuous journey” and he presents 8 rules to sustain success. He calls them 8 to be Great. If you like, you can download them for free as a wallpaper for your computer, press here.

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”.

Sometimes I yearn for a deep sense of connectedness with a certain moment from the past. Then I want to go back in time and relive it. This desire can be so strong that for an instant, it actually does bring me back there. Me and my memory find each other, look each other in the eyes and dance, bringing the moment back to life. But as time catches up on us, we grow apart. The memory fades away to another lifetime and I wake up to find myself, alone in the present. In a way that is a sad story, just like you’ll see in this video. Buddhism and many of its associated paradigms emphasize the importance of living in the present moment – being fully aware of what is happening, and not dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. They teach that those who live in the present moment are the happiest. I can relate to that, but I also love a little drama. Drama, to a certain degree is what makes life interesting. I hope you enjoy this video as much as I did.

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.

I don’t run on Nike shoes and this commercial won’t make me change my mind. Still I like it for it’s inspirational message. It says: “The theory of evolution claims only the strong will survive. But the theory of competition says just because they are the strong, doesn’t mean they can’t get their asses kicked”. Remember that when a business competitor stronger than you is after the same contract. Or what about this line: “The odds may be stacked against you, the other guy may in fact be the favorite. But what the odds don’t know, is this isn’t a math test”. The way I see it, ‘the other guy’ in this case can be anything. It can be a person, but also a statistic, a distance, an illness, a crisis and last but not least, it can very well be yourself, trying to sabotage you in one way or another. The point is, in life we face all kinds of challenges. Sometimes we take them on with great confidence, but if we can’t, this commercial encourages us not to worry, for “passion has a funny way of trumping logic”.

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.