When the stakes are high, you sometimes go low. This scene from the movie Jerry Maguire, proves exactly that. Tom Cruise’s character Jerry Maguire is at the verge of a nervous breakdown. He just got fired and tries desperately to keep as many of his clients on board, for his yet to start company. Too bad, everybody let’s him down. He’s in a free fall and with his least valuable client on the phone, wasting his time, he’s about to hit rock bottom. But the great advantage of hitting rock bottom is that you can’t fall any deeper. And so, as the story unfolds, this ‘least valuable client’ turns out to be his most valuable client in many ways. But as you’ll see in this scene: Jerry isn’t aware of that yet.
Maybe you know this quote: “Aim for the moon and even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars”. It basically encourages us to dream big and aim high in setting our goals. Why should we do that? Well, when you aim high (even if you end up having something that isn’t what you originally set out for) you will learn and grow more, because you didn’t settle for a goal that was easy to achieve. Also a big dream will inspire you and the people around you more. Imagine Matin Luther King whispering: “I have a small, modest, very achievable dream…” Do you think his speech would have had the same impact? No, probably not. So dream big. It’s free!
Yep, we all want to do ‘Great Work’. But what is it exactly? And can we all do it? Because in a way, doing ‘Great Work’ sounds… difficult. Well, it doesn’t have to be. See this video to find out why.
In western society we seem to be obsessed with getting results. Now, the word ‘result’ is defined as: the conclusion or end, to which any course or condition of things leads. So when it comes to the course of the things we’re doing, I guess it’s fair to say we are very much focussed on concluding them in order to have the result. Halfway the work week, we want it to be friday. For example, halfway a marathon you dream about reaching the finish line, setting a personal record. And of course it would be great if that were to happen, but with that kind of focus, we also lose something very valuable…
So, there you are. Sitting behind your desk. At work or at home. How would you feel like to step into the unknown and take a road trip. If only for a moment, feel disconnected to everyday life? Leaving all responsibilities behind, forgetting about tomorrow and take life as it comes? Well, if your answer is yes, step into the shoes of the young people in this film and let yourself carry away by their adventure. I very much enjoyed watching it. The images, the music, the montage: it made me feel free, letting me experience an almost ‘surreal reality’, simply sitting behind my (very real) desk.
Sure, being nice is a good thing and it sounds so simple. But in many cases it’s, so why is being nice still a good idea? I stumbled upon a list of ten reasons. I’ll give you five to start with.
1) Being nice leads people to like you.
2) Kindness promotes confidence and optimism.
3) Being nice makes you feel good about yourself.
4) People will reciprocate in your time of need.
5) Doing good deeds adds meaning and significance to your life.
Do you remember what you were doing between the 29th of April and the 10th of May 2011? Whether you do or don’t, this was happening in the Arctic, on the archipelago Lofoten in Norway. The film, made by Terje Sørgjerd, captures a natural phenomenon that he calls ‘The Arctic Light’. He says: “The Sunset and Sunrise are connected in one magnificent show of color and light lasting from 8 to 12 hours. The sun is barely going below the horizon before coming up again. This is the most colorful light that I know, and the main reason I have been going up there for the last 4 years to photograph”. As for myself: I can almost feel the fresh air running through my nose, filling my lungs. It’s like a little meditation. For more information about the film see this.
People are vulnerable as individuals and as a species. And fighting vulnerability is useless. No matter how hard you try. Simply because you can’t control everything and so your life can turn upside down at any moment of any day. You may be the King of the World, the Smartest Woman in the Universe or the Sexiest Man Alive; it won’t help. You can however hide from it. And most of us do. Behind a fancy job title, nice car or house. Interesting friends, a busy agenda, designer clothes or healthy hipster life style, but sooner or later vulnerability will find you. So what can you do? Well, it’s simple.
Simply face it and embrace it. Because when you embrace it, you no longer need to fight it. You no longer need to run or hide from it, by keeping up appearances and putting energy in this hopeless attempt to avoid the discomfort of feeling it. You can now be as you are, vulnerable, instead of pretending not to be. The way I see it: vulnerability is indestructible. So by letting it in and become a part of you, in a way that makes you indestructible. Daring to be vulnerable gives you power to be.
Are you alive?
From time to time it’s good to ask yourself: “Am I alive?” Because it’s not uncommon to just be busy doing what you’re always doing. To be caught up in a routine. And that routine may very well result in hours, days, weeks, months or even years of living, without actually being alive. Because there’s more to living, than just breathing. Imagine someone in a coma and it becomes clear… I recently attended a re-birthing workshop and I experienced the difference between A) normal breathing: a mostly shallow, kind of mechanic and unconscious way of getting the bare minimum of oxygen ‘shots’ and B) breathing with full awareness, in a rich flow, organic and fully open to receive life’s energy in all it’s splendor. It let me experience the meaning of the phrase: “Just because you breathe, doesn’t mean you’re alive”. And so I challenge you, as I challenge myself, to wonder: am I really alive or mostly just busy breathing?
Who am I… or rather, what am I?
I guess you’re familiar with this sensation: one moment you feel great, and the next… well not so great. I sometimes feel like I’m nothing and sometimes I feel as though I’m everything. It’s a really fine line, much like it is with being crazy or brilliant. John Lennon had a nice way of putting it. He said: “Part of me suspects I’m a loser. The other part of me thinks I’m God Almighty”. I wrote a post about that one too. Anyway. A couple of days ago, I stumbled upon the “I, a universe of atoms…” quote by the American physicist Richard P. Feynman (1918 – 1988). And it’s stuck in my head ever since. Because to me his words are both mind blowing and heart warming. The thought of “I” being a tiny, stand alone atom – and an infinite, whole universe at the same time, blows my ego off it’s socks. Because “I” isn’t (only) the ‘earthly me’. “I” is a single atom and an entire universe, completing one another. Think about that when you’re looking at yourself in the mirror. So yes, it’s a quote I gratefully meditate on. It’s so simple and yet so deeply profound. It makes me feel humble and larger than life at the same time – it’s liberating. Look at us humans. Look at you, look at me. We are both nothing and everything. Again. That’s just… wow.
focusNjoy #122: Stop searching, start finding
Imagine you’re looking for something, but you can’t find it. Annoying. Yes. Very. But then, maybe you’re not supposed to find it. Or maybe you’re just looking in the wrong place. Or maybe… you already found it, but you don’t realize it yet. Whatever the reason is, you might want to stop searching. Why? Well think about it: as long as you’re busy searching – you’re not… finding!
A fresh start for focusNjoy
Dear friends, it’s been more than a year since my last post! Honestly, I needed the break but a lot of good things have happened to me in the meantime. Apart from a great time at Eyeworks Netherlands, where I worked as a Senior Creative with some great people at the Program Development Team, it were exciting times for me personally as well. Too much to tell you in one post. But I will share more in the coming months, because it’s been truly transformational.
I’m planning on a brand new start of focusNjoy at the end of April. And this time, I intend to actually make some money haha – because running an ad-free blog is great, but from a financial point of view it wasn’t a success and one of the reasons for me to get back to television. Later in 2014 I intend to finally start with my workshops in Amsterdam. I’m super excited about that but let’s see how things develop. Anway – I’m back and I’m feeling fresh. Hoping to hear from you – always feel free to send me an email and say hi!
