Wie wil vindt

Wie wil vindt een middel.
Wie niet wil vindt een excuus.

– Molière –

Zo is het vaak in het leven. Het glas is halfvol of halfleeg. Als je ‘t mij vraagt is het altijd minstens halfvol en anders doe ik ze nog eens vol 🙂

Helaas zijn er ook minder positieve mensen die voor alles een excuus bedenken. Les excuses sont fait pour s’en servir, hoor je dan wel eens. Ja, in plaats van er iets aan te doen! Zelfs wanneer je écht tegenslag hebt, valt er altijd wel een bijzondere les te leren of betekent het een nieuwe start…Soms leer je deze les pas veel later en besef je dan hoe waardevol ze is.

Allez, we doen de glazen nog eens vol! 😉

Geniet elke dag,

Bert Verdonck

Network Creator & Coach

Losing a battle…

Sometimes by losing a battle you find a new way to win the war.

– Donald Trump –

Indeed, you learn massively by losing a battle! You’ll find new strategies, prepare other tactical moves, invest in better equipment and do whatever it takes to avoid another loss again! You will win the next battle and win the war.

Sometimes it takes a while before we actually find the real lesson(s) we had to learn. Reflecting on the battle itself and examining what went wrong will result in a neat analysis, but in fact the major lessons often come later on, even at moments we weren’t thinking about the battle anymore.

So, think back about a particular battle you’ve lost in the past. Contemplate on it again. New insights? Things you skipped last time or just didn’t see? Right! Take these and use them in your new battleplan 😉

And as always, if you need assistance, I ‘m here for you too! I also lost a couple of times in the past 🙂

Enjoy every day,

Bert Verdonck

Create, Connect & Contribute

Sharing my life hacking tips…

Ok, it’s time to step up again! I decided to start a new way of contributing. I am sharing my lifehacking tips with you.

What is life hacking I hear you say 🙂 Well, life hacking is a concept, a model, a group of tools to make your life easier, faster and more efficient. Some stuff is based on common sense and low-tech others are nifty pieces of software that will rock your world.

I have been a life hacker all my life, without knowing that actually a word was invented for this. Life Hack is created by Danny O’Brien in 2004 after polling a group of productive geeks on the details of their work processes. It all started pretty innocent with batch-files and automating repetitive tasks, but it has now moved to an entire community.

As the only Belgian, I participated at the Life Hacking Academy in Amsterdam recently. I not only met my friends Martijn Aslander and Jan Mulder again, but also got introduced to some other notorious, Dutch lifehackers : Anja Wassenaar, Taco Oosterkamp, Frank Meeuwsen and Filips Jager.

So, I’ll be publishing lifehacks regularly here, so you’ll be astonished how easy you can make your life. By the way, I just created a new slogan for this topic : Life Hacking, the easy way of life by Bert Verdonck!🙂

Enjoy every day,
Bert Verdonck
Network Creator & Lifehacker

Camino to Santiago

It’s been 1 year! Last year, I started walking on my 800km “Camino” to Santiago de Compostella, Spain. My life has changed tremendously in the meantime! Since then, I am focusing purely on activities that I really love.

Create : I am an expert in generating ideas! New products, services, applications, markets, combinations, etc. Too many excellent ideas…you want some?
Connect : Extensive business contacts in various industries and expertise in networking (I am doing what Jan is teaching 😉 ). I am a true matchmaker! Try me…
Contribute : helping people in need by adding value (e.g. setting up charity fund, Banana Man, …) If you want to help rightaway, buy the Banana Man book
Coaching : coaching people who want to transform to live their dreams. I help you to step out of your daily pattern and I inspire you to find your true passion(s), not only by giving you a framework and tools, but also the tangible next steps by providing you practical ideas and connections to realise them! Talk to me 😉

I am now building my dreams! I am really doing it! Only yesterday, one of my clients confirmed another coaching assignment involving me in other departments of their organisation. Friday, I had an interesting chat with a potential customer for my creativity and I also got a potential networking customer calling me for a meeting. Excellent!

During this last year, I not only walked the 800km to Santiago, but I’ve also spoken with several gurus. I’ve travelled to Bali, probably returning later this year. I am extending my network globally and I am having fun most of the time. This is how life should be!

So, where are you? Need help? Let’s have a chat…If I can do it, anyone can!

Enjoy every day,
Bert Verdonck
Create, Connect & Contribute

India Induction Course!

I would like to introduce you to a very interesting and exclusive event : the Induction Course by India Business Support

Doing business in or with India might seem a far-fetched idea at first, but once you have had the chance to gain some insights into the Indian manners and customs, and into how the Indian business community operates, you are bound to find out that the Indian connection might turn out to be your opportunity of a lifetime!

In a series of three Saturday morning sessions, Francis Laleman invites the participants to join him on a thrilling discovery journey through the Indian subcontinent. Each session is followed by an Indian lunch, during which the attendees have ample opportunity to connect to each other and to discuss with life-long India aficionados Michaela Broeckx, Francis Laleman and myself.

Session 1 : India, a Land of Many Faces
Session 2 : India, a Land of Cultural Diversity
Session 3 : India, a Land of Business Opportunities

Dates : 14th, 21st and 28th June 2008

Price : 600 €, excl. VAT.

Place : Bayt al-Andalus, Antwerp, Belgium

For more info, go to www.india-business-support.com!

Enjoy every day,
Bert Verdonck
Network Creator

I have a dream…

I have a dream…
– Martin Luther King Jr. –

We all have a dream or a list of dreams, but how many of us are working on them. They will remain a dream until you really take action in realizing your dreams. A lot of people have a “we’ll see” attitude. We’ll see what happens. We’ll see what the future brings. Just wait, we’ll see. We’ll see when we retire. If you keep on postponing your dreams, your life will be over before you know it without living your dreams.

So, take a good look at your current list of dreams and review where you are right now. Make a plan and execute it. Go and live your dreams! I am doing it and so can you!

Ohh, you don’t have a list of dreams yet? What’s keeping you? Drop everything else, take a piece of paper and start writing. Open up your computer and start typing. First focus on the WHAT, then you’ll find a way to HOW you are going to reach your dreams. Too many people are already stuck in the HOW, but don’t know WHAT it is they want. So, like in the Alice and the rabbit scene : if you don’t know where you are going, it doesn’t matter if you go left or right.

I can not stress it more : make a list of your dreams, plan and act accordingly. It’s the only way to fulfilling your dreams! Oh, and enjoy the journey 🙂

Enjoy every day,
Bert Verdonck
Create, Connect & Contribute