Jesse Meijers

7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey

This month I introduce a new category, Reviews. This category will feature a review of the books I have read, seminars I attended and courses I have followed over the past years and in the future. I don't read any novels, only self improvement books, wealth books, investing books and other books that I feel will give me more of an edge in becoming successful. The same holds for seminars and courses. Forget the technical stuff, I am interested in marketing, accounting, wealth building and entrepreneurial seminars and courses only. But without further ado; the review! The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is the book I would recommend almost anyone to read. Simply put, this is the book of books. Forget the Secret, The Four Hour Work Week and Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Read this first!

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The secret to transcending yourself

Sometimes I wish I could pause a situation. Then I would take a step back and rewind the tape, and play it again, watching myself in this scene. Why? Because it would give me more insight into other peoples reactions to my actions and the other way around. Well hold on to your seats because there is a technique that allows you to do exactly this, and more! What's more, this technique has been around for ages, dating as far back as the Roman Empire! You just haven't been in the loop of the select few people who know and practice these secret techniques. I used to be very skeptical about these sort of things. How can you transcend yourself and look at a situation from the outside looking in, instead of the inside looking out; how can you see yourself in the third person!? I can honestly tell you that once you have experienced these techniques, you will be a complete believer. In a recent session I was at we also had someone who didn't believe it and thought it too spiritual, but only a couple of hours later he was completely in awe about what he had experienced. And this happens all the time with people who experience the power of this secret technique!

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Why 50/50 is not fair

If you have ever had to negotiate with someone, you have probably experienced the same as I have. We have learned that 50/50 is always a fair deal. I mean, if we do it 50/50 it has to be fair, since we have equally divided whatever it is that needed dividing, right? You've guessed it, the answer is no. It is not always fair to divide things 50/50.

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The meaning of life

Is there such a thing as the meaning of life? And if there is, how do you find it? And will you know you've found it when you do? Or will it seem like just another something or other and will you discard it with everything else you discard? Well, there is a meaning of life. And the best part is that it isn't all that hard to find. Actually, there are millions of people who have already discovered the meaning of life. And all it took was a couple of hours of intense looking. Are you ready to discover the meaning of life?

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4 rules for being successful

During my work as a project manager for IT projects I have seen many different kinds of people. Internal company employees, externally hired consultants, company management, the list goes on. Some of these people are successful. Most are not. What is it that separates the successful from the unsuccessful?

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Understanding self improvement with Bateson

When I was in highschool, we had this course about society. Pretty boring most of the time, since we had to learn who was in the government, what they did etc. But there was this one day which I'll never forget in my whole life. That day we had a guest teacher. But not just any guest teacher. A former criminal, with a serious history of organized crime. This person had something to tell. He told his story of how he became a criminal and that while he made tons of money, it wasn't worth it in the end. Not because he got busted. But because his life just didn't have any true meaning. Now the big question was, what made him turn around his life? Because he not only gave up crime, he was putting in a big effort to stop others from becoming criminals. This question has fascinated me for a long time. And recently I learned the answer...

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The 1-2-3 problem solving guide

A while ago I witnessed two people who were arguing about a certain aspect of a software system. They were arguing about whether the requirment should be implemented in the way that person A was explaining it, or in the way that person B was explaining it. Continually, person A tried to convince person B that his idea was wrong, while person B tried to do the same thing. I was watching this situation unfold and as they gave me more and more insight into the problem by arguing back and forth, it became clear to me that they were actually both right. They were just discussing the matter with different naming applied to the problem. Once I had explained person A that person B was talking about the same thing and vice versa, it took them less than 5 minutes to come to an agreement regarding the matter. What happened was that they both were only addressing the problem from their own perspective. They were both looking at the problem through their own set of glasses. Being impervious to the glasses the other person was wearing. While they were looking at the same thing through those glasses!

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Identifying your strong and weak points with Belbin

I am a firm believer in discovering your strong and weak points as a means for personal development. People who know their strong and weak points are often more effective in their lives. They know when things are going over their heads and when they can be of added value. Identifying your weak points is usually not an easy process. It is very natural for people to be able to describe their strong points well, but having a hard time really defining their weak points, or vice-versa. Luckily, there are methods of identifying your weak points by knowing your strong points, and the other way around!

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