Can money buy you happiness?

Many have mixed feelings about money. On the one hand many think that if they only had money, they would be happy. Then they could buy that house, go on that extraordinary vacation or start their own company. On the other hand we see so many examples of rich, unhappy people.

• Rich celebrities going in and out of rehab
• Rich CEOs spending so much time at work they don't have time left to enjoy their money
• Some lottery winners ending up broke just a few months or years after they win lots of money

So maybe money cannot buy happiness after all?  At the same time, it is easy to agree with Francoise Sagan when she says:

“Money may not buy happiness, but I'd rather cry in a Jaguar than on a bus.”

Another paradox is that most of us want to make a lot of money, but at the same time we hesitate. 

• Should I really want more money than I need?
• If I want a lot of money, does that make me a superficial and materialistic person? 
• Will a lot of money turn me into a rich, egocentric person who is unpleasant to others?

I had the privilege to attend the Tony Robbins event Unleash the power within recently. Tony expressed it this way:

"Money will enlarge whatever you already are. If you want to do good in the world, money will help you do even more of that. If you are an asshole [his choice of words], you can do a lot of damage with it."

I agree. Money will not change you, it will enhance you.

On one of the nights of the event, we had a bonus gift. Pitbull showed up! In addition to performing hits like Fire ball and Give me everything he answered the question I ask in this blog post.

"Money can buy happiness. If you give it away."

Go ahead and make money with integrity and without hesitation. Then use it to make the world an even better place.

The Beauty of Art part 16 - the answers

The name of the sculpture in Beauty of Art part 16 is Single Form.

It is a bronze sculpture by Barbara Hepworth. The version I showed in the previous post is the big version of this piece of art, the one displayed at the Headquarters of the United Nations.

There are also smaller versions displayed elsewhere, for instance this one in Battersea park

Picture by QuentinUK at English Wikipedia

The connection to the known Swede I mentioned, is that this work was commissioned as a memorial for Dag Hammarskjöld. Dag would have liked this, since he was a collector of Hepworth's work. 

Barbara was working on a sculpture when she found out about Dag's death. She named it after the month when she got the news: September. It was made in Walnut and clearly inspired the Single Form that was later put outside of the United Naion's headquarters. 

Single Form (September) Barbara Hepworth Museum, St Ives

Barbara Hepworth was a British sculptor who was also skilled in others art forms like music, painting and lithography. She became known and appreciated during her life time. She won prizes and was able to make a living as an artist.

Barbara was married and divorced twice, both husbands were fellow artists. She was the mother of four children and had to endure the death of her son in an air crash. She created Madonna and child as a memorial for him.

Like so many artists, Barbara spent time with other artists in Paris, but she spent most of her time in St Ives where she was a leading figure in the colony of artists who resided there during the Second World War.

Even though her work is based on form and abstraction, Hepworth's art was about relationships. Between forms, between humans and landscapes and between individuals.

Thank you Elena for introducing me to this artist I had not heard about before! 

The Beauty of Art part 16

I know that sculptures are harder for most of you - but I persist and I will give some hints to make this Beauty of Art somewhat easier.

The questions are as usual:

• How does this piece of art make you feel?
• What is it called?
• Who is the artist?

And here are some clues:

This piece of art is intended as a memorial to a well known Swede who worked for an important organization - and this sculpture is put outside of this organization's headquarter. Smaller versions of this sculpture can be seen in other places.

Please let me know what you think about it. The answers will come in a future blog post!

Successful launch in 90 days: Never mind the frogs and monkeys - just start with the hardest part

A few years ago, Brian Tracy wrote a book called:

Eat That Frog!: Get More of the Important Things Done - Today!

The book title is referring to  a saying that if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that it's probably the worst thing you'll do all day. 

Photo from Pixabay

Since I care about animals and avoid eating them at all, I am not fond of the metaphor, but I believe in what the author wants to say:

If you take care of the most difficult thing first - something that most likely also has the biggest impact - you are likely to get more done. 

This concept is described very well by Astro Teller, also known as "Captain of moonshots" at the factory X (former Google X) in this 5 min video. One of the examples he uses is that if you are going to teach a monkey (again this disrespect towards animals I don't like, but the message is still important) recite Shakespeare standing on a pedestal, you had better start working with the monkey - not building the pedestal.

This is important in Factory X, so they can cancel projects as soon as possible and start new ones with better chances of succeeding. It is also valid for my Successful launch in 90 days challenge. Not because I want to figure out if I will fail (I will not) but because I want to start with the most uncertain things so I have as much time as possible to figure out how to do them.

Of course there are many things on my way to the successful launch that will require a lot of effort and time, but some of them I have done before. I have had books published before, I have arranged events before. I know approximately what needs to be done and how much leadtime is required.

On the other hand, I have never created an on-line course and I have not yet learned how to turn digital markering into sales. I will not eat frogs or teach monkeys, but I will start with the items that are new to me, to give myself as much time as possible to figure out how to do it.

In my updated issue tree I have added more detailed actions in these areas:

I know how tempting it is to do the stuff you already know. Making progress, ticking of items on your To Do list feels good. But it is not the best way to secure your goal.

When you get to work tomorrow - start with the toughest / riskiest / most uncertain task. Once you have handled it, you will not only be closer to your goal - you will also feel more confident about your ability to succeed.

You can find the previous posts in this challenge here:


Go, go, go!
What is your next challenge?

Successful launch in 90 days - Go, go, go!

Are you ready to join me in a challenge of your own?

I am now starting my Successful launch in 90 days challenge which includes launching a book and an on-line course to help people become Masters of their time.

I hope you will take the chance to join me with a challenge on your own, a challenge that will end in June, so you can enjoy the results of it this summer.

Those of you who followed by 90 books in 90 days challenge know that a good place to start is with a problem statement.

This is my problem statement for my challenge:

How can I create a successful book-  and on-line course launch in 90 days?

Based on that problem statement I have created an issue tree (for tips on how to create issue trees, check out this blog post), to guide me when I define the actions needed to achieve my goal:

I am looking forward to the event when I will launch. Launch a book and on-line course that will help many people understand that there is enough time in their lives for doing what they really want. This will be a challenging and interesting journey. I hope yours will be as well!

What is your next challenge?

• Do you spend less time with your family than you would like to?
• Do you want to be more energetic but fail to change your eating and exercise habits?
• Do you have an old dream that you just do not dare to turn into reality?

Whatever your challenge is, now is a great opportunity to make a change: Join my next 90 day challenge!

Image from Pexels 

We will define problem statements and use issue trees to visualize the massive action that will take us where we want to go. Even if we will have different goals we can share our ups and downs and support and inspire each other.

As Tony Robbins has said:

"Be one of the few who do rather than one of the many who complain."

Next week I will get started - I look forward to doing it with you!

The Beauty of Art, part 15 - the answers

This Beauty of Art quiz was a tricky one. I believe most of us know paintings more than we do sculptures.

The sculpture in the Beauty of Art part 15 is called La Valse (the waltz) and it is made by Camille Claudel.

Image from wikimedia commons

One of the clues I gave to this quiz, was that Camille had had a relationship with one of the artists in a previous Beauty of Art post. That artist was Rodin, described in the Beauty of Art part 4.

Rodin was impressed with her talent and she became one of his apprentices. At one point he said:

" Je lui ai montré où trouver de l'or, mais l'or qu'elle trouve est bien à elle."

("I have shown her where to find gold, but the gold she finds is her own." )

They even worked together on some of Rodin's sculptures, for instance the one I showed in the Beauty of art part 4: Le baiser.

Like so many other artists of this time (she was born 1864) she went to Paris to learn and perform her art.

She was without a doubt very gifted, very passionate and she had a lot of support from her father (but not from her mother). Her life was very dramatic, as can be seen in the film Camille Claudel. Unfortunately her strong emotions made her destroy some of the sculptures she made and she evetually ended up in a hospital due to "insanity".

You have described that the sculpture make you think of passion. I agree, it shows a lot of passion and at the same time it shows a lot of tenderness. I find it amazing that some people have the ability to craft something that radiates love out of material like plaster and bronze.

Thank you for participating in this Beauty of Art!