Listen!
- ONDERNEMERSLESSEN MET ADRIE REINDERS
3-04-2010 - Investeringscriteria
It's amazing to see how many people have an unusual life story - things they have done, or know where you wouldn't expect it, looking at them.Why don't we know that? For a start, I think the reason we miss so many of these wonderful tales is because we don't listen carefully enough to others, or don't open ourselves up to them. This week I had a number of encounters where each time it had an impact on me. Where I thought:A ?wow, what a drive and energy?.
One of these meetings was with a very successful Dutch businessman, who invested part of his fortune and an amazing amount of time in ensuring that Tibetan language and culture was brought back into the Tibet education system. He learnt Chinese so he could speak at the Chinese Parliament to convince them of the wisdom of his plans (and he was allowed to do so!), and brought back schoolbooks in Tibetan.Another encounter was with a lady who got cancer, became very sick but instead of focusing on herself, she is now putting her life in service of other women that have breast cancer and is trying to make their load a little lighter.
Be it through motivation, creating awareness or organising ?pamper days? for the sick. Or take the other woman I met who studied as a dentist, and shortly after finishing her studies had a major accident. As a result she could not longer become a dentist but instead became a successful entrepreneur. And I could go on, there are scores of examples I could mention here - people that do things you would not expect, grow beyond themselves into something bigger and better, or simply get up and ACT. One of the wise lessons I learnt a long time ago is that you should never underestimate people, always listen to them. People can often do a lot more then they themselves would even believe - and if you want, you can achieve anything at all. Just that we all need a helping hand sometimes, or circumstances to push us beyond our own expectations.