Planning projects, organizing meetings and sharing results all
become easier with the MindManager software system Mike and Bettina Jetter designed as a result
of Mike's journey through leukemia.
Who/what contributed to your inner strength?
Especially during my bone marrow transplant it was imminent for me to have friends with me who
had a positive attitude, positive energy, were emotionally strong and whom I could trust and
rely on 100 percent. I was aware that during my stay in the hospital I could be in a very bad
physical or emotionally difficult stage and I wanted to make sure my supporting friends and I
could deal with those situations and would not be afraid of them. When it would come to such
situations, they had to be strong and give me all their energy, support and presence I needed.
To know that I have such friends (we called them the Olympics team), gave me such confidence
and power. They helped me tremendously to find my inner strength. In addition to forming this
Olympics team I did and still do meditation, visualization, Tai Chi, massages, acupuncture,
etc. Everything is part of the "inner strength tool kit."
When in your life was your inner strength particularly tested and how did you deal with the incident?
In 1989, I was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia and since then I have had a few relapses.
During all those years, I learned to appreciate every day and try to live a well-balanced life.
Of course, sometimes this is not possible. However, since I know how important it is for me to
have friends who can support me in any situation, I built a lot around this knowledge and it
gave me strength to master many challenges in regard to leukemia and our business.
What suggestions do you have to help people realize their capabilities?
Through all of those years I dealt with cancer, I developed a few "life principles," which served me well.
Stay focused. If you believe in something, get your mind on it and stick to it. Do not get distracted by great opportunities. Envision your dreams and focus on reaching them.
Energize your power. Everybody around us is a very powerful individual. Recognize this fact and it will give you some energy. Believe in what you do and be passionate about it.
Enjoy being flexible. Dealing with a life-threatening illness can be challenging. Sometimes you do not feel well (especially after chemotherapy or other treatments) so you have to rearrange commitments. Have an open mind and be flexible in changing schedules as necessary. Accept new situations, evaluate and validate your options and flexibly move in a new direction. Be positive about those new situations and reframe your path.
Initiate change. It became clear to us early on that you have to make changes. You never know if a situation is going to get better, but if you don't make changes, it will never improve.
Don't force your vision to become true. Have a realistic view of your vision. There are different ways to reach it. Let events happen or let them go. Do not put too much pressure on yourself. There is a fine line between discipline that brings you closer to your dream and being too narrow-minded and short-sighted.
Take risk. Your vision will not work without it.
And last but not least … have a vision, a dream!
Why is it important to focus on inner strength?
You are the most important person in your life. If I don't feel and have the inner strength,
nobody will give it to me. As described above, there are certain tools like meditation,
acupuncture, etc., which helped me to focus on my inner strength, but most important for me, is
to be in a loving relationship, which provides the foundation to grow and deal with challenges
and opportunities as they come.
What are your next goals and what positive thoughts or activities keep you striving toward your goals?
you striving toward your goals?
My dream is that the software, which I developed during my first relapse, becomes the standard
software for information visualization on every PC (or laptop) around the world and is used by
millions of people. "MindManager" was created out of a personal struggle. It is so powerful
that it changes how people work and enables them to be more productive and more creative. I
work toward this goal every day and more than 500,000 licenses worldwide are an indicator that
we are on the right track and that my dream will become true some day. Be a part of this dream
and check out our Web site www.mindjet.com or www.cancercode.com for the book.
