Using four core ideas (GLEE ME FEE WE), Luc Geuten invites his readers to join him in contemplating the complexity of human existence.
"I very much enjoyed reading the many philosophical reflections acquired during a lifetime. In fact, these reflections gave me much to think about." - Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries | professor INSEAD
"In times of change and great uncertainty, this book by Luc offers a valuable source of ideas and insights. An inspiring and thoughtful work that is certainly worth reading." - Duco Sickinghe | Executive Chairman Fortino Capital
"I read this book with great care and interest, and from time to time was genuinely moved by the intense experience of entrepreneurship as a deeply human activity." - Manu Keirse | emeritus professor of medicine KU Leuven
In Life and Entrepreneurship Luc Geuten examines some of life's fundamental questions that fascinate many of us: What makes a life meaningful? Does free will truly exist, or are we merely puppets of fate? Are humans inherently good, or does darkness reside within each of us? Is life really a vale of tears, or is happiness hidden somewhere in the folds of our journey? To explore and reflect on these profound questions, Luc Geuten has outlined a simple concept he calls GLEE ME FEE WE. Using these four core ideas, he invites his readers to join him in contemplating the complexity of human existence. By embracing the life attitude he calls healthy cynicism, he emphasizes that it is a true blessing to be alive, even amid doubts and unanswered question, thus revealing the precious value of our existence.
Foreword 17
1 Introduction Entrepreneurship with the GLEE ME FEE WE model 24
1 Becoming an entrepreneur to avoid risk 26
2 Life: walking the tightrope between glee and we, avoiding the pitfalls of
me and fee 33
2 GLEE/happiness Fortune is not what lies in the scales 42
1 Happiness: does it really exist? 43
2 Entrepreneurship is like marriage: if you dont talk, you wont get
anywhere 51
3 Distrust no one and accept with humility what cannot be controlled 66
3 ME/I Man, an evil being? 76
1 Free will is probably a pleasant illusion 77
2 Most people are decent, but what should we do about the rest? 94
3 Ego ruins everything so park it! 105
4 FEE/the price Success is priceless, but greed is more costly still 118
1 Sex, power and money are our prime motivators 119
2 Profit like pride comes before a fall 130
3 No peace without war, no sovereignty without dependence 144
5 WE/us You can do nothing alone 176
1 The greatest achievements in the world are the fruits of collaboration 177
2 Solidarity is not the same as collective egoism 182
3 Healthy cynicism, the most important component in a meaningful life 202
6 And what now? How do we survive all this? 208
1 What is the price of a world without God, and does he really have a
successor? 210
2 Nobody lives forever, but you can choose how you age 215
3 There is very little we know for certain, humour helps! 224
7 Outro Final conclusions 230
1 The method: the model and the intermezzi 231
2 The billion dollar question: what is a meaningful life? 238
3 Real wealth means having time 243
Word of thanks 248
Bibliography 250
Further inspirational reading 256
Luc Geuten has been active as an entrepreneur for over 50 years. To this day, his name is associated with companies such as Carpetland, Brantano, AS Adventure, Pizzaland, Vanden Borre, Heytens, and others. He is currently passionately dedicated to the family business Mitiska (primarily private equity) and to supporting Mitiska REIM (a fund manager focused on retail parks and convenience real estate in Europe).
