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A little closer to learning to let go: For a happier today

Most of our troubles stem from attachment to things that we mistakenly see as permanent. — Dalai Lama Photo by Al Soot on Unsplash Last week, we explored how gratitude can help us to appreciate our now compared to spending too much time thinking about the past or dreaming of the future. Another way to work towards becoming better at living now is to let go of our attachments. That means to let go of any expectation for a specific outcome. Typically, we struggle with that as we do have certain ideas about how things should go or how we want someone

freedomxx August 30, 2021 No Comments

“One today is worth two tomorrows”

A little closer to feeling thankful for your now every day Photo by Kenrick Mills on Unsplash Lao Tze said it, Osho said it, Benjamin Franklin said it — there’s probably an endless list of smart thinkers who in one way or another had something to say about living now instead of yesterday or tomorrow. And yet, we find ourselves dwelling in our past or dreaming of a future in which we’re finally happy and content. We cannot say it’s completely useless to mentally travel back and forth. Past experiences are important to learn from and to get a sense of

freedomxx August 24, 2021 No Comments

Are you living your own life?

Taking control and living life on your terms. Mammatus Clouds — Özgür Kusakoglu Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about the impact of other people’s expectations on my life. How can I be sure what I do isn’t controlled by my inherent need for harmony compared to what I really want? I guess it’s always going to be something to question and re-adjust. Awareness is probably a good start. “Am I living my own life?” is a good question to ask ourselves. A passage in Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga’s book “The Courage to be

freedomxx August 17, 2021 No Comments

Feel awkward… then still do it!

Telling yourself positive affirmations is pretty weird and extremely effective Photo by Magdalena Smolnicka on Unsplash ************************************************************* Standing in front of the mirror: Is anyone at home?•No.•Good.•Okay, let’s try one.•“I show up and let myself being seen.”•Giggles.•Try one more!•“I am good enough!”•Smiling. ************************************************************* Have you ever tried affirmations? These positive sentences you are supposed to tell yourself? Are you suspicious they are simply another weird self-help gimmick!? Or, similar to me, you just have a hard time taking yourself seriously while saying good stuff about yourself? And then, how often do I catch myself thinking:“That was stupid.” • “I

freedomxx August 10, 2021 No Comments

How much money do you need to feel free?

How much money do you need to feel free? Freedom waits where you stop thinking about money What is your earliest memory relating to money? I remember my first grocery shopping adventures when I was about 4 or 5 years old. Keep in mind these were different times and I lived in a village where you’d know most of the people around. On Saturdays, I would get out with 1 GDR Mark and take my tiny red bike to the HO (a GDR supermarket). I’d go to the box where the bread rolls were stored and

Carolin Stoffels July 26, 2021 No Comments

Lose often, win big

What we can learn from failure to become more successful. Photo by SpaceX on Unsplash Hand on heart: What happens when you miss one of the things you set out to achieve? Do you become sad, demotivated or angry? Do you give up and head to the next best thing?Really, none of us likes to miss a goal. We might feel inadequate, not good enough, or undeserving of reaching success. All of this is normal and the pain of loss is real. And it stings.It’s comprehensible if you feel a bit sore after failure. What’s

Carolin Stoffels July 5, 2021 No Comments

Set yourself free — Life’s probably (not) a simulation

Do we live in a computer-generated simulation? And if so, what do we do about it? Photo by Rowan Heuvel on Unsplash Almost everyone knows the Matrix movies and the grey, dull life Neo is leading before he takes the infamous red pill. Some might’ve already seen the documentary: A Glitch in the Matrix by Rodney Asher, which takes a wide-angle look at simulation theory and its cultural impact. Alexandre Bibeau-Delisle and Gilles Brassard from Montreal’s university published a probability calculation on the topic recently: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2020.0658. In their mathematical model they included the possibility to simulate our thoughts and

Carolin Stoffels March 23, 2021 No Comments

Life is a game - play it!

Thinking about life as a game to be happy and successful Photo by Geeky Shots on Unsplash Success in real life, success with games Tobi Lütke, Elon Musk, Brenda Romero, Larry Page, Kobe Bryant, Vin Diesel — all very successful in their own fields — play video games. Particularly, Tobi Lütke is a strong advocate of playing games in interviews and on Twitter: I firmly believe that I learned more about building businesses from playing Starcraft than I’ve learned from business books — Tobi Lütke (@tobi) April 1, 2018 Following his take on video games and the discussions around mankind living in a

Carolin Stoffels March 1, 2021 No Comments

Shaping the world around you before it shapes you

“Our environment, the world in which we live and work, is a mirror of our attitudes and expectations.” Earl Nightingale Photo by Patrick McManaman on Unsplash Mindset or Environment? There’s a lot of different concepts around what helps us to strive, learn, grow and become better. One big part is how we think about things that happen to us. Another part is about who and what surrounds us and the opportunities that come through our environment. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what has a bigger impact on a successful, happy life: mindset or environment. I also strongly believe these two

Carolin Stoffels February 19, 2021 No Comments

One question to guide your actions every day

Photo by Tina Floersch on Unsplash There’s these days you are more cynical, get easily irritated or are just stuck in your tiredness. And that’s very human, don’t get me wrong. The question is though: how do you snap out of it (if you want to)? Recently, I had one of these days: the little one crashes our sleep, I wake up particularly tired, she whines as she doesn’t want to go to daycare and makes a huge mess while having breakfast, outside someone comes too close walking by, a car driver honks at us

Carolin Stoffels February 8, 2021 No Comments

moving ideas on leadership, mindset, potential and more.