happiness Archives

Dance naked!

5mins in the morning to boost your energy Picture by ruDALL-E Winter is a tough period. My alarm goes off at 7 each morning. It’s still dark outside. The bed is warm. The little one and my husband are still in dreamland. Can I just keep my eyes closed a little longer? Extend my stay in bed? What’s the point of getting up right now? And then, I remember: I am in charge of how I feel. Action! Now! Whenever we dread to get up, we need to remind ourselves: We can adapt our mood. We

freedomxx December 7, 2021 No Comments

Let’s talk about rest, baby!

Back to guilt-free relaxation Do you sometimes wake up and don’t want to get out of bed? Do you feel empty? Like you cannot enjoy anything? Like you don’t care much about your work anymore? And you don’t really want to talk to anyone? At the same time, you might think your life is actually pretty great and you cannot pinpoint what the problem is:You have had amazing experiences over the past year, you and your family are happy and healthy, you were meeting a bunch of interesting people. You’re jumping from one thing to the other. You even manage

freedomxx October 13, 2021 No Comments

No, you’re NOT too broke/busy/old/whatever to change…

Recently, I found this tweet in my inbox: And I was like: Yes! It’s bold and takes courage. And you might think: “Yeah well if you have the financial means and time to make such a move, congrats — that’s just not me.” Or: “I’m too old to learn something new.” Or: “This is going to take too much time.” Or — as Chris Powers says himself: “As I approach 37 I realize how crazy the story actually is.” Let’s flip each of those reasons around and do some soul-searching: No money, no time Even if

freedomxx October 5, 2021 No Comments

Be who you want to be

Stop relying on personality tests and start shaping your identity Myers-Briggs, 16personalities, Big Five, the odd Buzzfeed “Which Disney character are you?” test… A lot of us — me definitely included — have at some point tried to figure out who we are. Either for ourselves, for someone else, or for a job. Personality tests are a fun way to engage with yourself and then get a nicely written result about your personality type. You might say: Oh yeah, sounds like me. And why wouldn’t it? You just answered a bunch of questions that led to that result. When

freedomxx September 28, 2021 No Comments

A little closer to being at peace with yourself by living now

“If you are depressed you are living in the past if you are anxious you are living in the future, if you are at peace, you are living in the present.” — Lao Tzu For the last few weeks, our focus was on learning how to appreciate our now.Trying to live now compared to somewhere in the past or in an uncertain future is a task to tackle every day. A lot of us get stuck on the idea of being happy when we arrive at a specific goal. While we dream of being there

freedomxx September 14, 2021 No Comments

For me to be rich, you don’t have to become poor

For me to be rich, you don’t have to become poor A little closer to an abundance mindset for a better now Photo by Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash Last week, a friend and I remembered how the Corona pandemic started — and how supermarkets and drugstores ran out of toilet paper. Luckily most people have come to their senses and stopped buying toilet paper in bulk. It’s worthwhile noting that there was never too little toilet paper, actually. But somehow people’s fear of toilet paper scarcity under the pressure of a new threat — the Corona pandemic — made everyone a little more crazy than usual.

freedomxx September 6, 2021 No Comments

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

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

Creating your Island in the Pandemic

Recently, I dreamt of being on vacation: Chile’s beautiful sunset Valle Della Luna mixed with the slow waves from Playa Girón in Cuba. Valle Della Luna Playa Girón It’s clear that I miss travelling. And not necessarily only the far-away-places but also briefly getting away for a weekend within Germany. The current situation makes travelling almost impossible, or let’s say: it involves risks that I am not willing to take. There’s probably a ton of things people miss at the moment. After my dream, I asked the question in a forum and others mentioned things

Carolin Stoffels February 4, 2021 No Comments

moving ideas on leadership, mindset, potential and more.