Categories
Change Curiosity Growth Learning Life

How do you stay hungry?

Two weeks ago, I ran through the countryside of Belgium.

I am still amazed by the patchwork of houses that do not reveal any vision of creative unity or aesthetic pleasing. What’s worse, I noticed very little progress.

We lived in Belgium from 2005 through 2007, and it felt like nothing had changed.… Read the rest

Categories
Courage Experimentation Growth Learning Life

Why life is an Unforgiving Laboratory

“Life is an unforgiving laboratory.”

Interesting quote from the book “Be Exceptional” by Joe Navarro.

He mentions it tongue and cheek as he talks passionately about self-mastery. No further elaboration on why he thinks so, but I picked up on the term, and I love it.

My ‘curious and observational me’ did its job (again).
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Categories
Choices Coaching Life Purpose Self awareness

Why you need a coach!

You need a coach!

You may disagree, but I invite you to read on.

Next Tuesday, I’ll share the opening rate of my insight today, claiming that you need a coach.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the rate is lower than usual because many of my readers do not think they need a coach.… Read the rest

Categories
Courage Life Mindset Qualities Self awareness

What’s your superpower?

We all have a superpower.

That’s my belief. 

Every human being on this planet excels at something. 

Something that makes this person stand out around the people around them.

Having a superpower is not exclusively for people with a high IQ. That’s an assumption some people have that could not be further from the truth. … Read the rest

Categories
Choices Growth Life Mindset Purpose

Mind. Set. Grow. Every day!

You want to make the best of your life, right?

Right!

Does that also mean you want to make the best of every day?

Or do you occasionally skip a day because, in the grand scheme of things, what difference can one day make?

I understand that’s not your intention.

Nobody wakes up in the morning thinking they will suck that day or mess up what they’re going to do.

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Categories
Growth Habits Learning Mindset Purpose

Five Years! Really?

A friend of mine asked me recently whether I was happy with my progress over the past five years. 

For some weird reason, my mind went to Lenin and his New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1921.

I don’t remember many things from my primary education, but I remember the NEP from Lenin.… Read the rest

Categories
Courage Growth Mindset Performance Purpose

Roger

Have you found your talent yet?

If I learned one thing (there were more lessons) from my fellow TED talk speaker Luk de Wulf, it would be that we all have a talent for something.

Luk’s point is that you can’t start early enough in life finding, building, and enjoying your talents.… Read the rest

Categories
Courage Fear Growth Mindset Self awareness

Why it’s time to let go

Last weekend I went to see the sequel of Top Gun.

Before you decide not to read further, please don’t worry; I’m not going to reveal any of the plot or big scenes or how the movie ends.

You can read this insight and still go see the movie without any hints of what’s happening.
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Categories
Asking Questions Growth Leadership Purpose Self awareness

Three surprising questions to figure out what you want

What pisses you off?

I’ll make sure to clarify first at the start of this insight. I’m just asking this question about the work you do.

I’m not asking you about things in your personal life that piss you off. So if your spouse never cleans out the dishwasher, sorry for you, but that’s not the stuff I’m interested in.… Read the rest

Categories
Courage Growth Learning Mindset Psychological Safety

You become what you pay attention to

You need a breather.

Seriously, when was the last time you consciously paid attention to your breathing?

When was the last time you sat with your breathing and paid full attention to you filling your lungs with air and then releasing the air from your lungs?

Most people get through their day without even once being aware of the fact that they’re breathing.
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Categories
Culture Growth Mindset Values Vision

Growing Pains

Can a company grow too fast?

The answer to that question is yes, but many will struggle to provide me with that answer because they’ve never experienced it.

Only those who’ve gone through a period of excessive growth and had to deal with the consequences will answer the question with a yes.
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Categories
Growth Learning Mindset Reflection Self awareness

Maximizer or Satisficer?

There are areas in my life where I want the very best.

Food is such an area. I love going to a good restaurant (I’m not writing expensive) and enjoying a good meal with a great conversation.

Food and conversation go excellently together. Food, to me, is emotional beyond the functional role of providing your body with nutrition and energy.… Read the rest

Categories
Alignment Growth Mindset Team effectiveness

Grow in concert

Imagine.

You’re attending a concert of your favorite band, and suddenly you discover that some of the band members do not know how to play their instrument.

Or they are not clear which song they’re going to play.

If concerts are not your thing, then replace the band with the people in the kitchen of your favorite restaurant, the players on your favorite sports team, or the pit crew of your formula one racing team.… Read the rest

Categories
Asking Questions Conversations Feedback Growth Self awareness

If someone took control of your life tomorrow, what’s the first thing they would change?

What a brilliant question.

And what a hard question to answer without showing a certain degree of vulnerability (read also my story “Vulnerability is a Differentiator”).

How honest are you going to be when answering this question?

Or perhaps, how self-aware are you to be able to answer the question properly?… Read the rest

Categories
Change Courage Growth Self awareness Trust

Vulnerability is a differentiator.

What’s your first reaction when you see this headline?

When I read this quote last week, my brain went into a pirouette that would have won gold at the most recent Olympic Games.

Meaning that for me there are different twists to this quote with both positive and negative implications.

While the author’s intentions were positive, it’s easy to point at the downsides of demonstrating vulnerability as well.… Read the rest

Categories
Courage Growth Learning Mindset

Are you living up to your potential?

Yesterday I hosted a webinar on personal growth.

It was a fun learning experience talking about personal growth, and I also took the opportunity to introduce a brand-new training I’m planning to record soon.

Personal growth matters to me a lot, so much you know by now. But perhaps you never knew exactly why.… Read the rest

Categories
Care Change Growth Kindness

What the world needs RIGHT now

Yesterday I read a message online from an old friend about the first few coaching conversations she had this year.

She painted a picture of people looking for direction, being frustrated, overwhelmed, stuck, simply not in a good place.

Obviously, this is not a representative picture, but I also believe we have a problem on our hands.… Read the rest

Categories
Growth Purpose Reflection Self awareness

How to determine you’re at a turning point?

I’m at a turning point.

And before I continue with my turning point, let’s talk a little about yours. When you receive this email, 2022 is about ten days old. You may find my next question stupid, but it’s not.

How were the first ten days of this year?

Have you made progress and moved in the right direction?… Read the rest

Categories
Execution Growth Qualities

We all need a little bit of this in our lives in 2022

First Chaos. Then Structure.

I just completed ten stories about each growth cue in my playbook.

It was fun to do. It gave me some structure for five weeks in a row. I basically knew what I was going to write about next.

Sort of.

I knew the topic, but the story still came from what was happening around me.… Read the rest

Categories
Execution Goals Growth Mindset Reflection

How will you show up in 2022?

What you do is who you are.

There are many variations to this sentence, but the principle behind all of them is the same. 

Whomever you want to become, or whatever you want to accomplish, you need to have discipline and consistency in your execution to get there.

If your ambition is to become a writer, you need to write frequently.… Read the rest