How to make peace with your mind?
After being a Buddhist monk for 12 years, Gelong Thubten became depressed. It was a shock for him. And for me, too, when he shared his story. I thought monks have it all figured out.
When we think we have arrived, we are stuck. We can always learn something new about ourselves wherever we are on our journey.
Gelong joined a 4-year retreat on a Scottish island, cut off from the outside world. No news, no internet, no meetings with people outside the retreat location.
He describes the first two years as “falling through space with nothing to hold him”…
Plus a simple 4-step process to unmask the ego in any situation.
You are not in control of your life.
Did you know that? How does this make you feel?
You think that is bullshit? I get it. But the truth is most people live 95% of their lifetime ruled by the ego. It’s like as you have pressed the autopilot button in your Tesla and now everything operates without you making any conscious decisions.
Sounds scary?
This realization is life-changing but also difficult to take in. Take your time to process this. If you feel major resistance coming up now — that's completely normal.
The ego doesn’t really want to change…
Do this instead.
You feel exhausted and all you want is to relax. You grab your phone and start doom-scrolling, not knowing what you are looking for.
30 minutes pass and then the reminder pops up.
You have been using your phone for more than 30 minutes…
You feel numb and guilty for wasting your time on social media. The feeling of tiredness is still there, you feel passive and demotivated.
One thing is sure, scrolling on Instagram will not energize us after a tough day at work. So why are we still doing it?
Realize your own value and free yourself from the desire for external validation.
Somebody criticizes you, and it makes you feel sick to the stomach. You can’t let it go and call one of your friends. You want your friend to stand by your side and tell you that you did nothing wrong. You are in the right. The call gives you some comfort.
But it only lasts shortly. Then you call the next friend to get more validation. After all, you are in the right, or?
A feeling sneaks up. They might be right. Maybe you did something wrong.
But all your friends assure you it was not your fault. You feel…
Follow this 2.000-year-old advice to free your mind.
Did people from the past know more about happiness than we do today? Despite all the technology and progress of our time, we still don't know little about happiness.
Did they know the secrets? The elite of philosophers realized what the essence of happiness is. That's why their extraordinary knowledge and advice have survived over 2.000 years until today.
We have Eckhart Tolle, and the Romans had Marcus Aurelius, guiding them towards a purposeful and mindful life.
Marcus Aurelius’ book the Meditations reads like an ancient version of Eckhart Tolle’s book New Earth. …
Plus 3 effective career-building habits you can adopt right now.
You finally know what your dream job is?
It took you ages to figure out what your passion is and how you want to spend the next years of your life. But how to get there?
Are you as far away from your dream job as from becoming a millionaire? I know how you feel. I have been there myself. It took me 5 years working in corporate finance until I knew how I want to spend my life.
After taking a year to travel the world, I knew I could not go back to my old job I want…
Become more confident by reading this Zen story.
You start speaking and your voice is shaking. Your hands are sweaty, you are anxious and there is nothing you can do about it.
It scares you. Now, they think you are incompetent and a beginner. But actually, you know exactly what you are talking about. You are well prepared.
Why are we still so nervous when we have to speak in front of important people like CEOs?
I have been working with CEOs my entire career and the post covid nervousness hit me unprepared.
After getting Covid-19, I had to deal with heavy brain fog and the difficulty of…
It has nothing to do with gratefulness.
I have studied the habits of plenty of successful people and all of them, if male or female, offline or online success, mention journaling as one of their habits. Is this the secret of their success?
I always thought journaling is a waste of time and had no clue what I should write about. Having an open mindset made me try it because there must be something to it if the top performers of our time do it.
Right before work, with a freshly brewed coffee in my hand, I was ready to tap into the power of journaling. …
We cannot only blame the politicians.
For a long time, I thought, it’s all the politician's fault.
They don't do what is right because it is inconvenient or they don't believe in scientific evidence. And for some, this is clearly the case.
But look what happens when politicians actually do the inconvenient and protect the people. They act out. They protest. Conspiracy theories are on the rise.
If politicians would do what is necessary to stop climate change, what do you think would happen?
People would be outraged. They can’t accept to compromise for the greater good. The consequence is politicians cannot do what is needed…
Claim your birthright to happiness.
Mindfulness is like fitness. If you don't move your body and only eat junk food, your health and fitness will decrease. It’s the same with mindfulness. If you don't nurture consciousness and presence in your life, you will slide back into the grab of the ego.
I wasn't aware of that. I thought once you have reached a certain level of awareness, there is only one way which is up the mindfulness ladder.
I was wrong.
When deadlines took over my life, I had no time to go for a walk or follow my morning routine. And it showed immediately…
