Thoughts on moving forward.

Have you thought of humility as an incentive to move forward?

Humility can free us from seeking perfection. Accepting that there is no right or wrong can be freeing. Accepting that that there is only one necessity, and that is to move forward, to learn and grow.

That is our duty. Progress. Mistakes will happen, and that’s OK.

Progress is the ultimate goal

If you accept progress as the ultimate goal, then all else falls into place. Learning, growing, making choices, practicing your skills and developing new ones.

Clearly, development happens through learning. Both learning cognitive skills and learning yourself.

To succeed you need to be authentic, be yourself, be honest.

The warrior spirit

There is an ancient Hindu script that talks about dealing with inner conflict. According to the story, a peaceful warrior needs to decide whether to fight or not. His friends and family are under threat. If he fights, he betrays his non-violence vows. If he doesn’t fight, he isn’t protecting them. True to his peaceful principles he is ready to go to his death. But what about his duty to his family?

According to the parable, in the end, he decides to embrace his warrior spirit and fight. There is wisdom in this story that can bring clarity and relief if you are dealing with inner conflict.

Forget perfection

He decides to fight when reminded that protecting his family is his duty. And he must accept that he is not perfect. He is not the perfect peaceful warrior; he cannot be. He must become humble enough to accept this and escape the deception of absolute ideals.

Let’s accept we are not perfect and let this lead us to growth.  

There is no right and wrong; rather there is the necessity to move forward.

We need to handle with grace and dignity, anything that life throws at us. Remember that there are no wrong choices, only lessons to learn.

Escape fear

Sometimes it is the fear itself that is the problem. Life is full of frightening possibilities, and mistakes are easy to make. The fear of making the wrong choice is often worse than any given option. But you are here to fail as much as you are here to succeed.

Inevitably some choices will not have the desired outcome, but that’s irrelevant. That’s part of moving forward — part of conquering fear.

Part of choosing a warrior spirit over inaction. I do feel strongly about that.

Do you? What do you think about the need to evolve as a person?

About growth as a priority?

Send me a reply with your thoughts. I’d love to read it.  

Judith Kerr died but the inspiration lives.

Just a quick note to say that Judith Kerr died. She is the woman I talked about in my New Year’s Day post. She was interviewed about her creative work at the Savoy at the age of 95, by the Guardian.

I thought about looking to find out more about her life, but in the end I decided against that. I know enough. I know all I need to know to set my own goals and design my own path.

She said she worked every morning, so she didn’t feel the day was wasted. I respect that. Especially for an accomplished woman at her age. I want to be such a person. And I want to be interviewed at the Savoy at 95.

So all I have to do now is fill that space between now and then with something worthy of an interview. And I have to keep myself fit and strong to reach that age and be able to work and go to the Savoy.

Any ideas? What is your dream? What is your goal?

Goodbye Judith Kerr!

Happy Mother’s Day

So happy to be their mum

I am really happy to be their mum.

I wanted to have children ever since I remember myself. I wanted to be a model mum. The most loving mother ever. I still do.

Soon after the birth of my first one I realised that being ‘the most loving mum ever’ often means setting rules, defining boundaries, raising my voice and feeling clueless.

One day they will understand. Not now because now both are teenagers.

I only hope they always know I care. I try my best, and sometimes I make mistakes.

Sometimes I say too much and sometimes too little. I am never quite sure which is when.

In any case, I thought it might be a good idea to write a message to say that today – and every day – I am very happy to be a mum. No need to wish me ‘Happy Mother’s Day’.

Being a mother is no easy thing. It takes a lot more than love. You should know that. Everybody should know that. It comes with a lot of responsibility and self-doubt. At least in my case. Maybe you are one of the confident ones. Are you?

Are you maybe a mother that feels certain about all her answers? Do you feel confident about all your decisions? If you do, please send me a tip or two!

Many thanks

Inspiration needed – let’s try again

I was amazed to see how many people responded to my previous post about needing inspiration in order to try again. I guess a lot of people just need reassurance that it’s OK to fail and restart.

All the truly successful people admit it. You can read it in the small letters. Journalists will never publish a heading saying ‘He / She failed and failed again and finally did it’. We never read what happened behind the scenes. The effort, the hard work, the mistakes, the patience, the perseverance. Unless we look for it.

I decided to start looking for it. To keep looking for the real story, the whole story. The latest quote on my screen reads:

Your life isn’t about a big break. It’s about taking one significant life-transforming step at a time.

Oprah

And it is true. For Oprah and so many others. J. K. Rowling – the author of Harry Potter – is a personal favourite of mine. According to her own words, she was as poor as one can get in modern day Britain without being homeless. And then she wrote the first Harry Potter book and 12 publishing houses turned it down. The 13th decided to give it a try. You know what happened next.

Imagine having 12 professionals – in whatever field – telling you NO, the one after the other. And persevering. It is easy to say it was worth it looking back. Looking forward we are unable to see the end. The end is not there yet. The end is being written by us. It is being created by our actions.

Looking forward we cannot connect the dots. We just have to keep trying. Have faith. Never stop. Place the dots. And one day we can look back and connect them. See the path.

What do you think? Do let me know in a reply.

Thank you

Do you need inspiration to try again?

You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water

Quote by Rabindranath Tagore, the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913.

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time!

Thomas A. Edison

So I guess, we just have to try one more time. It’s not over until we say it is. Do you agree? Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and the long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. Reportedly he failed time and time again before arriving at a successful result.

I believe trying one more time is easy. Waiting patiently is difficult. What if it never happens? And so we arrive at the question of faith.

You must have faith it will happen. We all must have faith.

Thank you so much for giving me faith!

How happy are you with your sleep?

Enjoying a good night’s sleep is important. Arianna Huffington, the founder of the Huffington Post has made it her mission to advocate sleeping better. Better quality sleep, more hours. She talks about actively showing more respect for our human needs. She has even created a website Thrive, dedicated to wisdom and well-being. She is very successful in the business world and is not afraid to speak about sleep, meditation, inspiration and personal purpose.

Are you happy with your sleep? I wish I could say yes. Moreover I wish I could do more and sleep more – both on the same day. Every day has 24 hours for all of us. We have to do our best with those hours. It is not often I feel very successful. More often than not, I do have a lot more to do on my list when the time comes to go to bed, when my body and mind stop cooperating with my list.

Here you will find four tips for sleeping better. Sleep helps your body and mind recover from the stress of everyday life. Better sleep is associated with a better mood and a better disposition, even with a better performance at work. For whichever reason, we should probably follow this advice and make the most of our sleep. We cant live without it anyway.

Turn off the lights

Even with our eyes closed, the lights can keep our nervous system alert. Let’s make sure all the lights in the room are off, even the small lights of the electrical devices.

Eat early

According to healthy diet advice it is best to avoid rich foods before bed. Eat something light and healthy preferably two to three hours before bed. This way food can get digested without putting a strain on the body overnight.

Tidy your bedroom

A clean and tidy room can be your haven, a space of peace and calm to recover from the strains of the day. Change your sheets and your sleepwear regularly. Make sure the temperature is comfortable and the air is fresh.

Manage stress

Meditation or breathing techniques can help you lower stress levels and prepare your body for sleeping. Stress should not be allowed in the bedroom, and it is best to avoid thinking about problems before going to bed. Try and concentrate on happy and purposeful thoughts and leave your mind free to dream and relax.

Are you happy with your sleep? Should we really do something about that? Let me know in your reply.

What do you think about Life Coaching?

Have you heard the term Life Coach before? Apparently Life Coaching is a rapidly growing industry that brings an annual revenue of over $ 1 billion in the US only. People today want a Life Coach to help them do better and achieve more.

What does a Life Coach do?

Today people want to reach their biggest goals and dreams. They want to do something special and meaningful for the rest of their lives. Life Coaching is about helping people take their life, career or business to the next level.

People today want to:

• Set clear goals and find a way to achieve them
• Manage their time more effectively
• Create momentum and see results
• Become better versions of themselves

What is Life Coaching then?

Life coaching is very different to psychological therapy, as it focuses on moving the individual forward and it has nothing to do with looking back at past issues and trying to resolve traumas. A Life Coach is a consultant, a friend, a motivator, a person that holds you accountable to your own decisions.

This doesn’t mean however, that anyone can do it. The successful Life Coach, needs to have both:

• the knowledge to identify the core issues
• the talent to energise and motivate the client to act

What do you think about Life Coaching?

Would you be interested? Would you try it? Personally, I would hesitate to allow someone so much into my life and into my thoughts and my dreams. This sort of thing seems far too personal to me to be hiring someone to help; no matter how skilled or talented they might be.

Would you be tempted to hire a Life Coach? Would you like to have a professional help you make your dreams come true? Send me a reply and share your thoughts.

How about you do your best right now?

What is it going to take to realise that life is now, and you better do your best now!

Do your best every minute of every day. Don’t wait for another moment, another time, another day to do your best and be your best because that clearly means one thing: that now you are not at your best. That another day, another time you can do better and be better. And can you really?

If you can, why not now then? If you can, simply do it now, today. Or just give up on the illusion of the perfect tomorrow and the perfect super-hero you, when you have the energy and the strength and the time to do everything perfectly. To do everything as you imagined you could. But apparently can’t right now. Why is that? I have one suggestion to make today: if you want something done differently, do it differently.

If you want to be a different person, be a different person. Now in this moment.

Because life is now, and the best version of you today, is who you are now. Not whatever idealistic dream you might have about another life, another you. You are never going to wake up and be able to do everything as you dreamt about. No matter how many hours you sleep at night, you are not going to get up one day and make everything perfect. This simply isn’t happening. So you might as well start now. Start right now, within this perfect moment.

Like that little girl who wants to wear the fairy-princess dress the moment she’s got it. She doesn’t want to wait for the perfect party, and the perfect company and the perfect day. She wants to wear it and enjoy it right now. And she’s right. And while we might want to be a bit more logical, and save the perfect dress for the perfect occasion, how about we enjoy this moment right now. And do our best and be our best right now?

Raise the daily standards if you have to. Why not? Our choice. We choose who we want to be. All I’m saying is, do it now!

On professional communication

My question is: How polite is too polite?

Having recently been submerged in a world of non-stop professional communication, I am wondering how polite is too polite? How many ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ are enough?

Lets start with the main prerequisite: I want to be kind and polite and easy to work with and responsive to requests. However, I am beginning to realise that sometimes it might be better to NOT reply. Could it be better to just leave their Inbox short of yet another message? What is your answer to that? What do you prefer? One less message, or one more with yet another ‘thank you’ and ‘please’ and ‘kind regards’?

And what about when answering to a client? Is more than one ‘thank you’ in a message too much? Is it OK to show willingness like that or is it getting too much? I am concerned about creating an uncomfortable atmosphere when the recipient of my response simply doesn’t have the time or the energy to worry so much about politeness.

Please send me your thoughts and advice. I would also really welcome tips for handling professional communication and phrases you love to send or to receive.

Please send me your thoughts in a reply.

Thank you so much

Kind regards

Eve

Letter to my daughter

Stand on your own two feet.

Do whatever it takes to be able to stand on your own two feet.

It is your responsibility and yours alone to build the person that you want to be. You get to choose and you get to do it. Nobody else is going to do it for you. Nobody will ever really know what it is you want. If you are lucky YOU will know one day. And when you do, that is power. Use it.

Let your goal light your path and nothing will stand in the way. Once you know your destination, it is within your reach. You will find the way. Always remember that you are creating the person you choose to be. Choose wisely.

Allow yourself to be led by your dreams and never ever be pushed around by problems. Remember that successful people simply do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Do it! Choose you and be you!

With all my love

Mum