Blog

I spent the past three months in Europe.

When I tell people that I live in Bali, many find it impressive and say something along the lines of: ‘If only I could… but…’

Their ‘but’ is most often to do with money.

95% of people I meet want to travel and express a wish to work remotely but see no way of doing so.

But I’d say that it is only actually an unattainable dream for 10% of those people, due to their type of profession or personal circumstances.

For the remaining 90%, it’s just a matter of taking the right steps and cultivating the right mindset.

It’s never about the money and always about the mindset.

But most of the 90% don’t want to listen about mindset. It sounds too ‘woo-woo, insubstantial, and vague’. They want to talk money.

‘Okay, let’s talk money,’I challenged a friend who was complaining that he couldn’t get out of his job and start travelling. ‘How much do you make now?’

‘2,000 Euros.’

‘Good. Where do you want to travel?’

‘South-east Asia.’

‘How much woul...

We expect people to treat us with kindness, love and respect. But the truth is that some simply don’t. They just don’t. There are moments in life when we are shocked to discover that our life partner, work colleague or a friend can be not only unkind to us but also mean, emotionally violent and even toxic. How about that?

What happens then to our faith in love, morality and kindness?

We feel betrayed. It’s unfair. They shouldn’t have said that. They shouldn’t have done that.

No, probably they shouldn’t have.

But the question and greatest test for you is to figure out how you respond to that. What are you like in the face of adversity, dishonesty and violence? Do you also compromise your humanity and values by responding to it aggressively - with anger, fear and the desire to harm and hurt?

No, I am not talking about the whole idea ‘turn the other cheek’ here.

I loved what Michelle Obama said in relationship to Trump’s rude, bullying rhetoric toward minorities: ‘When they go lo...

I believe that life is a mythical story. It isn’t, of course, if you spend your time watching TV and eating potato chips.

But as soon as you ask yourself the question why am I here?, something changes. Your mythical journey begins. Whether you want it to or not.

Our society has many myths ready for us to subscribe to:

MYTH 1: Climb the career ladder, achieve, be respected, be powerful, pile up lots of money in your bank account and you’ll be… a success.

MYTH 2: Love, really love, hold hands, kiss in the rain, exchange rings, cradle your baby, see her grow and you’ll be… a success.

MYTH 3: Strive for flashing lights, see your face on magazine covers, be known, where is your fur or diamond ring, rise higher, almost to become a demigod, and you’ll be… a success.

MYTH 4: Combine the three  above and you’ll be… a success.

MYTH 5: .?.

There are many more narratives. What’s your myth? What story are you living out?

Once we have answered the question why we are here, we feel a sens...

Much like everybody else, I am cautiously observing the geopolitical situation in the world and cannot ignore the shadows of the 1930s. It is getting dark - you’d have to be living in a cave not to see it.

Here is the danger, however. The media won’t just allow  darkness to exist as it is,  they will push it to levels of paranoia or fear (well, both walk arm-in-arm). It is convenient because they are both paralysing.

I often feel the temptation to give in when I open the papers and hear the news. But, once you are in the darkness and fear, it is much harder to act against it - if not impossible.

So, here  I remind myself of Osho’s words that darkness is merely the absence of light.

Be the light - whatever it means to you in your environment.

Define what light means to you - it doesn’t have to be spiritual, it can be a metaphor that helps you define your actions.

For me, it means stepping up and continuing my hero’s journey to counteract the fear.

What does it mean for you to ...

These 9 questions are good for scraping the surface and going deep: having a check-in with yourself of where you are at in your life, where you are stuck, where you are in flow and what actions you need to take.

A lot of people blame their circumstances for the lack of inspiration to take action in life.

I hear a lot from my friends and clients: ‘Well, if I could travel as much as you do, I’d also be inspired and happy’.

But travelling isn’t the root of the problem.

First, it’s the mindset, of course - but that’d become a whole book if I were to elaborate on it.

Secondly, it’s people. The people you surround yourself with. If your circle of friends has barely changed in the past 10 years, it is no surprise that you are getting little inspiration from your environment.

I am acutely aware that I am the average of the five people I surround myself with. I truly believe this theory.

When I noticed that all of my friends in Bali have moved elsewhere and I wasn’t being challenged or inspired, I went through all of my contacts and friends of friends and set up calls with the five most inspiring people. Most of whom were way wealthier, more successful and inspiring than me - and that was preci...

Making decisions can be incredibly hard - especially important ones. Travelling from London to Bali, I came up with this exercise to ease the pain of having to decide:

In this video, you will learn a powerful technique to get yourself writing everyday; over a short period of time you will get to know more about yourself, what influences you, what's important to you, what your obstacles are and where you are heading.

Clarity and knowing often don’t come from books or other people.

At the very best, they reflect what you already know or have inside of you.

Whenever others are coaching, advising and guiding you, they are doing so through their own particular prism of understanding and conviction. Through their guidance - however well-intended - they will always seek to confirm their identity (mostly, that’s a subconscious process). And there’s nothing wrong in that. It’s natural. The influences that we have on each other are what make us grow and create all sorts of positive triggers in our personal evolution.

Yet it’s important to stay aware of the limitations of the advice of others. Realising that, I began using writing as a tool in my work with people.

Over time, I understood that we already have all the knowledge in us to make every important decision in our lives - we just need to clear the way for it.

This is where writing comes in handy.

This is why I write everything out.

I believe...

I recently gave a talk to 70 people about authenticity and integrity, and my own journey to discovering it.

Before I went on stage, I gave myself permission to be brutally honest and open - so that my openness might inspire the openness of those listening.

I began sharing my journey - how I ended up moving to Bali, how I discovered what mattered to me the most - family, how I lost some people I loved, how I created and built my businesses, how I have been travelling the world.  

People listened. Really listened.

It was real. I left my ego behind at the door. I didn’t care about ‘me’. I cared about the common denominator of my story, the aspects of it that people could relate to and be  inspired by.

I knew I was choosing vulnerability. Consciously. I knew it was provocative but connecting.

QUOTE: Choose vulnerability. Do it deliberately. It is provocative but connecting.

People asked me questions that eventually led me to sharing my greatest loss in life.

I could barely hold b...