End of February – it’s that time of the month.

This is actually quite a good exercise and serves as a sort of journal for me. I kind of haven’t transitioned from the paper type  (as in a physical journal) to the digital type (like taking notes on the phone or using an app or platform online). Well realistically, I struggled with the paper type too…

Review of the preview – What I had in store for February

• Marketing for website – facebook ads for local? Ooookkayy. No, didn’t get done..
• Update work with me/homepage/about me – Never ending story and a process in and of itself
• Positioning and branding? Another one of those things not done – or maybe?

Process Communication Model® – PCM – The art of adaptive communication

As part of an advanced training in hypnosis my colleagues and I were introduced to the Process Communication Model®. It is an innovative tool based on human behavior which enables the user to understand how and why people communicate.

According to the PCM, individual personality structure is comprised of six types of personality. Each of us has all six of the personality types defined by Kahler. Those six types, however, are present in differing orders and in differing strengths.

PCM personalities

By getting to know ourselves and understanding the personality types of the people in our lives, we can dramatically change the way we communicate and motivate.

According to the insights of my colleagues I’m a Rebel:

Rebel is a very creative person who tends to find solutions in situations when others see only problems. He is spontaneous, playful and able to turn a boring task into a game. Rebel reacts to people and things with likes and dislikes. He is a source of positive energy and enthusiasm for others and is therefore gladly invited to numerous gatherings.

Not sure about the spontaneous and playful – but it does match up with my claim – “Rebel with a cause”

Social Media and my challenges with it

As an introvert and someone who does not necessarily like being on social media, it’s a tough thing being visible. There are soo many platforms that are recommended for marketing and just being out there. These platforms includes Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter to mention just a few. Deciding on which platform to use is also a challenge. Where will my ideal clients find me, what kind of content do they want to see, how can I engage with them or get them to engage with me?

I started off on Instagram with quote of the day. Coming up with something relevant, inspiring or motivating can become quite a task.

Starting with an excel table I surfed the internet for positive nouns, verbs and adjectives. Next up finding quotes on the words and then individualising them with my thoughts and insights. I posted 3 times a day on Instagram for two weeks. That was exhausting. Even if you can automate (shock!) almost everything in today’s day and age, there still has to be some thought behind it all. What, how often, how relevant, more selfies etc etc etc.- and for me, the look of the grid. Most people would probably not understand that part, but Hey, maybe that’s just me.

Instagram feed

Reading is one of my passions and it became an important part of the month

In January I took part in an online summit called the Self Sabotage Summit, hosted by Helen Maffini. One of the presenters was Curt Thompson. After watching his presentation I was intrigued to say the least and bought his book. In this book Dr. Thompson reveals how it is possible to rewire your mind by altering your brain patterns. It integrates knowledge from neuroscience with insights from the worlds of psychology and spirituality. I find the concept very interesting as he writes about a new way of understanding and experiencing life with God but also using the language of neuroscience and attachment.

Anatomy of the soul – Curt Thompson, M.D. – Surprising connections between neuroscience and spiritual practices that can transform your life and relationships

Anatomy of the soul

The subtle art of not giving a f*ck – Mark Manson – A counterintuitive approach to living a good life

Next on the agenda was a book that was given rave reviews by a couple of colleagues and friends. If you’re not into profanity – then maybe this is not for you, HOWEVER, I found it very enlightening and for me it made a lot of sense. Amongst a lot of other things  he talks about Alan Watts “the backwards law”. – The desire for more positive experience is itself a negative experience. And, paradoxically, the acceptance of one’s negative experience is itself a positive experience.

The subtle art of not giving a f3ck

Outlook/Forecast March 2019

Mastermind in Berlin with my favourite business ladies

Keeping up on social media – need to work on a tactic or automate it more.

And last but not least , keeping up with the blogging.

I am so grateful to have accountability buddies in my coaching and mastermind. I would be lost without their support and guidance, inspiration and motivation.

Till next time

What is a confession – or an admission statement. And what does that have to do with me?

Where does one start, how deep do you go and how personal do you get? Are you ready for a shitstorm, being attacked on social media or privately?

Who gives a sh*t anyway? OOOHHH, this is going to be interesting, this confession.

The list of attack is endless when it comes to making a confession. So why am I? Well, I’m a rebel with a cause – so what, you might ask. It does actually make sense, though, in my line of duty, which I will illustrate later.

As a kid, as far back as I can remember, I was a little rebel. Then I became a bigger rebel and then a real big rebel. But then one day I decided to try to become a “normal” human being.

My first memories of being a rebel are at about the age of three. My mom had probably told me to do something and I thought – I don’t think so. I packed my little brown suitcase and walked out the door. I was leaving home. Or so I thought. Anyways, off I marched, down the road on my way to ?. I didn’t get very far. About 200 metres down the road there was a house with two huge dogs –  alsatians!. As I approached the garden gate they started barking loudly and aggressively. Oops, maybe I didn’t want to leave home at all. I don’t remember how I got home, but I obviously did as the next years were spent there.

Little brown suitcase – the closest I could get to the original – I don’t have photo’s of it from that time.

The ice cream man and another occasion to break out.

At school there was this ice cream truck or bicycle dude that used to sell ice creams during break. I must have been about 8 or so at the time. My mom always used to pack a sandwich for snack break and never would give me money for an ice cream. I decided to take matters into my own hand.

Ice cream trike ala those days

I plotted out a plan and engaged the help of a friend. We went round the neighbourhood, house to house, and sold tickets to an imaginary ballet concert on the weekend. All they needed to do was give me 10 or 20 cents upfront and then pick up their tickets at the event. Every person, that was home, gave me a small amount and at the end of the afternoon I had a little plastic bag full of coins. I obviously hadn’t thought further than the tip of my nose, because next morning my mom put my sandwich in my little brown suitcase, and discovered my treasure. Can you imagine what happened next?

Well, I had to go back to every single one of my sponsors and give them back their donation. How embarrassing that was? And then, I was late for school and my mom got the teacher to come out of class. To top it all she explained to her why I was late for school. OMGosh. That was even more humiliating.

Lesson learned? As far as that was concerned, yes. BUT, that wasn’t the end of my rebellious days.

I’m going to leave it up to your imagination what kind of trouble I got into as the years went by. I’m not going to tell you though, yet (maybe never), as my kids might read this and pick up ideas – and we’re not going there…

Another part of the “rebellion” as a young adult was to leave home at the age of 21 and travel through Europe. With nothing more than a backpack, CHF 500, a return ticket to southern Africa and an initial starting point in Switzerland – off I went.

Being in a foreign country, not speaking the language or knowing the culture it was important to fit in and not feel like an outsider.

At some point later during my travel adventure, learning the language and trying to adjust to a different culture and mentality, I met my husband. We got married and had kids (long story short). That was the start of a new challenge in life. Grow up, become an adult, be responsible, do what society expects of you, don’t rock the boat. Be grounded, complaisant. At the same time hold a good job, run a household, be a good mother, wife and and and ……

And with that losing my own identity – or was it?

Learning the language, looking back now, was the easiest part of the puzzle.

Swiss German

So what does this have to do with me in today and here?

Now, over 8 years ago, we were living on a smallholding out of town and I was feeling lost and insecure. Not knowing what my purpose was, having kids with issues, I decided to look into broadening my knowledge which led to another outlook on life.

I started studying Kinesiology which led to learning Hypnotherapy. Which in turn led to doing all sorts of extra courses – in the search of “my identity”. Looking for the person I used to be. Gone were those days, but, the future held potential.

Over the last 9 years my life has changed a lot. What is a lot? Well, I have learned the importance of self care, self love and believing in my capabilities. Not that I also do what I know I should – i.e. get the right amount of sleep, exercise regularly, regular healthy meals, less stress etc etc etc.

A rebel is a person who stands up for their own personal opinions despite what anyone else says. A true rebel stands up for what they believe is right, not against what’s right. According to the Urban dictionary.

Now don’t get me wrong – there are a million other definitions, explanations and illustrations of what being a rebel means. Not all are positive. I’ll stick with the one from urban dictionary for the moment.

For me that means not compromising my individuality or opinion. Being honest about what is important for me. “Taking back” my identity which is always a work in process – i know that is sooooooooo generic. Helping other women to regain their inner strength and do what they believe in, or find a way to embrace their future in a different way.

The reason for this confession is to inspire and encourage who ever else is feeling the same to step out and reclaim their rebel.

Another confession… I’m not going to confess all my rebel acts, as that will definitely either:

1. Cause a shit storm
2. Give kids ideas – if they read the blog, which they might
3. My mom might have a heart attack
4. This is not an absolution – as in the catholic church

It’s never too late, but never early enough to realise that being a “rebel” can also mean taking responsibility for YOUR life. If you aren’t happy, how can you be of service to anyone else, whether children, partner, parents, colleagues or co-workers.

So there you have it – my Geständnis…

Oh and BTW – I invested in a great book: The subtle art of not giving a f*ck by Mark Manson
Maybe subject for a review in the future.

The subtle art of not giving a f3ck

For a free discovery session, contact me here.

To read more about me, go here

January – A celebratory start to the New Year

So why write a monthly review in January? Visibility of course. Will anybody read this? I have no clue, and at the end of the day it’s irrelevant as I’m initially writing this for myself – kind of like an online journal.

This isn’t my first review – but my first monthly review. The last one was a Flashback 2018.
So when reviewing a previous month it can be quite overwhelming. Where does one start? Going through the calendar of events and appointments? Browsing through all the photos on the phone? Instagram, Facebook, Twitter (hhhmm – not active there) or any other online or social media activity?

Setting up a structure is important, so as mentioned above, I’ll start with my calendar, photos and then Instagram.

January – the month of many birthdays, festivities and celebrating becomes a bit much

My birthday is at the beginning of the month, which as a kid was not good timing… Christmas, New Year and then a birthday. Everyone is kind of sick of celebrating by then. Not to mention all the presents received for Christmas and then what do you gift for a birthday?

Anyways…. So this year, having not celebrated my big birthday last year, I decided to have a very spontaneous apero. I did not anticipate so much reaction as it is also Christmas holiday time. So many of my favourite people came by to give a toast and join me in celebrating my new life year.

Crappy christmas present party – or white elephant gift exchange

Every year a bunch of us girlfriends have a get together party for a “Crappy Christmas Presents”exchange. I don’t know where the initial idea came from, but it’s a good excuse for all to meet up at the beginning of the year. Ok, hold on a sec, I think I might have to google that. So apparently it comes from the white elephant gift exchange according to Wikipedia.

General rules of the game

1. each person brings a wrapped, unmarked gift (really crappy gift) received
2. they are all placed under the christmas tree (which in some cases has not been taken down yet) or a designated spot
3. each guest draws a random number from a hat (or other container)
4. Person assigned with #1 picks a gift and opens for all to see
5. Person with #2 gets the choice of stealing gift #1 or chosing a wrapped one from the heap
6. if #2 steals #1 gift, then #1 gets to choose and open another gift
7. As each player takes their turn, they either select a new gift or take any already opened gift from any of the other players
8. the gift exchange ends when the last wrapped gift is chosen and opened

In all the years we’ve been meeting up and exchanging gifts there seem to be “evergreens” e.g. that favourite jumper (jersey) that nobody wants but it keeps returning, the reading glasses that close on the nose (and go around the head), the tiny little hip flask not to mention the dubious chocolate fondue set or the scary hot sauce. (note the description….)

Research, online course, social media – it just never ends

So what else did the January hold in store?

Researching / Learning the ins and outs of online business. Find my tribe, create great content, set up a newsletter, update the website etc etc etc.

Blogging – With a little help from my friend and content coach, Judith “Sympatexter” Peters, and her Content-Erfolgs-Kurs, I’m on my way to getting out there.

The plan is to blog weekly, post on Instagram regularly, use Facebook to its full potential, keep people posted in LinkedIn and Xing, update Pinterest – did I forget Twitter? AAARRRGGHH.

OMGosh. So why the hell on all those platforms? Well, VISIBILITY. If you’re not visible you can’t sell your services to guide and support or help people. Or if you’re in another business e.g. art or cosmetics, you can’t sell your products if nobody knows you exist.

So there my old friends, new friends and family. This is what the January held in store.

OUTLOOK FEBRUARY 2019

Further education – ChiroTrans Hypnosis
Marketing for website – facebook ads for local clients
Update the website – a never ending project

More info about me you can read here or here.
To get in contact with me go here

Look forward to seeing you on the other side.