A new beginning

I made a discovery. For a while now I keep reflecting on the last week. What I learned. Where I fucked up. Who I met. What happened.

Mindful reflection supports me a lot to double down on what serves me, and to eliminate what doesn’t. During and after this “processing work”, I always feel much more present and clear. This helps to take inspired action that comes from the heart.

Because of that discovery, and because I feel we need more heart-led actions, I have decided to change the format of this newsletter.

Let’s welcome: “About Last Week”

A deep, personal reflection of last week. Shared every week. Next one on Sunday. Until the end of this year, then I’ll re-evaluate. In there: My learnings. Fuck-ups. People I met. Stuff that happened. Insights I gained.

About Last Week intends to be an anchor, invitation to slow down, inner conversation starter, inspiration, reminder, and guide for you to navigate the sometimes rough sea of life with a sense of calm and ease.

For me, the theme of this last week has been:

A New Beginning

My partner Dessie and me arrived on Ibiza, after spending a weekend with our dear friend Dan in his hometown Altea. The new beginning part in all of this is that I gave up my apartment by the end of last month and left Vienna to work and travel.

For me, this was - and still is - a super intense process that I honestly completely underestimated. I guess the knee surgery that happened a few days before I moved out of the place didn’t help a lot to make it more relaxed.

During the entire time I was on “functioning mode”. I was aware of it - which is a big improvement compared to the version of me some years ago. Yet I knew that I crossed some boundaries, and that it was almost too much to handle at times.

We can’t just stuff more and more fruit into the juice maker. Yes, as ever expanding creatures we can stretch our limits. However only to a certain extent, with patience. I guess as human beings it would be a good idea to remember this.

So this week was a lot about actually integrating and decompressing. Being easy on myself. Having good food. Enjoying life and the beauty of the island. Going slow.

I don’t want to lie - all of this doesn’t come naturally to me.

Or let me reframe. It feels very natural, but for 25+ years I did not operate in this mode. This week and the new beginning here on the island reminded me of my nature. And this reminder comes with a huge load of empowering energy.

It is this energy that keeps me building the slow down club (more to come in the next weeks). It is this energy that helps me to see a world, where we work on applying our dreams without burning out. Where we build and live life in the rhythm of the universe, and not purely based on greediness and “wanting more”. Together.

What I was also thinking about a lot this week, is how freakin’ fast life goes.

The buddha describes this perfectly:

“This existence of ours is as transient as autumn clouds. To watch the birth and death of beings is like looking at the movements of a dance. A lifetime is like a flash of lightning in the sky, rushing by like a torrent down a steep mountain.”

When we’re in functioning mode without making the time to slow down, we miss a lot. And this doesn’t have to be the case.

The invitation

Take a moment. Bring your attention to your eyes. Take a deep breath in. Now exhale. Relax. Read the prompts, and allow everything. Every thought, every feeling, every sensation is welcome.

How was your last week?

What would be the theme of it?

What is one thing that you learned?

Final thoughts

When we cultivate presence and make time to process all that we experience, we start to live life in alignment with our values, common sense and what is really meaningful to us.

We could call it “A new way of being”. Or default state. We all know it. We “just” need to make space to remember.

1% more every single day.

I’d like to invite you to hit reply and let me know how this episode landed for you.

Love,
Christian

P.S.: If there is a challenge you faced last week that is still present now and that you’d still like to tackle this year, I’m here or you.

1. Join the next FREE Slow Down Open Session this Friday at 5pm CET. For visionary leaders who know they need to make time to slow down, refocus and connect. Limited to 7 spots. Register here.

2. Schedule a relaxed intro session, or directly book a service to work with me 1:1 here