You feel unfulfilled in your job when the work no longer connects to what matters to you: your values, your growth or the people you serve. For many leaders the job itself is fine. What has grown is the Gap between the role (the Suit) and who they are (the Monk). The way forward starts…
Read article
Before you quit a corporate job at 40, decide what you are leaving, what you are going towards, and whether the problem is the job itself or the Gap between your work and who you are. Quitting can fix the first. It rarely fixes the second. Forty is often when the question gets impossible to…
Read article
Yes, a career change at 50 in Australia is realistic for senior leaders. It works best when you decide what the next chapter is for before you decide which job it is: start with your values, test options while you are still employed, and build on the experience you already have instead of starting from…
Read article
You feel stuck in your career even though you’re successful because your outer life (the Suit) has grown while your inner life (the Monk) has been ignored, so achievement keeps arriving, but it no longer fills you. The restlessness isn’t a lack of ambition; it’s the Gap between who you are and how you’ve been…
Read article
If you’ve just typed “lost my job what now” into a search bar at 2am, I reckon you’re not really asking about CVs. You’re asking something bigger. Who am I now? Where am I going? What was all that for? I’ve been there. In 2008 I lost my job in China, and it turned out…
Read article
Many business leaders need to make a lot of important decisions, and every decision carries consequences that shape outcomes. To optimize decisions and get better results, leaders often need two things: better data and broader perspectives. Research provides the data, while leadership coaches offer the insights and perspectives. All of these are important to maximize…
Read article
Practical philosophy is the application of philosophical principles and practices to everyday life. For many people, practical philosophy is a way to find meaning, purpose, and happiness in their lives. It can also be an effective tool for making better business decisions. I explore this further in philosophy for business leaders. In the world of…
Read article
Business. Social Media. Finance. Health, and even relationships. Everything always goes through the mind. Some go through the heart first for a few weeks or months, but then it becomes a mind game. Imagine you start a business based around your purpose. You love what you do from the heart. But soon you will realise…
Read article
Hacking. The ability to take shortcuts to maximise your potential. Daily cold showers are a hack to stimulate blood flow and improve health. Using meditation headsets before sleeping improves sleep quality and waking up refreshed. Getting a subscription to book summary services, so you don’t have to read whole books but just get the essence…
Read article
Power has two components. External power and internal power. If I ask you to give an example of external power, the answer is quite easy… some politicians, an aggressive leader, an army, a narcissist.. If I ask you to give an example of a person with internal power, the answer is more difficult… a Buddha?…
Read article
Marketing. Sales. Emails. Messaging. Responding to calls. The Suit world is very demanding. The Suit world is never finished, there is always more you can do in a day or more to achieve. You can always write more emails, call more people, and respond to more messages. One of the transformation aspects of a manager…
Read article
When I run workshops for companies, I can not talk about the spiritual. Some would not understand. And so there is a big gap between ´´spirituality and belief systems´´ and ´´leadership and business´´. But both are undisputedly related. However, in business today, they are usually separated. A person’s life and focusing on your career are…
Read article
What do you prefer as a leader, to be happy or to be at peace? Most people pursue happiness but not peace. Because the perceived feeling of happiness is higher than peace. Amongst happiness, we include a promotion, spending time with loved ones, going on a nice holiday, receiving a compliment for your work, finding…
Read article
Greatness is to witness something that encompasses all. Perfection in its purest form. A person performing a certain act, the beauty of nature or an artistic expression. In short Greatness isn’t only the big moment: the promotion, the medal, the milestone. I reckon it’s in every step of the journey, the falls, the small wins,…
Read article
I saw the movie ´´Elvis´´ yesterday. I didn´t know much about him. My image was a handsome, successful singer who made a huge contribution and changed the music industry. Women adored him, a genius musician, a great dancer, rich and seemed to have it all. But after watching the movie, I saw the other side…
Read article
All leaders are searching, some consciously, some unconsciously. It’s a primaeval instinct, part of a leader’s DNA. That search rarely stays inside the office, which is why a life coach for executives looks at the whole life, not just the next role. Searching for real-world solutions. Searching for soul solutions 90% search for real-world solutions,…
Read article
Wars, social unrest, a great depression, a pandemic… we all get through it. Life goes on. So what is life exactly? If all the external situations we have encountered throughout history end, shouldn’t we know or become aware of why life continues? Why do we not try to understand the foundation of life instead and…
Read article
Imagine being Elon Musk as a young kid, saying you want to put people on Mars! He probably got laughed at and ridiculed. The world is not always ready to listen to your discoveries because the world may not be prepared to listen. So many kids’ dreams are lost or not fulfilled because they are…
Read article
In daily life, we focus on our career, daily tasks and executing responsibilities. We try to improve ourselves and aim to achieve higher. But on a deeper fundamental level, why? Why do we do what we do? This question has two answers: The first answer is a biological one – Because we want a better…
Read article
I have a unique gift for teaching an extremely complex topic; the life journey. Teach the intangible and make it tangible. Teach nothingness and make it into something. How is that even relevant for the modern person? To bring nothingness into something is to help leaders increase the quality of their decision-making. To see more…
Read article
A friend of mine got cheated upon by his business partners. After the business became successful, they ran away with all the money. It can take months or years to overcome life hurdles like this. Each day when you talk to a friend or colleague, or spouse, you will find that almost everyone is struggling…
Read article
Questions… Every day we have them. What shall I have for lunch? What time is the doctor’s appointment? Where is the address of the garage to fix the car? Other questions are deeper questions such as, shall I change my job? Shall I end my relationship? Every question has three solutions: A mind solution: most…
Read article
I am not religious, but I believe there is a God. Named different names in different teachings, religions, and philosophies. ‘’He/She’’ in my viewpoint, is the CEO of life. In the end, we are all students. Students of life. Unfortunately, not everyone has realized he/she is still a student. Students fail, students make mistakes, and…
Read article
I was once working with an executive from a manufacturing company. He had to make a presentation for his company. He was nervous about speaking in front of 500 people. This nervousness had nothing to do with the event itself. This nervousness came internally. His natural flow was broken because his mind fixated on potential…
Read article
Sometimes the best answer to a question is no answer, just step back and give space instead. Have you ever tried to win an argument with someone, and the conversation gets heated? What would happen if you took a step back and just observed and breathed? The heated conversation cools down. Why? Because your mind…
Read article
There is internal balance and external balance. When someone offends you, you become off-balanced. When you lose an important client, you get off-balanced. When an expected deadline is not met, you are off-balance. So how can you live a life of balance? Don’t we all want balanced, sustainable happiness, success, love, and joy every single…
Read article
I saw the headline at CNN ‘’Michael Phelps: ‘I am extremely thankful that I did not take my life’’ The most successful Olympian Athlete ever! You reach success, the whole world knows you, you are married to Miss California, and you have 3 children, shouldn’t it be the ‘’perfect life’’? Michael is not the only…
Read article
Growing up we look for external inspiration. Our father is Superman, our mother is the Goddess of warmth and care. We admire. In the early stages of life, we often depend on the approval and acceptance of others for a sense of who we are. During school, our teachers inspire us through their knowledge, and…
Read article
The question is never what you do or what you did, where you succeeded or failed in business or in life. Whether you were a good father or mother to your children or not. Whether you achieved your goals or not. The question is always how’s your practice? Practicing new tasks & activities is normal…
Read article
Loneliness. Should we even talk about this? Who is even lonely? It sounds very depressing. We have fun daily, meeting friends, doing our job, and spending the weekends going to sports events, doing our regular life. However, in the UK, they have appointed Tracey Crouch as a minister of loneliness. At first, I was very…
Read article
Giving space is one of the most important skills to master. No, it’s not about giving space to others. It’s about giving space to yourself. Space between the mind and the heart. Space for no thinking, no action, just being. Many people are occupied with daily tasks, travels, meetings, calls, and emails to answer. There…
Read article
Your Road is Unpaved Walking the journey of life is not easy. If someone tells you otherwise he or she has not lived. Life is easy when you walk a paved road. The direction is set. There is clarity about the direction to go. This is the unconscious journey. Just follow the herd. And so…
Read article
Everything that goes inwards has to go outwards. And everything that goes outwards has to go inwards. In short Everything that goes inwards has to go outwards: food, money, and emotions too. When criticism, loss or old pain go in and never come out, we get clogged, and that builds the Gap. I reckon clearing…
Read article
In order to be balanced, you first have to be unbalanced to then understand what balance is. Happiness. You first have to be unhappy to know what happiness is. Success. We first have to fail to then understand what real success means. How come balance is so hard to find? Relationship issues, changes in your…
Read article
Plato, Aristotle, Lao Tzu…. Great philosophers. A nice to have and nice read in our free time, now let’s get back to work. Philosophy is a dream, it does not have a place in business. If we only knew that the journey of our life is the journey towards self-realization. Our job, our marriage, our…
Read article
Leadership potential includes the ability for strategic thinking, dealing with ambiguity, interpersonal skills, openness to feedback, leading others, influencing, risk-taking…. The list goes on… These are in summary a way of how the mind is managed and used in different situations, experiences, and circumstances to get optimal results. However, imagine you hire a person with…
Read article
Sometimes words are not necessary to learn the lesson. When you are in a leadership position, when you are a father, when you are in a position of authority sometimes silence can be the greatest teaching. Giving advice and opinion is easy, being silent is not. Giving advice and opinion comes from the mind. Being…
Read article
I remember I was asking a friend often for his opinions. And at a certain point he said, ‘’are you not sure about your decisions’’? And I said ‘’yes I am but I just need perspective’’. That’s why they keep reading. That’s why they have a board of advisors. That’s why they have a coach.…
Read article
Career Transition The idea of Career Transition is daunting to many. The reason is not because of all the obstacles or the struggles you might face when going through this journey, but because of the constant battle between what you should do and what you want to do. All the hassle the path could and…
Read article
If you want to be successful copy what successful people do and you will achieve the same or similar results. What mindset do successful people have, copy or adopt a similar mindset and you will get similar results. Do you want to be successful at social media marketing? Copy how the Gurus do it and…
Read article
In short Sometimes the easy road is to just leave: the job, the relationship, the conversation we don’t want to have. I reckon the hard road is the one with no regrets, where you finish the unfinished business and choose a life true to yourself. My parents got divorced when I was 15. My dad…
Read article
What Is Philosophical Counselling? Philosophical counseling is a form of therapy that uses philosophical thinking and principles to help individuals better understand and address their personal and psychological challenges. Unlike traditional psychological counseling, which focuses on the treatment of mental health disorders, philosophical counseling is more concerned with helping individuals explore and clarify their values,…
Read article
Recently I was on a Zoom call with an executive from a manufacturing company. ‘’For years I have been following Carl Jung’’, ‘’I went to meditation retreats’’, ‘’I did a lot of work on myself’, ‘’I even did Ayahuasca (a plant-based medicine from Peru) for self-healing’’. ‘’But here I am still struggling and not feeling…
Read article
Integrity hard? Shouldn’t integrity be easy? Yes, integrity is easy for the ego. It is easy to say what the right thing to do is. You have to be honest, you declare everything that needs to be taxed, you speak the truth, you don’t cross through the red light even when there are no cars……
Read article
A client lost his job but found his purpose in the process A person bitten by a shark in Australia became a shark rescuer. A friend of mine hired the wrong person but said ‘’he’’ taught me a valuable lesson. It’s not what it seems to be. Reality, our life experiences, the meaning we give…
Read article
We have many different voices. A rational voice, an emotional voice, a physical voice, an intuitive inner voice. When your inner voice comes out too early people don’t take you seriously, the voice is immature, you are not being heard, even though you shout. When your inner voice comes out too late, it comes out…
Read article
Do we need wisdom in business? Isn’t wisdom some fluffy, nice thing to have as a leader? Ok being a wise leader is nice, now let’s get back to reality. Aren’t we supposed to perform, achieve results, meet deadlines and provide shareholder returns? Well, in essence, there is NO business without wisdom, wisdom is always…
Read article
Don’t we all want, happiness, love joy, success, flow, and abundance…? The world of Idealism. However in some areas of our life we experience realism, we want a better relationship, we want to improve our career, we want to upgrade our house… searching for more idealism. When your internal and external worlds are aligned in…
Read article
There is a big difference between innovation and adaptation. Innovation is so important for companies because it gives a competitive advantage, it brings something new to the market, it helps the company grow. But in reality, what we are doing is adaptation. We take an existing product and we adapt it. There are two worlds…
Read article
There are two voices in life and leadership, a rational voice and an intuitive voice. We are born with an intuitive voice. Then we are programmed to develop (overdevelop?) the rational voice in school. The rational voice then takes over our lives and becomes our driver. The internal voice is lost. In midlife, many leaders…
Read article
A client lost his job but found his purpose in the process. A person bitten by a shark in Australia became a shark rescuer. A friend of mine hired the wrong person but said ‘’he’’ taught me a valuable lesson. It’s not what it seems to be; reality, our life experiences, the meaning we give…
Read article
I’m from Belgium and have lived in China for 12 years and published 2 books. My career plan in my 20’s was to get a good education, secure a good job, grow within a company in Belgium, and scale the corporate ladder to a successful position. I got the degree, got the job, and then…
Read article
We have many different voices. A rational voice, an emotional voice, a physical voice, an intuitive inner voice. When your inner voice comes out too early people don’t take you seriously; the voice is immature, you are not being heard, even though you shout. When your inner voice comes out too late, it comes out…
Read article
Do we need wisdom in business? Isn’t wisdom some fluffy, nice thing to have as a leader? Ok, being a wise leader is nice, but now let’s get back to reality, let’s get back to work. Aren’t we supposed to perform, achieve results, meet deadlines and provide shareholder returns? Well, in essence, there is NO…
Read article
We all want happiness, love, joy, success, flow, and abundance…right? The world of Idealism. In some areas of our life, we experience realism; we want a better relationship, to improve our career, to upgrade our house… searching for more idealism. However, when your internal and external worlds align in your life and career, there is…
Read article
There is a big difference between innovation and adaptation. Innovation is so important for companies because it gives a competitive advantage, brings something new to the market, and helps the company grow. But in reality, what we are doing is adaptation. We take an existing product and we adapt it. In short Most of what…
Read article
There are two voices in life and leadership; a rational voice and an intuitive voice. We are born with an intuitive voice and then programmed to develop (overdevelop?) the rational voice in school. The rational voice then takes over our lives and becomes our driver and we lose our internal voice. In midlife, many leaders…
Read article
The Life Journey? Interesting. Do we make things happen in life and pursue goals and achievements or do we need to apply TRUST, be patient, and believe that the right things will happen at the right time? Well… a bit of both… The most challenging part is the part between knowing how to balance taking…
Read article
It happened a few times now: I had lost my job in the financial downturn in 2008, I was an ex-pat in China and didn’t know where to go in life, and what I should be doing with my career… A past relationship had ended, and all of sudden I had to move out, wondering…
Read article
Increase Your Leadership Effectiveness Through Skill and Awareness – Leadership Trainer Barcelona I was leading an online workshop training in English with one of my trainers in Barcelona yesterday for a US-based company with offices in Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia. I don’t really consider myself a trainer, but more a facilitator because I believe that training…
Read article
When I was thinking about career transition, I was wondering if I should write the article from the mind or from the heart. When I write from the mind, it would include SEO optimized blog, tools strategies and tips for you to make a successful career transition. If I would write it from the heart,…
Read article
As a practical philosopher, I use two worlds to help people find their path and purpose in life. The outer world, is represented by your Suit, and the inner world is represented by your Monk. I’ve worked with Fortune 500 companies and successful leaders from various industries. Of course, they hire me as their coach,…
Read article
How To Be Happy The Complete Guide – 23 Strategies to Increase Your Happiness on a Fundamental Level {UPDATED}. Everyone wants to be happy! However, for many people, happiness seems to come and go like waves. One day you feel happy and inspired whilst other days you feel less motivated and more lazy. So in…
Read article
Perception and reality are two different things. Most of us operate in reality, we do daily tasks, try to achieve goals based on agreed milestones, go to meetings, take action to make projects happen etc… in these instances we are attached to the mind to achieve results. This is important. However, there is another side…
Read article
Why is practical philosophy important? A business can be and is very complex. You need to think of product development, marketing, sales, HR, hiring people, develop a strategy, focus on the tasks at hand, and make important decisions…. These are rational components that a business needs to operate. However, if the rational component is not…
Read article
Fundamental loss is time, quality time with your kids, quality time with your family, quality time with yourself. The weight of this loss has more impact even though the time is less. These are what I call internal losses. These are times that cannot be recuperated. For example, due to your long working hours, you…
Read article
How can the ignorant man learn? How can the ignorant man grow? The ignorant man always has two options. To learn or to stay ignorant. If the ignorant man wants to learn, he will learn through sin. Sin is not bad. Sin is learning, sin is an opportunity for growth. Which one is worse, the…
Read article
Rene Descartes the famous philosopher was not 100% correct when he said ‘’’ I Think Therefore I Am ’’. When you think you are the mind, the mind is a thought or a thought-form. A thought is an illusion and therefore when you think you are the illusion. An illusion is not real. An Illusion…
Read article
Is It Time For You To Find A New Career At 40? Many people often in midlife come to a point in their careers when it is time for a change, getting ready for a new career at 40. Sometimes, the realization or necessity to change comes from a lack of motivation to go to…
Read article
For over 10 years I’ve been working with Fortune 500 companies to develop self-awareness in the workplace. I’ve used my Suited Monk model for this process. The idea is very simple, most employees focus on their Suit or external self (success, job title, career development,…) and forget or don’t think about nurturing their Monk or…
Read article
How to balance a spiritual and material life is a question I get often in my workshops. A few days ago I was chatting with a friend who is struggling with finding her path in life. She’s a very spiritual person but is unable to take action to find her path and purpose. She’s been…
Read article
Developing your personal philosophy is one of the most important practices which will help you to find your path in life. Religions, books, personal development tools provide strategies and insights to create greater understanding of your life and yourself. Once you have a greater depth of who you are, you are ready to develop your…
Read article
self-aware Ignorance! What a gift from the mind… I was just talking to a friend who works for Tencent, she said to me ” even in 2017 many people still live with their eyes closed”… I couldn’t have said it any better. There are two kinds of people in the world, self-aware people and ignorant…
Read article
After you realize it’s time to quit your job, the answer is what’s next? From a philosophical point of view there is a gap between knowing you need to quit and the next job on the life journey. That GAP is what I call empty space. When someone wants to make a career change, in…
Read article
I was reflecting on the deeper meaning and purpose of Happy Journey Quotes. Happy Journey Quotes gives people meaning and purpose, it shows empathy towards the other person and care for his or her well-being. However the deeper underlying message for Happy Journey Quotes is HOPE. We want to let people know that they are…
Read articleIs life pointless? If you’re asking that, I want to say something first. You’re not broken, and you’re not the only one. Over the past 10+ years of running workshops, coaching people one-on-one and hearing from readers of my books, almost everyone has told me about a low point where this exact question came up.…
Read article
What Is Practical Philosophy? Practical philosophy is philosophy you use, not just study. It takes old questions, like how to live well, what matters and who you are, and applies them to everyday life and work. For me, it’s mostly about one thing: closing the Gap between who you are and how you live. When…
Read article
People who have been going through a rough time and who feel depressed often ask the question what is the point of life? Their life often seem to be so insignificant to them. Why bother being nice to people, why bother trying to improve yourself, what is the point of life? What is the point…
Read article
Hire me as your personal executive coach in Shanghai or online. I love one-on-one coaching, but I have limited time available for it. Therefore, I am very selective. I also charge higher fees. If you think you could benefit from one-on-one interaction with me, email Suzy my assistant. My one on one coaching program is only…
Read articleTo answer the question “how to find your path in life”, I would first like to clarify that finding your path in life is different AND MORE IMPORTANT than finding your purpose in life… When people talk about or explore finding their purpose in life, a lot of them have ideas on their actual life…
Read article
SUITED MONK AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP 1-2 DAY WORKSHOP Suited Monk Authentic Leadership is a unique licensed program which consist of a one to two-day authentic leadership workshop for leaders, with pre-course assessment, case design, and phone interviews followed by an individual or group coaching program. Suited Monk Authentic Leadership is a personal leadership development program with…
Read article