True North

Helping you unleash your real potential

How to find your callling

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Monday morning – back at work! Is it with a feeling of joy? Or with a heavy sense?

The difference has very likely to do with whether or not one is working in line with ones calling, also called life purpose.

It is not just a question of being good or even great at one’s job. One can be working with one’s talents, coming to great results, yet have a sense of emptiness.

Happiness in professional life comes with three main ingredients: talents, passion and values.

Talents are your tools, to do the work you enjoy. Those are the things you do easily, which give you energy. Even if you have been working very hard, you might well be physically tired, but if you have been working with your talents, you still feel mentally charged.

Passion is about what you love to do most: who do you want to help most? What problem do you want to solve? What solution do you want most to offer? The answers to those questions give you important clues on which direction you want to give your life. [Read more…]

The bold request

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I recently attended an advanced coaching workshop in London focussing on the mindset required to make important shifts in life. The training was mostly experiential so involved numerous exercises – some fun, others less because they took us out of our comfort zones. One such exercise was ‘The Bold Request’.  We were asked to go out on the street and make at least three bold requests in 25 minutes.  The instructions were: 1) Be bold, stretch yourself; 2) Be specific, articulate what you want exactly; 3) Be authentic, let it come from the heart; 4) State why, explain the rationale; 5) Be time-bound; 6) Be detached of the outcome, whether you get a yes or no is irrelevant.

Talk about stretching our comfort zones! We all went out feeling small but we completed the mission. Our bold requests included making your own coffee in a coffee shop, helping someone pack shelves, stepping into a shop and asking for something for free, asking people to join in a song or a dance, giving a hug, and many more. Most of us got yesses and the occasional no was fine because we were detached from the outcome.

The lessons drawn from this exercise were multiple: [Read more…]

Set Your Compass for 2017

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kompas-in-handen

We’re well into January, so there has been enough time for setting resolutions, or perhaps you are still wondering how to fit things in. Whatever the weight we give New Year’s resolutions, a new year does invite reflection. Reflection on both the old and new year. Underlying our resolutions is often a desire for change in some form or another. What is the change you are longing for? What direction do you want to set your compass for 2017?

Before defining what you want for this year, I invite you to reflect on 2016. We are all too keen to look for what is next, but for us to grow as Be-ings, it is enriching to pause, think, and feel things through. Here are some questions to help you review the past year. Through your achievements and successes, what have you learned about yourself? How have they shaped you? What has the significance of your failures, disappointments and losses been? What has this year taught you about yourself? How did you make room for your talents and values? Who have you been in your personal sphere and as a citizen of the world?

Get off the fast train life gets you on for a moment and [Read more…]

Lessons on Life from our Puppy

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After two years of deliberation, a month ago, we finally decided to give in to our son’s wish for a dog. A puppy, actually. I admit to being more of a cat person. Also, to saying that I would never have a dog because I am frightened of them. I was bitten as a child and have never quite got over it. Until, now. Besides slowly getting over my fear, this puppy has opened a new world to me – the puppy world! It is a bigger investment than I had expected but so are my returns, in the form of reminders of how simple and beautiful life can be. I would like to share these with you.

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  1. Living in the NOW

It is amazing how puppies live in the now and enjoy every moment. He invites us to concentrate on what we are doing – not doing one thing and thinking of another. There are consequences to this. For him, when you play, you play. Since his play still involves biting, we feel it when we’re absent-minded! [Read more…]

Reset the button!

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Sunset at Guincho

Sunset at Guincho

End of summer is special. Whether you travel or not during summer, this time of year has a different rhythm, light and activity, a different mood altogether. The end of this special time deserves attention.

Living at an offbeat pace allows you to reconnect with others and yourself in a different energy, whether consciously or not. It is a time where you allow yourself to do more of the things you enjoy and to reflect on various aspects of your life. Yet, when summer ends, the danger of reverting back into the pre-summer mode lurks.

Let’s pause here and [Read more…]

Top 5 Reasons Why You Need to Know Your Talents

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Be yourselfThere are many reasons why you need to know your talents but these are the main ones I would like to share with you.

1, Energy

It’s very simple. Your talents give you energy, mental energy. When you are doing something where you use your talents, you will feel invigorated, mentally alert and energized. You might feel physically tired but you will still deliver.

Can you remember an occasion when, despite a bad night’s sleep, you not only enjoyed and had fun doing but you delivered? You were definitely using some of your talents!

2, Excellence

When you love doing something, excellence comes easily. And when you excel, success follows. Although you may achieve success, even when you don’t work with your talents, due to hard work, luck or circumstances, success comes more easily when you do use your talents.

[Read more…]

7 Ways to Find Your Tribe

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Connecting to your tribe, or tribes, contributes to your overall well-being and can even lead you to or keep you on your path. You might love what you do, but if you are not surrounded by people you connect with, you will find something is lacking. Human beings are social. You need social contact, but you need to attract the right kind of social interactions for them to be meaningful to you. It is about being social and feeling connected. You need your tribe.

system-825314_1280 (2)What is a tribe? Here, it is defined as a group of people sharing the same passions, interests and values. A tribe can be big or small, and in today’s world, it can be a group you meet in person, or virtually, via social media. You can connect at a professional or a personal level, across geographical and cultural boundaries. You can have different tribes simultaneously and throughout time your tribes are likely to change as you evolve.

Here are 7 ways to find your tribe:

1. Set your intention
[Read more…]

Summer time

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Summer – a time to slow down, by virtue of the nature of the season: holidays, kids at home, business at a different rhythm.
Also, the ideal time of the year to evaluate where you are standing in life.

Summer beach smiling face sun

Summer time

Here is some summer food for thought.

Look at what you wanted to achieve this year and where you stand today.
Surely, you made your wishes for 2015. Maybe you wrote down some New Year resolutions or maybe you made a vision board, in which case it is easier to see and reflect on where you stand. Although [Read more…]

A simple way to bring more energy into your life

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Having a clear view and understanding of your talents, helps you bring more energy to your life. Talents are not about what you are able to do – talents are all about what you LOVE doing. How energized you feel at the end of the day, depends on which talents you give attention to.
Our individual mix of talents comprises of strong, half and small talents. Your strong talents are the activities you really love doing. The small talents are the tasks you would prefer to leave to someone else.

To make this clear, let me use the analogy of balloons. Huhh? Yes.
Imagine your body full of balloons. You have a number of big balloons in you, which represent your strong talents. Dying to find expression, these talents are fighting insight your body for a way out. You can release those balloons, by using them, being your strong talents. When you do so, there is a sense of liberation, relief and lightness. You literally bubble with energy.

You also have small talents, [Read more…]

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