Why most of the business and marketing strategies out there don't work for a lot of us.
Purposeful work does not follow a pattern
DON’T turn your hobby into a business
With all the talk about “Soul-business” (or whatever it may be called) we often hear that we should turn what we really enjoy doing into our profession or business. However, this message should be taken with a grain of salt. But why?
When nothing makes sense anymore
The last few days, I've been trapped in a bubble. Everything felt heavy. I couldn't feel why I was putting in all this effort anymore. The smallest task took an infinite amount of energy. I just wanted to hide away and give up.
My wish list for the getting-colder season of 2025
During a blogging event organized by Judith Peters, called Blogtoberfest, I was presented with the idea of writing a “personal” blog post in which I list a kind of bucket list (a “to-want” list) for the next quarter and explain why.
Why I don’t write a to-want list
She invites us to write a “to-want” list instead of a “to-do” list, which is an exciting approach of rewiring our brain. I often talk about how crucial the words we use are because they affect how we actually feel. And yet there is a strange feeling. It’s as if we’re just sugarcoating the whole thing without changing anything at its root. However, the more I thought about the question, the “to-want” list became a “want” list and then a wish list.
The tale about followers
Some people in the coaching scene present themselves as superstars in one way or another. They hold huge events that are more like spectacles than deep connections on a human level. They suggest that if we want to help people in any way, then we must strive to live like these “super coaches.”
What it means to hold space
The best way I can describe holding space is to maintain focus and pay attention to where people are at, what they might need, and what the mood or energy is like in a group.
What it means to be a woman
“We need more strong women—show yourselves.” That, or something similar, was a post on Threads by Maxim Mankevich some time ago. Actually, it was well-intentioned, wanting to support women. One would think. And yes, it was definitely well-intentioned, and yet there are more and more nuances showing up here as well.
Loneliness and rootedness
For a long time, I searched for connection without realizing that I was looking in the wrong places. I traveled around the world, searching for it in other cultures and other people. I was uprooted. I was a wanderer. I was like a leaf in the wind. Constantly searching. Constantly looking for a home in someone else or trying to build it there, or building it in such a way that I could leave at any time because it wasn't quite ideal anyway.
Who knows the way?
Everyone says “follow your path,” but where is that path? Who knows it? And whose path is it really?
When we set out to find our own path instead of following the one that has been prepared for us by our environment, opinions about what our path may be are sprouting like mushrooms. Everyone who “only wants the best for us” has an idea in their head about what our path is. And when we hear similar stories from different people about where we should go, we can easily be tempted to believe them. But that can be one of the biggest traps on our path…
Self-employment is the death of enthusiasm
I have been self-employed since 2018. But I have only really felt that way for the last 1-2 years. And since then, I have slowly realized how the enthusiasm I originally had for this venture died the moment I wanted to make something of it. Where it was no longer enough for me to enjoy doing something, but where it had to serve a purpose. Where it had to make money. Where it had to attract potential customers. In short, where I was no longer doing it for myself.
Artist or entrepreneur
Tad Hargrave has observed that as self-employed people, we have to figure out where we are on the spectrum between artist and entrepreneur. Basically, the spectrum between creativity and goal-oriented pragmatism. And it’s a very important insight.