by Gundula Welti
28 Nov 2020
The language I am least at home in is Italian. When I cross the Alps, the native speakers can hear my accent and they make a rapid deduction: she is tall and blonde, so she must be German! Or else, she has a French accent! Depending on the result of these deliberations, the person addresses me in one of these two languages, even if I have made a valiant start in Italian.
After a week I realise that people are now answering me in Italian! Nobody is changing language anymore!
I am delighted, because it has happened so subtly that I hadn’t noticed.
Just one little victory in the mastery of a new skill. I inwardly celebrate this success and share it with you to further enhance it.
What about you? What success have you not yet celebrated? The first time your macaroons rose as they were meant to do? When you managed to do a 5k run? That you got through your child’s homework session without raising your voice?
Celebrate each success. And share it in the comments to promote it.
by Gundula Welti
29 May 2020
Nathalie shared her hamster story during a Facebook live stream: sitting at her desk, concentrating hard, she is thinking of names for the various sections of a training course, but nothing inspires her. She perseveres. Her mental hamster wheel is overheating with exhortations: “I’ve got to find something! Come on! This is ridiculous! It should be so easy!”
Her wheel continues to squeak round even when she’s on the phone, leading to scribbles on scraps of paper and a certain loss of active listening.
She goes to bed, more than a little frustrated. The next day, sitting comfortably at her desk, she opens the file and BOOM! The section headings spring to mind.
We all know when our hamster wheel is turning, we can’t hear what our intuition is trying to tell us. Some people go off and do some sport, others meditate, do some cooking or have a nap. All these activities serve the same purpose: they calm down the hamster and make room for your intuition. Or to use Nathalie’s words: to download the answer to your question!
What about you? How do you deal with your hamster?
by Gundula Welti
06 Apr 2020
The question in the title isn’t some kind of weird Chinese horoscope, it refers to an Indian proverb:
A man chased by a tiger runs faster than a man chased by hens!
Hens’ teeth being notoriously scarce, it stands to reason that a tiger is much more likely to make you take to your heels!
Metaphorical tigers have a role to play in all areas of your life. They might take the form of demanding parents, a micromanaging boss, challenging friends or a pushy partner. All these people are going to make you progress more quickly in life than if you were sitting comfortably on your sofa surrounded by kindly hens all laying eggs for you!
A large dollop of kindness is of course one of the foundation stones for long-lasting success. But our friends in India, a country with a population of 1.3 billion, are well acquainted with the metaphorical tiger. In India, they run very fast and achieve incredible levels of development.
What about you? Are you surrounded by hens who lay their eggs for you? Do you need a tiger to make you progress more quickly?
