Let me take you back for a minute – to a time when I was running a business that organized tours for students who came to England to learn the language at summer school. It was pretty cool – we traveled all around Europe for some time and I showed them exciting places like Cambridge, Stonehenge, Bath… we even went to Germany to check out the Christmas markets (yum, gluhwein!).

I should have been happy – but, instead, I quickly lost interest in living in Europe over the winter (it’s coooold!).

That’s when I moved to Bali, and, long story short – decided to drop that business and start a new one – or two!

 

Not much later, I found myself running a  tour company in Bali, this time in the luxury space.  The second company I started helped local Balinese businesses to promote their restaurants, spas, cafes, bars, and beach clubs through a few Instagram accounts I was running. Sounds fun, right?

 

It was! In fact, even a few years in, it was still the best and most enjoyable project I’ve ever had.

 

And that’s when our common friend, the burnout, decided to visit me (again).

 

I was working crazy hours on my two successful businesses when my final call from life rang to tell me I need to become more aware of my actions and surroundings. I felt overwhelmed from life and chronic tiredness, I was experiencing a foggy mind and just couldn’t handle my life/business in a healthy manner anymore. 

 

Sound familiar? It’s what most successful business owners go through a few years after

they start.

 

I went overboard pleasing people who I shouldn’t have given a fuck about.

 

I felt every single possible negative emotion you can imagine. I knew I had to take it easier. I knew I had to take care of myself and try to recover from this experience. And, thank god – I did. 

 

Let’s talk about awareness for a second. Something we quickly tend to ignore and forget about in our ‘busy’ lives. (Btw, we are so not busy, we choose to be busy. This took me A LONG TIME to understand!) 

Have you noticed how good you’ve become at ignoring your own personal needs – and even health – for the sake of your business? Be honest – how often do you practice self-care and listen to your body? For me, it was close to never. 

I bet you’ve already tried some things that worked for a while.

I did too. But one of the things I did which started the change, including my way of thinking about myself and about the world, was attending a Vipassana retreat. It was my escape from the busy life and I hoped I could recover by meditating 10 days in a row. 

 

Up until I attended this retreat, I thought, climbing the

highest freestanding mountain in Africa was the

toughest thing I chose to voluntarily go through in my life.

 

Climbing up a mountain for 8 days, no shower, basic shitty food, hiking for 14-20 hours per day, not being able to breathe, throwing up, feeling dizzy, constant nose bleeding, not being able to eat or drink even though your body needs the energy to keep going in the freezing cold…

 

This was NOTHING compared to attending a silent meditation retreat. Sounds crazy, right? Having had an insane year, I decided to finish it in silence to be able to start 2020 with a MASSIVE BANG. 

 

So, I thought…

 

“There’s nothing better than being able to clear your head and do a few days of meditation before the year ends, right?”

 

Everyone talks about meditation in such a positive way, so it must do something for me too, right? Little did I know when I was on my way there… 

Arriving at this monastery/temple about an hour’s drive away from Chiang Mai, I immediately gave away my phone to one of the helpers there. I did not bring a laptop. I started my 10 days meditation retreat, not sitting by the pool, listening to nice guided meditation audio tapes and having amazing vegan food. NO.

Here is how a normal day *could* look like, unless you lose your shit, try to escape or refuse to follow the exercise.

 

🦸‍♀️ Get up at 4 am

🦸‍♀️ Meditate until breakfast

🦸‍♀️ Breakfast at 6 am

🦸‍♀️ Meditate until lunch

🦸‍♀️ Lunch at 11 am

🦸‍♀️ Meditate until meeting with your teacher

🦸‍♀️ Be excited or angry about the new exercise you get

🦸‍♀️ Face your own shit

🦸‍♀️ Work through it & continue

🦸‍♀️ Sleep a minimum of 4 hours/day

🦸‍♀️ Repeat.

 

Things which aren’t allowed and you really shouldn’t do:

❌Read books

❌Write a journal

❌Kindles

❌Or any digital devices

❌No food after 11 am (unless it’s cheese, chocolate or soy milk)

❌Speaking AT ALL

❌ Leaving the property

 

The above may seem easy. Difficult. Boring. Exciting. You may find yourself breaking some of these rules, which is ok if you realize that you are just trying to escape from yourself.

 

Following this timetable as much as I mentally could, I can say this was the toughest thing I have EVER voluntarily chosen to do.

 

I went in to have a break from life, get through my burnout and relax from a crazy year. It was everything else, BUT relaxation. It was hell on earth (this time in a Buddhist temple). 

 

In this place, life comes at you and you have 2 options. Face it and work through it – or escape and continue to be your own enemy in life. And I am so happy I did it. I lost my mind several times – I was bored, didn’t see the point… I’m honestly amazed at all these excuses we tend to come up with on a daily basis. 

 

One day I was so fed up and ready to pack my bag, and my teacher Mohammed, a huge man from Lebanon, begged me to stay. I was so confused, I thought he was crazy and had no clue why he was doing that… plus, why would he even care?

 

I stayed until the end.

 

I cleared my mind from thoughts that didn’t serve me, purified my spirit and really faced myself. 

 

See, life pushed me to a point where I knew I would need to

go and participate in something life-changing.

I learned how to be fully aware of my thoughts, body sensations, the past, the present, and the future. This is where my blurry vision of building a kick-ass community for humans who are aware – or becoming aware –  fully took shape. 

Over the last years, I’ve been part of many different (business) communities along my journey, and let me tell you something…

I think business communities are awesome, okay?

But when all you do is spend your time in purely business-focused places full of people addicted to working…taking care of yourself starts playing second fiddle. 

It came to a point where I ended up being surrounded by people who were unaware of this, and so much more. Unaware of their surroundings, fellow friends/colleagues, unaware of themselves, what drives them from within and the lack of understanding of effect and cause. (And that was me for the longest time too, don’t get me wrong!) 

However, what does it say about us as a person, if we’re unaware of all this? Maybe we are also unaware of our personal lives, interaction with our friends, spouses, colleagues, employees, etc.? Now that’s a scary thought right there. 

Listen, I’m not saying call me Miss-Super-Enlightened here.

Developing yourself is an ongoing process that will never end and life will challenge us to level up when it’s time. You gotta be smart enough (or aware enough) to be able to start this process. Sadly, some people will never get the chance to start their journey of awareness. Now, that’s another scary thought.

• If you’re aware of the fact that self-development is a constant change and has to happen in order to not get stuck in life…
• If you’re aware that you’re spending too much time in your business and not nearly enough time enjoying yourself and challenging yourself…
• If you’re aware that developing yourself is very much intertwined with developing your business…
• If you’re aware that it’s time for a change…

Then I’ve got something for you.

I’ve had so many fascinating experiences and have met incredible people along my 12 years of traveling and my 5 years of being in business…

So I decided to bring the best people together, in one place. I very much believe that your vibe attracts your tribe, and I’m guessing you do too.

My exclusive community, The Biz Heroes, is for passionate business-minded people who are supportive, experienced in life and business and ambitious as hell. 

We’re open to learning and trying new things and we’re

ready to take you with us – but only if you’re

ready.

 

You are the sum of the 5 people you surround yourself with, and the growth of your business is proportional to your personal growth. We tackle both of those issues by getting the best growth-oriented people into one platform. A platform where you meet like-minded people that challenge you to get to another level in your business and personal life! 

(Hint: We do cool shit and prepare you for the shit storms life and business will throw through challenging and pushing you to your own personal limits! 😉 ) 

I already know this massively resonates with you – so, apply now to be considered as one of our new members once we open up spaces again.