Happiness Advantage
This is one of the best TED talks ever! Shawn Achor has a wonderful way to explain his research topic “positive psychology”. First he rises the energy levels in the audience by telling a wonderful story from his early childhood and once everyone is waiting for the next joke to arise he explains his research findings over the last years. Here some quotes out of his talk:
See what we’re finding is it’s not necessarily the reality that shapes us, but the lens through which your brain views the world that shapes your reality. And if we can change the lens, not only can we change your happiness, we can change every single educational and business outcome at the same time.
90 percent of your long-term happiness is predicted not by the external world, but by the way your brain processes the world.
We’ve found that there are ways that you can train your brain to be able to become more positive.
By doing these activities and by training your brain just like we train our bodies, what we’ve found is we can reverse the formula for happiness and success, and in doing so, not only create ripples of positivity, but create a real revolution.
Very inspiring talk and a great summary of his book: “Happiness Advantage”
Leave your comment what you think about this talk and maybe you have another awesome TED talk to share.
TED: Great leaders
I love watching TED videos and once in a while there are awesome new talks available like this one from Simon Sinek: “Why good leaders make you feel safe”.
He emphasizes how leaders can create an awesome organization in which people can thrive. Love the example at the end of the video how a great leader refused to lay of people instead found another solution for it.
What do you want to do?
A very inspiring video and after coming back from my around the world trip these were my big questions as well:
What do I want to do? What do I desire?
My best answer so far is: Live my life next to an ocean where the weather is warm and I can surf and exercise outdoor every day, spend quality time with my partner and listen to the waves. Building businesses that help others to enjoy life! Inspire others and travel to meet new and inspiring people and visit friends! What’s your best answer?
What do YOU want to do? What do YOU desire?
Where is home?
After traveling to so many amazing places and living at great destinations for months this question was in my head for a while and I didn’t have a great answer.
Then I stumbled on this awesome and very inspiring TED talk: “Where is home?” from Pico Iyer and he came up with a great definition for me as well
“Home is where you become yourself”
Another great quote from Pico Iyer is about traveling which holds true for myself as well:
“Traveling is a little bit like being in love, all your senses are turned on”
or
” Traveling is not like seeing new sights it is looking with new eyes”
If you get the chance watch this great and inspiring TED talk, or some of the others TED talks
Coming home
After six month traveling around the world, it was time to fly back to Germany to meet family and friends back home.
What an incredible journey where I met so many inspiring and amazing people.
Now it is time to reflect this awesome adventure and plan the next steps 🙂 And from my experience I can say, the next “mini retirement” will come for sure!
If you have ever considered to take a sabbatical DO IT! It is an amazing experience for a lifetime. Thank you all for being part of it and reading my blog, traveling with me and supporting and inspiring me in so many ways. Thank you!
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- My “office” at the airport
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- Love this Ad: We will not rest 🙂
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- Sunset on my way to the terminal
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- London Airport Impression
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- London Heathrow impression
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- Back to Germany
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- London sightseeing 🙂
Surf Nicaragua
Beside the humbled experience in helping to build a high school in a remote coastal region in Nicaragua with Surf For Life and Waves of Hope, I had time in the early morning to do some surfing.
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- First day of surfing in Nicaragua and the waves are great!
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- Yeah this is fun
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- De, James and I are exhausted after the surf
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- Let’s get some footage from the board
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- Pop up
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- Yeah some more surfing 🙂
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- Oh almost caught this wave 🙂
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- Morning surf is the best!!!
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- It feels amazing being on the board early in the morning
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- Yeah 🙂
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- Surf the wave
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- This is how I feel after surfing: Exhausted but happy 🙂 Here: James
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- Surfing the volcano 😉
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- Volcano Surfing! Yeah this will be fun 🙂
Lollipop Moments
Traveling gives you time for inspiration and one of my sources are TED Talks at TED.com.
Here one gem I found recently, an inspiring 6min TED talk by Drew Dudley to see leadership as “Lollipop moments”.
Think about your “lollipop moments” How many have you created, acknowledged or thanked for?
One of my biggest lollipop moment was more a period when I was in high-school: I had this amazing computer science teacher and when the decision was to be made what to study it was computer science. More than 12 years later I got the chance to meet this very same teacher again and thanked him for his big influence he had in my life.
If somebody in your life has given you such lollipop moments and you haven’t told them, let them know!
Thursdays in Montezuma
Thursday night in Montezuma, Costa Rica and it is Reggae Night. The whole town seems to be looking forward this night and it is packed with locals and tourists alike, ready for the night out. At 10pm, before the party starts in Chico’s Bar, there is a Poi Fire Show at the town intersection (there is only one!) with some great and stunning performances.
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- Anna creates a smile for Poi Night
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- Kelly in her fire poi performance
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- Wow how awesome is that
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- Thursday night Poi show at the main intersection in town
Surf Costa Rica
In Costa Rica I finally got the chance to surf on a regular base actually it was 5 weeks of surfing in Montezuma. 4 weeks surfing lessons and one week surf safari.
On 20th of April 2013 I join Surf For Life to help to build a high school in Nicaragua. Please support me with a small donation for the “Surf for Life” project. Every amount makes a difference for the kids in Nicaragua. The donation page with background information can be found here: https://www.surfforlife.org/give/Sven-Koble/
Every day I felt improvements and every day I was muscle sore from the paddeling, standing up on the board. Amazing. The feeling was awesome mostly on beaches without a lot of people, awesome waves, amazing nature and wildlife. My favorite beside riding the waves: watching pelicans passing by only a couple of meters from where I was waiting for the next wave to catch. Or watching monkeys in the tree eating mangos next to where we waxed the boards. Here some impressions:
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- Surfing with Paul, Marc and Petra and our surf instructor Pablo
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- Yeah catching a wave
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- Let’s get into the water
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- Wildlife on the way to the surfspot
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- That’s exactly how I feel like after surfing
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- Playa Grande the surf beach near Montezuma, Costa Rica
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- Garden to pick up the boards
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- Mmmhhh some delicious smoothies after the surfing
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- Great times 🙂
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- Surf safari with Pablo
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- Watching out for some waves
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- Enjoy the water
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- Playa Carmen
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- Thumb up for the awesome surf weeks
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- Almost went in bed with my surfboard
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- That’s the beach to be to learn surfing in Montezuma
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- Surf board impression at Santa Theresa
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- Do Sport often to stay physical and mentally fit (here Surfing in Costa Rica)
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- Affirming others for positive things (here Surf lesson in Costa Rica)
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- Ready to surf!
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- Let’s get out to the waves
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- Playa Grande Beach setting
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- Yeah riding a wave
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- Paddle Paddle Paddle
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- Yeah thumb up for the great surfing at Playa Grande
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- Great waves, awesome weather, warm water, great times 🙂
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- Thumb up 🙂
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- Wow what is this animal? A flying giraffe?
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- Impressions on the way to the surf beach
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- time to do some waxing before we ride the waves
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- my surfboard
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- Time for surf safari 🙂
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- Our surf safari to Santa Theresa
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- Surfing at Santa Theresa
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- Warm up
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- Surf instructor
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- Pablo is our man to learn us surfing and about life
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- Ok let’s try this pop-up on the beach …
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- And pop-up 🙂
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- Surf instructor explains us the beach
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- Yeah this is fun!
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- Lauren, Kat and Diane concert the waves
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- Surf instructor with Lauren, Kat, Diane
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- Time for a rest together with Joe and Diane
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- Surf safari with Pablo
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- On our way into the waves
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- Let’s go surfing
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- Surf time 🙂
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- Enjoying the scenery
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- Awesome beach near Santa Theresa
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- Awesome beach near Santa Theresa
Runlapse in Montezuma
Sunday morning and it was time for a run in and around Montezuma. Every two seconds I took a picture which at the end resulted in this video from Montezuma, where I spend 4 weeks to enjoy the Pura Vida in Costa Rica and learned surfing and a tiny bit of Spanish.