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Tag: habit

  • A theory of the dead collective

    A theory of the dead collective

    In a world that often rewards simply showing up, it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. We’ve all experienced environments where things seem to drift along, fueled by a quiet expectation of nothing much happening.

    But what if you could cut through the noise, not with grand gestures, but with consistent, proactive steps? In this post, we’ll explore why taking initiative – even in small ways – can be a powerful differentiator. Because in a sea of passivity, even a ripple of proactive effort can make you stand out and drive real results.

    What you’ll find inside:

    Dead Internet Theory

    So you might already have read this before: the internet is dead. This is at least a theory that is discussed for several years already.

    The Dead Internet theory claims, that the majority of online activities is generated by bots rather than human interactions. Around 2010 people started to notice, that the majority of online traffic is generated by bots. This is for example search engine crawling websites or spambots flooding your inbox with unwanted advertisement. While it was easy to spot bot content in the early day, this game changed even more dramatically with the introduction of AI impacting not only your inbox but also all major social media platforms. This lead to the conclusion that the internet is not as real or interactive anymore.

    But this post is not about AI and how you can use it for your personal benefits to shine online. The Dead Internet theory is merely a reflection of our society with an important underlying principle.

    Pareto principle

    The pareto principle was named after Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist. He observed that approx. 80% of Italy’s land was owned by about 20% of the population. While the ration can vary, the core idea is that a large portion of results often accounts to a small portion of causes.

    This relates very well to the dead internet theory in many aspects. Be it user engagement where on any given platform, only a small percentage of users might generate the majority of discussions, feedback, and interactions. Similarly, a small percentage of creators produce the bulk of viral or impactful content.

    The Dead Internet Theory and the Pareto Principle together illustrate that they often set the stage for a small but significant proportion of people who are the cause of many influential aspects of our life and beliefs. Understanding this dynamic can help not only in the online world.

    Is it dead yet? A case for Dead Collective Theory

    Let us experiment with both, by combining the Pareto Principle with the Dead Internet Theory and postulate the “Dead Collective Theory”. In this theory we suggest that in the real world only a small percentage of individuals may be responsible for driving significant collective changes. Yeah you might have realized that already, but there is more to that:

    To some extent real life has become similar to what we experience online, so let’s face it: most of us choose to become consumers rather than produce or complete tasks ourselves, even if we have the capability to do so.

    Cooking vs. eating out, driving vs. uber, handwerker vs. DIY, consuming via social media instead of searching for blogs to read. We often prioritize convenience, quality, and efficiency by consuming services instead of producing or completing tasks
    independently.

    How many of you are capable of navigating with a map and compass? But why should you anyways, there is an app for that. In some aspects of our lifestyle, the dominant habit of consuming has caused the majority of the collective to lose certain knowledge, centralizing it instead within a few individuals

    By know you might already have a hint, where I am heading towards: your chances of being the one-eyed among the blind.

    A huge potential for your success in life

    If most of the collective is consuming and therefore passive, even the smallest initiative to take action will let you stand out the masses. Reaching the absolute peak involves various elements and is worth a separate blogpost; however, surpassing the majority, to be one of the 20%, can be simpler than anticipated.

    Learning to repair your bike is only a few YouTube videos away. From there general home improvement topics are an easy next step. It only takes some of your determination and willingness to try. Once you understood that, there is no limit to what you can learn. Each lesson you take, will compound: be it cooking, understanding the basics of quantum mechanics, file your tax reports.

    The journey toward success begins with a single, crucial step—taking action and it is ok to scratch your need first, but share it with others. It’s essential to understand that merely starting is often more important than waiting for someone else to do it for you. You can initiate this process by engaging in actions, even if they seem random at first. This approach helps cultivate a mindset of openness and awareness, enabling you to identify problems around you that resonate with your personal drive to solve them.

    Engaging in activities indiscriminately serves as an admirable starting point because it instills the habit of creating rather than consuming. As you immerse yourself in various tasks, regardless of their nature, you begin developing a proactive attitude. The real transformation occurs when these actions become intentional; that is, when you choose to engage in them with purpose and direction. This shift marks the true beginning of your ascent toward excellence.

    To truly excel, it’s vital to make taking action a habitual part of your life. Consistency in this practice reinforces discipline and builds momentum, propelling you steadily upwards.

    In conclusion, by consistently practicing intentional action, you create pathways to uncover opportunities and overcome challenges, steadily advancing toward the top.

    Habits to get sh*t done

    These aren’t revolutionary, but they’re reliable habits I use to persuade myself getting started. They work because they address common psychological barriers to productivity: procrastination and overwhelm.

    The “5-Minute Kickstart”

    Action: When you’re avoiding a task, tell yourself you’ll work on it for just 5 minutes. Set a timer.  That’s it.

    Why it Works:This bypasses the biggest hurdle: starting. Our brains often exaggerate how awful a task will be! 5 minutes feels manageable, even for things we dread. Once you start, momentum builds. You’ll often find you keep going past the 5 minutes because it’s not as bad as you thought. It’s about lowering the activation energy to get going.Think of it like pushing a swing – a little push gets it moving, and then it swings on its own.

    The “One Thing Focus Day”

    Action: Every day, identify one important thing you absolutely need to get done. Just one! Focus all your energy on completing that one thing.

    Why it Works: Overwhelm is a productivity killer. Big to-do lists feel impossible. By focusing on one thing, you eliminate decision fatigue and create a clear target. Completing that one thing gives you a sense of accomplishment, which motivates you to tackle more. It’s about prioritizing and making progress, not trying to do everything at once. Small wins build up to big results.

    Conclusion & Further readings

    In an environment where passivity prevails, taking proactive initiatives, even small ones, allows individuals to stand out by leveraging their unique strengths and adding value through action and innovation.

  • Secrets of Longevity: Transforming Aging into Empowerment

    Secrets of Longevity: Transforming Aging into Empowerment

    My son asked me today, if we all have to die. The answer is yes. But he at least demanded that we life until 100, so we can be longer together. This inspired me to read Outlive by Peter Attia to get clarity of what most of us struggle when getting older and understand what to do about it.

    What you’ll find inside:

    According to Attia, longevity has two components. The first is your chronological lifespan – the hope of my son to spend as much time together as possible. The second component is called health span the quality of your life which he defines as free from “disability and disease”. All action you take to improve the health span will result in longer lifespan.

    Spoiler alert: eat healthy, exercise and sleep well is what impacts both. But how to do this is not so simple answer for each individual. The right tactic to approach is trying to improve the overall health aspects as well as individual measures depending on your life situation. The book will not reveal what exactly to do, but you will learn how to think about these things. It explains the system holistically, so you can adjust what might work for you to “outlive”.

    The Four Horsemen of chronic disease

    In his speech for … Steve Jobs inspired us with the quote “life you live as it was the last day”. This does not mean to go wild, but rather to make yourself aware of what is really important for you right now and also to think if you would spend your time on it, if you’d know that this is the last 24h you have.

    Attia calls out the four horsemen of death chronic disease that might challenge your quality of life.

    • Cancer: F*ck cancer! I bet you also lost someone to that.
    • Neurogenerative disease leading to performance decrease of your brain like Alzheimer.
    • Atherosclerotic disease affecting your blood flow causing heart attack or brain stroke.
    • Diabetes: disfunction of how your body handles Insulin. Causing fat liver etc.

    Today’s medicine has answers for all of these diseases. There are pills, surgeries or therapy that might get you out of trouble for some time. Due to technological advancements this will improve in future even more. Still today’s medicine is not there to address the nuances involved when treatment is applied, impacting our unique mix of symptoms and risk factors.

    “Risk is not something to be avoided at all costs; rather, it’s something we need to understand, analyze and work with”

    – Peter Attia MD, Outlive: The science and Art of Longevity

    This fall in line the what I mentioned in my post about risks, that every single thing we do in life is based on some calculation of risk versus reward.

    That is why Attia states, that at the level of the individual patient, we should be willing to ask deeper questions of risk versus reward versus cost for any therapy. You must be certain about your goals well informed and understand the true nature of these risks.

    Eat, Exercise and Sleep as health factors

    It is no surprise that Attia dwells into the topics of nutrition, exercise and quality of sleep as factors to improve your health. On the other hand he clearly states, that there is no silver bullet that fits all of us. It is rather to seek tactics that are likeliest, based on what we know now, to deliver a better-than-average return for our health span.

    Attia proposes that with some unorthodox but very reasonable lifestyle changes, you can minimize the most serious threats to your lifespan and health span and achieve your own measure of longevity alpha

    If you exercising consistently you might secure an increased mobility at high age. This on the other hand exposes you to the risk of injuries, that might decrease your chances of mobility in future.

    The same is true for what and how you eat. Calorie reduction diets or time restrictions for calorie intake might lead to weight loss. On the other hand you might miss the chance to provide your body with the nutrients required to renew cells etc. Attia calls that you might fall short on proteins with some diets.

    If you are one of them who believes that sleep is a waste of time, think twice. Evolution would have already found a way to get rid of sleep, wouldn’t this be helpful of our system. Not only your body is recovering from dem strapazen of the day, but also your brain will sink in all the information you collected. Consistent good quality of sleep is the baseline for emotional health.

    Emotional Health

    Diving into the topic of emotional health is worth another post. So spare with me, if you are here for further details. But to get you started with this topic, I’d like to leave you with the following:

    The emotional state might be the least factor you’d associate with longevity. Thinking about living beyond your 80s, life can be lonely. Not all your friends will follow your lead in consistently challenging yourself on your eating, exercising or sleeping habits to achieve longevity. You might truly outlive them – then what?

    Behind the facade of a best nutrient, exercised and out slept person in the world you might end up as an emotional douchbag constantly fighting over things you feel attached to.

    You might want to dwell into the science of belief or “The power of Now” by Eckart Tolle for further inspiration about emotional health.

    Derived habits from “Outlive”

    As summary on strategies and habits that promote longevity and enhance overall well-being, here are my three habits:

    1. Regular Physical Activity:

    • Action: Engage in a combination of aerobic exercise, strength training, and flexibility workouts throughout the week. Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, along with strength exercises twice a week.
    • How it Helps: Regular physical activity improves cardiovascular health, enhances muscle strength, and boosts metabolic function. It plays a crucial role in maintaining a healthy weight, reducing the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes, and improving mental health by reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety.

    2. Nutritional Excellence:

    • Action: Follow a balanced, nutrient-dense diet that emphasizes whole foods such as vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, whole grains, and healthy fats. Limit the intake of processed foods, sugar, and unhealthy fats.
    • How it Helps: A nutritious diet fuels the body with essential vitamins and minerals, supports immune function, and reduces inflammation. It also helps maintain optimal body weight and reduces the risk of chronic illnesses, thereby contributing to longevity and improved quality of life.

    3. Prioritize Sleep:

    • Action: Aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep per night by establishing a regular sleep schedule, creating a restful environment, and minimizing exposure to screens and blue light before bed.
    • How it Helps: Adequate sleep is critical for cognitive function, emotional regulation, and physical health. It allows for cellular repair, supports brain function, and reduces the risk of conditions such as obesity, heart disease, and mental health disorders. Prioritizing sleep is essential for recovery and longevity.

    The more I learn about life, the more I realize it is truly a miracle. Life is like a gift that deserves to be opened with intention and care.

  • Proof: Better Beliefs Lead To Better Biology

    Proof: Better Beliefs Lead To Better Biology

    While there are several books about positive thinking, this book provides scientific proof on the impact of positive thinking and negative perception. If you want to explore the biological processes that drive how our cells function and their relevance to your life, read “Biology of Belief” by Bruce Lipton.

    What you’ll find inside:

    Cooperation instead competition

    In school we learned about the “survival of the fittest” principle. This is based on Darwins theory which describes that random genetic mutations. Some genetic mutations help individuals to adopt better to their environment and are beneficial for survival. These genes are passed on to the offspring, encouraging evolutionary progress.

    Lipton points out Lamarck’s view as closer to our current understanding of evolution. The french biologist named Jean-Baptiste Lamarck Lamarck points out cooperation between species and individuals as extremely important to evolution. This is being untermauert with several examples in the book. For example when our antibodies successfully fought a virus, they “remember” how to kill it. This is then passed on to the antibody’s daughter cells. Also symbiotic relationships like each of us has with our gut bacteria, that help us to digest, are good examples of cooperation and evolution.

    So genes, the blueprint of our cells, don’t necessarily have to be passed on through reproduction, but genetic patterns can evolve independently in response to similar environmental conditions and can be shared with members of other species.

    In this context it is worth to mention the fact that Wallace Wattle in his book “the Science of getting Rich” published in 1910 also emphasises the need to transform from a competitive mind to a creative one. Read more in my blogpost “In 1910 someone discovered the science of getting rich“

    Cells membrane is what controls the cell

    Lipton did a lot of research on cells with the goal to find out what controls it or e.g. more relevant for us what turns a regular cell into a cancer cell. Following Darwins theory, it has to be in the genes, that tells the cell how to develop. But Lipton did an interesting experiment by removing the nucleus and by that all genes, the cell was still alive. It could not reproduce, but was still functional.

    Lipton identified the cell membrane and their receptors as a crucial structure that acts as a barrier and a communication hub. It is embedded with receptors — proteins that can detect and bind to specific energy signals or molecules in the environment.

    When energy signals or biochemical signals interact with the receptors on a cell’s membrane, this interaction triggers a series of reactions inside the cell. Lipton emphasizes that the environment plays a critical role in cellular behavior.

    Every living cell and organism produces energy signals in the form of electromagnetic fields, biochemical signals, and other types of subtle energy. Since cells are constantly receiving signals from their surroundings, this means that a change in the environment — whether it’s physical, emotional, or energetic — can significantly affect cellular responses. For instance, stress hormones can influence cellular behaviour in a way that might lead to negative health outcomes, whereas positive stimuli might promote healing and well-being.

    “It’s the environment, Stupid”

    by Dr. Bruce Lipton, The Biology of Belief

    This lead to the conclusion that the cell membrane is responsible for controlling the behaviour of the cell based on the signal it receives from its environment. By the way the illustration of a cell membrane as butter olive sandwich will stay forever in my head.

    Get in control of your environment

    This findings conclude that our mental and emotional states, as well as our beliefs and perceptions, can influence the energy signals we emit and thus affect the behaviour of our cells. By fostering positive thoughts and reducing stress, you may be able to positively influence your cellular health and overall well-being.

    Many of our beliefs are part of our subconscious mind. Beliefs frequently develop during formative years, often in childhood and early adolescence, through experiences, teachings, and emotional responses. Lipton states that up until you were six years old, the brains frequency is theta. A brain state, where yogis meditate or you sleep. This state enables kids to “download” information by observing and mimicking others. These early experiences are largely absorbed by the subconscious mind, where they can shape your perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs about yourself and the world.

    “Your beliefs act like a filter on a camera, changing how you see the world.”

    – by Dr. Bruce Lipton, The Biology of Belief

    Now, here’s the tricky part: Many beliefs ingrained in the subconscious lead to automatic thoughts and behaviours. If you observe it carefully you will find yourself reacting very emotionally to an ordinary situation. Like getting 🤯 over a tube of toothpaste left uncapped. Another example is someone with a belief that they are not worthy of love may unconsciously sabotage relationships, even if they consciously desire connection.

    While subconscious beliefs can be deeply rooted, they are not immutable. Practices such as mindfulness, therapy, positive affirmations, and visualisation can help you access and reprogram your subconscious beliefs. The goal is to replace limiting beliefs with more empowering ones, which can lead to changes in behavior and emotional well-being.

    In summary, our beliefs are often stored in the subconscious mind, influencing our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours in ways that we may not be fully aware of. Understanding this relationship enables you to explore and, if desired, change your beliefs to promote personal growth and positive change.

    In case you want to hear and see instead of reading Liptons book, watch this video from one of Tony Robbins seminars.

    Derived habits from “Biology of Belief”

    You need to be aware, in order to feel responsible. These habits can help you to be more aware of your current beliefs.

    1. Journaling for Self-Reflection:

    • Action: Dedicate at least 10-15 minutes each day to journaling. Focus on your thoughts, feelings, and experiences, particularly in areas where you notice patterns or challenges.
    • How It Helps: Writing can help expose underlying beliefs that may be influencing your behaviour. Reflect on specific triggers or situations that evoke strong emotions and ask yourself what beliefs might be behind those feelings. Look for recurring themes, assumptions, or narratives that arise in your writing.

    2. Mindfulness and Meditation Practices:

    • Action: Incorporate mindfulness or meditation into your daily routine, even if just for a few minutes. You can start with guided meditations focused on awareness and self-discovery, or simply practice being mindful of your thoughts throughout your day.
    • How It Helps: Mindfulness allows you to observe your thoughts and beliefs without judgment. This practice can increase your awareness of automatic thought patterns and help you differentiate between your conscious desires and subconscious beliefs. It cultivates a sense of inner peace and clarity, making it easier to identify and address limiting beliefs.

    3. Affirmations and Reframing Techniques:

    • Action: Create a set of positive affirmations that counter your limiting beliefs. For example, if you believe “I am not good enough,” reframe it as “I am capable and deserving of success.” Practice these affirmations daily—consider saying them aloud in front of a mirror or writing them down.
    • How It Helps: Repeating positive affirmations can help overwrite negative subconscious beliefs over time. This technique encourages a shift in mindset and reinforces empowering beliefs. Additionally, when you encounter situations that trigger old beliefs, consciously reframe those thoughts by identifying a more positive or constructive perspective.

    By incorporating these habits into your daily routine, you can cultivate greater awareness of your subconscious beliefs and work towards transforming any limiting beliefs into more empowering ones.

    Consistency is key, so try to engage in these practices regularly to observe meaningful shifts over time.

    Conclusion

    • Good news: It is not your genetics (fault) who you are.
    • Your cells need stimulation from the environment in order to grow or protect themselves.
    • It is the environment that shapes us paired with our beliefs on how we perceive the environment.
    • Our unconscious mind is where most of our beliefs are.
    • With a conscious mind, we can control this environment and how we react to it.

    If you found this post helpful, consider sharing it with someone who could benefit from it. Also leave a comment, if you have own experience to share.

  • How Your Vocabulary Molds Your Reality and How to Harness That Power

    How Your Vocabulary Molds Your Reality and How to Harness That Power

    Do you talk to yourself? I do it frequently, especially in stressful situations. Moreover, self-talk helps me reflect on my situation. Recently, one of my biggest mindshifts was realizing that actively using a diverse vocabulary can boost personal growth simply by focusing on the words I choose and emphasize.

    What you’ll find inside:

    Vocabulary is a brain filter of your sense

    According to studies an average adult vocabulary consists of about 20.00 – 35.000 words. But not only the number of known words matters, also how well you know those words and actively you make use of is important.

    The epiphany like mind shift I had was while reading Tony Robbins about „Power Principles“. In his book he presents the idea of words as filters between your brain and all your senses. This totally makes sense, because while I’m thinking about this post as I write, and I’m using words to sort out my thoughts. The same applies to almost all thinking processes you and I do.If your vocabulary consists of a relatively small set of words, it limits the ways you can transform sensory inputs into meaningful information for your brain.

    If this explanation is to theoretical for you, let us conduct an experiment: 

    „Describe how crocodile meat taste?“ If you had the chance to taste it, you might most likely say that it tastes like chicken. (Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tastes_like_chicken) while the more accurate description is likened to turtle or quail. There are several possible explanations for this, but the most obvious is, that we don’t have the right words to describe this tasteful experience. Our brains take a shortcut by referencing what is most familiar to us, similar to the “tastes like chicken” cliché.

    How vocabulary is influencing your reality

    Since all of as are individuals with unique experiences, each of us has different associations with certain words. This makes us think in a certain way and context. Repeated phrases stick in our brains and manifest in how we feel or behave. 

    Let us take the word „tired“ as an example. Fatherhood makes me juggle between several conflicting priorities which is sometimes exhausting and in addition I do not get the amount of sleep I need. So when people ask me how I am mostly I answer tired, but actually I feel exhausted to some extent.

    Over time, the word tired is associated for me with exhaustion. I observed, that even if think of myself being „just“ tired, my brain filter somehow shortcuts towards exhausted. As if it would be a self-fulfilling prophecy, I begin to feel out of energy and it is getting hard for me to focus on something. This makes my brain repeatedly saying to myself that I am tired, especially when I am a lot „brainwork“ to do, which increased the effect of being out of energy even more.

    Experimenting with words to change my perception

    Realising that my use of words has a miraculous effect on my brain I started an experiment to bann the word „tired“ out of my vocabulary. As first step I collected a list of synonyms instead: Worn out, fatigue, easy, sleepy, drowsy, spent, jaded. The word sleepy caught my eye as in „in need of sleep or rest“ to substitute my definition of tired. 

    Every time my brain is telling me, that I am tired I say loud to myself: „I feel sleepy – I’d better get to bed earlier today“. To my experience this calms down my brain in a way, that my focus shifts away from „being tired“-mode towards accepting the fact that I maybe had less sleep or have a lot on my plate and should take it slow. It helps me to break the cycle of repeatedly telling myself how tired I am and move on for the moment. If I keep the promise to myself to get to bed earlier, things are better off the next day.

    If words set the baseline for my brain to interpret inputs from my senses, they also limit my experience of the moment. 

    What impacts your vocabulary 

    While Reading might be the most obvious action increase your vocabulary, it is not the only one. The breadth and depth of vocabulary depends on multiple factors. One of them is the people you are communicating with on regular basis. If these people tend to use a lot of negative flavored words because they are constantly complaining, swearing or verbal aggressive, chances are high that you also accommodate these words in your everyday use.

    Learning another language can also make you more cautious about the words you know and what they mean. Also taking into consideration that different languages have unique expressions due to cultural experiences. For example the Spanish word „enmadrarse“ is often used to describe children who are emotionally attached to their mothers.

    Habits to improve your vocabulary

    1. Reflective Language Practice

    • Habit: Set aside time each day, whether it’s  morning or evening, to write in a journal. This dedicated practice allows  for thoughtful reflection on your thoughts, experiences, and the language  you use.
    • How it works: By being conscious of your language, you can ensure that your vocabulary reflects a positive and constructive mindset. Use your journal as a space to explore how specific words affect your  emotions and actions. Write about recent events or feelings using  different vocabulary sets (e.g., positive vs. negative) and notice any shifts in perception. Over time, this awareness helps shape a more optimistic reality.
    • Benefits: Encourages positivity and resilience, improves communication skills, and fosters healthier relationships.

    2. Expand Your Lexicon:

    • Habit: Dedicate time each week to learning new words and concepts.
    • How it works: Deliberately expand your vocabulary by reading diverse materials, using a thesaurus, or engaging in language games. Understanding and incorporating more precise and varied terms into your daily use can enhance clarity and creativity in expressing thoughts and emotions.
    • Benefits: Increases cognitive flexibility, enhances problem-solving skills, and improves self-expression.

    3. Engage in Positive Self-Talk:

    • Habit: Routinely replace negative internal dialogue with positive affirmations or constructive language.
    • How it works: Whenever you catch yourself engaging in self-criticism or doubt, consciously choose more empowering words. Practice gratitude and focus on strengths rather than weaknesses. This can be done through journaling, meditation, or verbal affirmations.
    • Benefits: Boosts self-esteem, reduces stress and anxiety, and creates a more optimistic outlook on life.

    Conclusion

    • We use words to sort out thoughts. Our brain uses our vocabulary as filter on the input from all our senses.
    • Observe what words you are repeating and if they have a self-fulfilling prophecy effect.
    • Our associations with words is based on individual experiences and give them positive and negative vibe. 
    • Experiment with synonyms to break a repeating cycle negative effects word have how your brain interprets your moment. 
    • Be cautious of your environment and the words used and respective feelings and behaviours caused

    Further readings: 

  • You’re an expert – how to make money with it

    You’re an expert – how to make money with it

    “Expert Secrets” is a comprehensive guide by Russell Brunson that teaches us how to become really good at something and share it with others. It encourages you to make friends with lots of people who like what you do. And to turn those friends into happy customers.

    What you’ll find inside:

    It is a great a blueprint that guides you step-by-step on this journey. While it primarily addresses entrepreneurs and business owners a loyal following is valuable for any professional and is an important aspect of personal growth.

    Key concepts outlined

    I highly recommend reading through this book end-to-end. To my surprise it starts off actionable steps without further ado. Brunson starts with the thesis that everyone of us has some kind of expert knowledge. It is based on your core beliefs and passions. He gives the example that he sold DVDs on how to build a potato gun, because this is something he did for himself.

    Once you identified your area of expertise, you need to define your ideal customer and understand their needs, desires and challenges. From there it is about developing your persona that resonates with the audience of customers and tell your story.

    Share your origin story, which highlights your struggles, breakthroughs and successes. This is the foundation for a community where your followers can connect, engage and support each other.

    Consistency and authenticity with your audience is the key, but also the hard part. Similar to what every blogger tries to achieve as well.

    Habits to derive from Expert Secrets

    Based on the content of “Expert Secrets” by Russell Brunson, I derived three habits that you can cultivate to build your expertise, grow an audience, and drive business but also personal growth:

    1. Regularly share your story, experience and insights with your audience

    This habit is about cultivating your story telling skills. By regularly sharing your story you will reinforce your message and you authority for a topic. This will help to build a stronger connection to your followers and position you as an authentic and relatable expert. But continuously refining and updating your origin story as you evolve and grow.

    I am not there yet, as you can see from the activities on my social media accounts. My story is to share all I read, learn and apply to thrive for success and a fulfilled live. But when it comes to regular updates I mostly overthink what is worthwhile to share. This makes me feel like I missed the spontaneous moment.

    But it is on my list for this year – simply because I want to improve my story telling skills but also connect more with you.

    2. Continuous learning is a must for every expert

    This habit helps you stay informed about the latest trends, identify opportunities for improvement, and create innovative strategies for your endeavour.

    Subscribing to industry publications, blogs, and podcasts. While I love to read primary literature about topics because it gives me the unfiltered facts, I understand that this is not for everyone. I see podcasts as alternative to this, as most of the podcast content creators pick up more recent topics and you don’t have the risk of being exposed to GPT generated content (for now). Hard Fork is one of my favourites when it comes to technology trends.

    Joining online communities and forums to discuss your expert topics is also a good way to stay up-to-date. This will allow you to also contribute and proof your experts knowledge. Because you only have truly understood a topic, if you can teach it to someone.

    In case you can’t find any good resources, it might be a good idea to be the one who starts it.

    3. Engage with your community and other experts

    Proactively engage with your audience and foster a sense of community around you is one of the goals Brunson suggested in his book.

    This is a no-brainer, if you already have followers. For those of you, who are at the beginning I’d suggest to do what Dale Carnegie suggests in his book “how to win friends and influence people“: pace. Find someone on social media who is in the context of your expert knowledge and comments a lot. Follow his or her lead and comment the posts with what you have in mind.

    Do it consistently every day and maybe you’ll find new friends. At least this will establish your habit of engaging with others online regularly. From there you could go further of creating a forum or group for your followers to connect and engage on a more “exclusive” channel.

    Conclusion

    • Each of us is an expert in something. This knowledge is of worth for others.
    • Examine if your expert knowledge is already in a niche. The more specific you are able to describe your knowledge, the easier it will be to find and address your audience.
    • Selling your expert knowledge for a living take some marketing efforts – therefore share your story and connect with friends over social media, a meal, or a shared hobby.

    Further readings

  • My Personal Growth Reading List for 2025

    This is my backlog of books for this year. Most of these books are in the context of self-development and mindfulness. Looking forward to learn about the parallels and new aspects proclaimed by the authors. In case there is something worth to share I will provide a summary of it in the books section. Subscribe to my newsletter, if you’d like to receive it directly in your inbox.

    Also happy to hear from you in the comments section below, if you are missing something.

    Book cover: "the Science of Getting Rich" by Wallace D. Wattles

    The Science of Getting Rich (read)

    by Wallace D. Wattles

    This book was written in 1910 and mentioned in “the science behind ‘the Secret‘” as inspiration for the bestseller by Bryan. It is a practical description of the “law of attraction”.
    Find it on amazon.

    Book cover: "The Biology of Belief" by Bruce H. Lipton

    The Biology of Belief (read)

    by Bruce H. Lipton

    I saw Bruce on YouTube explaining his discovery that it is not genes that impact how our cells behave, but impulses from our environment. By controlling our environment, we could influence who we are – will be an interesting read.

    Find it on amazon.

    Book Cover: "Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity" by Peter Attia MD

    Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity (read)

    by Peter Attia MD

    Self-improvement is not just for the brain, but also for the body. Maybe this book is worth the time.

    Book cover: "Flow - the psychology of optimal experience" by Mihaly Cziskzentihalyi

    Flow

    by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

    Would it be weird if I say, that I am addicted to the flow moment? I need to understand the rational behind it.

    Book Cover Deep Work by Cal Newport

    Deep Work

    by Cal Newport

    I am curious about why this book is so popular. To which extent are people having trouble to focus on their work and what exactly does Cal recommend to do about it.

    Book cover: "Power vs. Force" by David R. Hawkins

    Power vs. Force

    by David R. Hawkins

    This book was mentioned in a Podcast about emotions. It is about the hidden determinations of human behaviour based on the research around kinesiology.

    Book cover: "This is Marketing" by Seth Godin

    This is Marketing

    by Seth Godin

    Already read “the linchpin” years ago. It is time to refresh my mind around the topic. Also in light of better addressing my blogposts.

    Book cover: "Practicing the Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle

    Practicing the Power of Now

    by Eckhart Tolle

    I read “the power of now” years ago. This book is said to be a good refresher.

    Book cover: "Traction" by Gabriel Weinberg

    Traction: A Startup Guide to Getting Customers

    by Gabriel Weinberg

    This book was recommended by a reddit follower in order to learn more about customer growth and reach

    Book cover: Richard Brandler's Guide to Trance-Formation

    Richard Bandler’s Guide to Trance-Formation

    by Richard Bandler

    Not sure if this book beats seeing Richard Bandler live.

    Book Cover: "The let them theory" by Mel Robbins

    The Let Them Theory

    by Mel Robbins

    I got this book as a gift and summary reads like “the subtle art of not giving a f*ck”.

    Book Cover: "don't believe everything you think"

    Don’t believe everything you think

    by Joseph Nguyen

    I am looking forward seeing what parallel Nguyen has to Tolle with his book “the power of now”. At least the title reminds me of it.

    Book cover: "the courage to be disliked" by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga

    The courage to be disliked

    by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga

    Habits are still underestimated when it comes to self-improvement. It is not only about what you do, but also what you avoid to do.

    Bookcover: "Atomic Habits" by James Clear

    Atomic Habits

    by James Clear

    People tend to underestimate habits when it comes to self-improvement. It is not only about what you do, but also what you avoid to do.

    Book Cover: "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle

    The Power of Now

    by Eckhart Tolle

    It was quite a while, when I read it – Smartphones didn’t even exist back then. Just in case the other Eckhart Tolle book is not enough and time permits.

  • Goals are for losers! How to win with habits

    Goals are for losers! How to win with habits

    If you consistently failed achieving goals, this is for you. For all the professional goal chasers, hear me out and judge later.

    What you’ll find inside:

    Goals are a fundamental part of our lives. When I ask my son what he wants to make for a living as grown-up, his answer is: I want to be an explorer digging for dinosaurs bones and lost treasures. This is one type of goal called „approach motivation“  to pursue positive outcomes or experiences. Then there is another side of the goals medal, which most likely all of us already experienced: I have to study hard this weekend so I don’t fail this time at my exam. In this example, the primary motivation is not to achieve a high grade or excel in the subject (which would be approach-motivated), but rather to avoid the negative consequence of failing the exam. This is called „avoidance motivation“, where the focus is on steering clear of an undesirable outcome. 

    Demotivating facts about goals

    At the end it does not matter which team you belong to. What matters is, that we tend to set ourselves goals in order to reach a dedicated state of approaching or avoiding something we have in mind. 

    What both motivations ultimately boil down to is the question: is the goal accomplished? And to me, there is only a binary answer to that – yes or no. Of course you could say „I am half way there“ or „almost accomplished“. But if you look a the to-do list of yours that says „[ ] – laundry“, the answer is either check marked or not. 

    So until your goal is reached, you are in a constant state of continuous failure. This might become uncomfortable over time depending on how you designed your goal. The incompleteness of the goal could manifest in an constant reminder of you not being good enough. And exactly this is the problem I have with goal orientation. 

    SMART goals ain’t silver bullets either

    A this point the more advanced users of goal setting might chime in and state that „[ ] – laundry“ is not a good goal. The golden standard for goals is to define them as SMART. A SMART definition of my previous example „[ ] – laundry“ could be „I will wash, dry, and put away all my clothes that are currently in the laundry basket by 5 PM this Sunday“. The abbreviation SMART goals stand for is the following:

    • Specific: Wash, dry, and put away all the clothes in the laundry basket.
    • Measurable: All clothes in the laundry basket will be clean and stowed away.
    • Achievable: If the washing machine and dryer are working it is a realistic task given.
    • Relevant: Keeping clothes clean and organised is important for personal hygiene and maintaining a tidy living space.
    • Time-bound: Complete by 5 PM this Sunday.

    But even the SMARTest goal won’t make you „immune“ to the following: Once you achieve your goal it is time to celebrate. You feel terrific and enjoy the well earned fruits of accomplishing something – until, inevitably, the novelty wears off. You might start to realise you just lost the one thing that gave you direction. And your gut feeling is telling you that you need to fill this void with another goal. Perhaps a bigger one this time. So you settle for new goals and start a new cycle. This is until you reach a state of your own highest incompetence and get aware of that by missing one goal after the other you set to accomplish. 

    And don’t get me started with midlife crisis – if you are not in that position (yet) let me share what it felt for me. I was biased that a fulfilled life is when you have a family, an own house, a career with no financial worries what so ever. This is what I accomplished and I am grateful for everything that brought me here. But the emptiness of not knowing what to settle next was more of a topic for the past few years as I would like to admit and it drew a lot of my energy and attitude. It made me bitter and jealous of friends who had something to pursue.

    Systems as alternatives to goals

    The underlying principle of setting goals is to have guiding principles to align our behaviour and actions on a day-to-day basis in order to reach a desired state. Goal setting is not the only way to influence our behaviour in a positive streamlined manner. 

    „You don’t have the be the most intelligent, but have a plan“ used to be a saying of my grandpa. It took me some time to figure out what exactly he meant with it. 

    In short my plan instead of entering the hamster wheel of goal setting is the following: 

    1. Have a rough idea about the desired state in a broad context, 
    2. Ask yourself daily what to do next, to get closer to this state
    3. Plan for it making sure the activation energy is as low as possible 
    4. Just do what you planned – no excuses! celebrate every iteration.
    5. Reflect if the desired state is still what you want. Proceed with step 2.

    Let us take an example of a common new years eave goal: Loose some weight. With a goal oriented approach you would most likely try some diet plans and / or subscribe and go to the gym. 

    1. Have a rough idea: In a system based approach you start with a rough idea about the desired state. My rough idea in the context is: be a healthy person. How is the weights of someone who is considered as healthy? It depends! It depends on your age, your medical condition, your environment, latest studies about BMI etc. But health is only one factor. Strength, stamina – there are many factors you could come up with that characterise a healthy person. This may even include your sleep and you might want to consider to stop doom scrolling your social media apps.

    2. Reflect what can I do to become a healthy person? You will end up with a long list of ideas. But what is of importance here is what can you do almost immediately. 

    • Walk instead of driving
    • Skip the sweets
    • Subscribe to gym online

    In step 3. just do it according to you plan you take it to the next level, so your next best action does not take dust. It is a trick to overcome your weaker self and prepare the task well so you eliminate all room for potential excuses to get started:  

    • If you want to walk instead of driving then block your time in your calendar for the next day.
    • Skip the sweets and add healthy snacks to your shopping list
    • Subscribe to gym online and prep your sports bag and put it in your car already. Or wear your sports shirt under your clothes the next day.

    I like to compare this approach with navigation on sight. Think of yourself as a captain that has to navigate ship in unknown seas without any deterministic tools. Because in most of the cases it is similar to any new situation we are in. We know that we want to get somewhere, our desired state, but don’t exactly how. Such a system based approach comes with the benefit, that it puts your actions into a broader context with a real intent. Allowing you to take advantage of any measure that helps to reach the desired state.

    Now if you think, that this is only applicable for personal aspirations. I have another comparison for you in the area of Projectmanagement which is the waterfall model and agile methodologies. You will figure out what is goal based and system based once you research it. 

    In short: It is about establishing a system of incremental progress – baby steps if you will – towards a rough idea of where or what you want to be. Introducing a level of flexibility towards how to achieve it. It lifts the burden of knowing that you have something unaccomplished yet.

    How to transition from traditional goal based approach to a system based approach is a post by itself – I am happy to follow-up on this if you are interested. With this I conclude my last blogpost for 2024. I would love to hear from you. Subscribe to stay with me on these topics. Looking forward for your thoughts on this. 

    Conclusion

    • Goals in all forms are an orientation of the direction we strive
    • Good goals are SMART, but most people are not smart setting their goals.
    • Once you acchieved all your goals you might feel a void, that needs to be filled.
    • If not achieved, most of us feel miserable – the same is true in the phase until achieve. 
  • Social Media is Evil Fast Food For your Brain

    Social Media is Evil Fast Food For your Brain

    Bluesky is becoming more popular than X. Users say Bluesky feels like real social media again. This makes me want to speak out about how social media affects our performance. I will summarise how this influence impacts our success in important areas of life.

    What you’ll find inside:

    Observing my own Social Media consumption, I find myself regularly doomscrolling Insta, TikTok or Reddit especially before bedtime. „Just only ten more posts“ I say to myself. This is just to break this promise to myself with scrolling „just a few more“. It gets late and I fall asleep way too late and regret it afterwards – just to mention one similarity to junk food? But why do I doomscroll at all even though I am not searching for anything special.

    Our Brains prioritise novelty

    The part of our brain that responds to new stimuli is called the nigra/ventral segmental area. This area is closely connected to the hippocampus and the amygdala, which both help us learn and remember. The hippocampus compares stimuli against existing memories, while the amygdala responds to emotional stimuli and strengthens associated long-term memories.

    Let me explain why our brains work like that with an example of our early ancestors where survival was predominant. One day a young neanderthal women, let us call her Lizzy, discovered a hidden cave while searching for food in the forest. She thought, “This could be a cozy place to sleep!” Once she stepped into the cave, she heard a loud growl of a bear that was already living there. With a little luck Lizzy managed to escape. 

    But what happened in her brain during that experience? At first, her hippocampus compared the stimuli of seeing a new cave against existing memories. Initial reaction was „exciting, maybe a new shelter“ and lead her to explore the cave. The shock of discovering a bear inside, an intense emotion paired with rush of adrenaline, strengthened her long-term memory that a) this cave is not save and b) caves in general can be dangerous. 

    The reason she started exploring the cave in the first place is an important mechanism that encourages us to try new things. It was the anticipation of dopamine – sitting at a fire, have it warm, dry, save etc. Dopamine is a chemical in the brain that plays a key role in reward, motivation, and pleasure. Exactly this anticipation of dopamine leads us to open up the social media apps and start scrolling – in most cases without a dedicated need other than pleasure.

    How sleep affects brain function and mental health

    But every brain can only process and store a limited amount of new information in long-term memory. Think of an all-you-can-eat buffet but for information. You open up TikTok and start scrolling to discover new and exciting topics like how to use a drill to clean your toilet, after that a sneezing panda and so on. Depending on your stomach or self discipline, you might stop to put new things on your plate at a buffet and give your stomach a chance to digest.

    Our brains equivalent to this is sleep. While we sleep all of the „plates we filled with information“ over the day are being „digested“. Repeating information will stick. Our brain transfers new information to long-term memory by considering emotional factors, but it discards the majority of information.

    Social Media fills your brain with information, you don’t need

    In contrast to an all-you-can-eat buffets most Social Media Apps are designed for mass consumption. Being it notifications about new posts or reactions, gamification aspects like badges or karma and followers count – all this has the sole purpose of this app becoming the dominant player in the market. You as user are the worker to achieve this goal. It is a system with a reinforcement loop to contribute and consume. Which means either you contribute with the 10th video of toilet scrubbing with a drill or you consume it. 

    At the end of the day, your „brains plate“ is filled with various kinds of these unspecific information. Potentially leaving no space left for information that matter to be successful in personal or professional part of your life. As with fast food, your basically bloated your brain with fun but irrelevant information. Incautious consumption of social media spreads our focus. But focus is what drives our energy towards goals, visions and purpose in life.

    My formula to avoid overconsumption of social media

    Did I bashed a bit too hard on Social Media and the bad schema the companies are up to. But like money, Social media is not bad or good. It depends on how conscious we use it. It is okey to get yourself distracted by all the fun stuff, since it is also a substitute to release stress.

    To reduce my screen time for social media apps I tried the built in features of my iPhone. At least in iOS it is too tempting to click on „15 more minutes“ once the time limitation screen pops up.

    Instead what worked for me is to hire an app guard. This sounds fancy but is just a deal with myself: Every time I crave to open any of my social media apps, I have to justify to myself, if I completed two other items already that I set for my personal growth. For me it is completing my daily streak of learning Spanish and tracking my calories and water consumption.

    I do this via apps on my mobile that are on the same screen as my social media apps. Every time I grab my mobile and want to chill on social media, I see these two other apps first which triggers me to ask: did I completed these two items? For the most cases it works for me to jump into the other apps and work towards my visions instead of incautiously „do social media“.

    Conclusion 

    • Each social media app designs its system for ease of use and consumption, relying on you to contribute to their success.
    • Our brain carves for new and exciting information which makes you doom scroll social media.
    • While we sleep, our brain processes all new information into long-term memory, making repeated information stick.
    • Our brains can store a limited amount of information in long-term memory. 
    • If you consume a lot of social media content unrelated to all the things you want to your aspriations, you sabotage your personal growth.
    • Limit your social media consumption by installing a social media guard, a habit that priorities topics of you personal growth first and makes social media second priority. 

    Further reading:

  • Challenge Your Relationship with “Happy Money” by Ken Honda

    Challenge Your Relationship with “Happy Money” by Ken Honda

    I chose this book to broaden my money and investing views beyond “buy and hold.”

    What you’ll find inside:

    What I liked about the book is that it raised my awareness about the importance of how I earn and spent my money. While I already was cautious about what my spendings, I neglected the earning side.

    There is only scarcity of money, if you choose to believe it.

    As with life itself, it is the attitude we have towards financials that drives our beliefs. If we had bad experiences on how to pay our bills, we perceive money as a scarce resource – it needs to be protected. This may make us blind towards the fact that in today’s world there is more than enough. Federal Reserve is not printing it, but effectively adding funds to the money supply – we just have to somehow get on hold of it.

    Be appreciative for your financial income

    This brings me to the topic of earning money. For most of my life I believed that I did not deserve it. Be it my monthly salary, my earnings from all the side hustles I enjoy or gains and dividends from my investments on the stock and crypto market. I simply didn’t think much of getting paid for my time and skills.

    But this is something the author aims to educate us on. To observe whether the money you receive is based on an activity that you enjoy, and understand that you and your productivity are the money’s worth. If you are not happy with what you do to get paid for, then instead of suffering daily find something you enjoy or a reason to enjoy your daily work beyond the financial aspect. Maybe by reframing your purpose in what you do for living.

    Think of Norman Lawson who figured out 39 ways of not working lubricant formulas, but with WD40 found a rust preventive, penetrant and moisture displacer most of use already used.

    Say “arigato” to the money that leaves your wallet

    The author encourages us to apply the same mindful exercise while spending money. Also being thoughtful, about if the money spent is for something that really makes you happy on the long run. This implies, that you are aware of what makes you truly happy.

    Take for example a new shirt that you always wanted, think of the all the necessary steps that are required to produce it. Starting from someone who had an idea to design the shirt, compose the materials and colours, create the fabric, sew everything together, transport it to the shops or distributors and finally reaching you after you bought it.

    So when you say arigato (thank you in Japanese) while spending your money on that shirt, it is acknowledging that there are several people involved in producing this shirt and to be thankful for their work. But this is also acknowledging that you are also part of some value creation you deserve to get paid for.

    As addition to that book, I recommend the following TED talk, that wraps the topic up.

    What I derive from “Happy Money” by Ken Honda:

    • Get mindful about money and try the habit of saying arigato while spending and receiving it.
    • Occasionally, we overspend and lose money, but sometimes it’s due to changing financial rules, so avoid being too hard on yourself for the latter.
    • Before buying, consider if your happiness comes from spending or the product/service itself.

    Next book on my list is “the Psychology of Money” by Morgan Housel. Stay tuned.