Curiosity
Inspiration shot November 2024
Curiosity is the antidote to fear. Fear makes you smaller; curiosity broadens your view and leads you to new ideas, experiences, and people. This past month, I found a huge source of inspiration at the yearly Dynamite Circle Conference in Bangkok. In this Inspiration shot, I’m sharing some of the best examples and experiments you can try yourself.
Discover your superpower. What’s your success system?
During Jodie Cook’s workshop ‘Be more you!’ in Bangkok, we mapped out our personal 6-step success systems. For many, it starts with research, watching videos, and consulting experts. My approach is exactly the opposite! The secret? Jump straight into action without getting stuck in the planning phase. This is my success system, which I use for projects like Coins for Care, my books, and even my theater show next year:
- Make your intentions public
- Talk about it with everyone (including experts and journalists)
- Act as if it’s already real
- Take small steps
- Overcome obstacles and keep going
- Celebrate your success and share your lessons
This is how I reach my goals. What’s your success strategy?
Discover yourself: a question for ChatGPT!
A simple question to ChatGPT revealed insights about myself that I hadn’t expected. Try asking it yourself: “What do you know about me, based on our interactions, that I might not know myself?”
The answer was a real eye-opener for me. Here’s a part of it:
Curiosity-driven resilience: You’re not only resilient but also driven by curiosity to explore boundaries and overcome obstacles. It’s not just about bouncing back but asking, “What can I discover here?” This curiosity transforms setbacks into new adventures and gives you a unique edge in personal and professional challenges.
Read the full analysis here and try it out for yourself!
Authentic Relating
My last weekend in Amsterdam, I attended an ART workshop. Authentic Relating is a set of principles and exercises designed to build real, inspiring, and meaningful connections and relationships with everyone in your life. Being authentic means being real, and ‘relating’ means connecting with the other. You can be authentic without connecting, and you can connect without being authentic. To practice AR well, you need both.
The five core principles are: Welcome Everything, Assume Nothing, Reveal Your Experience, Own Your Experience, Honor Self & Other.
The goal is simple: to be yourself in connection with another. AR is something you embody. You don’t think about it; you are it. It’s a way of being, not thinking. The friend who recommended this workshop told me that the connection exercises felt like those in a tantra workshop—but with clothes on 😜 So a great introduction for ‘beginners’.
Workshop alert
Want to turn your passion into business?
In this last live online workshop, I’ll share practical steps to turn any experience into a project or business, just as I did with seemingly unrelated things like a cruise, tango dancing, and olive picking.
In this interactive session, you’ll learn how to:
- Recognize opportunities in what you love doing
- Respond to customer needs
- Tell your story in a way that attracts clients
Seize the opportunity – discover how turning your passion into a business is simpler and more fun than you might think!
PS. The recording of the very last Digital Nomad workshop, packed with bonus material, is now available. It answers all your questions about remote work, (de)registering, taxes, setting up an international business, and much more.
Inspiration bites
TED TALK
What if you truly listened to your opponents?
Daryl Davis, a black American, did exactly that. He had conversations with… the leader of the Ku Klux Klan. And what happened? They became friends. This story shows how curiosity can build bridges in places where it seems impossible.
INSTAGRAM TIP
The Strangers Project
Brandon from New York collects handwritten stories from complete strangers. Some stories are funny, others are moving, but they always make an impact.
This is one of my favorites.
SMART STARTUP
Can we save the rhino with clever copies?
A San Francisco startup, Pembient Conservation, uses biotechnology to print genetically identical, synthetic rhino horns.
Their plan: flood the Chinese market and drive down prices to make poaching less profitable.
An innovative approach—what do you think this means for conservation?
CONGRATULATIONS!
First look at Tom’s book
Tom Kent joined a writing retreat and writing coaching, but he was so busy with his business that his book stayed unfinished. He wanted it done by the end of the year, so we gave it a final push, and voilà! In Bangkok, we held the first print. So proud!
Did you know...?
…that the olive harvest in Puglia was a bit disappointing this year? The oil is as delicious as ever, but there were fewer olives and therefore less oil. The harvest also took place earlier than usual due to the weather. The pre-sale had just started and I had to close within two weeks because all the olive oil sold out.
I’ve only kept back a few 5-liter tins for any new adoption parents. When you adopt one of my centuries-old olive trees, you’re guaranteed your share of the olive harvest, however small it may be.
I really want to be present at the harvest again, and it saddens me that it always happens just after (or even during!) the DC conference in Bangkok. Now I have to choose between two things I love…
Would you like to experience the magic of Puglia? My Tiny Trullo house (with underfloor heating!) is still available for November, December, January and possibly February.
Where is Esther?
I’m spending this entire month on Koh Phangan, my favorite Thai island. I’m still recovering from 10 days in Bangkok with the conference, numerous meetups, and plenty of food, followed by a week with 30 people in Phuket, which was supposed to be for relaxation but included even more inspiring breakfast-, lunch-, and dinner meetings and an epic boat trip…
I’ve rented the same cottage as last year, close to the sea and under the trees, which reminds me a bit of Puglia. For the writing retreat, I’ve booked a beautiful seaside villa with a tropical garden. Seven people from all over the world are flying in for my last Writing retreat in Thailand. There are also several fellow location-independent entrepreneurs on the island now, so the inspiration keeps flowing…
Stay curious!
Curiosity always opens new doors, and I’m constantly amazed by the unexpected, valuable experiences it brings – from unique encounters to refreshing insights. Have you recently discovered something new or had an eye-opening experience just by being curious? I’d love to hear your story! Or share how you weave curiosity into your life.
Let’s keep inspiring each other – who knows what we’ll uncover next!
With love, and see you on social media!
Esther
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