I grew up in what I
guess qualified as a middle class family. We didn’t have a lot of money but
were not poor either. I was very lucky to have grown up in a family with
parents who stimulated me to do my best. They stimulated me to go to the best
schools and to attend the university I wanted to. They always gave me the opportunities
and chances to do all that I wanted to. But while my education helped me
develop my rational, logical and educational side, I missed out on the
emotional side.
It took me a long time
to understand emotions and how they work in a human being. I was very sensitive
as a child, and was very easily influenced by things that happened around me.
So, from a very young age, I shut myself off and kept myself away from the
things that would bring me down emotionally. I had a fairly happy childhood,
and then went onto studying international business. Because at the time I
thought I wanted a big career, a big house, and a car.
I went onto work at
Vodafone, where I discovered that I was great at managing projects and
processes, and I did that for a while in a consulting capacity later, for many
telecom companies. I noticed that in whatever portfolio I held under this
spectrum, I was always managing change in some way or the other. It is not easy
to manage change: people see the need for change, but people are not always
willing to change. I realized then, that the people side of life is far more
important than the theoretical side.
Soon, I moved to
Amsterdam, where I got into yoga and connected with the spiritual side of life.
I began to develop my softer and emotional side, and worked hard on developing
both sides of my brain equally. After doing some freelance business consulting,
helping my brother with his start up for a few years, and dabbling in startup
coaching, I realized none of these things truly aligned with my dream and my
vision. Later on, I did however realize that all these steps were necessary in
order for me to get to where I am right now.
But..I wanted to do things
differently. To step away from the big career and house and really follow my
dreams and intuition.
I decided to take the
question I had been working on in the back of my mind: “How is it to be you?”
out on the road. The question had come to me when I was hiking by myself in
Normandy. After a few days, my too small shoes caused me unbearable pain. And
when you are on your own, hiking and in pain, you begin to face things with a renewed
clarity.
It came to me that you
get a manual for everything, even the smallest of contraptions, like a pair of
earphones, for instance. But humans, they pop out and grow up without any
manual or instructions whatsoever! If you are lucky, you have parents who help
you figure things out. But if you’re not lucky, you don’t have anyone to turn
to. So I decided to write this ‘manual to life’ – but, a few hours later, I
found myself wondering: “Who am I to write this?” So, I decided to find out how
other people experience how it is to be them instead.
One and a half years
ago, I rented out my house, and moved to Berlin to study documentary
filmmaking. I then travelled onwards to countries in Eastern and Southern Europe
to make portraits and talk to people. Though it was very valuable and a lot of
fun, I felt like something was missing. A few months into my travels it came to
me: World Peace. The refugee crisis and terrorism around the world made me
realize that world peace is the goal I had to pursue, and that led to the
creation of the Everyday Guide to World Peace. The manifesto upon which my
entire life and business is build.
It took me a year to
write even though it’s only 19 pages long. The first draft started with all the
pain in the world – terrorism, war, dead children… I gave it to my brother and
a few friends to read, and they got back saying that it wasn’t upbeat or happy
– or something that made them feel good reading, it was depressing. It was good
feedback, and I had a few more iterations. The process of writing the book was
very difficult because I had to zoom into the pain of the people affected by all
the horrible things that are happening in the world right now. But finally,
after many rounds, it clicked, and it is now a very positive and uplifting book
that can definitely make a positive impact in the world.
The basic point of the
Everyday Guide to World Peace is that even though World Peace is a very big and
probably impossible ambition; it is very well possible to find peace in
yourself and in your relationships. So don’t be blindsided by the hugeness of
it all; you don’t have to be a big shot philantropist – you could be a school
teacher or a business consultant and everything in between – and still make
peace in your own way. One little smile, or a random act of kindness – they all
count and they all make a big difference.
The response has been
wonderful. Everyone loves it – it is not setting the world on fire, but that’s
how it is with a goal like world peace. It is a slow goal and a long-term one.
Connecting with others to share the message has been the most rewarding part of
the journey. I want to keep the networking going, and keep doing the
interviews. I want to add more depth to the process by creating a bigger ‘World
Peace’ book and make a bigger, and even more positive dent in the universe. I have
also developed another concept called “Design your Life” with which I help
individuals get to that inner peace. It is one of the ways to get the larger
ideal of world peace going. Each one that is happy can make others happy too.
Read Linda's book here.