Caribbean greetings at 28 degrees from Kingstown, St. Vincent. Sometimes people ask me; “Norman, how long does it take for something to change in my life?” “It usually takes 21-30 days for humans to form a new habit,” I reply. And recently I say, “35 days Caribbean Cruise with Anke and Norman”. Why? Because the time frame is right, you have a clear head and are simply away from all the usual world.
Sven said about himself that he was depressed. Sven has a different name in real life. Only here I call him Sven. Together with his great family, Sven joined our long-term cruise to the Caribbean in January and sat right in one of my first book readings from “I AM GRÄTER”. A very likeable, young and athletic man. You would not have thought that he suffers from depression, lots of stress with my mother-in-law, long hours in his own company, couldn’t fall asleep without aids and didn’t have the energy for anything anymore.
And then he sat on the far left from my perspective and took notes. And he came back. Not once. Not twice. He came to all my six lectures. He came to all my readings and to all my 12 seminars. He also read my two books on board. Pressure refueling with new information, so to speak, as well as a new positive environment in the form of other guests from the workshops. Again and again, he wrote things down and put some of them into practice every day. When he got home, he immediately signed up to our Monday online meetings.
He canceled the appointment with a psychologist originally planned after the end of the trip. He has cut down his company’s opening hours by almost half. He has also started sharing a lot of content with his employees. A few days ago, he gave a gigantic one-hour lecture to take his employees aboard the new journey. Instead of fleeing from his mother-in-law, he hugs her today. He has more momentum than ever and falls asleep again without taking anything first.
Why am I telling you all this? Because Sven took the content and implemented it in his life, while others are still considering whether it all makes so much sense with this “positive thinking”. Sven has recognized what he wants and what he no longer wants. What would you like to have more of in your life? Because only if you know that, you can also get it.
Sven wrote me a WhatsApp yesterday, which moved me.
Hello you two,
had my 2nd “workshop” with my company yesterday. Again, it felt really good and I was on fire. One participant even cried at the end.
I also gave my mother my diary to read. After the workshop (mother and father took part), she wrote me the following:
[08:17, 04/01/2023] I read it through several times. That’s amazing what you’ve changed there. The vacation was your lifeline. You wouldn’t have made this change with anything else. And being a mentor is totally your thing. That was a plus for you when you were at school. It makes me infinitely happy, because it was so bad for me to see you suffer and not be able to help properly. Keep walking this way. I enjoy seeing you laugh again. By the way, dad learned a lot again today. He told me things he didn’t want to do anymore. His words: He was at a “seminar”. You did that.
Thank you again that you and Anke(R) helped me get the right mindset in life. The best thing is that I don’t find it difficult at all to stay positive. My autopilot does everything.
Whether you believe me today or tomorrow – there is a Sven in you too. The only question is when you start to define for yourself what you really want and what you no longer want. Once you know that, it’s time to do some things more and other things less. At some point everything will run automatically on autopilot. And that is your sole responsibility. You get the “how” from us, but you then have to implement it… every day and over and over again.
Best regards and I believe in you.
