88. Go with the flow!

Hi everyone and welcome to Project Mindset, the channel for all those who know that with the right mindset, anything is possible. Before we get to today’s podcast topic, I have a super interesting story to tell. A while ago, I was at my mother’s bakery with my little one, who’s about five and a half years old now. It’s a cute little organic bakery, decorated in an old-fashioned style, and I really like it there.

And my little one was absolutely thrilled, just like my mother. My little one went to her at the till and helped a bit with selling the things that were there. He basically handed out the product, took the money, put it in the till, and so on and so forth. And the funny thing was….

The first few times, he started doing this, for example, when he received the money and a small tip, but he didn’t really want to accept the tip. I was surprised, so I said, “Hey, it’s perfectly fine if someone wants to give you money, then you accept it.” But even so, the following times he was a bit shy and didn’t want to accept the money. I told him, “The friendlier you are, the more open you are to accepting this money, believe me, the more money people will press into your hand for your piggy bank.”

A story about openness and tipping

Okay, I explained it a bit more, using flowery language and more flowery language, so he really understood what I meant. And sure enough, he always accepted the money very kindly, and the tips actually increased. The first few times it was around 10 cents, then 5 cents. People thought it was incredibly sweet, of course..

So, there was this little boy standing at the checkout, and at some point he actually even got a two-euro tip, and after that we slowly stopped chatting because we had to leave. The interesting thing was that the more open he was about the topic, I noticed, the more money he received. And for me, that’s a typical example of the law of attraction—the more open a man is to a topic, the more he’ll be able to get money from him. And I know from my own experience—I think I was like that myself a few years ago—you have this strange, unusual behavior. You have this strange, perhaps even somewhat ambivalent, relationship with the topic of money. Everyone knows you need money to live and to be able to afford certain things.

On the one hand, you want more money, but on the other hand, you have this strange relationship with it. I also know people in my circle who are excessively frugal, or who don’t treat themselves to anything because they think they have to save the money, and so on and so forth. And I now have completely different opinions and a different relationship with money. I think.

Thoughts on personal money management

If you want to attract money, you have to handle it responsibly, not waste it on things that aren’t worth it, and so on and so forth. But I changed my attitude towards money, at least for myself, some time ago. I also have a book recommendation in this context: it’s by Ken Honda, a Japanese author. The book has a strange title: “Happy Money.” I don’t remember where I read it, even after reading it..

Whether it’s a good book or not, I know at least that it gave me a lot of insights and perspectives on how to approach the topic of money. It’s not about keeping a financial budget and so on. The book is a bit strange; it’s basically about having a friendly relationship with money, but I think I understood what the author meant. Whether it’s a good book, I don’t know, so if you buy it, please don’t tell me it wasn’t a good book. I, for one, liked it and it helped me change my relationship with money a little.

What I mean by Go with the Flow

Okay, today’s topic isn’t really about money. Today’s topic is something I only learned about later in life, and I’ve called it “Go with the Flow.” Let me give you an example of what I mean. I play basketball every Wednesday at a club near me..

And there are days when I feel like I can’t hit anything at all, even though I’ve been playing for what feels like 25 or 30 years. There are days when I feel like I can’t hit anything, and then there are days when I feel like I can hit everything, every shot from every position, no matter how, whether running, standing still, and so on and so forth. But then, as I said, there are days when even the simplest things go wrong. That’s super interesting to me. It certainly has various factors, of course, like how tired I am that day, or if I went to the gym that day and did a little chest work, for example. Then I noticed that my power percentage definitely wasn’t that good.

Perceiving one’s own flow

But what I’ve become aware of over time, or rather over the years, is that there’s a flow you experience during the day, or during a certain period of your life, and you can go with it. And then sometimes there’s no flow at all, where you can’t really go with it. And there’s a great example that describes this “go with the flow” a bit more precisely. Perhaps you know the book *The Cafe at the Edge of the World*..

I think the book is okay. The hype around it feels a little excessive to me. I think it’s alright; it has a fast-paced story and is entertaining, so it’s fine. But I also don’t think it’s the most groundbreaking book ever on the topic of mindset, if I’m being honest, but anyway, that’s another topic.

The Turtle and the Waves

And in this book, there’s an example from the turtle that I found very memorable. It describes how the turtle doesn’t actually fight against the waves when there are more of them than the waves coming towards it. Instead, when a wave comes towards it, it paddles just enough to stay put. So, it’s also about conserving energy. But when a wave flows back out to sea, it goes full speed ahead, using the momentum and paddling for its life to get ahead as quickly as possible.

Coping with difficult phases

I find that incredibly interesting; it was also very memorable for me because I think we all know that feeling: a wave, a life wave, comes towards us, and you can either fight it with a lot of energy, which of course exhausts you, especially if the wave is particularly strong, and you hardly make any progress. There are phases in life where everything is flowing, the momentum is there, and then I would go all out, so to speak, and ride that wave. Perhaps this is also one of the core principles in many sports, for example, judo, where you use the opponent’s energy. So, if the opponent is coming towards you with their movement, you use their energy to, for example, make them fall.

Applying the principle to everyday work

And I think that translates really well to one’s own life. So, the basketball example: in my work environment, there are days when I feel like I’m facing a lot of resistance. Then I can ask myself, “Do I fight against it, or do I just try to maintain my position, stay put, and at least not fall behind?” I also know that if I invest a lot of energy, for example, in unnecessary discussions with colleagues or other employees, I know I’ll hardly make any progress..

So maybe it makes more sense for me to take it a bit easier today and definitely not let this wave drain energy from other areas of my life. For example, many people bring stress home with them, then have problems in their relationships, maybe with their children or parenting, and then behave differently with friends, and so on and so forth. So staying put might mean not breaking any more things.

Consciously use good phases

And then, when things are going well, for example, when there’s a good phase at work, and to stick with the example, you go all in and say, “Hey, things are going particularly well right now, so I’m going to push even harder to make even more progress.” You might have a little less time for other things for a while, but you know you’re making good progress right now and can compensate for the days when you weren’t as successful.

Momentum and fluctuating daily form

I personally always find the topic of momentum important. You can generate momentum, but everyone knows that there are days, there are phases in life, when you just feel like you’re not making any progress and you don’t really know why. For me, in basketball, the best example is that there are days when I just can’t score and I don’t know why.

Learning from basketball

I notice it too – it’s not just me, it’s my teammates who also play. Sometimes it’s like this: some people realize they’re not scoring, and you can really tell they’re more relaxed on those days or try to focus on other things. And then there are those who just don’t get it, they’re simply not having a good day, and they just keep missing, getting frustrated that they’re not scoring. Then I wonder, “Hey, don’t you realize it? Maybe you should just relax instead of trying to score.”

The right energy for the moment

But well, I think everyone sees it differently. Personally, I find this turtle example from the book “Coffee at the Edge of the World” really memorable. When a wave comes towards me, I expend just as much energy to, for example, stay put. And when the wave flows back out to sea, I go all in and go with it, using the energy even more, even full throttle, than I might otherwise do, so that I can move forward even further.

To conclude the episode

Great guys, that’s it for today’s podcast. As always, if you have any comments or feedback, please write to me at hello@projectmeinzeit.de. I’m always very happy to hear from you. I always reply, I promise, and of course, I’d also be happy if you could leave me a like, because that’s the only way Project Meinzeit can continue to grow. We’ll talk again next week, and don’t forget, until then, meinzeit is everything!