The following quote from Eckhart Tolle highlights an important principle: “If you are not in the state of either acceptance, enjoyment, or enthusiasm, look closely and you will find that you are creating suffering for yourself and others.” It is worthwhile reflecting on this, especially in relation to things that need to be done, but that trigger resistance or outright negativity. Choosing how you respond to a situation can mean the difference between feeling frustrated and stressed – the suffering Tolle refers to – and feeling calm and centred. The reason is that you enable yourself to, as a minimum, accept the situation for what it is rather than resist it. Let’s take a mundane chore like washing your car […]

The legal profession and mental health is an impossible combination, at least if you believe the reports about this. The dominant image is that of survival of the fittest, a hard and cold dog-eat-dog world. Although there is room for improvement, this general image does absolutely no justice to the legal profession in the Netherlands. At the end of last year, I stepped down as a partner from the law firm where I worked and founded CORE People to focus on business coaching and strategic issues around leadership and the potential of people. The reason for my career switch was not that I was no longer enjoying my work as a lawyer, let alone that I was burnt out or […]