Amsterdam – Page 8

How to fail at meeting the girl of your dreams

October 24, 2013 By Atalwin Pilon 3 Comments

For some reason I felt I had a good chance. She looked like a girl that is so pretty that she doesn’t care that much about looks anymore. I felt I only had to prove to be able to overcome the obstacles. I felt as if she was waiting. She didn’t make it hard on me. I only had to figure out how to get to her. But I did not pass the test.

Since we haven’t spoken a word my image of her is still untainted. By now she has grown in my mind into this warm, loving, sexy, smart and sensual woman who is a wise and funny conversation partner, a great lover and cooks as good as she dances. Now that I think of it: she probably would be a great mother for our children too.

My Ego Pissed Somebody Off (And That’s Ok)

October 18, 2013 By Atalwin Pilon Leave a Comment

“Good leadership involves responsibility to the welfare of the group, which means that some people will get angry at your actions or decisions. It’s inevitable, if you are honorable. Trying to get everybody to like you is a sign of mediocrity: you’ll avoid the tough decisions, you’ll avoid confronting the people who need to be confronted, and you’ll avoid offering differential rewards based on differential performance because some people might get upset.”

When I read the article it resonated with me. If I don’t at least try to manifest what I feel needs manifesting I will definitely be criticized by my Inner Critic. And if I give myself wholeheartedly to what I feel is my purpose others will criticize me.

What would Walther White do?

October 6, 2013 By Atalwin Pilon 1 Comment

I am back. I decided to be back. The last couple of weeks I was avoiding writing somewhat. I felt bored with writing about myself, the struggles and the little insights that may or not come. I had to deal with a major disappointment and as we all know entering an introspective process when feeling all screwed up and betrayed are very favorable conditions for insights to be dug up. This time I dealt with it old-school: I told nobody and just hid inside my bedroom for a day, watching Breaking Bad as therapy.

I must admit: it was insightful.

Thoughts on happiness and fear

September 26, 2013 By Atalwin Pilon 2 Comments

I quite often notice rushes of happiness though. They come and go. When I am riding my bicycle to the morning meditation for example. I cross bridges and ride along side canals, the sun is rising, the city is still quiet and the water is like glass. I feel love or joy coming up. It is really as if a bubble comes up from deep down, and is rising upwards, at one point crossing the borders of my consciousness and entering my body, spreading a warm feeling from my lower belly upwards. I sigh and smile. It is a feeling similar to looking into beautiful loving eyes.

What makes me unique?

September 17, 2013 By Atalwin Pilon 5 Comments

I don’t preach happiness. I don’t preach how and where to find an amazing life. I don’t believe that Nelson Mandela was blissed out with joy every day of his life. I don’t believe Mother Theresa shed tears of happiness every day. But they have lived exemplary lives and are an inspiration to billions. Why? They kept their hearts open and their backs straight. They never backed out of difficulties and they never gave up. I believe that the world needs men and women who have the courage to go on difficult missions. I feel that taking on such missions is wholesome to our souls. We must find our calling and not our ‘dream career’ or ‘dream job’.

Ready for transformation?

September 6, 2013 By Atalwin Pilon Leave a Comment

Apparently I am carb intolerant. I knew that a ‘low carb diet’ was good for me but it seems to be going in the direction of a ‘no carb diet’. That will be just eggs, meat, fish, nuts, seeds and veggies for me. No pasta, no bread, no sugar, not even a bit of brown rice. Look, I love my buddies at Evolve and I really respect the vast knowledge of the human body of the founders Mike and Sander. But I hate the casualness with which they squeeze in my back, look at each other and say ‘yup, carb intolerant’. ‘With your body type you can’t eat any carbs for nine months. That way you can completely wean of carbs and then perhaps slowly reintroduce them into your diet.’ What? Nine months! That feels like receiving a prison sentence! It is not that I am such a sweet tooth but it requires a lot of discipline. And I just love breaking rules.

Feeling famous

September 4, 2013 By Atalwin Pilon 2 Comments

I feel so famous today. Well not famous but almost famous. Ok, not almost famous but apparently potentially famous. In this universe I am not (yet) but in the parallel universe I might very well be famous already. This of course is enough for my ego to inflate a bit. Not too much but just enough.

I had a meeting with a representative of a talent agency and they might be interested in publishing my unwritten book because I am considered an interesting package with [insert marketing term I forgot] potential with [insert more marketing speak] and charisma and a good story.

“We Steal Secrets” – How The Shadows Of Julian Assange & Bradley Manning Change The World

August 27, 2013 By Atalwin Pilon Leave a Comment

Bradley Manning is a brilliant intelligence analyst in Iraq. He is also an utterly lonely, isolated and misunderstood human being. Not only is he lonely in the army or in the outpost in Iraq where he is stationed, he is lonely inside himself. He doesn’t have a sense of his true identity; he feels he is living in the wrong body.

Manning uploaded hundreds of thousands of files onto a CD labelled ‘Lady Gaga’. In one particularly gleeful digital sequence, soundwaves of Lady Gaga’s voice transform into lines of code and then into text from secret documents.

These thousands of glowing secrets are a fuse that ignited the Arab Spring, pushed Iceland’s banking system to collapse and put American diplomacy on the backfoot around the world.

How Not To Sell A Coaching Program

August 15, 2013 By Atalwin Pilon 5 Comments

Last Tuesday I was about to spend an enormous amount of money on a coaching program that promises Visionary Business Owners That Have Dreams Of Making A Difference to break through the obstacles that limit them reaching a bigger audience, finding the right clients and create the cash flow that gives space to breathe or – in their words – is in alignment with their purpose (a 6 figure income is suggested). I heard great things about the program from trustworthy people who had a first hand experience. The problem was that with every call I had with the male coach I was feeling annoyed, manipulated and pushed.

Hotel room narcissism meets pretty brutal honesty: the beginning of a journey back to real fitness

August 9, 2013 By Atalwin Pilon Leave a Comment

18 months of traveling took its toll. I lost my routine due to the transient lifestyle but also because of little injuries that I did not know how to address. A hurting wrist prevented me from doing push ups for example. Afraid of doing more damage I stopped doing anything at all. Just an example how a simple fear can paralyze us and have pretty big consequences. I was very fit when I left Amsterdam in January 2012. The last measurement that I had was that my body fat was at 9% and my weight at 89 kg. Now I am 98kg and my body fat is at 25.8%. My lean mass dropped from 81kg to 72.8kg. That means I lost 8.2kg of muscle and gained 17.3kg of fat.

Are you ready to become a Warrior?