My new book is out now and for sale!
INTERNATIONAL: http://bitly.ws/B2kW (Amazon).
THE NETHERLANDS: https://www.boekenbestellen.nl/boek/spirited-personal-leadership/57635?lang=en (Netherlands)
PROMO: Take a look at this extensive Promo here..
DUTCH VERSION: https://www.amazon.com/Spirited-Personal-Leadership-effective-meaningful/dp/9090368027/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1T35YC0885VAQ&keywords=spirited+personal+leadership&qid=1689054493&sprefix=spirited+personal+leadershipaps225&sr=8-1. Hier kun je ook eerst het uitgebreide promo-exemplaar inzien, onder Fragment.
It hurts my heart to see how this world has become. My desire to experience a better, more beautiful world with one another has always been a burning torch in my life. How can it be that we make wars, both great and small?
That's why I've been browsing for many years as a mental and spiritual explorer and writing how we can make it more beautiful for ourselves and each other, in work and private life. This is the result.
This book is intended for anyone who, in their private or work life, wants to:
Regardless of whether you are a leader, lawmaker, entrepreneur, manager, professional, associate, student, parent, family member, teenager or an adult.
This book will take you straight to the source of all your choices and behaviors. It will give you accessible insights, inspiring examples and exercises that you’ll be able to apply immediately, and see results of quickly. You will gain insight into the three forces that determine each and every one of your choices, behaviors and personal leadership: ego, soul and consciousness (spirit).
The following questions will be answered: What is ego anyway? Should you jettison your ego? What are the benefits of ego, and what are its pitfalls? Or, what is the soul? Is there a reason for our existence? What are the five existential tasks the soul has to tackle? What are the pros and cons of working and living from inspiration? And, what is spirit or consciousness? How can you utilize it more to have smoother relationships in private and at work and to create more peace for yourself and others around you? In the last section of the book you will see how you can make a real contribution towards a better world.
The retail price is 34.95 euros per book (excl. post & shipping costs) and can be ordered from now on via:
My new book is out now and for sale!
INTERNATIONAL: http://bitly.ws/B2kW (Amazon).
THE NETHERLANDS: https://www.boekenbestellen.nl/boek/spirited-personal-leadership/57635?lang=en (Netherlands)
PROMO: Take a look at this extensive Promo here..
DUTCH VERSION: https://www.amazon.com/Spirited-Personal-Leadership-effective-meaningful/dp/9090368027/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1T35YC0885VAQ&keywords=spirited+personal+leadership&qid=1689054493&sprefix=spirited+personal+leadershipaps225&sr=8-1. Hier kun je ook eerst het uitgebreide promo-exemplaar inzien, onder Fragment.
Check the new Master’s Course – Spirited Personal Leadership - here:
https://martinthoolen.com/en/service/master-module-persoonlijk-inspirerend-leiderschap/ (start 28th of September 2023)
Oh yes, do you like to give this inspiration to a family member, friend or colleague?
It would be nice if you share this post.
Kind regards and above all enjoy reading, Martin
©2023: Martin Thoolen
#inspiredleadership #personalleadership #spiritedpersonalleadership #mastercoursespiritedpersonalleadership #coaching #training #egomanagement #ego #soulwork #mastercoursepersoonlijkinspirerendleiderschap #coaching #training #egomanagement #ego
“Your current life is nothing other than a temporary education, which helps your soul grow towards being a sincere, truthful and peaceful human being towards yourself, others and your (natural) surroundings, by way of conscious life lessons”.
Like to know how to fuel your soul?
Take a look at the book ‘Spirited Personal Leadership.’ For more effective work, a meaningful life and a better world. https://www.amazon.com/Spirited-Personal-Leadership-effective-meaningful/dp/9090368027/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1T35YC0885VAQ&keywords=spirited+personal+leadership&qid=1689054493&sprefix=spirited+personal+leadershipaps225&sr=8-1(English book will appear in March of 2023). Click on Fragment to see the promotional copy and find out whether my book could help you.
Would you like to personally experience how you can gain more control over your work and life?
Check the new Master’s Course – Spirited Personal Leadership - here: First one starting from September 28.
#personalleadership #inspiredleadership #spiritedpersonalleadership #mastercoursespritedpersonalleadership #coaching #training
I am pleasantly surprised and honored to receive this award:
The international organization GHP Mental Health Awardshas proclaimed me as 'Best Awareness Coach & Clinical Psychologist of 2023 in the Netherlands'.
Below you can see the confirmation and explanation of their choice.
Confirmation and explanation for winner’s choice by GHP Mental Health Awards:
“I would like to thank you for taking part in the third GHP Mental Health Awards, in which we shine a light on the unsung heroes of the global Mental Health and Wellbeing sector.
Our final decisions have now been reached. Following on from your recent nomination, it gives me great pleasure to inform you that MARTIN THOOLEN has been successful this year and has gone on to receive
Best Awareness Coach & Clinical Psychologist 2023 (Netherlands): Martin Thoolen
This is fantastic news to start the year on and a well-deserved achievement for which I’d like to pass on my warmest well wishes!
To determine the results Global Health & Pharma's Pharma's judging panel and research team take into consideration the commitment, expertise and innovation shown by nominees through nomination information, voting information, any supporting evidence that you have supplied, along with the results from their own extensive period of fact-checking and research.
GHP Mental Health Awards
Wanna see what I produce and provide nowadays?
Check-out: https://martinthoolen.com/en/
©2023: Martin Thoolen
#awardscoaching #coachingaward # GHPMentalHealthAwards #award2023 #awardpsychology #personalspiritedleadership #personalleadership #mastercoursepersonalleadership #coaching #training #egomanagement #ego #souldevelopment #spirit #awareness #awarenessatwork
I frequently lose sight of things. I feel fatigued. A persistent sensation I have had for months. Actually, it is getting worse. As if my light is gradually dimming. And, by the way, am I still doing what I believe in? Am I not allowing myself to be affected too much by what others think?
Who or what actually controls my life and career. In short, what is my compass?
Find your compass and regain control with personal leadership.
As an individual you can exercise personal leadership at three levels that not everyone is aware of. But they do have an enormous effect. My new book 'Personal Spirited Leadership' ( to appear in English in March 2023) explains that there are three forces that determine all your choices and behaviour, namely: your ego, your soul and awareness (spirit). Your interior (ego and soul) affects your exterior behaviour and the choices that you make.
© 2022: Martin Thoolen: Model ‘Personal Spirited Leadership'
A vital starting point when regaining control over your life is knowing that you are responsible for your own welfare. Without awareness, long term negative stress can cause burnouts. How do you prevent this? By consciously using three fundamental intervention levels:
The basic energy that enables you to keep whistling on your way to work when your soul feels 'at home' at work. You work with enthusiasm and passion, and your innate talents are utilised or enhanced - your job offers you challenges that motivate you.
Echter sommige werkomgevingen zijn uitgedroogd voor je of zelfs toxisch, daar waar anderen vruchtbaarder voor je ontwikkeling zijn. Soms is het laf om te gaan, maar soms laf om te blijven. Soms zijn aanpassingen van de functie toereikend om deze bezieling weer te activeren of een andere plek in de organisatie. Soms ook niet. Pak je dit niet aan, dan zal dit sluimerende ongenoegen vroeg of laat toch weer naar voren komen.
Experience has taught me that most people who suffer a burnout have a strong ego identification with their inner pleaser, pusher and/or perfectionist (the 3 Ps). If you fail to balance these basic forces another burnout will occur before too long. And they are not always easy to prevent. This is certainly true if your ego is stubbornly searching for permanent external recognition or approval or fears deficiency. However, creating a healthy balance and long-term durability requires you giving being/relaxation side of your ego more space. And that requires ego management, where you make choices involving well-considered sacrifices.
You increase the essential relaxation and extra time by applying stress and time management knowledge and skills. There is often a great deal to be gained by recognising (but above all acknowledging and taking the appropriate action) the stress signals that you feel and applying useful time management tips, such as setting priorities effectively.
Take a look at the book ‘Spirited Personal Leadership.’ For more effective work, a meaningful life and a better world. https://www.amazon.com/Spirited-Personal-Leadership-effective-meaningful/dp/9090368027/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1T35YC0885VAQ&keywords=spirited+personal+leadership&qid=1689054493&sprefix=spirited+personal+leadershipaps225&sr=8-1
See the promotional copy and find out whether my book could help you.
Check the new Master’s Course – Personal Spirited Leadership - here:.
©2022: Martin Thoolen
#personalleadership #inspiredleadership #spiritedpersonalleadership #mastercoursespritedpersonalleadership #coaching #training
Who am I? A question that will confront you in your work or life sooner or later. Particularly during career or life crises. Why wait? Why is it useful to know who you are right now? Because you often have much more in you, than you believe to be the case. Once you know this, you can make effective, useful and conscious choices that are true to you. Both with regard to how you work and your career, and your day-to-day and life choices.
If someone is asked who they are, what is a common response? A description, like: ‘I am a manager, 35 years old, academically educated, with an income, married to Y, residing in Amsterdam and am a determined, sometimes stubborn, but sincere person.’ In short, a list of characteristics. What, then, are the characteristics with which we identify that you see in the model below?
Your ego is highly skilled at identifying itself with all kinds of socially acceptable aspects of 'being'. Most people search for ways to gain recognition, appreciation, approval and love, or to belong to something and be special, and people who can fulfil these needs. These are the universal desires for and fears of a deficiency to which the ego responds.
That quest for recognition still takes place every day if you lacked it during your youth or later in life. And before you know it you make your feelings of self-esteem and wellbeing dependent on socially and societally desirable identifications that applaud you for your presence. This gives you the feeling that you are not alone and share something with like-minded people. You feel supported and that you matter. And that is the great desire of the soul striving for a right to exist. For example, you consistently see that people can become extremely attached to things. Examples:
If you identify with a personality type, ‘The Psychology of Selves’ and Voice Dialogue can reveal new possibilities. You can then see your ego as an ego bus on which your thoughts, feelings, behaviour and choices are controlled by constantly changing combinations of ego passengers. For example, your pleaser will sometimes make other choices than your inner warrior. Imagine if you were able to make more use of the 'silent passengers' on your ego bus. Wake them up and use them.
Beyond the ego with all of the social personas (social masks) there is a deeper layer of purity, passion, pain, joy, dedication, open-mindedness and spontaneity that enrich your work and life, namely: your soul. Every soul, including yours, is charged with five tasks that enable you to get the best from yourself from the cradle to the grave. They entail:
1. growth in awareness through felt experiences.
2. developing sovereignty over your own existence.
3. healing soul pain.
4. living with soul joy.
5. bringing original talents and dreams to life.
But there is even more!
Beyond ego and soul there is another power that is responsible for everything that is created, exists and disappears. This means that it is also responsible for how you make choices and behave. It is impossible to describe something that actually cannot be expressed in words. This is why the list below includes nine (holistic) approach routes for an essential power that simultaneously provides the solution when we wonder how we can create a better society. In one word: spirit. get to know this power, which has always been and will always remain present in your core.
Spirit is typified by aspects including the following.
1. all-encompassing awareness.
2. universal, driving life force & natural cycles.
3. life, unconditional love & neutrality.
4. awareness of abundance & willingness to share.
5. no time, development or management, but free will and here and now.
6. equality & equal rights.
6. equality & equal rights.
8. truth of the heart.
9. unity, source, interconnection & synchronicity.
My new book ‘Personal Spirited Leadership’ (to be released in English in March 2023) explains how you can use them in practice with practical cases and exercises. And when you use your awareness or spirit more:
Who are you then? The answer depends on your perspective. If your ego takes the lead it will use all kinds of ego labels and ego passengers. If you work and live primarily from the soul you are your true self, without make-up. Uninhibited, spontaneous, original, creative and pure. With your spirit at the helm, you are actually absolutely nothing…and everything, simultaneously.
By regaining control and letting your light shine with personal inspiring leadership. However, you can implement personal leadership at three levels, which determine all your choices and behaviour. Namely: Your ego, your soul and awareness (spirit). Your interior (ego and soul) affects your exterior behaviour and the choices you make.
Take a look at the book ‘Spirited Personal Leadership.’ For more effective work, a meaningful life and a better world. https://www.amazon.com/Spirited-Personal-Leadership-effective-meaningful/dp/9090368027/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1T35YC0885VAQ&keywords=spirited+personal+leadership&qid=1689054493&sprefix=spirited+personal+leadershipaps225&sr=8-1
See the promotional copy and find out whether my book could help you.
Would you like to personally experience how you can gain more control over your work and life?
Check the new Master’s Course – Spirited Personal Leadership - here:https://martinthoolen.com/en/service/master-module-persoonlijk-inspirerend-leiderschap/
©2023: Martin Thoolen
#personalleadership #inspiredleadership #spiritedpersonalleadership #mastercoursespritedpersonalleadership #coaching #training
Dear collaborators of 2022,
Thank you for your trust in me over the past year and the coaching, training or webinars you have followed with me. We keep going and there is more to come….
New in 2023: English edition book 'Personal Spirited Leadership'; E-books in Dutch and English for E-readers; Two Master courses 'Personal Spirited Leadership'; Expat coaching; Career coaching; Work pressure coaching; Webinars about, among other things, Team vitality and burnout.
I wish you and everyone around you a very healthy, nice and satisfied 2023!
Yours kindly, Martinhttps://martinthoolen.com/en/
Here we go again. The Christmas dinner is on the horizon, but how do we keep it really fun?
Odd, isn’t it? Christmas, a time of peace, but we can still argue at the dinner table – before, during and after. But things can be different, and you can help to make this difference!
You already start walking on eggshells during the preparation. After all, you start thinking:
These mindsets, which you cling to and can last for years, come from somewhere. They are ego roles and family roles that you have known in yourself and each other for a very long time. And sometimes they have been reinforced over the years.
However, it is precisely these familiar old mind-sets that ensure that we are more likely to start a war than cultivate peace at the Christmas dinner table. Sometimes simply in in our thoughts about each otherbut sometimes also in words and gestures.. A self-fulfilling prophec to which you contribute by continuing to think in that way. Pity, because things can be done differently. And you play the leading role in this. Contributing to peace on earth, right where you are. Take a look.
Look at your own mindsets, let go.
and simply ask yourself the question: ‘Is that so?’ eigen mindsets en stel jezelf simpelweg de vraag: ‘Is dat zo?’
Like: ‘I have known him/her my entire life.’ Is that so? No, of course not, because you don’t see them every single second. You simply don’t know what someone else says, does or shares in another way, without your involvement. You have always only seen a part of your father, mother, brother, sister or child.
However, experiences in families quickly lead us to stick ego labels on each other, such as them always being difficult, egoistic, antisocial, cynical, insolent, rude, etc. And there were undoubtedly reasons for this. But do you want to stay in the same place? A place of conflict? And can you see and approach the other part of your family?
Let go of that place for a while at Christmas. Try approaching your brother, sister, father, mother or child from a new place with a fresh, new mindset and try the following 10 tips below. And don’t make any prejudgements.
Try these tips and I predict that you will feel much happier during the Christmas season.
Would you like to learn other ways, big or small, to contribute to a better world?
At home or at work? Take a look at this Christmas present – the book ‘Personally Inspiring Leadership.’ For more effective work, a meaningful life and a better world. View or order a copy here:
See the promotional copy and find out whether my book could help you.
Would you like to personally experience how you, as a manager, professional or administrator can make a better team, organisation or world?
Check the new Master’s Course – Spirited Personal Leadership - here:
©2022: Martin Thoolen
#personalleadership #inspiredleadership #spiritedpersonalleadership #mastercoursespritedpersonalleadership #coaching #training
You are incredibly busy. Every day. Absent team members are really inconvenient for you.
Always, actually.
Because you still want to achieve those team goals and help your organisation thrive. Without putting too much pressure on your team. How can you, as a manager, prevent burnouts? Or significantly reduce them in any case? So that team members don't collapse but are able to continue working for you. You can do a great deal, but this does require a new approach. Because you, in your position as manager or administrator, have enormous influence over this situation.
You are well aware of what burnouts cost your team: money, extra time spent on transfers and reduced job satisfaction, team spirit and team results.
“Burn-out is a massive energy drain in your team and organisation”
Everybody has their limits. Without exception. That's what makes us human, not robots. Two of the nine characteristics of awareness in my new book ‘Personally Inspiring Leadership,’ are: embracing the polarities (including exertion versus relaxation) and respecting natural cycles. If you follow these natural laws as a leader you will keep your team or organisation dynamic and durable.
In your role as manager, do you accept, listen and act appropriately for what you ask from your team members? That they must achieve targets and carry out (extra) tasks. But is this how you treat their vulnerabilities as people? Even if that is less beneficial for your bottom line? In short, do you embrace both the strengths and vulnerabilities of your team?
In concrete terms do you recognise the signs of physical and mental stress in your staff? Do you know what they are? Or do you keep distance and pay them scant attention? See what happens if you approach them more often or telephone to ask them how they really feel, making sure that you break through the barrier of social acceptability. Then you might be in time to head off burnouts.
If your team members are then honest enough to say that it is actually too much for them, acknowledge their negative stress? Because it is all too easy to minimise or justify the stress signals sent by your colleagues and fail to take action. Why? Because it might be inconvenient for you.
After rain comes sunshine, comes rain, comes sunshine, comes rain, etc. After inhalation comes exhalation, comes inhalation, comes exhalation, etc. After exertion comes relaxation, comes exertion, comes relaxation, etc
These natural cycles typify natural life itself and keep us energetic and durable. And this also applies to your team or organisation. There is just one thing that can completely work against this and cause systematic negative stress in you or your team: ego fed by fear. Experience reveals that three ego passengers in people totally ignore natural laws: your inner pleaser, pusher and perfectionist. They may encourage us to go on for longer and worker harder than our body can handle, until the lights go out. Because those who don't want to hear must feel. A terrible pity.
If you don't allow your ego as a leader to constantly dominate you and your team members you will open the door to team vitality and durability. If you respect necessary relaxation and vulnerability your leadership will be so much more effective in the long run.
Would you like to know how to recognise and acknowledge stress signals from your team members and how to deal with them effectively? Would you like to learn practical ways to strengthen team spirit as a buffer to stress?
On 12 January from 4 AM to 4 AM, I will be holding a Webinar for administrators, school heads and internal facilitators in cooperation with Leeruniek: Team vitality and durability.
Yes, please contact me [email protected]. or call/app me on: +31-6-15620111
In a free orientation we can look how I can be at your service.
Take a look at this Christmas present: the book ‘Personally Inspiring Leadership.’ For more effective work, a meaningful life and a better world. View or order a copy here:
(English book will appear in the beginning of 2023). Click on Fragment to see the promotional copy and find out whether my book could help you.
Or experience in person how you can improve your work/life balance with the new Personally Inspiring Leadership Master's Course:
©2022: Martin Thoolen
#persoonlijkinspirerendleiderschap #persoonlijkleiderschap #inspirerendleiderschap #mastercoursepersoonlijkinspirerendleiderschap #coaching #training #egomanagement #ego #stress #stressmanagement #werkdruk #burnout #vitaliteit
Working in The Netherlands as an expat? Or as a Dutch expat abroad?
Can you use some support as an international professional to find your way? Maybe Expat Coaching is just for you! Check here.
Matthijs van Nieuwkerk, Glennis Grace, Marco Borsato en met hen vele andere (beroemde) mensen; vroeg of laat slaan ze door en komt de totale waarheid aan het licht. Wat is er eigenlijk aan de hand? En hoe lossen we het op?
It all revolves around their ego, which clamps itself determinedly to a few ego passengers, focusing on projecting a positive image. But there is no real awareness that this is happening.
One of the three fundamental forces that determine all our choices and behaviour is our ego, as I explain in my new book - Personal Inspiring Leadership. It highlights several points, including the fact that your ego is nothing more than the 'I' that you identify with and think 'this is how I am'. You are frequently controlled subconsciously by a number of ego passengers. You can see your ego as a bus on which each passenger thinks, feels, sees, talks and acts differently. You behave very differently when your inner pleaser pleaser drives the bus instead of, for example, your instinctive, animal ego passenger.
In people who demand a positive public image of themselves you often see the following ego passengers hijacking thoughts and actions: the pleaser, controller, perfectionist, pusher or patriarch The less socially desirable ego passengers are subconsciously left on the back seat or even moved to the trailer of oblivion, starting their own demonic lives in the darkness.
However, everything that you hide in yourself will boomerang back on you eventually. See what happens when you systematically push away your instinctive passenger, just like trying to push a ball ever further underwater. Despite your best efforts the instinctive passenger will resurface with hellish rage, unbridled sexual desire or unacceptable behaviour and insults directed towards others. And all this happened to Kanye West, Prince Andrew, Bill Cosby and so many other celebrities.
“Everything that you hide in yourself will boomerang back on you eventually”
We are living in a time of great spiritual transition in which the truth is gradually being unveiled. That which could remain concealed is coming to light sooner and more often. This provides a more complete picture of what is really happening. It is preceded by intense polarisation, but growing transparency helps us see the truth. How do we resolve this polarisation? Simply by setting good examples, at home and at work.
Prevent polarisation and employ ego management - recognise and acknowledge your light and dark sides and handle them more effectively. This requires courage and relentless honesty about all aspects of yourself. For example, do not suppress your instinctive ego passengers, but rather acknowledge, embrace and communicate them. Prevent the accumulation of an emotional dam full of anger or unfulfilled sexual desires. Because when your inner controller runs out of energy and the dam breaks you will be inundated.
Check the new Master’s Course – Spirited Personal Leadership - here:
https://martinthoolen.com/en/service/master-module-persoonlijk-inspirerend-leiderschap/
Or enrich yourself with the insights and knowledge that help you in my new (Dutch) book: https://www.amazon.com/Spirited-Personal-Leadership-effective-meaningful/dp/9090368027/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1T35YC0885VAQ&keywords=spirited+personal+leadership&qid=1689054493&sprefix=spirited+personal+leadershipaps225&sr=8-1
(English book will appear in the beginning of 2023) Click on Fragment to see the promotional copy and find out whether my book could help you.
©2022: Martin Thoolen
#personalleadership #inspiredleadership #spiritedpersonalleadership #mastercoursespritedpersonalleadership #coaching #training
Dutch 
English (United States)