Blog series: Your favourite life Vol. 1 The swing concept

Your favourite life - Part 1

Today I'm starting the first part of a blog series in which I want to take you with me into my swing concept.

It's about your favourite life.

Imagine living your favourite life

What would that look like?

What would you do? And what no longer?
Who or what would be part of your favourite life?

What are you missing for this life?

Are you perhaps missing something in your life, but you don't know what?

I want you to live your best life. 

• A life that suits you. 
• A life with well-satisfied needs 
• A life that also radiates to others. 

You can create a life like this. 

I have spent 20 years studying the central human needs both scientifically and in my practice as a coach. From this, I developed the Swing concept for a powerful life and wrote several books on the subject. 

For me, it's a gift that I can use the SWING concept to quickly check what I'm missing. At the moment, it's order and structure. A lot of unplanned things have happened and after an intensive renovation phase, not everything is back in its place yet. 

That's why I give myself extra time every day to create or develop order and structure. And I'm happy that this area is getting more space again - because it strengthens my whole life. 

A good, strong life includes 

• 8 central basic needs - you could also call them "elements of life". If all of them are present in sufficient quantities, life is powerful and strong. 
• And faith and trust: If you trust life, you can make it strong. 

I would like to share with you what I have learnt in 20 years about living a powerful life. 

The SWING concept - missing additions

As a coach, I am familiar with the various concepts for a good life. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. Some concepts only emphasise one aspect - such as mindfulness or the need to maintain a balance between work and the rest of life. This is good and important, but often does not do justice to the complexity of life, which can rarely be reduced to a single denominator,

I therefore prefer to work with the SWING concept that I developed. It identifies the basic human needs that are important for a balanced life. Scientists such as the sociologist Manfred Max-Neef discovered the same basic needs as those that I have derived from the story of creation, among other things.

I have chosen two words to describe a basic need. This makes it easier to grasp the range it covers.

The eight central needs/life elements

Vision and creativity

Order and structure

Sense and productivity

Highlights and celebrations

Energy and joie de vivre

Relationship and closeness

Reflection and alignment

Rest and regeneration

The Plus1 is dormers and trust.

Basically, everyone needs all the vital elements for a strong life. You can compare this to trace elements and minerals. All of them are essential for a strong life. If you lack iron, taking extra vitamin D is of no use for your overall energy levels. And if you lack vitamin C, you cannot compensate for the deficiency with zinc. It is important that all eight central elements are present in sufficient quantities in your life, otherwise you will become flabby and weak or, in the worst case, even ill.

The SWING concept offers a whole range of ways to make life more powerful.

Take stock of the situation

SWING is suitable as an instrument for stocktaking.

In addition to the comparison with the vitamins, the image of the minimum barrel also helps me. I imagine that a barrel is filled with my quality of life. Each individual rafter represents an area of life. The lowest rafter determines the quality of life.

You can ask yourself:

Which elements of life find their place in my life?

Which ones are often neglected? What am I missing?

You can take this inventory for yourself personally or for and with groups to which you belong: For example, the team at work or when volunteering. Or for your partnership or family.

You can ask yourself alone or include feedback from others: "When you look at my life, what do you think is strong? What less so? And why?"

It will most likely lead to insightful realisations and perhaps explain to you why you are sometimes so dissatisfied or satisfied.

Design concept

You can use SWING to shape your life. For several years, I gave one - or two - of the elements of life a lot of space every day of the week. Some can also be combined - such as reflection and rest.

Or you can choose one or two elements that have often been neglected in the past and give them extra space for a certain period of time. If, for example, order was neglected, you can tackle "structural projects". If there wasn't enough time for relationships, you can place a special focus on them and let something else take a back seat for a while.

As with the evaluation, you can also use the SWING concept as inspiration for your personal life, but also for planning for your partnership, shaping friendships, impulses for a team at work or in voluntary work.

Now it's your turn

Take the short quiz to find out which element of life you are currently lacking. You will then receive tips on how to gain new strength.