My 8+ 1 strategy for more peace in life
Quick as a flash to rest?
I would love to be able to calm down at the touch of a button. But it's not that easy. Unfortunately, this is my experience and that of many others: There is calm - almost like a room where you can feel peace and trust. But you have to actively go there to find peace.
What you can do:
1. create structures for peace and quiet: Suddenly finding peace and quiet quickly is something very few people can do. To find peace more easily, it's good to consciously create structures in our everyday lives that help us to do so.
2. come to rest with your body: The body stores stress, but also experiences of rest. Give your body a rest - for example by sitting or lying down.
3. rituals for rest: The body knows that certain feelings are associated with certain actions, e.g. sitting on the sofa with tea. When we repeat these actions, we feel a sense of calm and relaxation more quickly.
It's a paradox: it takes effort to find peace.
There is even a verse in the Bible that describes this: "Whoever has found this rest will be able to rest from all his labour, just as God rested from his works on the seventh day of creation. Therefore let us make every effort to enter this rest of God." (Hebrews 4:10-11).
So if you want to experience more peace and quiet in the future, there's no way around it.
The good news: it's not that difficult!
My recipe: The 8+1 concept
Recently, for example, everything went wrong for me. I couldn't realise what I had planned. Circumstances such as a lack of internet ruined your plans.
I was under time pressure because I realised that I wouldn't be able to complete my tasks on time and emotionally I was in danger of becoming hectic and agitated.
But then the 8 + 1 concept helped me to stay calm.
The essence of the concept is that you need 8 central elements of life to live a balanced and strong life. If one of them is missing permanently, life becomes fragile and you have less vitality and joy.
You can use the concept to build a strong life overall. I teach this, for example, in my Online life training LEO.
But you can also use it to analyse what's missing when you're not doing so well. That's exactly what I did.
I looked at my unfulfilled needs:
- The need for structure was not fulfilled: the stupid technology didn't work.
- I also lacked productivity: I wanted to finish something and see success and that didn't work.
- My confidence also wavered a little: In such stressful moments, there is sometimes a lack of trust that life is good even when things go wrong.
If we understand what is going on with us and treat ourselves empathetically, this automatically reduces stress. Even if not everything is resolved. But (self-)empathy eases the soul.
And when it is clear what is missing, you can take action.
When I realised this, I also knew what I could do for each of the needs in order to experience more peace despite the difficult situation.
Your turn: I have a short quiz which helps you to discover which of the 8 elements of life you are currently missing the most. Take the test and find out what you need for a life with more peace of mind. Take the Quiz here
