Week 40: Munich, Magic, and the Gap Between Knowing and Doing
“Syl, you’re cycling with the brakes on. Where else in your life are you doing that?”
– Esther, my friend, during a forest bike ride
Munich: Grandeur and Contrast
This week I visited Munich for the first time. My partner lives nearby and showed me around. It was a special experience. And of course… Oktoberfest. I absolutely loved it.
In between, I kept working. Coaching sessions from my temporary workspace. I’m grateful for that. My work can happen anywhere.
Oktoberfest: A Wild Ride
What a spectacle. Truly surreal. The scale is mind-blowing. Tens of thousands of people, massive beer tents, many dressed in lederhosen and dirndls, and an atmosphere of exuberance. The biggest fair I’ve ever seen (maybe even the biggest in the world), with rides that, in my opinion, were completely bonkers. You couldn’t get me on one these days, but I enjoyed watching the daredevils.
On the metro, we read about a girl who had been raped during the festival. Domestic violence increases during these weeks. Later in the week, there was even a terror threat. That contrast with all the joy hit hard. It reminded me again: beautiful things always carry a shadow. The dark side of alcohol is real. Connection and destruction, both true.
Back home: Recognizing the brakes
Back home, I jumped straight into work again. Coaching sessions. I’m grateful that I’m working more intuitively and systematically with people and their shadow work.
This week, I happened to have a conversation with someone about his pattern of stopping and starting again. About the brakes he just can’t seem to release. I recognized it so strongly, because I do the same in certain areas. Full speed, stop, start again. Over and over. The beauty is, it’s partly normal. Growth isn’t linear. But actions can become more consistent through discipline. More on that in a moment.
Network of Magic: How connection becomes true friendship
Where am I consistent? In building connections. Right now, they’re growing in both breadth and depth. Like Wednesday evening at Network of Magic in Wim Meijer’s beautiful garden. I met Wim through Liesbeth Kingma. What started as an introduction became a real connection. That’s what I love about the network Liesbeth creates.
I’ve been a few times now and I get so much out of it. Not just inspiration, but real connections. Like with Wim. And last night with Janneke Doornbos, who opened the evening with a beautiful song. Someone I’ll definitely keep in mind when I need music.
Around the campfire, Wim shared his entrepreneurial journey and his trip to Lapland with us as conscious entrepreneurs. Honest, vulnerable, inspiring. How personal growth changed his business decisions, the setbacks and the beautiful moments in Lapland. Janneke’s music fit perfectly with his stories. Everything aligned.
Ideas are emerging. There’s even talk of organizing a festival with a few of us. Liesbeth, we still need to chat about that. I messaged you.
On November 11, I’ll be speaking about my own entrepreneurial journey. I’m looking forward to it. It’ll be magical in a different way. Will you be there? (Link at the bottom)
Discipline isn’t harsh. Discipline is taking yourself seriously
Many people think discipline is a dirty word. It feels heavy, like you have to force yourself. But Phil Stutz taught me that discipline brings freedom. Short-term pain leads to long-term ease. Most people choose the opposite, consciously or unconsciously. Short-term comfort, long-term struggle.
And here’s something else. People confuse discipline with harshness. As if discipline means punishing yourself, giving no space, demanding perfection.
But that’s not it.
Discipline isn’t being harsh with yourself. Discipline is taking yourself seriously.
Harsh is punishing yourself when it doesn’t work. Discipline is getting up every day and trying again.
Harsh is demanding perfection. Discipline is consistently doing the basics, even when it’s not perfect.
Harsh is lacking compassion. Discipline is respecting yourself by doing what you say.
I’m not harsh with myself. I’m finally serious.
The three forms of discipline
Phil Stutz distinguishes three forms:
1. Structured Discipline
Showing up daily in the areas you can influence. Eat, move, sleep, relax, connect, work. The basics. Sounds boring, but it’s the foundation. Without this, you stay in reactive mode and your energy gets drained by putting out fires.
2. Reactive Discipline
Training yourself to choose your response after an event, instead of defaulting to old patterns. Someone says something triggering? You can react like you always do (fight, flight, please), or you can choose. That pause between stimulus and response is where growth lives.
“Every single moment we have a choice. Will we step forward into growth or back into safety?” – Phil Stutz
3. Expansive Discipline
The things you do to grow and develop further. Trying new things. Taking on bigger challenges. Exposing yourself to what scares you. This is where your potential lies, but also where the most resistance lives. It’s the hardest one.
“Expansive discipline is courage in motion, the daily decision to move toward what scares you, knowing growth lives on the other side of fear.” – Phil Stutz
My challenge lies mostly in the first and third.
Action in the Taxi: Next-Level Forward Motion
Which brings me to what’s next.
This is edition 10 of this newsletter (yay! 🥳), and from now on we’re shifting gears toward more consistency and structured discipline. I feel it’s time to stand even clearer and stronger for what I’m here to do. I feel a big mission: helping 1 million people with the Tools and Heroic principles by 2051. While it’s impossible to measure that fully, I can track how many people I train (and I can’t do that alone).
My mission: train 4000 helpers in 25 years.
Why? Because I believe the world needs more people who break their patterns and help others do the same. On average, a person touches 250 lives through work, friendships, and family. So 4000 helpers means 1 million lives impacted. That’s my contribution to a better world.
But it’s not about that specific result. It’s about who I need to become to reach it.
So I need to show up more consistently. And allow myself to play bigger. Exciting.
It reminded me of that bike ride, what Esther Kuiperij saw so clearly. I was (let’s speak in past tense already) riding with the brakes on. And I’m done with that. This mission is too important to keep playing small.
So from now on, I won’t just reflect. I’ll build. And I’ll take you along for the ride if you’d like.
I’m calling it the Action in the Taxi experiment. The taxi is leaving, and I’m getting in. Even if it’s scary. Even if I don’t yet know exactly how.
Each week I’ll share:
- What concrete steps I took toward the mission
- What discipline I applied and what it brought
- What I’m struggling with and how I move through it
Not as a polished success story, but as an honest logbook. Follow along. You can join in too.
“What one can be, one must be. If you are in your lifetime less than you can be, I warn you, you will be miserable for the rest of your life.” – Abraham Maslow
That quote is etched in my mind. Being less than I can be? That’s exactly what I’ve done for too long. No more.
You too? One action, two weeks. Let’s GO.
Agenda
November 11, 2025 – Network of Magic: I’ll be speaking about my entrepreneurial journey. Will you be there? 👉 Event link
To Wrap Up
This week brought the grandeur and shadow of Munich, magical connections by the campfire (thank you Liesbeth for introducing Wim and everyone else), the recognition of my own patterns in someone else, insight into discipline as freedom, and the decision to release the brakes.
Starting next week, I’ll take you along in Action in the Taxi.
Are you in?
Want to stop doubting and delaying?
I guide helpers in breaking the patterns that hold them back. From self-doubt to action. From procrastination to momentum. I still have space for new clients, but first let’s see if I can help you → Book a free clarity call here.
✨ May the life force be with you, Syl
