A personal journey starts with a story.

And I am here to invite you to read mine.

My story starts with my upbringing, because I believe it’s one of the sources and cores to who you are and can become.

Born and growing up in The Netherlands, I was surrounded by a loving family that provided me unconditional support. I developed interests in music, art, writing, languages, neurology, psychology and an inherent passion for helping other people out. At already a young age, around 5-6 years old, the picture was clear: helping other human beings is what drives me. While this passion was more of an unconscious drive – being so young and suggestible – my parents and other close relatives encouraged this throughout the years. It makes a lot of sense, coming from a family where the vast majority is active in health care, either in a direct or indirect sense.

So, it’s no surprise that…

I found myself going on the educational route to create a career that would qualify me to help other people.

In times of high school, having the picture clear in my head and receiving the support and encouragement from my environment, I started mapping out this route. This didn’t go without obstacles and tough moments. During this period, I was being bullied for how I thought and demonstrated my behaviour. Because apparently, that didn’t match the ‘popular thinking and acting’, so I was, so to say, an easy target. As a result, I had created limiting beliefs about myself and as that persevered, I found myself in a deep hole, not knowing how to get out and at times even thinking about not wanting to get out. It was a negative spiral I thought I could never escape.

But it was never about escaping. It has always been about shifting my mind.

That took the necessary time.

It’s not easy to step out of that comfort zone of familiar feelings, but, step by step, I started seeing light at the end of the tunnel, metaphorically speaking. Even more so, it fueled me to pursue my desired career, to teach that it’s never up to the environment to tell you that you’re not good enough. Life is in your hands. It really is.

I grew from it. I got inspired.

So,

When I was 17 years old, I enrolled in a school program to become a personal counselor. It had a duration of 3 years and consisted of both theory and application through internships. I learned about how and why people respond the way they respond, the power of non-verbal communication, where motivation comes from, why there is resistance to new things and I can name many other things, but I would like to point out this crucial one: the importance of listening.

It didn’t take long for more interests to develop and expand. Behavioural change, communication, mindset awareness, philosophy, spirituality and neurology found their way into my life or they magnified. These shifts, again, happened after a life event. In 2016, when I was 17 years old, a family member of mine had a stroke (they survived) and it had a major impact; it made me realise that we are here to experience life to its fullest potential.

I wanted to create more, meaningful things for myself and in turn for others.

In times of becoming a personal counselor and what happened to my family member, I got even more absorbed in neurology, psychology and communication. And as a result of that, I followed my educational route by becoming a Speech-Language Therapist, because I wanted to contribute to a survivor’s journey during recovery.

Anyways,

I then moved out my parental house so I could start my studies at the school I desired going to, which was 3 hours away from my parents. I know this is not up for everyone, but I have always been an independent person and I knew distance wouldn’t dictate the amount of love and support.

I was at the age of 20 when I started. Such a puppy, right? And aren’t we all in a way, as even our ancient masters left us the important message that we will always be standing in the shadows of possibilities rather than mere absolutes?

Now – coming back to the journey I was telling you about – aside from acquiring the full spectrum of skills to become a speech-language therapist and because of being part of the educational system and knowing what goes on in there, I realised there are fundamental things not being taught (enough) in school and from my perspective, they should be taught.

Make tons of mistakes and come to truly embrace them.
You would then enable yourself to not perceive them as failures, them identifying your worth, but rather like learning assets that can only enhance you as a person.

Utilise your past, so it becomes your wisdom.
This is your way to liberate yourself from being stuck and to grow beyond, by making the shift to using it in the present moment, for it to have an effect in the future moments.

Learn how to swim in the good opinion of yourself.
Because swimming upstream in the river of others is a road to nowhere. How you perceive yourself has a way of putting that outward. As Hermes Trismegistus stated: “As within, so without.”

I believe there to be so much more to life and one is only one step away to change their life for good. As it’s in my being to constantly invest in ways to develop and enhance my learnings, I have found that I want to pass on the teachings. And I wish you to have the true enjoyment in stepping into the process of self transformation.

Once you go down that road, there is no going back. And you wouldn’t even want to go back, because you got rid of things that didn’t serve you, that you’re now aware of more than ever.

That’s a promise from me to you.

I hope to have inspired you,

Anne