At times our regular, day to day life seems overwhelming. On top of that, we have extra stressful occasions: in-laws coming for a visit, overpacked days, public performances, people suddenly behaving “funny” (and leaving us with question marks in our heads) and such.

In other words, life can be pretty stressful and funky.
Everyday life used to make me pretty nervous on a regular basis.
So I was looking for relief for quite some time.

Here is, what helped me tremendously
– and I hope these strategies will support you as well:>>

I am not a fan of strict rules.
But I have to admit that in education they are key.
Looking back into my notes that I made to educate myself in pedagogics, I found this quote:
Healthy rules are like a house. The give us a place to live in.

And that’s so true!
Even if you don’t like rigid rules and regulations and you have a tendency (like me) to break out of tight frameworks, children need a clear structure in which they can grow.>>

Recently in a beautifully illustrated book I found a picture of a man with one normal and a dull, blind eye. The title of this piece of art was “The Sage”.
– What?? Err?

Would a wise man not have two very clear eyes, representing his crystal clear vision and understanding of the world?
Does not wisdom come from seeing things as they are – clearly and realistically?

I took a closer look and found a comment on the side: “A sage is a person who distinguishes wisely what is good and what is bad.”>>

When you are anything like me you have a pile, a shelf or a living room full of music books at home. These books are a treasure!

They bring the music, the spark, the shiny world of art and inspiration into your life.
They bring all the magic.
Well… wait a minute! – Do they? Really??

Let’s take a closer look.

Nice books, maybe with some scratches here and there.
Beautiful cream coloured pages with black little dots and lines.
Lovely to look at.
And fancy!
Your not music making friends will see these books as a clear sign that you are a genius.>>

Google funded an interesting study about productivity and leadership called “Project Oxygen”. They wanted to know if management really matters or if a company would benefit most, if everybody was his own boss, basically managing themselves.

The answer was intriguing.
The best results in this study showed teams, not individuals.
Particularly teams that worked under the direction of a motivating manager.>>

Recently I read a study about hockey teams in Canada.
A study among the most successful high-school hockey teams stated that in order to have a high performing team two ingredients are needed:
1.) motivation and 2.) disciplined physical training.

There were highly motivated teams and teams that had a history of discipline and hard training units.
Guess, what teams were the most successful ones?
Yes, the teams where motivation and physical discipline were well balanced.>>