Hey there, welcome to my blog! Join me on this adventure filled with personal growth, read-aloud stories, and cool family activities, all inspired by my life as a proud dad and godfather!
When my nephew Marcel was born, my sister Stefanie asked if I’d be his godfather. Absolutely! But how could I best support him in his quest for a happy and meaningful life? That’s when I came up with the idea to create read-aloud booklets for him, covering themes like growth mindset, positive thinking, and gratitude. I’ve been passionate about personal development for years and wanted to share this with him.
Together with my daughters Ine (17) and Elena (10), we started crafting exciting stories, making illustrations, and brainstorming fun activities. It was such an amazing experience! It brought us closer together and allowed me to share my ideas with them. Elena’s into drawing and acting, while Ine shares my love for personal growth. She’s even planning to study ‘early childhood pedagogy’ – how appropriate!
Our first read-aloud booklet, ‘Marcel Learns to Ride a Bike’, came to life. But soon, I found I had so much more to share about growth mindset and other topics. That’s why I decided to publish the booklets through Amazon KDP and share more info on this blog. This way, I can inspire everyone to grow together with their family.
You know what? Growing individually is great, but growing together with the people you love most is truly the best. So let’s grow as a family!
My mission
My mission for this blog is to create inspiring and educational articles, books, e-books, and audiobooks that help families boost psychological well-being and personal growth. The goal is to make a positive impact on kids’ and parents’ lives through engaging stories, valuable insights, and hands-on activities the whole family can enjoy. These products aim to bring families closer and help them develop essential life skills in a fun and approachable way.
Am I cut out for this?
So, there I was, thinking about starting a blog on personal development. But suddenly, doubt kicked in. Do I have enough to say? Am I the right person to write about this? I’m no psychologist and definitely not perfect. Actually, I got divorced 12 years ago and often felt guilty towards my oldest daughter, Ine, because I couldn’t give her the ideal home. And then came a new blended family with its own set of challenges. I thought I’d fix things easily, but it turned out to be tougher than I thought.
But hey, I decided to jump in and start this blog anyway. I’ll share what I think is helpful and valuable, hoping it can make a difference for others. So, here’s to lots of reading fun and inspiration. Grow as an individual, let your family members grow, grow together, and grow as a family.
Besides, I guess you noticed I am not a native English speaker. I might make some errors…
Imperfect? That’s perfect!
Anthony Robbins says: “When you can’t, you must!”. When you’re feeling doubt, you have to take action. So I did. That reminds me of Kintsugi, the art of imperfection.
Kintsugi is an ancient Japanese art form and repair technique where broken ceramics get fixed in a pretty unique way. Instead of hiding the cracks, they’re highlighted with a mix of gold, silver, or platinum. This mix is usually made with a special glue called urushi, which gets mixed with precious metal powder.
The philosophy behind kintsugi is all about the concept of ‘wabi-sabi’, which sees beauty in imperfection, transience, and incompleteness. By fixing the cracks like this, the history and unique character of the object are celebrated, not hidden. Kintsugi teaches us to embrace imperfections and find beauty in the scars and breaks life gives us, both literally and figuratively.
