Did you ever count how many times a day you are showing judgmental behavior? That's a question that kept popping up during the past couple of weeks. Most of us tend to be more judgmental than we realize. Now before we go for a tour into the why, when and how, let's play a little mind game...

What if I told you that the guy shown on the photo below, would be your new co-worker? And let's say that he's your new co-worker at an insurance office. What do you think that you and your colleagues would say about him on the first day he enters the job? How would you treat him? Would you giggle over his looks? Be honest ;-)

Now I'm no psychic, but I dare say that 99 % of us would start talking behind his back over his weird look. He would be defined as a real weird older man. Some would call him scary, others would be wondering if he were cuckoo and so on. Yet, as we all know this gentleman is one of the most celebrated designers in the world, whose name will be remembered for centuries to come, we all of a sudden think he looks super cool & styish.

Isn't that interesting? The co-worker who would suffer a hard time over our judgement is treated completely different now we know how successful he is. So his looks are approved only for the fact that he is a famous, successful fashion designer. If he’d be your everyday garbage man, he would be the laughing stock of the town.

And how about this woman? What would you and your friends say about her, if she just happened to walk down the street passing you by? Let's say she's an art student who loves to stand out from the crowd... What would you say?

"Oh my gosh, look at her!" Wouldn't that be your first response? The coming hour we would all talk about that weirdo we saw on the street... She would probably be labelled 'totally nuts'. But hey, as we all know she's a famous singer, we all of a sudden label that same girl to be a super cool style icon...

Now we could go on for days with shiploads of photos and I dare predict that the 'judgement' factor wouldn't change, now would it?

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Yes, I could fill up a million photo galleries more with successful people who would never blend into the crowd without being judged by their looks. Let alone, by their behaviour!

Now here is the question that you might like to ask yourself: why do we do that? There are multiple reasons we can come up with and they differ per person. For some of us it is simply because we secretly would love to have the guts just to be our true selves. For others judging makes you feel better about yourself. If you define the other to be an 'idiot', it means you are a well-accepted, maybe even 'cool' person. Comparison. And so on...

But let's be real honest again: does the appearance of that particular person bug you in any way? Harm you? Threaten you?

No, it doesn't. So why do we do it? If the other person hears, feels or notices your reaction, how do you think it makes them feel? And: why do we care in the first place about someone else’s looks? As in all honesty it has nothing to do with us, now does it?

So who defines what is normal? Who creates the standard? What if tomorrow someone told you that blending in with the majority is no longer the universal trend?

Now, this post is not about blending in or not. It's about judging... And judging nine out of ten times is a sign of poverty within ourselves (sorry, if this came as a shocker!). No, I'm not advising you to become Mister or Miss Perfect Behavior from now on. And yes, it can simply be a funny moment with friends joking about that weirdo on the street. Yet, once in a while think of the effect it might have on people and most of all, ask yourself why you do it...

Don't feel bad, feel aware!

If you feel like it, take a minute and ask yourself who you would be if you were free of judgement about others, but most of all yourself! We consume a lot of our valuable energy by spending hours in a row on judging. We spent millions of precious minutes on blending in, being accepted by the whole world and being perfect according to the 'judgement' of others. If we wouldn't do that, how would we feel? That's the question!

C'est tout! Thanks for joining me for another trip throughout the jungle I tend to call my life...

For now remember just one more thing:

"Your own approval of you, is just as valuable as your approval of others"

Do you sometimes feel like the cute dog shown above? I do! Although nine out of ten times I also find a way to regain my energetic level. Lately I even succeeded in shifting into a constant state of energy and the best part: you don't even have to do a lot of work in order to get into that vibe.

It took me a while to find out why. Yet, as you know me, I never give up, so at a certain point I did find the answer. How? By having conversations with friends and with our So PR team. The first thing I noticed is the fact that the 'creative' ones had more energy left at the end of the day, than the hard core 'analytic thinkers'.

What was the difference? Well, the creative ones found it easier to follow my advice on simply doing the task at hand, without re-thinking of the work waiting in front of them. The 'analytic thinkers' however, had repeatedly 'done' the job already in their minds before they even got started. So when they started, they were already pretty tired in their heads, as they had done it already five times. They had exhausted their brain, without realising that they did.

Remember how much energy you get from focussing on something cool, such as a holiday that you will experience in the near future? Days ahead you already feel the vibe. It makes you shine more, gives you a relaxed feeling and so on. But once you start to think of all those suitcases you have to pack, all the stuff you shouldn't forget to pack...What happens? Yep, you get tired. The task at hand became a mountain, instead of a real small hill. So by the time you get to the point of packing, you feel as if you're about to carry a pyramid through the dessert.

What if I told you that there is a way to avoid that kind of tiredness? And that it is actually not the tasks at hand that make us tired, but it's our brain that creates this? We are as they say "our own worst enemies". The creative ones, they know the trick. They have been given the advantage of being dominated by the right side of their brain. While they are drifting of into an intuitive way of operating, the ones dominated by the left side of our brain, are analytically recalculating every aspect of what they are about to do. That my friends, is a job on its own!

Throughout the past week I've been trying to talk to our team and helping the ones struggling with this 'energy loss' to find ways to shift a little to the 'right side' once in a while. Now how do you develop this motion, without turning into an 'airhead'. We found out that there are several ways to do so. For some it works fine to correct ourselves when we notice that we are rethinking too much, instead of acting without analysing every single detail. For others it's easier to 'recall' a moment or situation in which they work on the so called 'auto pilot'. If cooking is your hobby, you know that when you start cooking, you tend to 'forget' the world around, simply concentrating on taste, smell, cutting, ingredients, etc. If you like to draw, be sporty, or whatever it might be, you might want to grab that vibe back in order to 'reset' your state of mind when you are over-thinking. Does switching the state of mind mean that you should stop thinking? No, not at all! Yet it is a different, more spontaneous way of thinking. And yes, on top of all: more creative.

Try to think (yes, think as in remember) the moments in your life when the best ideas came to you. Let me guess: it nine out of ten times happened 'spontaneously'. The answers came when you least expected them. That is at least what the greatest minds in the world tell us. And most of us will acknowledge that fact. How come? They came from the right side of our brain. Yet in modern society we were taught that we have to think. And by saying that, we started thinking that we had to 'calculate' and 'analyse' our every action. As a result we started to overvalue the left side of our brain. Smart as it is, the left side even told us that it is such a smart thing to trust upon it (hihihi, I'm the winner). What a pity! As the maybe even smarter right side says "let me outsmart you by giving you some real bright hunches". Now how about outsmarting both of them? How? By using them upon our wishes. Do we need facts? Use the analytic part. Do you find yourself with a pile of work ahead? Use the logical analyser to make a structured plan, then switch to the creator after that. Stop thinking of that long list, just do it (Yes, Nike sure has a point there :-))!

Try it and see how it works for you! It might take you some effort, but I can tell you, once you get the hang of it, you will be shocked by the amount of energy you've got left at the end of the day. And don't be scared of not being able to be in control, as your right side is just as smart as the left side. So let them be friends and you will find a whole new, more relaxed and in most cases even brighter, more effective, more creative way of being. Fact: research has proven that people who drive there cars in an 'auto-pilot' state of mind, cause far less accidents, in comparison to those who are constantly aware of their every action behind the wheel. So, let's get in balance!

C'est tout! See you back soon in the fun loving, yet hectic jungle I tend to call my life...

For now, remember just one more thing:

"Sculpt your life as if it's the best work you have ever created"

As you might have read in my previous post, it has been kind of a hectic week. After our so-called Open Day for the media, I had to fly to London for a business meeting. Luckily the schedule left me some time for shopping! And as I always say 'inspiration is everywhere'... Well, this trip ended with me and So account-manager Laura, travelling back with pack loads of shopping bags filled with inspiring books and lovely must-haves for our So PR showrooms (ok, I confess and some unmissable wardrobe pieces)! Out of the 300 photo's I took within those 24 hours I made you a selection of 'optional inspiration'. So let's get that creativity flowing, pick what ever inspires you & if you feel like it, share your opinion below on the 'Disqus' board, or let me know on Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest

And yes, for those of you looking for a brand new journey through the jungle of life on an in-depth level: I'll take you on another mindful trip soon...For now, enjoy an adventurous images tour!

PS: don't forget to scroll through the galleries shown below. When you click on the right side of the last image shown, in some of the galleries, you will discover more:-)

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Although it's Wednesday, I already wanted to call this "one of those weeks"... As you know, I would normally treat you on a lively, vibrating inspirational journey, however today our little tour will become a slightly different one. Let me tell you why: we had our so-called "Open Day" yesterday. Twice a year we present our clients to the media. Of course we present them every day, yet on these special days we show new fashion collections (in this case Autumn/Winter 2012), highlight concepts, inform the media on the latest trends etc.

Each season we pick a new theme to do so. This time it was all about "Magic". Well let me tell you: I've seen every witch craft store you can imagine, felt at one point like I was Merlin's sister and I shopped till I almost dropped over a broom stick... Yep, I love to do that myself, as these dots on the 'i' are one of my specialties. Besides that we worked every night last week to get our collections labeled, placed and so on. In the meanwhile I had to get a lot done for my own So O. collection (samples are being produces for Spring-Summer'13) and on top business as usual went on.

Yet yesterday was a dazzling success! Oh and did I tell you that in between we worked on our new showroom extension? And that I had meetings on a secret chocolate concept? And that we became the distributors of a gorgeous grapefruit, red orange & lemon beer brand? Wish to hear more? At this point I'm preparing to fly to London tomorrow for a meeting on Friday with Citizens of Humanity, while today at 17.00h we will have a super surprise event organized for us by our lovely new client, the perfume chain ICI Paris XL.

As you can imagine, that although I would love to give you a full review and share some inspirational thoughts with you, I can hardly find the time to write, let alone be inspirational...So my dear dear friends, I hope you will forgive me for the fact that I'll keep it short this week! However, my newly bought magic ball tells me that I will make it up to you next week! Is that ok with you? With love, O.

PS: Enjoy a small preview of the preparations we had for yesterday...The rest, including the day itself & my London trip will be shown next week!

At least once a month, I receive an interview request. Now, don’t worry, as it’s not my style to brag about that. Even better, for those of you who know me a bit by now: I’m not about being in the spotlight because of the light itself…So the type of interviews I enjoy most, are those in which I can show people the reality as it is and if I’m lucky also share some ‘advise’ on how to follow your dreams.

Well, having said so, I had a nice email conversation yesterday with the editor of Young But Successful (love that name). At one point she stated that she really looks up to me. On which I replied: “Don’t, as I’m pretty tall (1.83m /6.1ft), so that might get you a stiff neck. Instead, in you wish to, walk along with me and enjoy whatever we encounter along the road.”. Being a truly adorable girl, she replied with a smile. I liked her style, as I immediately noticed she’s eager in what she does.

Now lately I’ve met, talked and mailed with a lot of young, ambitions people. And I can tell you: it is a true joy! No matter how busy I am, I always try to make time for them, as it’s such a pleasure to notice people with ‘fire’ in their eyes. That my dear readers, is the key to life. You can either let life live you or get your guts together and live life!

No, I will not lie to you. The path of living life is way harder, than letting life live you. Going with the flow might not make you rise up into the sky, but hey, you won’t fall as hard either. The way I’ve chosen to live is a bit more challenging. As once you are on top of that mountain, you might feel the downside too, once in a while. And yep, that valley is a lot deeper once you’re standing on top of the Everest. But at least: you do feel alive!

So why am I telling you all this? Well, I did end the interview with a simple sentence: ” Deep inside you, you always know what to do and don’t let your “what if’s” ever hold you back!!!”.  As that the point I was getting at. Unfortunately most of us are let by our fears and at some point we don’t even realize that. We feel something, we debate it within ourselves, we start to see all the negatives, we see the positives and at some point we are even able to kill our inner voice.

Interesting isn’t it? If you look at it closely, we could describe ourselves as our own worst enemies, disguised as our own closest friend. No, I’m not telling you that all you feel, come up with, dream of, is always just as successful as you hoped it would be. And no, I’m not telling you that every thought or feeling is right. Yet once you learn to distinguish one from the other, you will learn to know the difference. If a feeling keeps nagging up against all fights you fought within yourself, you might want to take a closer look at it. Example: you’re dreaming of starting a candy shop or moving to Zimbabwe. Your brain starts telling you why it is a bad idea and comes up with a thousand reasons why you shouldn’t. Until you stop dreaming. But what if that dream keeps coming back? What will you do?

We were all brought up with the idea that we should be smart and wise. So most of the time we try to make the wisest choices. But what is wisdom? Following your heart or your brain? If you follow your heart, yes, you might risk the experience of feeling how deep the valley can genuinely be. But on the other hand you might also be standing there high in the sky, enjoying the view from Mount Everest. And yes, if you listen to your brain over your heart’s desire, you are safe. Everything will remain as it is. Well, except for that nagging voice that once in a while says “what if I had…???”. So here’s the choice: do you want to become that 85 year old who still says “if only I had…” or are you willing to live life?

Well, I’m not the one to decide for you. Neither am I the one to tell you what is right or wrong, because this is not a matter of right or wrong. All I do know is that “if only I had truly lived life, followed my dreams and had had the guts” is one of the top 3 things people regret when the end of their lives is near. Now I can tell you one thing: that my dear readers, is something I try to avoid! Is it working? Just like everyone, I’m also still attending classes at the University of Life, but I’m doing my best to be the fearless student and yes, for me it works so liberating!

C’est tout! See you back soon for a walk around this fascinating planet we call earth…

For now, remember just one more thing:

“Life is a gift, so don’t waste it!”