ABOUT ME
Life is a journey, not a destination - Ralph Waldo Emerson
I am Daan and I would love to share my life's journey so far!
Ambition, inspiration or motivation were never words in my vocabulary growing up.
When I was born, let's just say I wasn't the skinniest of baby's. In fact, I was in the top 3% of people in the whole country with the highest fat percentage. A number to be proud of!
Ambition, inspiration or motivation were never words in my vocabulary growing up.
When I was born, let's just say I wasn't the skinniest of baby's. In fact, I was in the top 3% of people in the whole country with the highest fat percentage. A number to be proud of!
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My impulsive and over-enthusiastic characteristics took me to many different routes in life. From playing soccer to trying judo for a week, and from buying an expensive skateboard to realizing a whole week later that it wasn't my thing. Consistency was never my thing, always believing it was my biggest weakness.
By the time is was starting high school, I felt extremely insecure. Since I hadn't had my 'growth spurt' yet, as they say in Dutch, I was still carrying around my baby fat, feeling like the fattest kid in town. I would walk with my shoulders raised, to make sure my shirt would cover up my belly.
My insecurities ruled me and determined my perspective on life: not as inspirational, great and awesome as I see it now.
When hitting puberty I felt lazy and worthless. Laying on the couch watching TV was the one thing I enjoyed doing the most. Not to forget eating unhealthy crap at the same time. Ooh, and arguing with the people around me since I was the one who knew everything better, if not the best. Sounds like a teenager in his prime, right?
However, when my height started to increase I felt what it was like to have confidence for the first time in my life. I lost weight and when people noticed this weight loss, I was walking on cloud nine. I started to live life and just enjoy it. Resulting in an amazing remaining time at High School.
After cruising through High School without having too much trouble, the next 'thing' occurred: choosing a university. Before going to the Hotel Management School in Maastricht, I did not know what University was the one for me, since I kind of liked everything. But after visiting the Hotelschool, I knew this was the one. I had to go to this University. Without thinking too much about it and without much trouble, I passed two selection rounds and was allowed in. Life went on.
While loving my time in Maastricht, I slowly started to become more conscious about life. I started to think about what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go. For the first time I started to appreciate life and realized that I had always taken everything for granted.
By the time is was starting high school, I felt extremely insecure. Since I hadn't had my 'growth spurt' yet, as they say in Dutch, I was still carrying around my baby fat, feeling like the fattest kid in town. I would walk with my shoulders raised, to make sure my shirt would cover up my belly.
My insecurities ruled me and determined my perspective on life: not as inspirational, great and awesome as I see it now.
When hitting puberty I felt lazy and worthless. Laying on the couch watching TV was the one thing I enjoyed doing the most. Not to forget eating unhealthy crap at the same time. Ooh, and arguing with the people around me since I was the one who knew everything better, if not the best. Sounds like a teenager in his prime, right?
However, when my height started to increase I felt what it was like to have confidence for the first time in my life. I lost weight and when people noticed this weight loss, I was walking on cloud nine. I started to live life and just enjoy it. Resulting in an amazing remaining time at High School.
After cruising through High School without having too much trouble, the next 'thing' occurred: choosing a university. Before going to the Hotel Management School in Maastricht, I did not know what University was the one for me, since I kind of liked everything. But after visiting the Hotelschool, I knew this was the one. I had to go to this University. Without thinking too much about it and without much trouble, I passed two selection rounds and was allowed in. Life went on.
While loving my time in Maastricht, I slowly started to become more conscious about life. I started to think about what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go. For the first time I started to appreciate life and realized that I had always taken everything for granted.
When I met new friends and found out about their journeys, something changed in me. I got touched deeply when hearing about their heart-breaking events they had to go through. Suddenly, I realized that my life had been so easy and good, without any major setbacks. And still, I could complain about the negative things happening around me. It created this strong feeling of unfairness. 'Why is my life so easy? Why do other people have to go through pain, suffer and hard times when I was just going through life without any problems?'. I couldn't get my head around it.
Until the day I decided to make a decision. I bought a notebook and wrote down my new life goal: 'MAKE A CHANGE by inspiring people, motivating people and creating something innovative.' I made the choice not to wait for the storm, but to prepare for it.
To not settle for this easy, good life but to push myself to become the best version of myself and to create an awesome life!
That date, the 3th of September 2016 to be precise, is where the self discovering journey started. In Helsinki, Finland, where I was doing an Exchange program at the time. I was ready to challenge myself to try all the things I would never try before and just see. Being clueless where it would take me but just committed to enjoy the ride. On that day I chose to stop living life, and start loving life.
I started trying different things, such as: reading books (which I absolutely hated and hadn't done for the last 4 years), doing meditation (which I thought was for monks dressed in yellow and orange outfits only), journaling (which I thought was for girls - no offense), and more. I recall writing down the first sentence on the first day in my notebook: 'I don't have a clue what I am doing but I can't wait to find out'.
And here I am now, on the right path to where I want to be, a path that is making me feel incredible energized, motivated and enthusiastic. A path that is making me do things on daily basis I would never ever imagine doing. A path that will hopefully take me to my life goal: becoming a life coach. I want to be in service of the world, in service of you, to make it a better place by having a positive and enthusiastic mindset.
But also a path that is leaving me clueless, which I am learning to love. What will the future bring? Where will I end up? How will my life unfold? Questions that used to scare the shit out of me, but now excite me the most. My impulsiveness is now my biggest strength, making me try new crazy, challenging or awesome things, such as taking ice baths, the 5 am challenge, taking cold showers and building a website.
However, I am not a successful entrepreneur or CEO, I don't work at a huge company, I don't have a million euros in the bank and the last thing I have is experience. The only thing I have is ME. A 21 year old young student who can't grow a beard and looks like a teenager. A guy that talks a lot but often doesn't have a clue what he is talking about. But a guy that is just curious and excited to discover life. A guy that is filled with positivity, excitement and enthusiasm. And a guy that is ready to present himself to the world!
To conclude
I am extremely grateful for the people I have met, the experiences I have gained and the ability to live this amazing life. Life is awesome and I will make sure it will be awesome by enjoying every second of it.
My journey has just begun, and is far from over. But what about your journey? Do you feel you are living life just to live life? Or are you on your journey towards your biggest dreams? Or are you stuck somewhere in between? Do you feel curious about discovering life? Do you want to try new things and just see? Wherever you feel your are in life, you are special! Let's connect and share our experiences and learn from each others! Because 'in the end we only regret the chances we didn't take!'
Wauw, I am impressed! Thank you for making all the way down here! Now it's your turn. Click on this link and please say hi over at my Instagram account and let's connect!
Until the day I decided to make a decision. I bought a notebook and wrote down my new life goal: 'MAKE A CHANGE by inspiring people, motivating people and creating something innovative.' I made the choice not to wait for the storm, but to prepare for it.
To not settle for this easy, good life but to push myself to become the best version of myself and to create an awesome life!
That date, the 3th of September 2016 to be precise, is where the self discovering journey started. In Helsinki, Finland, where I was doing an Exchange program at the time. I was ready to challenge myself to try all the things I would never try before and just see. Being clueless where it would take me but just committed to enjoy the ride. On that day I chose to stop living life, and start loving life.
I started trying different things, such as: reading books (which I absolutely hated and hadn't done for the last 4 years), doing meditation (which I thought was for monks dressed in yellow and orange outfits only), journaling (which I thought was for girls - no offense), and more. I recall writing down the first sentence on the first day in my notebook: 'I don't have a clue what I am doing but I can't wait to find out'.
And here I am now, on the right path to where I want to be, a path that is making me feel incredible energized, motivated and enthusiastic. A path that is making me do things on daily basis I would never ever imagine doing. A path that will hopefully take me to my life goal: becoming a life coach. I want to be in service of the world, in service of you, to make it a better place by having a positive and enthusiastic mindset.
But also a path that is leaving me clueless, which I am learning to love. What will the future bring? Where will I end up? How will my life unfold? Questions that used to scare the shit out of me, but now excite me the most. My impulsiveness is now my biggest strength, making me try new crazy, challenging or awesome things, such as taking ice baths, the 5 am challenge, taking cold showers and building a website.
However, I am not a successful entrepreneur or CEO, I don't work at a huge company, I don't have a million euros in the bank and the last thing I have is experience. The only thing I have is ME. A 21 year old young student who can't grow a beard and looks like a teenager. A guy that talks a lot but often doesn't have a clue what he is talking about. But a guy that is just curious and excited to discover life. A guy that is filled with positivity, excitement and enthusiasm. And a guy that is ready to present himself to the world!
To conclude
I am extremely grateful for the people I have met, the experiences I have gained and the ability to live this amazing life. Life is awesome and I will make sure it will be awesome by enjoying every second of it.
My journey has just begun, and is far from over. But what about your journey? Do you feel you are living life just to live life? Or are you on your journey towards your biggest dreams? Or are you stuck somewhere in between? Do you feel curious about discovering life? Do you want to try new things and just see? Wherever you feel your are in life, you are special! Let's connect and share our experiences and learn from each others! Because 'in the end we only regret the chances we didn't take!'
Wauw, I am impressed! Thank you for making all the way down here! Now it's your turn. Click on this link and please say hi over at my Instagram account and let's connect!