All posts tagged: inspiration

The courageous you: 10 steps to overcome fear

Published by Oxana a.k.a. Merenlin

What are you afraid of? You always wanted to make that step, to speak up for yourself in a toxic relationship, to set on the adventure of your dreams, to stop shaking in the dark and finally feel certain of yourself. But what is it exactly that you fear and how to fight and win over it? Let’s walk through the 10 steps to the courageous you together. This is a summary of what I tell my students during the swimming classes when they face their fear of deep water, but you can certainly apply it to fighting other fears as well. 1. Say hello to your fear. Say it out loud. Write it down in your journal. Don’t pity yourself, don’t avoid any more, don’t come up with excuses and reasons. Just admit it to yourself. Say hello to your fear. Say: “I am afraid of deep water”, “I am afraid of the dark”, “I’m afraid for my family alienating me forever”, “I’m afraid of…”.  Write it down. Admitting what you are afraid of to …

Maltese Start-Ups Do Exist

Published by Anna Kazakova

Life as an Investment has asked again our dear friend – Anastasiia Linnas  – a finance and marketing consultant, start-up lover and blogger, to be our guest author and  introduce our dear readers this time to Maltese start -ups.  If you haven’t heard of Maltese start-ups, you soon will because right now they are major players in Europe’s hub of start-ups. In Malta, there is an impressive range of start-ups emerging, and in this article you will learn about the more significant ones which contribute to the islands start-up DNA. Similar to Estonian’s start-up scene with Skype at its centre, the Maltese start-up concept is quickly catching on with the help of GFI Software. GFI Software is now a global IT company valued at approximately $500million (2013), with one of its divisions planted in Malta and responsible for key developments and progressions. GFI is probably best known for its TeamViewer product (acquired by Permira in 2014), as well as security, anti-malware and cloud services. One very successfull start-up in Malta, Altaro, was founded in 2009 by two …

Self-Crisis Management – 7 Tips to Help You Hop Out of Bed

Published by Anna Kazakova

Almost everyone has at one time or another “hit the wall.” Meaning, have had a personal or career crises. And every crisis seems to start the minute you wake up: arrogance, procrastination and suffering from as little as noticing the weather outside. There are a lot of reasons why people end up in this situation. But the good news is that there is a way to get back on track. Remember, it all starts the minute you open your eyes in the morning. The secret element of success  Some time ago Life as an Investment published an article which discussed Knowledge and Motivation. But recently, while reading biographies of successful people and analyzing my own personal experiences, I came to conclusion that one important element was missing – D I S C I P L I N E! It may sound boring – be a disciplined person, but it can pull you out of a crises and make your dreams of reaching the pinnacle of success come true.   Your perfect productive morning It sounds …

Wild women DO, – interview with Marie Milligan

Published by Oxana a.k.a. Merenlin

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” ― Nelson Mandela The human beings are strange in the defining the place that we call “comfort”. We need to have stability and diversity of new possibilities. Some of us are living the life with a wish of a stable family, life in peace and when they finally reach that, – they are still not satisfied. Some of us decide to climb to the top of the career ladder while sacrificing our private lives, and the day they become the CEO/CFO/COO they do not feel happy anyway. We decided to talk to Marie Milligan – a motivational speaker and coach from London, UK, who helps women to define their goals and plan their life in balance with the their ambitious goals and wishes.   Actual Marie holds a one-day free workshop for women in tech in collaboration with PyLadies STHLM “Define your purpose & build a …

Wish me luck: Crossing the Bosphorus Today

Published by Anna Kazakova

Today is the race day. Today is a big day. Not every day we have an opportunity to swim from Asia to Europe. So hello, the 26 th Bosphorus Cross-Continental Race, I have been waiting for you for a year! As you already know, I have been in Istanbul for a few days already, preparing for the race. Follow my adventure on Instagram @lifeasaninvestment and @angelwithoutwing and cross your fingers for good luck at 10 a.m. (Istanbul time).           And don’t forget to check up for updates on the blog or our facebook page.  

Rejections and King Solomon

Published by Anna Kazakova

Once a very wise king of Jerusalem reigned from 970 to 931 BC. Several stories and legends are devoted to his accomplishments and wisdom. His name was Solomon. According to one legend, Solomon had a ring. Inscribed on this ring was the proverb “Everything goes by, and this too shall pass”. *** It just so happens that sometimes we are rejected by people we love, by corporations we would love to work for, by investors whose money we were hoping to invest, and by countries we would like to travel to. In the situation where emotions are involved, it is sometimes difficult to make appropriate and wise decisions. However, there are some ways we can walk around this dilemma and find a suitable solution. We need to overcome rejection and find forces to keep going—to keep fighting. In a situation involving rejection, sometimes the best solution is to consider an independent point of view. Abstract from the problem. Try to imagine your friend in front of you. He is sad because of rejection, and has a host …

10 Ingredients for the Perfect Weekend

Published by Anna Kazakova

The weekend is over. I really enjoyed mine! What about you? This week I followed my perfect weekend recipe and had a wonderful couple of days.  2 days of fun, joy, rest and balance. Here is my favorite recipe for a perfect weekend: Meet some friends whom you have not seen for a while and you miss. Let it be people who make you happy just because you see their faces. Enjoy their company! Sleep. Have a good nights rest and read a book to wake up in the morning. Eat some breakfast and read a book in bed. Enjoy a little bit of nature, breath and exercise: go skiing, running, kayaking, take a boat,  go skating, and/or have a picnic – it depends on the weather. A walk in the park works in any season. Drink a cup of hot cocoa when you return. An active weekend is the best! Watch one movie that you put in your “to watch” list.  Spend time with your family: dinner, a telephone call, a skype call, going to …

Knowledge vs Motivation. You are what you eat.

Published by Anna Kazakova

Knowledge vs Motivation Which one do you think is stronger? Is it more important to have knowledge about how to do the things in the right way or the motivation to complete a task no matter the circumstances? Knowledge is around 5 times weaker than motivation. The passion and motivation will figure out the way! The problem is that the knowledge about how to do something does not necessarily motivate you to grab the bull by the horns and complete the task. Your attitude is the strongest indicator that there will be a the clear connection between your actions and results they lead to. Let’s take an example. Everybody knows that we are what we eat. We know that the food that we put in us has a tremendous impact on our bodies and our health. Even so,  people are still smoking, still drinking, still eating tons of hamburgers and “energetic garbage” (the things that gives energy but lacks nutrition). Only motivation and clear understanding of the causal link will lead us taking action towards …

3 Rules of The Power of Spoken Word

Published by Anna Kazakova

Sometimes people deeply underestimate the power of words.  Some people realize this when they have children. Understanding cam come when we correct our kids’ behavior in the same way that our parents corrected our words and behaviors.  It is in these moments that some peopel realize why they are the way you are and why you are not the way you would like to be. The power of  spoken word. From early childhood we are told to behave, think or act the certain way. This program is instilled onto us by our parents with constant repetition of certain phrases. If you are lucky, these words bring you positive character traits like confidence, motivation, inspiration and  love. If not, these words could be the seeds that plant secret fears in your mind. However, now you are a grown up person, so try to choose the people around you wisely (Read the 2 part of F.R.I.E.D.S. post) because according to Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker (and I agree with him), “we are the average …

Friday people vs. Monday people

Published by Anna Kazakova

Officially, Friday arrives in the morning when I open Facebook—and that’s when the majority of my friends are posting pictures and status updates for one single purpose: to share with the world that Friday has finally Rolled Up! Why is Friday so worthy? For many folks Friday is rightfully the end of a week worth of prison time—popularly known as “the job.” So, Monday’s are always the first day of going to prison. Most of us tend to dash out of the office at exactly 5 p.m. every Friday (yep, happens here in Sweden too), or even earlier if the opportunity arises. So, for the most part when the office door is closed and the badge comes off—thankfully, life begins again. Friday symbolizes a chance: To rest with the family. To get drunk because we have Saturday and Sunday to recover. To fly away on a mini vacation. To hit the clubs, meet up with friends, etc. To do something we really like. Does this mean that some of us don’t really like what we …