Tim van Zwieteren, Dutchman who fell in love with Asia gives us an authentic glimpse of his mind

Tim van Zwieteren, born in Ridderkerk (just below Rotterdam) in the Netherlands on 23-09-1989. After finishing my high school, I worked 2,5 years at the audit department of Deloitte Rotterdam. This was not what I expected from a job. It was too boring and I sat behind a laptop the whole day. When I look back on my decision to start working at Deloitte, I see now that I was mostly driven my status. I got a car, a mobile phone, a nice salary and I could wear a suit every day. That was very important for me at that time. After I quit, I traveled 4 months through south-east Asia (Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia). I particularly fell in love with with Ho Chi Minh city. After coming back to Rotterdam, I finished my bachelor economics bandmaster urban, port and transport economics. I never really liked my time at the university. I did it because I thought it was a good choice to get a job afterwards. After I wrote my master thesis I departed for Vietnam. I remember when I was 17, I already wanted to move to Asia. For some reason, this part of the world was always appealing to me. So now I had finished my university and I left. I did not have a job before I left. My plan was to find a job in the first 3/4 months and If I could not find one, I would teach English. In the first months I got one unsuccessful job, so now I am teaching and I actually like it.

What is the one thing I can do today to really get closer to my goals?

Money is running out, so my goal is to make a living in Vietnam. It’s 90% sure I have a job for 20 hours a week, but I want more teaching hours. So I need to gather the right documents and write a cover letter.

Prepare me classes for next week

How can I create more value today than I did yesterday?

Update my knowledge about and how to teach English. Since I teach I notice that my English isn’t a perfect as I should it was. If I gain more knowledge, I can give more value to the students.

What new approach can I try to come closer to my vision?Be more bold

What made me feel happy, in flow, recently?Seeing a student feel happy and motivated at the end of my lessen, where she wasn’t happy and motivated at all in the beginning

What is the one product we can really promote?

Meditation

I am grateful for:

That I can live in a beautiful country as Vietnam that offers many beautiful opportunities

I’m really excited about:

What the universe will bring me in Vietnam

These are the most important habits I’m building:

Doing yoga twice a week

Trancedental meditation

Be nicer to people (be a giver not a taker)

Stuff I did right:

Fully embracing being an English teacher,  even though I first looked down on people who opted to be language teachers

New ideas:

You don’t need more money, you need a better strategy (peter sage)

Power decisions:

I don’t care what others think of me

Things I’ve learned:

Dare to question believes you always have had.

How do I want to feel today?

Productive

How do I want to treat others today?

How I would like them to treat me

Some material stuff I’m acquiring:

Music lectern, e-reader,

How are you going to reward yourself today?

Let myself watch a football game at 11pm. (need to wake up at 6 am)

What kind of people am I inviting into my life today?

Positive people that don’t want a meaningless life.

The one thing, in general =
/

The power question =
What is my next step?Remind yourself of your vision. What does your ideal day look like?

Wake up early and start with meditation. Health foods. some productive hours, do some kind of sports, and see some amazing jazz band at night in an outdoor venue.