Of Life as a Masterpiece

Forum of Gmünder Tagespost and Volksbank with Optimization Expert Michael Vaas

The call "Get out of the rat race" by Michael Vaas had reached many interested parties, as the Hans Baldung Grien hall was very well attended on Monday evening. The joint event by Gmünder Tagespost and Volksbank was a success in terms of self-organization, as the numerous questions after the presentation showed. He calls himself an optimization expert for top performance. Michael Vaas, a former banker, has implemented his experiences from years of customer consulting into a program that helps people better define and achieve their goals. "Make a masterpiece out of your life," he urged. With a deep insight into the "journalist rat race," the editor-in-chief of Gmünder Tagespost, Michael Länge, opened the evening. He described how his workflow is repeatedly interrupted by important things that take away the momentum from work. A situation that everyone knows from their daily lives. Vaas intervened here. He first handed the audience a virtual bouquet of flowers with the request to be aware that the following 90 minutes belong to each individual. So that everyone could take home exactly what was optimal from the presentation. Cicero already knew that in order to live long, one must live slowly. Because it has been proven that the faster we live, the more we shorten our lives. Therefore, Michael Vaas recommended taking several breaks throughout the day and asking oneself: Do I really want to do what I am doing? Or where do I stand? To "anchor" in the hustle and bustle, Vaas had his listeners perform a conscious deep chest-diaphragm breathing together. Sit up straight, close your eyes, and breathe in deeply through the nose and out through the mouth. This gives a lot of energy. "Smile at yourself," was another recommendation, "then you will feel good. Smiling reduces stress hormones." Another example of tidying up one's own life was the invitation: "Get rid of old habits." Michael Vaas vividly described how something can creep into life without making real sense. He recounted a story where a daughter asked her mother why she cuts off the beginning and end of a braided bread. The answer: "That's how my mother always did it!" When they asked the grandmother, it turned out that the trimming was only due to the too short baking sheet. Vaas recommended asking the question more often: "When was the last time you thought about your personal goals?" Because you need a plan for the success of life. The "bucket list" is well suited, where everything you want to achieve before you "kick the bucket" is noted. Answers to questions like "What is going well in my life? What am I proud of and grateful for?" help. Planning is the prerequisite for achieving goals, said the moderator. This includes the realization that you cannot do everything alone but should seek expert advice and apply the "Zsunge strategy" he developed. The latter consists of clear goal setting, strategic planning, implementation, sustainability, habit, and success. Proven, tried, and successful, says Vaas, is everything that can be implemented in 72 hours, maintained for 21 days, and thereby becomes a habit. Gmünder Tagespost