One End, Two Beginnings

This blog post marks the end of the Silke & Patricia endeavor. We’ve decided to go our own separate ways. Although we still very much believe, live and share a passion for what we’ve developped over this past year, our personal endeavors will take different shapes and forms.

It’s been a real adventure with (mostly) ups and (a few) downs where we’ve met amazing people. We’re happy and grateful that we’ve been able to help people and organizations along the way. That’s really what matters in the end and that’s what we take with us.

To those we have helped, we want to say this : continue meditating, continue exploring what you love, continute going towards your dreams, continue to open up. That’s what we commit to continue doing on our end.

We’ll be around so look us up! Right now, you can find us on www.silkezanker.com and on www.patriciaschwarz.ch.

Much love, much hope, much happiness,

Silke & Patricia

Notre dernier article: Alice et ce vieux rêve...

Voici notre dernier article paru le 11 juin 2010 dans l'Echo du Gros-de-Vaud, le journal de la région d'Echallens. Voici l'article. Nous espérons qu'il vous vera rêver un peu (ou donner envie de regarder Alice au pays des merveilles!!!)




Alice et ce vieux rêve

- Mais c’est impossible! s’exclame Alice.
- Seulement si tu le crois, lui répond le chapelier.

Avez-vous vu « Alice aux pays des merveilles » au cinéma le week-end dernier? Ce film fantaisiste nous a inspirées parce qu’il a l’audace de suggérer que notre réalité est créée par ce en quoi nous croyons, les rêves d’enfance y compris. Il nous a donné envie de nous pencher sur les vieux rêves que nous n’avons pas encore explorés pour un milliard de bonnes raisons ou simplement parce qu’à un moment donné de notre vie, nous les avons jugés «impossibles».

En interrogeant les personnes qui nous entourent, nous nous sommes rendues compte que beaucoup d’entre nous ont envie de faire quelque chose de remarquable dans notre vie, mais nos rêves nous paraissent tellement grands qu’ils deviennent inaccessibles. Alors bien souvent, nous les remettons à plus tard. L’envie reste ancrée au profond de nous et des événements leur font parfois refaire surface.

Un de nos rêves était d’avoir notre propre entreprise qui aide les gens à voir plus grand et qui apporte une contribution positive au monde. C’est une série de bouleversements dans nos vies qui nous a donné l’élan initial pour nous lancer: des mois d’insécurité au travail, des traversées de l’océan atlantique et surtout des problèmes de santé. Ce sont des moments douloureux qui ont été les catalyseurs de changements de style de vie, d’introspection et de reconnexion avec nous-mêmes qui nous ont permis de découvrir ce que nous voulions vraiment.

Ce que nous avons appris en chemin, c’est qu’il n’y a pas besoin de bouleversements aussi grands, d’autant de douleurs, ni de traversées d'océan pour se lancer à la conquête de son rêve. Cela peut se faire par étapes, progressivement et naturellement.
La première chose à faire, c’est de se demander «quel est mon grand rêve ?» et «à quoi ressemblerait ma vie si je le vivais?» En le mettant sur papier, on réalise qu’il y a des parties de notre vieux rêve que nous avons déjà réalisées et d’autres que nous sommes en ce moment-même entrain de réaliser! Nous n’avons peut-être pas tout mis de côté après tout…

Ce film, nous a offert un moment de rêverie et de contemplation que nous voulions partager avec vous. Peut-être qu’à vous aussi, cela donne envie de penser à ce que vous aimeriez vraiment dans la vie et de vous ouvrir à la possibilité qu’il n’est peut-être ni trop tard, ni trop difficile de réaliser ce bon vieux rêve.

Tout commence avec une simple volonté, une intention. Et ensuite, lorsque nous nous concentrons sur ce que nous aimons et que nous vivons en accord avec nous-mêmes, de nouvelles portes s’ouvrent. Nous rencontrons des personnes qui nous aident en chemin et, petit à petit, les barrières se lèvent. La montagne infranchissable devient une série d’étapes gérables et accessibles.

Un jour, nous réalisons que notre rêve est plus proche que nous l’avions imaginé…
Bienvenue au pays de merveilles! Qui aurait cru qu’il soit juste là?

Silke & Patricia

Silke et Patricia sont coachs. Elles aident les professionnels stressés et déboussolés à se reconnecter à ce qu’ils aiment vraiment et à se sentir libres et pleins d’énergie.
www.silkeandpatricia.com

All places from here

"Life is an exciting surprise. I wake up in the morning looking for positive experiences, and I find them in the most unexpected places."
- Louise L. Hay

Gosh, imagine waking up every morning thinking that???

We're giving it a try. We each wrote it on a post card which we will read every morning for 21 days. (That's how long it takes to build a habit.) We'll see what happens... Will you join us?

Stamp Contest Winner Announcement

The correct answer was: the silhouette on the far left on the last row!
Here is the picture it came from as proof:


And for our grand winner, Marylin from Miami, we'll send her a stamp and an original Swiss souvenir: a cow bell! Can't get any better than that, right? Congratulations Marylin!




Thank you everyone for participating. Much love to all from Switzerland! Have a wonderful weekend!

Silke & Patricia

PS: to download the Big Dream workbook, click here!

Win Swiss Stamps with Patricia on Them!

Hello friends!

As you may have read on Facebook, we got a little excited because Patricia is on the new Swiss stamp collection. It’s not everyday that one is on a stamp.



We’re also very excited because the stamp was designed by our communications agency Hauser-Schwarz in Basel. The same guys who have designed our logo and website have also won a nation-wide contest for the new Swiss stamp. As we say in French, c’est pas rien! Two thumbs up for Simon and David.



We like contests so we thought it’d be fun to have you guess which of the silhouettes is Patricia’s. Put on your Sherlock Holmes’ hat, pull out a magnifying glass and a pipe, and find Patricia.

Hint: she doesn’t have any children so it’s not the 5th person on the top row and she doesn’t have a dog so it's not the 5th person on the second row either. (That’s her father, by the way!!!)

The winner will be announced on Friday, May 7th. If more than one person wins, we’ll do a live draw on video, which we will post on this blog.

The grand prize is:
If the winner is Swiss: a book of stamps of a CHF 20.- value.
If the winner is not Swiss: we’ll send you a stamped letter with a surprise gift inside. ;)

To participate, simply submit your answer as a comment below.

Have fun and may the best (wo)man win!

Much love,
Silke & Patricia

PS: And while you’re at it, go ahead and download our free “Big Dream” workbook and get started on living your dream on www.silkeandpatricia.com

PSS: To Simon and David, we’d love to be on the Swiss CHF 100 bill next. We’d like to be the next Swiss Benjamin. Thanks.

The Big Scary Dream and Being 30 (and free tips on how to start living your dream)

We’ve talked to many people in their 30’s lately and there seems to be a pattern amongst us 30-something people. And it revolves around the Big Scary Dream.

Most of us have had a couple of serious jobs where we’ve invested ourselves. We’ve reached financial security. We’ve also probably had a couple of serious relationships, maybe even marriage, maybe even children. We’ve also had the opportunity to travel quite a bit over the years and to come into contact with various cultures. We’ve formed a pretty good opinion of our world for ourselves right about now.

So we’re thirty-something and this question seems to be spinning the heads of most of us: What next? Shouldn’t I be pursuing my big dream at this point? Travel the world. Do humanitarian work. Start my own business. Be a full time artist in New York City. Or something of that nature.

And immediately after asking ourselves the big question, another question comes to mind: Is it worth the risk???

See, we really don’t like to admit it to ourselves because we’re still young, cool and carefree, but we kinda like our comfort; we kinda like the financial security; we kinda like the routine and the BBQ’s with our friends. Is leaving all of that behind to pursue the big dream really worth it? And for those of us who have families, how can we pursue the big dream while still tending to them? We have to face it. We’re not in our carefree twenties anymore and to be perfectly honest with ourselves, it’s quite o.k. We like, shoot, we love our thirties. We wouldn’t really want to go back.

So how can we compromise? (Such an ugly word – even for the Swiss) And don’t get us wrong, by compromise we don’t mean forgetting about the big dream. We mean, how can we use what we’ve built, learnt and experience until now and still go for the big dream.

Here is our experience with it.

We both got shaken up quite a bit a while back. It was high time for the big dream. We weren’t 100% satisfied with our careers and our lifestyles. Life has its ways of shaking things up when it’s time to change and go for something new.

Silke had severe back problems that led to an emergency back surgery – leaving her with plenty of time to reflect on her life and on what she really wanted to do. Patricia had been battling with a painful disease for two years and the threat of a third surgery got her to seek the alternative route, look within, find the root of the problem and heal. We both crossed out the American dream for then, moved back to Switzerland and started fresh.

And the big dream was to start our own business that would make a positive contribution to the world by helping people be happier and healthier while being more at peace. That took a complete rearranging of our lives, the crossing of an ocean and a change of career.

The good news for you is that along the way, we’ve realized that it doesn’t have to take all of that. It doesn’t have to take so much pain and fear, and such drastic changes.

Here is how it can also work:

- It all begins with a conscious decision to live up to your dreams. Nothing more. Just that willingness begins to shift things.

- Then it’s a re-alignment. A realignment to your values, to what really matters to you, to what you love, to who you are.

- And finally, it’s not so much about changing the big things; it’s the addition of all the small things you can change in your current environment. By changing, adding, removing or adapting a small thing in your life as it currently is, you naturally see if and how you want to go further.

Suddenly, your big dream becomes a series of natural steps that add up and that are fulfilling. Your big dream doesn’t appear so scary and unattainable anymore. It’s within reach. It’s right here actually. You’ve been living it all along.

So if you’re at a place where you want to access your big dream and you need a little help, the little push to get started, we’d love to help you. We’ve been there and we got help along the way. We’re happy to pass that knowledge on.

To help you right now, since you’re already thinking about that topic, here is a good way to get started. Ask yourself these questions:

- What is my big dream? Write it down. In full detail: what does it look like? What does it feel like? What does it sound like? Write it as if you wanted someone else to be able to live it in their mind.

- How do I know that I don’t have it right now? (Sounds like a silly question? Answer it anyway and put it on paper. You might just be surprised that it’s not that silly after all…)

- What is the very first step to living it that you can do right now? Do it right now.

Then, go for a walk, a run, a yoga class: whatever floats your boat. The point is to get the energy moving.

When you’ve started and if you’re on your way, please let us know. Leave us a comment! Tell us how you feel and tell us about your big dream. Make us dream. Hearing about people’s dreams is so inspiring.

Much love,
Silke & Patricia

Conférence chez Holmes Place

Bonjour à tous, bonjour à toutes!

Vous n’avez peut-être pas encore une idée très claire sur ce que nous faisons concrètement ou peut-être que si, mais le thème de notre conférence risque d’accélérer votre programme de fitness avant l’été...

Alors voilà, nous vous proposons de nous rejoindre le 27 avril 2010 au Holmes Place de Lausanne de 19h30 à 21h00 pour:

Conférence PASSION & PURPOSE:
Comment utiliser votre état d’esprit pour influencer les résultats de vos efforts physiques



Lors de cette conférence gratuite, nous allons travailler votre esprit en douceur. Au programme, un peu de stretching pour commencer et pour gagner en souplesse. Ensuite, nous allons faire des exercices pratiques garantis de vous apporter des résultats. Par contre, on ne propose pas de courbature de l’esprit pour le lendemain – juste des changements bénéfiques!

Inscrivez-vous ici au plus vite. Les places sont limitées.

Nous nous réjouissons de vous voir le 27 avril à Holmes Place!

Chaleureusement,

Silke & Patricia

The Slump and Freedom

We haven’t been very active on this blog because to be perfectly honest with you, we’ve been in a slump. A big slump. Now that we are out of it and breathing again, we’re ready to share what happened and how that’s going to impact you.

After being busy bees for a couple of months to paint the office, buy furniture, throw the inauguration party, fill up our first workshops and launching our website, we began “going to the office.” Like we had a 9 to 5, where we had to clock in and clock out. Slowly but surely we worked ourselves down a routine that resembled nothing to why we had started our business in the first place. It no longer felts like our mission to “guide and inspire individuals who want to integrate sustainability, values and balance into their lives and activities.” We sure were not very inspired so hardly inspiring.

It took a while to put our finger on what was wrong. We were getting a few clients and we were putting in place the business structure for upcoming projects. We felt awkward and had a few of these very constructive conversations:

“The office is too small. I can’t breathe.” (Patricia)

“What do you mean?” (Silke)

“We need to think bigger, act bigger, and have a bigger office. We’ve outgrown all of that!” (Patricia)

“Yes, we do need to think and act bigger, but with the office thing, I don’t quite follow you. And first, we have to put the structure in place, then we can start moving around.” (Silke)

“Yes, we have to put the structure in place and yes, having it will enable us to grow and move around. But I can’t continue this way.” (Patricia)
“Me neither, but we’re almost done and we’ve said we’d get it done, so let’s be patient.” (Silke)

“Yes, but no.” (Patricia)

“ . “ (Silke)

“I’m going for a walk.” (Patricia)

Both of us were clearly frustrated with feeling stuck and with each other as well…

Then, after many walks and moments of loaded silence, it hit us: in an effort to get the business structured and organized, we had compromised two of our values: FREEDOM and PASSION. (Read about them)

Once we figured that out, it became easier to walk out of the slump. We didn’t need to re-invent or change our business inside and out: we needed to shift our focus and think out of the box (or out of the office) so that both of us could get a sense of freedom and passion (and still get the business organized).

Knowing that, we set out to revisit everything that gets us energized, passionate and inspired.

Books: we took a break from the personal development and business books and read some lighthearted books (“Committed” by Elizabeth Gilbert and “The Last Symbol” by Dan Brown)

Music: we listened to our favorite artists; some for the soul moving lyrics, some for the energy and some for the New York feel. (Piers Faccini, The Avett Brothers and Jay Z)

Comedy: we watched Hamish and Andy on youtube.com. Our favorite comedians from Australia. (If you ever feel down or simply want a good laugh, do watch Hamish and Andy.)

Coaching: we sought guidance and support from our business and personal coach Ernst Bechinie (solution coaching). We also made a bold move and joined the Enlightened Entrepreneur Club led by Max Simon so that we would be supported and inspired by Max’s energy and by other entrepreneurs who run their businesses consciously.

Travel: Silke took a last minute, unplanned, very un-silke-like trip to Paris to see some beauty, art and be in the midst of a vibrant city.

Yoga, runs and walks: we went for walks, runs and did some yoga to get the energy moving and get ourselves energized.

Family & friends: we spent more time hanging out and going out; surrounding ourselves with people we love.

Vision boards: we cut and glued away several magazine worth of pictures onto vision boards of how we see ourselves, how we see our business and how we see our lives.

Meditation: Patricia gave up on meditation for a while only to realize that disconnecting herself from the inner world wasn’t cutting it either. In the end, the stillness within (even if it’s really hard to get a tiny glimpse of it when everything outward is spinning) is what matters and when things are all over the place, might as well be in the center and watch the madness eventually quiet down.

Strengths: we both revisited what we’re really good at, what we LOVE doing and what we mastered in our past work and athletic careers. It’s all about who we ARE and not what we DO, so that was a most useful exercise.

Soul searching / give-up on soul searching: we spent a whole lot of time trying to “figure things out” and put an explanation on what was happening. One day, we got tired of it, thought “f*** it” and just went on with our lives. That very act of forgetting about it shifted something and suddenly we were re-connected with ourselves and our business and the next move came to light. Like it had always been there right in front of us. Our inner turmoil didn’t allow us to see it. (Like a wise man said to us: it’s like searching for your glasses when all along they’re on your nose.)

All of these actions helped and got us back on track with who we really are and what we love doing. The very powerful lesson, though, was the giving up part. The moment we were ok with the fact that we were in a rut, we got clarity. It’s that famous (and infamous) concept of “letting go.”

Now that we have given up on trying so hard to do we’re not sure what, we have this exciting project coming to life. We’ve decided to call it “Passion & Purpose” because it’s about helping people reconnect with themselves and what they really love in life. It’s about helping people get out of the slump and feel free again!

We’ll tell you more in a day or two. Right now, we’re setting up a few things on which we’ll need your opinion. Like when we first started this endeavor, we’d love to hear from you so that this project is not about Silke & Patricia, but about how we can best help you or your friends feel free, energized and focused on Passion & Purpose!

Stay tune and please share your thoughts, leave us a comment, tell us if, like us, this felt like somewhere you’ve already been (once, twice, many times?)…

Much love,
Silke & Patricia