I AM WRITING A BOOK

“I am writing a book!”

Says every coach/influencer/public speaker ever🙄 But few actually get the job done.

Now that the children’s book I am writing with my father is nearing the finish line, I am starting to believe it is possible for me to write a book on my own. One that might even see the light of day.

My working title for the book is ‘the art of attunement’ and it’s a collection of short real-life stories, about moments when I was deeply in tune with my inner compass, and moments when I absolutely wasn’t.

I know the best way to keep me motivated is to share my work-in-progress with others. So I’ve decided to do the vulnerable thing and share a few chapters here with you in the coming weeks. Not to fish for your feedback (although you can of course share it), not to force you into my fanclub (although some cheerleading is always welcome), but because if you signed up for this newsletter, I trust that something in my stories will resonate with you. And if my life experiences can inspire you even a tiny bit to live more in attunement with yourself, it will motivate me to write more.

So, inspired by the fact that I currently have many coaching clients that are looking for a career change, here is a vignette of the book about how I got my first job:

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2010. The year I find a grown-up job

I sit on the floor of our tiny Delft-Zuid apartment. Around me are clippings from magazines and newspapers, mindmaps and scribbles. They come from the ‘job search’ folder I’ve been putting together like a second thesis.

After graduation, I turned my student side gig as a science journalist into my main job. I enjoy the interviews immensely. I get to sit down with inventors of innovative roller coasters, interview owners of antiquated steam ships, and visit music festivals to get a behind the scenes tour of their sustainable power grid.

But then I go home, alone. I find the writing process lonely and repetitive. I want a real job, with chatty colleagues and an office and a coffee machine and and badge and the whole shebang, and I want it now.

Many of my clippings and scribbles point me in the same direction: a large research institute that is consistently ranked as “best employer of the year” in the Netherlands. I recently met one of their top scientists at a conference about robots in healthcare, and I was impressed by her wit and kindness. I know they have a job opening in her department, that is focused on the societal impact of new technology. My mind is fascinated by the idea. My heart is numb, and my gut is awfully quiet. But it all adds up, doesn’t it?

I write my application letter, highlight my eye for detail and invent a passion for quantitative data analysis.

I tell the top scientist I applied.

I get invited.

I get the job.

Of course I get the job.

Sometimes I hate how good I am at jumping through societal hoops.

I wish I didn’t have this polished charm that seems to hypnotize people into believing that I live for Excel sheets, endless project briefs and meetings without a proper agenda.

You know that feeling that you kind of want the other person to break up with you, so that you don’t have to do it?

Well, they don’t break up with me. They welcome me with open arms. Arjanna, the data whisperer, the excel sheet warrior.

Two years later, my body will force the breakup I couldn’t initiate. And it won’t be pretty.

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That was sneak preview #1 👀

I have so many questions for you! Have you written a book, and do you have tips for how to keep going? How did this story resonate with you? How do you know that you are in attunement, or not? I’d love to hear from you.

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