Ready, Set, Go! (Special Edition)

by Rafael Badziag

  I was born in 1966 in East Germany – so, behind the Iron Curtain. My father left our small family when I was barely a year old. We moved to another city and my mother met another man and they eventually got married. This man adopted me and my sister, and he became the best father I could ever imagine. It was the beginning of a wonderful time.

  He taught me how to ride a bike and harvest honey in our own bee hut. It really was a fabulous time. But then, when I was just nine years old, my father killed himself in our apartment. My sister found him.

  Now restless times began. My mother met a different man a year later and we moved to his place in another village. It was a true idyll, a small village right by the lake. But then my stepfather raped my sister and often tried to abuse me sexually. I was 10 years old at the time, and my mother escaped with me and my sister to another city and we started all over again.

  We then moved twice to a different place before my mother met yet another man, and we moved again into his house in a new city. I was now just 16 years old and beginning an apprenticeship as a heating engineer.

  But my new stepfather quickly turned out to be a highly aggressive and oafish brute. He tried to knock me around on several occasions, but fortunately I was faster and could flee the house every time. But then one Friday evening when I came home from campus, my key no longer fit in the front door. The locks had been replaced, inside the lights were on, but no-one opened the door. When the lights in the bedroom went out just before midnight, I finally realized that I was stuck outside. They had thrown me out at 16.

  A period of homelessness began. Sometimes I slept at friends' places, for a short time with my sister, and later in dorms. In spite of this, I successfully completed my apprenticeship as a heating engineer.

  I got my own apartment when I was 18. One day, there was a very timid knock on the door. I opened it and my mother was standing there. She stood there looking very ashamed, with only one small bag. She was broken down by violence and at the end of her rope. After kicking me out, her husband had brutally beaten her, landing her in hospital multiple times, and degraded her in every imaginable way. Finally, she had escaped to a women's shelter, was now homeless, and had managed to make it to me. I took her in, took care of her, and six months later she was back on her feet.

  I myself was now 20 and wanted to get out of the totalitarian regime of East Germany and into the world. I submitted a request for a departure from East Germany to the government authorities. A year of dull and underhanded interrogation began at the intelligence service. Always very close to prison. Then the secret service people began to harass my mother all the time and finally issued her with a country-wide ban on working as an engineer. So, I withdrew the request for departing East Germany. The price for my mother was too high.

  When the Wall suddenly fell in 1989, I founded my first company a short time afterwards, but I went bankrupt a year later. I had no money left, the loans were cancelled by the bank, and the bailiff came for me.

  Sometime later, my mother suddenly disappeared overnight along with all her furniture from her apartment, and to this day is still nowhere to be found. The exact same thing happened with my sister, and she too has completely vanished.

  Back in 1991, I no longer had the strength to go on. I was at the end of my rope. I was 24, completely bankrupt, full of anxiety, and had not a shred of optimism left. But I knew this incredibly successful entrepreneur. And in my time of need, I called him. Maybe he'll even give me money, I thought.

  Instead, he gave me this sentence: "In life, you'll always be faced with exactly the situation you're currently able to solve!"

  He said a few other things, but this sentence was the greatest gift anyone had so far ever given me. This sentence completely changed my life. I began to change my thinking bit by bit to be in line with the direction and meaning of this sentence, and everything else, my whole life, changed with it.

  Today, in 2017, I am a very successful entrepreneur, international author, father, head of sales, international speaker, and empowerment expert.

  I travel around the world, speak to many people, and experience the incredible privilege of supporting and helping other people with my knowledge and experience on their journey to a fabulous life.

  I am sharing my story with you, because I know that we humans load ourselves not with our actual experiences, but with our innate evaluation of these experiences. They make up our world view, our paradigm. Our basic attitude is guided by them. And that drives our way of thinking.

  You know, many people think they can't do anything. Some even think they were given an exceptionally bad lot. Or they think it wouldn't matter if they changed something. In truth, these people think they themselves are not important enough. And that it has no influence on the lives of others. This is simply not the case. Every life is important. Every human being – including you!

  Today I'm opening my Holy Grail for you here, I'm opening my safe for you and showing you my biggest personal methods to a successful life.

  They are the parameters that establish your basic attitude towards ways of thinking and behavior. It is on the basis of these that the events that form a fantastic and fulfilling life are put together.

  PRINCIPLE NO. 1:

  Immediately delete the word “guilt” from your vocabulary and replace it with “responsibility”!

  It's very easy to point your finger at others and loudly say: you're to blame! But in truth, any unresolved situation with an undesirable outcome demands a different answer until the situation or the problem is solved. If you blame others, you reject the part of the responsibility and learning experience that is yours in this matter. You are involved in the matter, or you would not blame someone else. It is imperative that you take responsibility for your part in the matter. Only then have you accepted the lesson of the situation and your life muscles can grow. If a situation like this happens again in life, your experience has trained you and you can easily clear the hurdle.

  Note: responsibility makes you strong!

  PRINCIPLE NO. 2:

  First comes the decision, then the way reveals itself - never vice versa!

  We can't test-drive our lives. We have to live and we have to bear and live out the consequences of our decisions. That alone puts us on the right track and allows us to grow. That's why it's necessary to reconcile the two decision-making centers inside us, namely our heart and our brain. The brain needs data and facts to make a decision. If it doesn't have any, it rejects it. When the heart makes a decision, it speaks with the language of feeling and intuition, but then has no data or facts to carry it out. This means many of our heart's desires often remain unfulfilled.

  So, we should make sure we combine the two decision-making centers inside us. The heart and gut feelings guide the way, and the brain must implement decisions with its reason and planning tools.

  Note: Your decisions are the precursors to what you will later hold in your hands!

  PRINCIPLE NO. 3:

  You can't win a downhill race on a ski slope with diving equipment!

  Your path must lead into a world in which you want to live! It's essential to know where that is and where you belong. This is not optional! It's an obligatory matter and there is absolutely no alternative for anyone in our Western world! You need to find out whether you were given diving equipment in life or ski equipment. It makes little sense to slide around in the snow with flippers for the 85 years of your life. This will definitely end in a great deal of frustration. It means that you can't be a role model later on for your children, friends, and partners. Lost in this way, you can't pass on things that work. And so, the great idea of evolution passes you by: Pass on what works! So, get back on your feet, look in the mirror and into your heart and then tell yourself without a hint of self-consciousness who you are and what is indispensable to you personally in your life. And then find the ideal way to live with your equipment.

  Note: It is not noble to cultivate false ways of living and th
inking until a change doesn't seem to be worthwhile anymore. This is denial! Instead, be brave!

  PRINCIPLE NO. 4:

  Sometimes you have to go back a few steps to take a run for the big leap!

  If things sometimes fail or do not go according to plan, never be too hard on yourself. Resistance only serves to illustrate the areas in which you currently need to learn and grow. If the obstacles become bigger, you are getting closer to your goal and your need to learn will become correspondingly larger. This will require your full attention and your time. And this time is sometimes missing in other places. That's why we can't always carry out our plans on time. We simply didn't consider the complexity of the matter. When life prompts us to grow, it presents us with many challenges. It might take two months instead of a week.

  But if you overcome this postponement with a positive outcome, you're definitely on the next level.

  Note: If you have to avoid a few cliffs, but then return to the planned course, you will still reach the destination port – a little later perhaps – but now with the experience of cliffs. YES!

  PRINCIPLE NO. 5:

  Never make your vision of tomorrow dependent on yesterday's results!

  Every hot air balloon can fly again. Yesterday's weather does not determine how you start today. If you make decisions today based on yesterday's weather, this can have fatal consequences. The conditions are probably quite different today. Do you want to go to Hawaii but a look in your wallet banishes the thought? This proves nothing! It only shows that you cannot fly today. But you can make a plan by setting out what activities you need to do and when, if you want to be in Honolulu in six months' time. This applies to a trip, a job change, as well as to founding your own company.

  Note: Always look objectively into your heart when you visualize the future of your life. The results of yesterday are in your thoughts anyway, because they determine your point of view, where you stand now, today!

  PRINCIPLE NO. 6:

  You bear responsibility, even if it goes wrong!

  You can't consign your garbage to your life. Neither the physical nor the mental garbage. Think about how it starts with the receipt left behind in the supermarket trolley, with the secretly-discarded car tires in the nature reserve, or the public toilet left in a terrible state, and it ends right in the middle of your quality of life. What you give to others is you sowing your next harvest. Everyone cultivates their own lives. What grows on yours is what you sow. And life is just: no one can ultimately refuse their own harvest. If you go bankrupt, it's not all over. Sweep up the shards, clean everything thoroughly, and leave behind a decent playing field for those who come after. This is the only way to start again with neutralized chances.

  Note: Integrity is essential for an exceptionally-fulfilling life. The wrong friends and ideas fall away automatically from those who have integrity.

  Integrity purifies!

  I remain yours with the very best wishes for a completely brilliant and fulfilled life.

  Cordially yours,

  Torsten Mau

  About Torsten

  Torsten Mau helps his customers and clients in a very effective way to achieve the status of a largely self-determined and successful life. Inspired and driven by his own challenging life story, after his training as a heating engineer he had a strong desire to pave the way for himself and others to a fulfilling, self-determined life.

  When after some time, he switched from construction site assembly to sales, in addition to his job as an external salesman, he traveled time and time again over the years to see interesting contemporaries with his purpose in mind. He interviewed them about issues regarding their life success and their views on the most important questions for a fulfilling and self-determined life. In this way, a highly valuable, and above all unique collection of methods, views and authentic recipes emerged. He then carefully evaluated and brought them together piece by piece, and combined them with his own experiences.

  And although he had only a normal school-leaving certificate and thus had neither his high school diploma nor a university education, he was very successful in the application of his knowledge, and ultimately realized his own dream of a largely self-determined and successful life. And of course, he continues to conduct his interviews.

  Torsten Mau writes books and essays as an international author, works as the head of sales in a company with 400 employees in Germany, and additional y, is the Founder and CEO of his own company, TORSTEN MAU – SPECIALIST for PERSONALITY

  DEVELOPMENT – in which he shares the methods, recipes, and insights for a truly fulfilling and self-determined life with as many people as possible. He is also a recognized speaker and empowerment expert and speaks on the international stage.

  In 2017, for example, he spoke on the German TV station "Hamburg1" and at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

  You can contact Torsten Mau at:

  • www.TorstenMau.com

  CHAPTER 15

  THE YOGA OF SUCCESS

  BALANCING BODY, MIND AND SPIRIT FOR PROSPERITY, ACHIEVEMENT AND ABUNDANCE

  BY SRADDHA PRATIVADI, MD

  As we grow more technologically driven and enamored with the latest gadgets, the data shows that we are far from achieving our nation's physical and mental health goals. As a physician, I daily hear about the increasing stress and declining happiness that is being achieved in the United States. Much of my effort in the office is put into reorienting people to the roots of health. In fact, I would argue that getting back to the foundations of wholeness and living a purposeful life is critical to this dialogue. It is also critical to achieving business and institutional goals.

  Taking time to honor your body, cultivating the faculties of the mind to serve as a catalyst for achievement, and self-reflecting to connect your spirit to the large reality of the Universe and your higher purpose, are all needed to power the individual and collective positive potential.

  This important topic is gaining more recognition across communities and institutions. Very few, however, truly understand what health, wellness and prosperity truly mean at each of these levels. Understanding each level – body, mind and spirit and the deep interconnectedness of these different aspects of our human experience can empower individuals and institutions alike to tap into their most powerful asset: human potential.

  There is a common thread between body, mind and spirit – it is energy.

  It is universal intelligence. It is consciousness. When you understand this, you understand your own power and your own potential. You will understand how to catalyze success in your organization.

  My name, Sraddha, comes from the Sanskrit root, H’rd, which means Heart. Sraddha means single-minded faith, devotion, concentration and attention, usually in attainment of an intellectual or spiritual goal. I think it’s interesting that the oldest language on the planet gets meaning from the heart for aspects of the intellect and spirit. But let’s explore this more through the lens of achieving your individual, business or institutional potential.

  The quadruple aim of healthcare can be translated into any business as achieving high standards in customer experience, achieving results and outcomes with your products and services, reducing costs, and the well-being of the team. This was seen regularly by many old American corporations with a social priority – these institutions understood that the well-being of the corporation was a reflection of the well-being of the individual people, in fact it was one of their goals – not just money.

  By implementing principles of health for the body, mind and spirit, any community or organization can tap into its potential and achieve its goals.

  In a system that strips individuals of so much of their power – including their own power to heal themselves and to think for themselves – I believe it is imperative to rediscover our own capacity to heal and create a culture in which this is possible for everyone. To do this we must first have an awareness of who we are and the gifts we have within our reach.


  There is a lot of talk about body, mind and spirit. These are popular terms nowadays, but I feel we are not investing the effort to really understand these things meaningfully as they relate to our humanity. By understanding how these three connect together and how to bring out the best of these three aspects of everyone in your family or organization, new heights and visions can be reached.

  The ancients recognized that even though we are spiritual beings having a human experience, attention to the body is fundamental to the path of the mind, intellect and spirit.

  The 8-step process described in Ashtanga Yoga from the Vedic culture of India starts with behavior choices, then a taming of the body. This prepares the mind for higher levels of concentration and function. With a tame and controlled mind, one can reach their infinite potential by connecting with spirit.

  The entire first half of the path of yoga is actually having to do with physical actions and the body in daily life. So, when most of us think of the body, we may think of these things – molecules, bones, muscles, DNA, blood, birth, disease, death. Medical students study detailed diagrams explaining the physical structures of the body. We know there are concrete things we can do to sustain the body and maximize its health.

  In our stressful professions, something easy like alternative nostril breathing is so easy to do to coordinate the hemispheres of our brain, create heart coherence by going from a place of fear, frustration and anxiety to one of gratitude and flow. These processes are important because they create a harmony in the body.

  Coherence is a measure of the pattern in the heart’s rhythm, which is independent of the amount of heart rate variability, and reflects an orderly and harmonious synchronization among various systems in the body such as the heart, respiratory system and blood pressure systems.

  In yoga, this is called Nadi Shodhana and is part of pranayama or the science of breathing.