Three impulses from the mountains – for days when everything is too fast, too much, too tight.
I didn’t learn serenity from books. I experienced it – step by step in the mountains. There, nature shows you very quickly what works. And what doesn’t. You can’t outwit it. You can’t “organize it away”. And you can’t win anything with pressure.
I have taken three things with me from the high mountains for years – and it is precisely these three things that help me in my everyday life: in business, in projects, in decisions, in these completely normal days that are sometimes anything but normal.
1. pole pole: if you’re in a hurry, walk slowly
On Kilimanjaro, I was so motivated at the beginning that I wanted to start running. That’s what we often do in everyday life: new project, new idea, new plan – and we immediately want to implement everything very quickly.
Our mountain guide kept slowing us down. He kept repeating (because we didn’t believe him at first): “Pole pole.” Slowly.
And the crazy thing was that we were constantly overtaken by other climbers. People passed us as if they were doing it “better”. I still remember thinking: How are we ever going to get to the top if we hardly feel like we’re moving?
We arrived at the top. All. As a group.
Not despite the slowness – but because of the slowness.
Serenity in everyday life is often exactly that: not letting yourself be driven by this “everyone is faster than me” feeling. But to recognize it: My pace is not embarrassing. It is smart. Sometimes it’s even the only thing that really gets you where you want to go.
I like to use a rather drastic image from Nepal that I experienced myself: There are luxury tourists there who are flown up by helicopter – within 45 minutes to over 5,000 meters. What do you think happens? The body can’t cope. Many get out – and throw up first. Because the body hasn’t had time to adjust to the difference in altitude.
And sometimes it’s the same in everyday life: we want to be at the top immediately – result, solution, clarity, success. But our system is not built to jump to a height overnight, for which it actually needs time.
Mini impulse for your everyday life:
If you notice that you are becoming impatient (with yourself, with others, with the pace):
Say “pole pole” inside – and deliberately slow things down a little.
Not as defiance. But as a conscious decision.
2. every step takes you further, even if it’s tiny
On Lobuche in Nepal (6,119 m), I was hanging from a rope in a steep passage. I felt sick. I was exhausted. I didn’t feel like it anymore. And I remember this moment very clearly, which sounds so banal – but is so typical:
I’m not making any progress.
Do you know it? You’re in a project, in a phase, in a decision – and suddenly it feels like you’re treading water. And that’s exactly when this thought occurs: It will never be finished anyway. It takes forever. I can’t do it.
Stopping was not an option for me on the mountain. So I did something that I now often recommend in everyday life:
I did as little as I could at the time. And lowered my own expectations.
Not “up to the summit”, not “just one more hour”, not “pull it together now” – but: one step.
Then a break.
Then another step.
I hung in the rope, breathed, took a step. Pause again. Another step. Pause again. And so on. Many, many times. And at some point I heard voices above me and thought: Huh? Where did the summit come from?
It did not come suddenly. It came by sticking to tiny steps.
This is serenity: not necessarily doing less – but taking the pressure off about how big the next step has to be.
Mini impulse for your everyday life:
If something seems big, make it small.
- One leaf. One paragraph. One phone call.
- 10 minutes instead of “everything today”.
- One stroke instead of “perfect”.
You’ll be surprised how far you get, even if the next step is tiny.
3. you are not your thoughts and expectations are often just guesses
The third stress maker is quieter – but unfortunately extremely effective: our thoughts.
I know this very well from my time as a lawyer. Deadlines. Expectations. Reliability. That feeling: Someone is relying on me. I can’t be “too slow” now. And yes, the pressure often comes from outside. But even more often it comes from within – as an inner sentence that we have learned at some point.
On the Aconcagua (6,962 m), I suddenly had a problem with my ankle. I could no longer ‘steer’ it, it kept twisting sideways. And I was forced to do something that many of us find difficult:
To let go of my goal for a moment. And to take care of what is really important at the moment.
My expectation was: summit.
My body said: break.
And this is where the real path to more serenity begins: not in perfect planning, but in the question:
What really happens when things don’t go as planned?
And more importantly:
Whoseexpectations am I carrying right now?
Sometimes they are real deadlines. And sometimes it’s supposed expectations. I have experienced in the mountains how I thought I was “holding everyone up” – and later someone said: “I was glad we were slower. I had knee pain, but would never have dared to say it.”
It’s a classic pattern: we stress ourselves out because we assume something. And then act as if it were a fact.
Mini-impulse for your everyday life:
When the spiral of thoughts starts (Hollywood in your head, worst-case scenarios):
Ask yourself:
- Is that just a fact – or a movie?
- What do I really know?
- And what would I do if I believed myself more than this voice in my head?
You are not your thoughts. You are the one who can observe them.
At the end
Serenity does not mean never being stressed.
Serenity means that you notice sooner if you are pushing yourself too hard.
And then you make a new decision.
Maybe it’s small. Maybe it’s just a breath.
But this is exactly how change begins.
Pole pole.
A small, slow step.
About the author
Ich begleite Menschen dabei, mit Hilfe der Natur zurück zu ihrer inneren Ruhe und mentalen Stärke zu finden. Denn: Innere Ruhe, mentale Stärke und entspannte Gedanken sind kein Luxus, sondern sie sind die Basis für gute Entscheidungen, gesunde (Selbst-) Führung und nachhaltige Zusammenarbeit. Ich bin zertifizierte Natur-Mentaltrainerin mit beruflichem Hintergrund als Juristin im Bereich erneuerbare Energien. Aus dieser Zeit weiß ich, was hohe mentale Belastung, Zeitdruck und komplexe Entscheidungen im Unternehmenskontext bedeuten. Heute verbinde ich mentales Selbstmanagement, Naturbewusstsein und Achtsamkeit zu einem Ansatz, der nicht bei Erkenntnissen stehen bleibt, sondern nachhaltig wirkt – in einer (Arbeits-) Welt, die schnell, anspruchsvoll und oft überfordernd ist. Meine Arbeit ist geprägt von echter Erfahrung: durch Natur-Mental-Training, bewusste Reflexion, klare Strukturen und – wo sinnvoll – auch durch Impulse aus meiner Erfahrung als Bergsteigerin (bis fast 7.000 m). Es geht um innere Stabilität, Fokus, Ausdauer und die Fähigkeit, auch in herausfordernden Situationen bei sich zu bleiben. Ich arbeite erlebnisbasiert – im Wald, in der Natur, im Seminarraum oder im 1:1-Setting. Theorie ist dabei immer Mittel zum Zweck, nicht das Ziel.
