We all want to make a difference—whether in our own lives or in the world around us. But with the demands of daily life, making meaningful change can feel overwhelming—maybe even impossible. Here’s the surprising truth: you don’t need hours, huge resources, or drastic measures. All it takes is 35 minutes a day.

By dedicating just 35 minutes each day, I’ve been able to consistently work on Inner Path Seekers and The Heart Warrior Project, conduct impactful interviews with experts, host support meetups, and organize events that have reached and inspired countless people. And the best part? You can do it too, without making drastic sacrifices. From the comfort of your own space, you can take small steps toward creating the change you want to see in yourself and the world.

And so, I turned 30 years old in 2023!

This podcast episode is meant to share advice and words of caution to show the full picture and not just fragments, like so many other videos, of what it’s like to be a digital nomad. Hopefully what I share can help you prepare for this lifestyle even more, so you won’t be caught off guard when confronted with all the aspects of life as a digital nomad, and to enjoy it more fully.

The questions mentioned in this podcast (and which you can find down below) are questions I recommend asking yourself every year. If we aren’t close to the new year yet, don’t wait, use them to reflect back on the previous year.

Because we all accomplish so much more than we give ourselves credit for. Taking time to reflect and acknowledge this, is not alone fun, it is also empowering and greatly helps in designing your life even more in the direction you want it to go.

Three Reasons for Doing a Year Review:

Go through the following questions while looking at the photos that you took during the year you are reviewing. This is to help you remember things that you did that year and to relive those memories.

Some questions explore two categories: personal and professional life.

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WEBSITE: http://Jellisvaes.com

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/Jellis.Vaes

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/JellisVaes

On 19th February 2021, I had a sudden cardiac arrest and died while I was asleep. I was 28 years old. Thanks to the quick thinking of my girlfriend and the paramedics showing up within minutes, my heart started pumping again. And now I’ve been given a second chance at life.

Even though I have stayed quite positive and optimistic throughout this journey, it has been rough, with many ups and downs.

Many thoughts and insights about life and death have occupied my mind in the last year and a half since my cardiac arrest. Here in this video, I share a few of these thoughts that I think are worth sharing.

Books, websites, and other resources mentioned in this video:

Video games saved my life… It’s true. Between 12 to 18 years old, I hated my life and found it extremely boring and dull.

The way I escaped this stage and found some joy was through video games.

Back then, I loved (and still love today) the MMORPG genre. I played literally all of them: Warhammer Online, Star Wars Galaxies, City of Heroes, Guild Wars, Final Fantasy XI, Everquest, The Secret World, Aion, DC Universe… you name it. But the one MMO world that I adored and regarded as home was… (you might have guessed it) World of Warcraft.

I literally spent thousands upon thousands of hours there.

In this episode, I am sharing the four major things I found in video games that real life back then did not offer—and I thought it never would. I also share how I eventually did find them in real life.

Additional helpful resources:

Struggling with suicidal thoughts or think someone might be? Check out the two videos I made here on my channel.

Books

Podcasts

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🎉CONNECT WITH ME😀  

WEBSITE: http://Jellisvaes.com

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/Jellis.Vaes

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/JellisVaes

If you rather like to watch the video on YouTube, you can do so here: https://youtu.be/yZJ7U9BXG10

If there is one topic in this world that I don’t mind taking a risk being judged, despised or condemned for, it is suicide. Even though it is not easy for me to talk about it publicly, I feel that the importance of talking about it outweighs everything else—knowing how easy it can happen to ANYONE.

Whoever you are, if you’re reading this text or listening to this episode, you have my deepest respect. Thank you for keeping yourself informed about suicide and how to help someone who is suicidal.

Suicide is a heavy topic. It is a confusing topic. And it is a topic that is hard to understand. Yet, it is real. It happens every day. But it is people like you who can help to decrease these numbers.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you again for being here.

Timestamps:

Intro [00:00]

Top 3 Questions People Ask Me About Suicide

How to Help Someone with Suicidal Thoughts

DO NOT:

DO:

Questions:

It is important to ask questions that cannot merely be answered with a simple yes or no. To learn more about this and how to have more meaningful conversations, check out the video we made and posted on the YouTube channel of The IPS Project: “Three Golden Rules for More Meaningful Conversations”.

https://youtu.be/lfTpHkhM490

Phase 1: Questions to measure the acuteness/seriousness of the situation

Phase 2: Questions to better understand their ‘why’

Phase 3: Questions to work towards a solution—Reason for Living

You can also watch the episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/W4WfxJqy8Qo

Note: I do not want to come across as a relationship expert. I am not. Nor am I saying that my girlfriend and I do not have our ups and downs. We do. Every relationship has them.

This is simply an episode where I want to share the tools and systems that have significantly improved the foundation of our relationship. Hopefully, this will introduce you to some new concepts for your relationship—or your future one.

{THE AND}

A card game with 199 questions per deck that allows people to easily experience more meaningful connections anywhere you may be.

I have recommended this to almost every couple I know—and even singles. There are several different editions of this game. Depending on your status at the moment, I recommend one of the following: Friends Edition, Relationships Edition, Long-Term Relationships Edition, and Strangers Edition.

http://theskindeep.refr.cc/jellisvaes

Spicy Board Game

To make sex more fun and learn more about each other, check out Tease & Please.

Half-Year Review

We do this on Valentine’s Day. We set a date night, get some cocktails, and go through the following three questions:

Find a Shared Hobby

Climbing is awesome. If you’ve never tried it, give it a go. It is a whole lot of fun.

Some other hobby suggestions to do together are: learning the salsa or any new dance, doing acro yoga, making music, or playing any team sport.

Have a Shared Calendar 

Don’t use this to constantly spy on each other. If that might be a trap you can fall into, you should probably skip this.

How to sync calendars:

https://support.google.com/calendar/answer/37082?hl=en

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-set-up-google-calendar-ical-sync-1172184

Share a Google Photos Album 

We use a shared Google Photos album for all our photos as a couple—from trips to parties, activities, etc.

It’s easy to set up and makes life as a couple much easier as you have one place for all your photos together.

Splitwise

An incredible tool to make all your payments as a couple so much easier.

https://secure.splitwise.com/

Shared Notion Page (The Relationship Board)

This is a shared Notion page we created that gives an overview of everything about us as a couple

Bonus

It is essential to improve flexibility in your relationship. Or, if you are still single, look for someone who is flexible. ook for someone who is not set in their ways but rather open to new ideas.

Here are some articles on how to cultivate this trait:

If you rather like to watch the video on YouTube, you can do so here: https://youtu.be/-oNSyHI84S8

While the words “restrictions” and “limitations” might sound negative to many, they do not always mean something negative. In fact, these words can at times open up a range of ideas and insights you would never have thought about if you did not have restrictions or limitations. 

Some of the most beautiful poems and stories were written in World War I and II because people were restricted in what they could say and do. 

Thus, they had to think differently, exploring new ways to tell their stories and write their poems in ways they might never have thought about if they didn’t have those restrictions.

This podcast episode is about that, about limiting yourself so you can open a different pathway of thinking. 

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🐴 WOH! Hold your horses! 🐴 If you are interested to learn more from me, and if you’d like amazing things to happen in your brain like this: 🤯🔥🍕, then check out my best-selling online courses on Udemy! 🎓🧠https://www.udemy.com/user/jellis-vaes/

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Connect with me:

YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/jellisvaes

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/JellisVaes

WEBSITE: http://Jellisvaes.com

If you rather like to watch the video on YouTube, you can do so here: https://youtu.be/erXBIbKKYDc

I have been alive for 25 years now. While it hasn’t exactly been a smooth ride all the way, it’s been a heck of an interesting one so far.

In this podcast episode, I want to summarize some personal and career life lessons that I’ve learned throughout these 25 years that have had the most significant impact on my life.

In this part, Part 2, I share the most impactful career lesson I’ve learned during these 25 years.

In the blog post I wrote, you will find all the mentors, podcasts, and books that I will talk about and that taught me these most profound lessons. I hope they can be of value to you as well.

If you did not listen to part 1, here you go: PERSONAL LIFE - 13 Important Life Lessons - 25 Years of Being Alive In Part 1, I will touch upon the lessons learned in my personal life.

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🐴 WOH! Hold your horses! 🐴 If you are interested to learn more from me, and if you’d like amazing things to happen in your brain like this: 🤯🔥🍕, then check out my best-selling online courses on Udemy! 🎓🧠https://www.udemy.com/user/jellis-vaes/

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Connect with me:

YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/jellisvaes

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/JellisVaes

WEBSITE: http://Jellisvaes.com