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Chiara Cokieng

📍 Berlin, Germany

Not recognizing the fear (is the dream-killer) part 1

In June 2013, I quit my corporate consulting job to do my own thing. My dream was to make good money while controlling when, where, and with whom I work. My chosen method was to do marketing consulting. I knew that until someone gives me money in exchange for my

The real reason you should write everyday

I think one of the things people online have always wanted to do is publish everyday. That includes me. It’s also really hard, it takes a lot of time, which is why so few people stick to it. I was also convinced that that time is better spent working

Book: Never Let Go by Dan John

Philosophical, tactical, and pragmatic fitness wrapped in stories. You’re going to get philosophy — Dan explains why and how to build a body that matters to YOU. You’re going to get tactics — There’s lots of very specific programs in here regardless if your goal is to be better

Book: Triggers by Marshall Goldsmith

Most authors berate us for lack of mental toughness. In my experience, mental toughness is overrated. Steve Pavlina is right: Your environment will eat your goals for breakfast. It’s very, very true, but seldom talked about. That’s what Marshall discusses in this book: the fact that our environment

Unfashionable thoughts on death, grief, and dying

1. Death will happen. “The foolishness of people who are surprised by anything that happens. Like travelers amazed at foreign customs.” —Marcus Aurelius [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812968255/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0812968255&linkCode=as2&tag=

Review: The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

Best book to kick your ass to action. I bought, read, and reread this in Kindle years ago. But last week, I bought a paperback copy to take with me everywhere. If, like me, you have a “technique and craft, not inspiration/Muse/etc.” approach to art and writing, you

Review: Principles by Ray Dalio

I read this book again because it was recommended to me as the “best book on learning how to be effective.” So far, I agree. Already, I am using an “issues log”, designing experiments, seeing every failure I make and every success I achieve as artifacts to analyze. My biggest

Review: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

Do you know that feeling when you’re certain something pivotal just happened to you? You’re sure — you just know — that things will never be the same again… I’ve having one of those moments. The GiveGetWin tour just ended. Persistence. Air planes. Possibilities. There’s so many things

Review: Lincoln's Melancholy by Joshua Wolf Shenk

Read to cope during a very down time in my life. It’s a fact that You can feel bad… And still decide to take action —Stories of Lincoln helped me internalize this, in a way that self-help books couldn’t. This was just 150 years ago, but everything

Review: The Unpublished David Ogilvy

This is a short (I read most of it on a one-hour flight from Virac to Manila) collection of excerpts from Ogilvy’s private and public memos, letters, speeches, and interviews. Full of useful and insightful gems, Ogilvy felt real to me, like a mentor, not an author. Really