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It showed up out of the blue earlier today, and got me thinking nostalgic for a minute or two, but the thought came back again an hour later: If I knew then what I know now, what would I tell my teenage self?
What can a 17-year young understand? Looking for something true to say, leaving no stone unturned – it’d better be true – I ended up telling the kid in the photograph, “Without you, I wouldn’t be here. You did well.”
I said that twice to ensure I heard it loud and clear.
It’s not always been easy. I grew up in a world of “Could do better!” Reminders in school reports, complete with exclamation marks, weren’t unusual. Yet, I was already doing my damn best! What happened?
Well, just what I needed, a learning difficulty of sorts, my parents were told which, to me, felt like being handed the key for hating school with a legit excuse! But what remains is I felt like everything with school was right and everything with me was wrong. Not ideal for keeping the self-esteem of a little kid up where it belongs, but hey, that’s how I felt and I was young. We all go to school and get over it eventually, we all do, isn’t that so?
Well, I kept “Could do better!” throughout the rest of my teenage years. I was a handful, but who isn’t early in life, eh? It can be fun for a while, but it can also lead to a life of always between boredom and panic and everybody wants what the other has got.
I loved hanging out with people just like me. Of course, it didn’t get me anywhere, but it felt the safe thing to do and the best years of my life. The memories aren’t fun. On the contrary, at 17, I’m always alone and it’s cold.
My life is different now.
“You did well.”
I’m doing my best, like everybody else.
The “Could do better!” people also have a motivation, just a different one.
Know what you want. Perhaps that’s all there is to it?
Hi, my name is Beat — pronounced B@ — Schindler. I’m the the author of 8 books about words.
Before I switched to writing about words, I had for 22 years been with the world’s best company to work with, Ken Olsen’s Digital Equipment Corporation. That was followed by 4 years as an independent consultant, helping teams to simplify and reduce the risk of being left behind.
Throughout that time, the money was excellent, the lifestyle a charm, and the travel a constant. But over the long run, it also annihilated me.
Throughout my life I’ve worked relentlessly to make it from rags to riches, but then suddenly, on a dark Friday night in February of 2012, I got kicked out of my house, with my possessions in a suitcase, a backpack, and a blue IKEA-shoulder bag.
My prospects appeared bleak and my future dark. But the worst part was that I didn’t understand why me?
When your only options are to get capsized or get over it, you work hard to gain a new perspective, on that I give you my word. It wasn’t easy and the breakthrough — when I saw words for the first time — finally happened only in 2016. Now, hardly a day goes by when I don’t see how far I’ve come since then.
That is the abridged version of who Schindler is.
PS.
Beat Schindler is a writer and response coach. His freelance writing will help you achieve your marketing goals.
To discuss your writing needs, contact Beat by email at beat@schindlersword.com, or by using the form below.
CREDITS, MY INFLUENCES
No matter what environment you spend most of your time in, it impacts you.
I’ve learned that no matter how fast my environments change and no matter what they are, guides will show up if need be different from what I anticipate.
Compiling my personal list of Most Influential People has been an uplifting experience for it handed me the opportunity to remember and thank them all again from the bottom of my heart.
I say “Thanks, again!” to each and every one.
Nature, Ansel Adams, Africa, Muhammad Ali, Roald Amundsen, Michelangelo Antonioni, Louis Armstrong, Eileen Aruin, David Attenborough, Brian Auger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Anne Bahy, Kenny Ball, Chris Barber, BBC, The Beatles, Simone de Beauvoir, Sydney Bechet, Joachim-Ernst Berendt, Eric Berne, Wolf Biermann, Acker Bilk, Ken Blanchard, Philippe Bouvard, Constantin Brâncuși, Georges Brassens, Richard Brautigan, Patrick Brion, Claude Bristol, Warren Buffet, Ken Burns, Francis Cabrel, Michael Cacoyannis, Joseph Campbell, Albert Camus, Jack Canfield, Lewis Carroll, Jimmy Carter, Coco Chanel, Charlie Chaplin, Ray Charles, Frédéric Chopin, Deepak Chopra, Leonard Cohen, Coluche, Confucius, Billy Connolly, Renée Côté-Burtt, Jerry Cotton, Jacques Cousteau, Stephen Covey, Steven Covey, Billy Crystal, Leonardo Da Vinci, Max Daetwyler, Regina Dardel, Dimitri, Dire Straits, Walt Disney, Peter Drucker, Henry Dunant, Louise Duncan, Wayne Dyer, Bob Dylan, Steve Earle, Albert Einstein, Hans Erni, Frederico Fellini, Fiona, Bobby Fisher, Roger Fisher, Ella Jane Fitzgerald, Jason Fladlien, Ian Fleming, Philip Flynn, Milos Forman, Viktor Frankl, Cornelia Froboess, Buckminster Fuller, Galilei, Mahatma Gandhi, Bill Gates, Kahlil Gibran, Goethe, Caryn Elaine Johnson (Whoopi Goldberg), Jane Goodall, René Goscinny, Jeremias Gotthelf, Stéphane Grapelli, John Gray, Greece, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Charlie Haden, Joseph Heller, Herman Hesse, Napoleon Hill, Polo Hofer, Human Rights, Mahalia Jackson, Susan Jeffers, Steve Jobs, Jack Johnson, Spencer Johnson, Carl Jung, Nikos Kazantzakis, Buster Keaton, Dan S. Kennedy, Jack Kerouac, The Kinks, Roland Kirk, Paul Klee, Jay Kordich, Peter Kraus, Dalai Lama, Gary Larson, JoAnn Lauterbach, Timothy Leary, Claude Lelouch, John Lennon, Sam Levenson, Jack London, Martin Luther, Martin Luther King Jr, Rona Mabalot, Mad Magazine, Barry Maloney, Maxwell Maltz, Nelson Mandela, Marcel Marceau, Henri Matisse, Mani Matter, Karl May, Marshall McLuhan, Yehudi Menuhin, Pat Metheny, Henri Miller, Robert and Nathalie Mirza-Muller, Alan Moorehead, Jeanne Moreau, Desmond Morris, Mummenschanz, Jim Murdock, Mike Nichols, Anais Nin, Georgia O’Keeffe, Ken Olsen, Paris, PBS, Vincent Norman Peale, Scott M Peck, Arthur Penn, Heinrich Pestalozzi, Joachim Ringelnatz, Tony Robbins, Eleanor Roosevelt, Roberto Rossellini, Jana Ruzickova, Niki de Saint Phalle, Wilhelm, Margrit, Christine, Christoph and Ilhan Schindler, Karl Otto Schmidt, Albert Schweitzer, Robert Scott, Gail Sheehy, Fritz and Klara Spahr, Andy Stanley, John Steinbeck, Anthony Stoker, Switzerland, Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss), Henry David Thoreau, Jean Tinguely, Diane Tiphaine, Leo Tolstoy, Arnold Toynbee, Francois Truffaut, Desmond Tutu, Mark Twain, Lao Tzu, Tomi Ungerer, William Ury, Vincent Van Gogh, Otto Waalkes, Bill Watterson, Robin Williams, Frank Zappa, Zig Ziglar, Zorba the Greek.
Once you’ve read it and absorbed it you will want to read and re-read it again – it is that good.”
– Philip Flynn, Independent Director, Consultant, member of the Board of Directors of the Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO)
Serves as an example of what’s possible when you put your all into something and make it remarkable. Above average. Glaringly insightful.”
– Jack Humphrey, Brand Storyteller, Brand Management & Consulting, Inbound Marketing Expert, Copywriter
An inspirational train ride like no other you have experienced.”
– Ross Burg
Get ready to kiss inertia goodbye! A must read!”
– Donna Vessey, executive producer of the “Hittin’ the Road” educational adventure show broadcast on PBS.
Wonderful! Where was this in my second decade instead of my sixth? Five glorious stars!”
– Damiano de Sano Iocovozzi
A formidable book! Seriously important, and quite funny, too! A joy, no doubt I’ll read it again.”
– Agnès Kaufmann
There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness, and truth, says Leo Tolstoy (in War and Peace)… For understanding the principles of simplicity, you have this book. A must-have experience!”
– Matild Kiss
Beat, your writing always reminds me of a Picasso painting. It makes me stop, turn my head, and then go, yes, I get it. To me, Picasso left us enough room to fill in our own stories.”
– Nicole Rushin
I’ve read it twice (!). It helps with all areas of life! I’ll probably steal some of the ideas from you.”
– Corinne Edwards
What I loved is the simplicity and the ease of reading with the great analogies and graphics to drive the points home. A lot of simple but precious nuggets. Worth reading.”
– Rajesh C. Jyotishi
We all respond to what’s happening in our lives. Here, the author helps us to filter what’s important from what’s not important. You decide – problem or opportunity – it’s all in how you respond to life. The author helps you to find what is important in your life and then use that to simplify the amount of effort and drain on your emotions and still get to where you want to go. He provides several life hacks we can all use. The one I liked the best was the Study:Action hack — study enough to learn but then spend more time putting that into action. By doing, you learn more while you achieve at the same time. Too many people make the mistake of getting stuck in the learning without taking action or enough action.”
– D. Cherry
I’ve read dozens of self-help books before, but nothing like this. This is truly a great work! Exclamation marks don’t do it justice. Super-duper fantastic. Last Train to Simple is the simplest and most powerful self-help book I’ve ever come across. In my opinion, second to none. A book I can instantly remember! For that alone, it is simply amazing. It is inspiring, provocative, unreservedly recommend it to anyone, beginner or advanced.”
– Nena Dailey
After umpteen self-help books and lots of reading and some self healing, along comes this booklet. Simple is the new healing tool and simple is the technique. Easy and quick reading with great and lasting if applied. Nobody does the trick for us, we all have to do it ourselves but who wants to pass up on this simple and quick train? Try it and your life will change instantly.”
– Stefanie Yamout
Great tidbit of wisdom and all about RESPONSE-ABILITY – Beat has a way to capture you and teach beautiful lessons by taking 100% responsibility! Truly a book to keep on your bookshelves. Check it out for it may change a pattern of thought… Thank you Beat for writing this very wise book!”
– Nancy Shields
A self-help book that can really work for you! I am not a huge fan of self-help books, but this one is different and I plan to put the principle to work in my own life. I felt as if a breath of fresh air rushed into the room as I finished. I hope you find it as worthwhile as I.”
– Candace Current-Wright
A little gem of a book! Nuggets of wisdom that I have always known, but paid little heed to. Now acting on them in a structured way. Seeing opportunity. With mindfulness. Sometimes this lesson takes years learn. Had I known, and had I employed Love, Freedom, and Response-Ability in my thought process back then, perhaps I would not have so many regrets now.”
– Jane Foley
The simplest ideas are always the best ideas! A book that can change your point of view by reducing input while reminding the focus on the use of words. Get on board! Enjoy the enlightening power of the word. But never forget to read for yourself.”
– Ronny Ruefli
Simply put and s worthwhile, perfect reading to inspire you to take responsibility and move forward. Last Train to Simple lives up to its name, with a wealth of information yet an uncomplicated way to achieve your goals. Thank you, thank you!”
– Renee Burtt
I just finished reading Mr. Schindler’s wonderful new book & have this to say. Where was this book in my second decade instead of my sixth? There are several authors I read over & over like Stephen Covey, Jane Austen & Anna Quindlen. I have to add this little gem to my yearly ‘must read overs’. Mr. Schindler never uses the word ‘integrity’ but his message is quite simple & that exactly: be awake, think honestly, plan, act, look at others as ends in themselves & never as means, know yourself. Live your life as an exclamation, not and explanation. For this reason, I give Mr. Schindler five glorious stars!”
– Damiano de Sano Locovozzi MSN FNP CNS, CEO President – The Thomas Edwin Walls Foundation
Fascinating little book that is easy to read and packed with tremendous amount of information designed to get you moving rather than ‘thinking’ about moving. Throughout the pages of this book, Beat, challenges us to take action and move into your life instead of concerning yourself about what is ‘not’ happening. ‘Overcome fear and get moving’! This is a refreshing change from so many of the current ‘self help’ books available today. Very creative and nicely done!
– Carl Bozemen, author of Addressing the Divine Within
Within this wonderful find there is a section called Leap To Action. Just Do It.’ This section alone has enabled me to shave off almost an hour of my working day. I have it printed in my office…just as a little reminder! Great advice!”
– Andrew Rondeau
WOW! and OMG… your book is inspiring, eye-opening, provocative, life-changing, charming, and tangible, as if I can ‘reach out and touch’ the actual ideas. Couldn’t pull myself from it. The impact is instant, yet timeless. The simplest and most powerful self-help book I’ve ever come across. Truly, a great work! This, I cannot emphasize enough.”
– Machelle Scott
