New York state of mind

Off the record. I will spend the next five days mixing business with pleasure, the best way I know how, in New York City!

I feel grateful and humble.

This past year I have met a lot of new and amazing people – they have inspired me in many ways, and have changed my perspective on life and the way I relate to other people.

People who know me have sometimes heard me say, that I have slight social phobia. They usually laugh, when I say that – probably because they see me at work, teaching, talking to a lot of people, being passionate about my work and so on. I don´t come across as shy.

But meeting new people has actually always been a challenge for me – especially if I was the one who had to initiate contact.

I have to overcome myself at conferences ans social events, if I don´t know anyone there, and I often get the urge to just go home instead of facing the situation.

But – this last year I have managed to convince myself, that whenever I hesitate – and can not find a rational reason for the hesitation – I need to step forward, not backwards. And doing that, has resulted in me meeting great people, and finding the best of friends.

These next five days I will be meeting with some of the people I have recently met.

I will go to a concert at Carnegie Hall listening to music composed by Georgia Shreve. I had the pleasure of meeting Georgia at a Positive Psychology conference in Amsterdam last year, and she was kind to invite me to her home in New York shortly after. What an amazing woman!

Also I will meet with great friends, that I met at TED Global in Rio 2014 – a conference that I went to ” all alone”, knowing no one there, and facing my fears head on. And what a joy it turned out to be.

I did say business too, right?!

And yes of course, I will also be meeting with 3 dedicated and talented guys working on a new business idea for the US market. I look forward to that with anticipation too.

My New York state of mind is to step forward when I hesitate – all good has come of it so far!

You should try it.

Author: Camilla Hilbrands

Camilla formed the company At Work A/S in 1992 at the age of 20 and has been active as a wellbeing expert ever since. She has followed and been involved in creating the development within health and wellbeing in the workplace from its modest beginnings at the start of the 1990s, and she has, among other things, been an expert at National Centre for Workplace Health Promotion (Nationalt Center for Sundhedsfremme på Arbejdspladsen). Camilla is an experienced leader, teacher and speaker and spends most of her time developing and arranging courses and concepts that aim at increased wellbeing for individuals and groups. Creativity, honesty and social intelligence are Camilla’s strong points, and in addition to this she is known for her passion for and book about pancakes. Her focus is basically resource-oriented and innovative and her tal and workshops are based on the most recent research in the fields of positive psychology, neuroscience and behavioural science. Camilla is an informal and humorous speaker, and with her solid professional background she always leaves her audience with aha moments and specific tools they can use straight away. Camilla is an active participant and networker at various conferences, including TED conferences, and in addition to this she has been enrolled as a member of Richard Branson’s “Change Makers and Rule Breakers”, and she is a strong supporter of the motto: Be the change you wish to see in the world. View all posts by Camilla Hilbrands