Dr Maike Neuhaus
- Jul 3
- 2 min
You've basically ticked nearly every box on your bucket list for life. And yet somehow, you're not as happy as you thought you would be by now. You've been working hard to create a good life for yourself, but somehow find yourself wondering if there's more to life or if this is it for the next couple of decades until it's all over. Midlife crisis comes to mind.
You'd describe yourself as a mix of functioning machine and living zombie. You feel 'blah' or 'meh' - in other words, you're languishing (the opposite of flourishing). Excitement for life, deep fulfillment and purposeful living are things you'd love to experience, but at the moment feel rather distant.
Whether this is looking after yourself by living a healthier lifestyle, such as exercising regularly or eating better, take charge of your career and finally do work that you love, or getting on top of your wealth, so you can do more of the things that excite you. Somewhere along the pathway of life you got stuck where you currently are. And while you’ve known that something needs to change for a while, you haven’t been able to make it happen, no matter how often you’ve tried.
You know you’re not living to your full potential, but you’re feeling confused about what to change and how. Somehow your life has taken a trajectory you never really planned or wanted, but you just don’t know where to start in order to create the life that excites you. You feel overwhelmed by all the things you could and should be doing and can’t see the forest for the trees.
In fact, it will probably get worse. You know that you are capable of so much more than this and you know that you are wasting your potential. You know it’s time to change this once and for all, but you don’t know where to start and how to make it happen.
For as long as I can remember, I had a fascination with the phenomenon that some people seem to be able to create the life of their dreams, while others struggle from one hurdle to the next, are uninspired, unmotivated and unhappy. It’s what drove me to study the human mind - psychology.
From struggling to exercise regularly in younger years, my nearly lifelong journey to find the job that would give me a deep sense of meaning, overcoming a health diagnosis that turned my life upside down, or the emotional roller-coaster I went through when I realised that my so-called 'perfect' life didn’t actually FEEL perfect at all and I knew I had to change something.
After all, I studied psychology for 5 years (MPsych), and attained a doctorate (PhD) identifying the most effective strategies to help people create desired lifestyle changes. I became a qualified coach in Neurolinguistic programming (NLP) and Acceptance Commitment Training (ACT), and a self-leadership expert. I knew about all there is to know about how to successfully attain goals and help others do the same.
Because attaining goals won't ever make us happy unless they are aligned to what we need to flourish or be deeply happy. And while we all want to be happy, research shows that we often pursue goals that we think will make us happy but don't. It's called 'miswanting' and if you ask me, it's mind-boggling.
This question is answered by positive psychology research - a relatively new discipline. There are certain elements we all need to flourish, so the first step is to understand them. The second step is to identify what they might look like for us individually, applied to our individual personality, passions, values, and hopes. Over the years, I became a certified positive psychology practitioner and university lecturer.
These days, I share this knowledge through my ebooks and workbooks, online courses, workshop facilitation, public speaking, and coaching. Nothing makes me happier (pardon the pun) than helping my clients understand what humans need to flourish AND how to attain those goals, so they can create a truly satisfying experience of the gift that life is.
Most importantly, I practice what I preach. Over the years, I've quit my Monday-to-Friday 9-5 hamster wheel life and have become my own boss doing work I love! I live with my family by the beach in sunny Australia, and we're currently gearing up to travel the world fulltime. That's what fills my heart and gets me excited.
Below are the links to the key services and resources I offer to help you thrive. I strive to develop options suitable for all budgets (in addition to all the free resources I offer, such as blog posts, newsletters, free masterclasses and guides). However, if you would like to access any of these without having the financial means, please contact me, so I can inform you of sales, free giveaway events or to negotiate a more affordable rate. I'd love to make the science of flourishing accessible to everyone.
And if you’re reading these lines, you might be hoping for a more flourishing life, too. Unfortunately, happiness isn’t (yet) taught at school and research shows that we don’t intuitively understand what we need in order to thrive in life, which leaves many of us in a place of feeling stuck, directionless, and languishing.
I believe it’s never too late to grab life with both hands and start living fully. I also understand that gaining clarity of what we personally need and want, and making corresponding life changes can seem daunting and challenging, which is why I’m here to support you.
You can book a free call with me now to chat about where you’re at and what a great next step could look like for you. In the meantime, grab my free happiness guide to get you started on your journey from languishing and stuckness to flourishing and feeling alive.