Yes, well. My month in Berlin is coming to a close. Which is something that I also sense instinctively without having to look at the calendar, because:

1. My German is finally back to the point where I can easily enjoy a five hour heart-to-heart with a friend.

(Easy = not a. getting a headache or b. being regularly reminded of the fact that yes, we’re speaking German.)

Good grief, that always happens right when it’s time to go!

and:

2. Every single person I know in Berlin wants to have a tea with me this weekend.

Ninja German skills and a mad rush to make appointments? Clearly my plane’s about to take off!

Because there’s got to be some learning in here somewhere.

So I thought I’d share a couple of things I learned this visit (my fifth), in the hopes that some of it might be useful — either in a life-hack-ey sort of way or in a “hmm, that gives me some perspective” way.

Because you never know.

Lesson 1: Throw a Cafe Day

There are lots of people in Berlin I’m quite fond of, and with whom it would be lovely to spend an hour or two catching up, but under just-about-to-leave pressure it’s just too much for me.

And for Selma, my duck, who is pretty worn out from all the teaching.

This year I finally really realized to what extent this pressure to meet up with every single person is both unnecessary and unhealthy.

So I wrote a little email and sent it off to about twenty people. Here’s the English version for you:

Hey, my ridiculously short visit in Berlin is practically over.

Frustratingly, there are all sorts of people I adore whom I’ve yet to see this round.

So … hence my decision to throw a “come have a coffee* with me” day, so as not to go completely mad trying to manage all the meetings.

Thursday: hanging out in my favorite cafe in from 13.30 – 17.30.

If you’re into being all German about it, you can make a proper appointment for a certain time that day, but otherwise just come on over whenever.

* and when I say ‘coffee’ I mean the fake stuff for me of course.

Awesomest goodbye hack ever!

And it totally worked. Instead of running around the city from meeting to meeting, I hung out in my favorite place in Berlin and had wonderful conversations with everyone who came by.

At one point six of us were all talking animatedly, and I realized, this would make a pretty decent opening to a joke:

Me, an American, an Israeli, an Argentinian and a German are all sitting in a cafe …

Though really the only funny part was the way we automatically fell into German as the natural … um … lingua franca. Love Europe. Love it.

Anyway, forget meetings. Have yourself a relaxing Kaffeeklatschtag — and make them come to you.

Lesson 2: Ride the wave (and zen surfer stuff like that)

This is basically what business people call “leveraging“, which is a word that should not be a verb and also totally rubs me the wrong way.

But what it means is using a point of strength as your jumping-off point to achieve what you want, with way less effort (like a lever, right).

While I hadn’t done much to take advantage of the success of my Berlin brain training workshops, everything I do is being boosted by that flow. For example?

I’ve been invited to teach next year in Zurich, and possibly in Paris as well.

Through teaching at the Berlin Yoga Festival I also became friends with a lovely journalist who is, amazingly, busy pitching articles about me. And my programs guy is completely busy with all the interest generated by my visit.

So now we’re actively booking up all of next spring/summer, while everyone is still buzzing from workshop-afterglow.

That’s the way to do it. Surfer-style.

Lesson 3: Cut your losses

So I teach all sorts of … let’s say, unusual and little known body-mind change-your-habits techniques.

And for some reason the specific brain training work I’ve been doing here is all the rage in Europe … and a total struggle to promote in the States.

So instead of forcing it, when I set up live events in North America, I shift the focus.

More specifically, I figure out what people actually do want that I can help them with.

Stuff like: how to dissolve procrastination for example. Or how to calm yourself the heck down so you can get more done.

It’s important not to get tied down to a certain methodology or even a specific theme.

Specializing is important, as is carving out a niche for yourself, but the way you describe what you’re teaching can change according to circumstance.

Instead of getting caught up in explaining why this or that technique is useful, work on figuring out what your ideal clients need, and in what form they can best receive it.

Then sneak in some of your awesome, awesome techniques.

Easier said than done, of course, but as a general principle, it’s right on target.

And just for fun: a few highlights from the trip

That is, highlights aside from: Friends! Cheese! Teaching!

• Being featured briefly with Selma on a popular German television program.

• Spending many, many happy hours in my most favoritest cafe of all time.
• Finding at long last the perfect just-the-right-size mini-bag for city-wandering with just notebook, wallet, phone.

  Also, under €10. Total bargain.

  Or as the Germans say, Schnäppchen!

• Discovering that yoga teachers have a sense of humor. One program I taught was actually part of a yoga teacher training program, and man, these guys were up for anything — oh, how the wackiness flowed that day. So great!

That’s it. The main thing I am looking forward to is being on the same time zone again with most of you.

Take care and (maybe, who knows) see you very, very soon…