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Notice and Disclaimer:

The exercises in this manual are designed to help the user become more aware, but like with all meditative practices, are associated with risks. Readers with physical, intellectual or mental health issues should consult a doctor or medical practitioner before beginning these exercises.

No liability is assumed for the information contained herein. The information in this book has been researched and presented to the best of the author’s knowledge. The material contained herein only represents suggestions made for educational and personal development and do not constitute health recommendations. Neither the author nor the publisher can accept any liability for any damages resulting from the application of the exercises and methods presented in this book.

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You will need the following password to download the worksheets from our website: 20-BSCP-13

1st Edition: January 2014

Steinhauser Vive La Vida! Verlag (Publishing House)

9472 Grabs, Switzerland

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanically, electronically, photocopying, scanning, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Image sources:

Thorsten Kinhöfer (p. 130): Source: DFB

Bruce M. Reith (p. 135): Source: B. Reith

Cover: 123RF.COM

Design: Fotolia, Shutterstock

Copy Editor: Elizabeth Willoughby

Setting and Design: KompetenzCenter, Mönchengladbach

Printing: Tutte Druckerei & Verlagsservice GmbH

ISBN: 978-3-9524277-5-0

Printed in Germany

Table of Contents

The “Vive La Vida!” Concept

Foreword by Dietmar Stubenbaum

The “Vive La Vida!” Method

What Sets this Method Apart

Key Features and Goals

15 Hours to Success

The Successful Personality: Living the “Vive La Vida!” Way

The “Vive La Vida!” Path to Success

Using the Balanced Scorecard

Applying the Balanced Scorecard to One’s Personal Life

Making Resolutions

Your Starting Point

Your Vision and Lead Goal

Strategic Goals

Strategic Themes

Perspectives

Measures

Evaluating

Summary

The Human Ego

The Balanced Scorecard Ship

Cause-and-Effect Relationships

Your Steps to Success

Step to Success 1: Identifying and Defining your Vision and Life Goals

The Quantum Exercises

Quantum Exercise 1: Conscious Breathing

Step to Success 2: Defining your Strategic Goals

Quantum Exercise 2: Developing Body Awareness

Step to Success 3: Defining and Classifying the Perspectives by Strategic Themes

Step to Success 4: Overview and Assessment of Perspectives

Self-Observation

Quantum Exercise 3: Observing your Thoughts

Step to Success 5: Defining What Measures to Take

Quantum Exercise 4: Standing Like a Post (based on work by Dietmar Stubenbaum)

Step to Success 6: Planning and Implementing the Action Steps

Step to Success 7: Visualizing the Measures

Regular and One-Off Activities

Weekly Review and Adjustments

Monthly Review on the Measures

Scorecards

The Sample Charts

Step to Success 8: Creating your Own Scorecards

Your Dashboard to Success

“Total Quality Management”: Learning and Development through Continuous Improvement

TQM as Used in Business

TQM and the Balanced Scorecard in your Personal Life

The Next Steps

Checklist on the Path to Success

“Vive La Vida!” and the Secrets of Successful People

Further Reading

Thanks

The “Vive La Vida!” Concept

There once was a man who sat on the shore of a lake trying to catch fish with his bare hands. He found it tedious and time-consuming. After several hours without success, another man wandered by and asked the fisherman if he had ever thought of making a net. The fisherman said, “I don’t have time for that – I have to catch fish!”

What can we learn from this short story? A whole lot, actually, such as how life works and how you can achieve everything! This story contains all the secrets to achieving success. It shows how beneficial it can be to take the time:

• to define a target (finding an effortless and effective way to catch fish).

• to identify the components to achieve the objectives (a fishing aid).

• to define the targeted and effective steps to take (weave a net).

• and to finally decide to do it.

To be successful, you need to be clear about your goals so that you can define the appropriate, targeted steps to take and to develop the strength necessary to implement them.

Many people go about their lives like the fisherman, lacking goals and focus. They find their actions controlled by others, which causes a loss of energy and valuable time. This energy and time could rather be invested in activities found to be important and fun.

To be more in charge of their lives and to be successful in the process, these people need only take a closer look at their personal goals and the plans and activities required to achieve them. Then they could steer their lives in the direction they want – gaining more time and, above all, a sense of fulfillment.

There needs to be an initial spark for this experience, something that activates their willingness to see it through, something that says, “Just do it!” Then there needs to be a consistent focus on the newly chosen path. That’s the only way significant change can happen. Those who follow this path will develop a strong sense of who they are, will be able to express it and increasingly experience the highest levels of satisfaction in all areas of life. This is the “Vive La Vida!” lifestyle, where we experience the deep satisfaction obtained by achieving and living our most important goals and values in a stylish and fulfilling way. When we experience deep satisfaction in the areas of life we consider important, whether it be work, relationships, beauty, sport, travel, luxury or intangible intellectual and spiritual aspects, we are living the “Vive La Vida!” way.

A bit about me: My name is Christof Steinhauser, born in Germany and living in Switzerland. I have been working for many years on developing methods for effective self control to create a successful and inspiring life. Part of my training has included certification as an “NLP1 Business Practitioner” at the renowned Inntal Institut in Bad Aibling, Germany. With the “Balanced Scorecard” (BSC) presented in this book, I have gained extensive practical experience in business management positions in the corporate sector as well as in the private sphere. The Balanced Scorecard is in use in the majority of the best, highest-revenue companies in the world and has been shown over many years to be an effective tool to achieving strategic goals. But it can also be used in a number of beneficial ways in one’s personal life. A part of my “Vive La Vida!” concept is the world’s first extensive description in this way of how to use the BSC in one’s personal life. I am convinced that you can use it to achieve the best results.

Why? Granted, other self-help books give good suggestions, but they fail to provide a sustainable concept for the long haul. “Vive La Vida!” uses the BSC to create an effective framework for action that lasts. That is the particular strength of this path to success.

If you consistently act according to this framework, it will soon become intuitive and second-nature. One could also say that soon you’ll be naturally programmed for success. Targeted actions will become obvious.

Maybe you’re already familiar with the successful implementation of the Balanced Scorecard in your professional life and are now eager to apply the method to your personal life. The “Vive La Vida!” concept applies the BSC to your personal sphere and uses specific exercises to raise energy and consciousness. This combination makes holistic self-realization possible.

You might be wondering how consciousness-raising exercises can be integrated into guidelines for success based on ideas from the world of management.

Researchers and neurobiologists have long recognized that the human brain consists of two halves that each process information differently. The two halves of the brain have asymmetrical, i. e. not quite the same, functions. Each half hemisphere in the brain has predominant and non-exclusive features. This means that each half has at least some amount of the functional traits of the other. Nonetheless, one can say that the left brain is primarily responsible for the logical, analytical aspects of life, especially detailed work. The right brain is primarily responsible for the intuitive, more unconscious side of our being, even the “parent” and spiritual. Both halves together form a powerful unit and, if used optimally, help us to live a fulfilling life.

That’s why the exercises for raising awareness are used in parallel to the Balanced Scorecard: The “Vive La Vida!” concept addresses both halves of the brain. The left, rational brain is addressed in particular by the BSC and the right, intuitive, spiritual brain is addressed mainly through the awareness-raising exercises. This allows both parts of the brain to be used to their maximum potential.

To train the right brain that controls our movements and physical activities, there are generally a number of physical and mental exercises and methods such as Taijiquan (pronounced “thycheechuan”), yoga, Pilates, qigong, quantum healing, autogenic training, meditation, etc. In particular, those arts derived from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), such as Taijiquan, attach great importance to the development of the qi or chi (pronounced “chee”). Qi is considered the life force that connects everything in the universe, the awareness of which we can activate through physical and mental exercises. This unifying force also helps the mind, body and soul to develop into a well-functioning unit. In TCM, the body’s qi levels indicate how much of this life force is present in your body, your level of vitality and your general well-being.

Such methods and the exercises derived from them as presented here are very significant for anyone who wants to work holistically towards personal success. Let yourself be convinced by the “magic” that you can bring into your life.

I have taken the liberty of inviting a great master of the art of Taijiquan to write a foreword to this book. Taijiquan is a martial art, my great passion, and an important source of my personal success.

1 NLP stands for neurolinguistic programming. It is a method of effective communication and behavioral modification. NLP works with communication and self-management techniques based on changing psychic processes in people.

Foreword by Dietmar Stubenbaum

I am glad to be able to recommend this book to anyone willing to think outside the box and make use of his or her individual skills and potential. In this book, Christof Steinhauser describes a proven and effective management method that he has used successfully for many years as a controller and manager in business, and which he now applies successfully to his personal life. By pursuing powerful goals, it is possible to become a successful person living out one’s deepest needs and fulfilling one’s greatest desires.

As a longtime practitioner of Taijiquan at my martial arts school, Christof has also developed the mental and spiritual dimensions of a successful life. Key elements of his book are the mental and physical exercises that appeal especially to the “right brain” and promote great potential for experiencing the superior development of the whole of one’s being.

From my perspective, this holistic approach is fundamental for a successful and sustainable lifestyle. This is the case as well for Taijiquan, a martial art and a way of moving for people of all ages, which is also an excellent system for spiritual development through physical exercise. The exercise supports this concept and also offers practical benefits on its own merits.

The vividly structured guidance in this book gives you the chance to benefit from these concepts and exercises as much as possible. I wish you lots of fun and the utmost success in implementing Christof’s method.

Dietmar Stubenbaum, December 2013

The “Vive La Vida!” Method

The “Vive La Vida!” method uses a healthy mix of intellectual and spiritual development. A purely rational person can obtain holistic self-realization and fulfillment no more readily than an esoteric who withdraws into a shell.

Many recent publications about the uses of quantum physics and quantum healing have emphasized the importance of our right brain, which may well be our “better half.” I have incorporated aspects of quantum healing and energy practices that are useful for our purposes into the exercises in this book.

When used together with the Balanced Scorecard, this creates a particularly effective approach to achieving our goals by making use of our full spiritual potential. This is the idea behind the “Vive La Vida!” method to success that can be used at every stage of life.

Vive La Vida is Spanish and means “Live your life.” This call is intended to encourage you and give you the necessary impetus to take control of your own life and start designing it with the methods and exercises explained herein. In this way, you will become aware of your desires and talents.

You might be wondering why this book combines ideas that drive successful Western business people with Asian spirituality and a Spanish temperament. Well, as will be made clear, personal development can also take place by developing an open attitude to other cultures, having an interest in their philosophies, and appropriating the aspects that we find valuable.

As a German with a wee bit of Spanish blood in my veins, I also want to connect to the Spanish zest for living life. After all, enjoying life and being fulfilled is the ultimate goal of all of us, isn’t it?

This guide includes interviews with two well-known celebrities, Thorsten Kinhöfer (from the world of German and international soccer) and Dr. Bruce Reith (a worldwide respected aesthetic surgeon) about their strategies for success. I hope that you will be able to gain some valuable insights from these conversations on your way to becoming a “Vive La Vida!” person. What is a “Vive La Vida!” person? This will be described in the chapter entitled “The Successful Personality.”