The Complete MindLift
“I am an author and lifestyle adventurer.” — Kasper van der Muelen
It’s apparent that Kasper van der Meulen is full of life and passion, whether it be making time to play with his 11 month-old baby, tackling his hectic travel schedule or authoring a book on the hyper-connected modern world. This book, in collaboration with Publishizer and Lifestyle Entrepreneurs Press, a publishing company founded by American entrepreneur Jesse Krieger, attempts to demystify and methodize Kasper’s lifestyle principles in a fun and bitesized manner.
Kasper is a self-processed lifestyle adventurer who considers himself a jack of all trades but a master of none. It’s clear after talking to Kasper for only a few minutes that this is actually far from the truth. He thrives off of passion and knows plenty about life, sure, but he’s deeper than he leads on.
“I consider myself to be a generalist. I do a lot of things well, but the only thing I would consider myself an expert at would be teaching.”
Although a typical day doesn’t exist for him, one thing that Kasper has mastered would be the art of his morning routine which follows the teachings of his book MindLift. His morning ritual begins with being silent with himself, meditating, mouth method breathing, taking time to move and write in his journal. And then, once his 11 month-old daughter wakes up he loves playing with her for about an hour. This time is precious to him. Along with mental health, Kasper loves to workout for 45 minutes to an hour everyday. Some of his favorite ways to get moving are gymnastics, trail running and strength training.
The evolution of MindLift is an interesting story. The book started out as an idea that Kasper had with the hopes of bettering himself. “I have found ways to get myself away from a place of bad health and being ineffective and burnt out to feeling okay.” After he began to feel okay, he wanted to continue his mission to improve his mental and physical health even more. Once he began to change his lifestyle and way of thinking, people took notice. They told Kasper he should write a book so he could help others.
He never viewed himself as an author or a literary genius but he overcame that. MindLift was initially written for himself. He wanted to grow his skills and abilities and knew that writing a book would challenge him. Through that challenge he realized that helping others would keep him accountable to start and finish his book.
When asked who this book is for, “…there are a whole host of people out there like me. Burned out, over weight, not mentally present, people with anxiety. People through all walks of life who can read my book because I write about humans. We all have similar struggles.”
One of those struggles would be finishing his book, a struggle that many authors struggle with. We asked Kasper what advice he would give to those who want to write a book, he told me:
“Number one: finish the damn thing! Stop worrying about the details and just write the damn book. People worry about being literary and writing beautifully, why don’t you concern yourself with being published. It’s never going to be perfect, so just do what you can to optimize your focus. You can read my book if you need any tips. Number two: figure out where does the book fit into your business, career and personal life? What piece of the puzzle does it connect with? Figure out what your impact is, and then you can find your audience.”
After writing a book, self promotion is the next big step. Kasper relies on word of mouth and social media along with making valuable relationships with people he meets. In the age of social media Kasper has realized how to take full advantage of the exposure he can gain. He posts daily to Facebook and Instagram, this interview was actually posted through a live Facebook post. He has also came up with the idea to post a daily vlog called Daily MindLift. These videos provide daily inspiration that come directly from his book. He is also currently building a list of email subscribers that can stay up-to-date with all things MindLift.
Kasper also has an author’s secret weapon, Jesse Krieger. Jesse Krieger is the CEO and founder of Lifestyle Entrepreneurs Press and has a reputation for helping authors get on the best-sellers list. Much of what Lifestyle publishes falls into self improvement and how to make your goals a reality. The perfect fit for MindLift. When asked what it’s like to work with Jesse, Kasper said, “It’s an honor to work with him and his company. It really works with what I’m doing because they understand the business of writing a book”.
Part of Kasper’s Publishizer campaign was to offer the complete MindLift experience. Kasper describes this as a retreat which will include meditating in lava caves, climbing volcanos, watching sunsets, and mountain-top yoga. I know. Amazing, right? The retreat is designed for those who want to completely immerse themselves in the MindLift experience. Through each activity retreat goers will learn how to focus and train their brain to be optimal.
“[The retreat] is a big ticket item, but I put it into my Publishizer campaign because it allowed people who want to dive in completely to do just that. This also allowed them to realize — and experience — that there is so much more than just reading the book.”
You can now buy Kapser’s book, MindLift, on Amazon.
