Self-Awareness Archives - Celinne Da Costa

We’ve all got that one friend. As soon as I start to describe them, you’ll know who I’m talking about. Whenever you hang out, it could take half an hour or it could take all day, but they always bring up the same stories. Maybe it’s an embarrassing one from the office holiday party. Or…

While most of us want more out of our lives, few get to achieve the level of success they always dreamed of. The primary reason? We don’t believe in ourselves enough, and as a result, don’t take the necessary action to maximize our potential. It doesn’t have to be that way — you can choose to create…

Have you ever had someone you just met ask for advice, a favor, or even try to sell you their product or service? Yuck. Coming from a corporate background, I’ve clocked countless hours networking at events where the sole purpose seemed to be exchanging business cards and finding the right connection who can get you that…

Antigua, Guatemala The expression “hacerle ganas” in Spanish captures a sentiment of strength and perseverance that I’ve consistently found present in Latin American cultures: specifically, what it means to keep moving forward towards a goal, even when faced with adversity. Hacerle ganas roughly means “to create the desire.” It is rooted in the common idiomatic…

Colorado, United States I recently came to learn of a German word that perfectly captures one’s deep and intimate connection with nature. Waldeinsamkeit roughly translates to “the feeling of being alone in the woods.” The structure of the word says it all: “wald” means woods/forest, and “einsamkeit” means loneliness or solitude. This word is about…

Skinnskatteberg, Sweden The Swedes are well-known for their minimalist, functional, and sustainable approach to living, and this is reflected in the untranslatable word lagom. Lagom means not too much and not too little: it’s just the right amount, and as the Swedish proverb goes, “the right amount is best.” Lagom asks us to create balance in…

One year ago, I sat down to write an article about love. After countless hours spent blankly staring at a computer screen, I accepted the reality of why I couldn’t write the piece: I didn’t know enough about love outside of my own personal experience. So, I decided to do the next best thing. Over…