Do know know Khoa? He is a Salesforce Consultant and a Happiness Mentor, a philosopher, optimist, and public speaker. Khoa has Laotian and Vietnamese roots and although he is from the Netherlands, he is always on the move. I met Khoa on a sunset kayak trip in Mexico with my family … he was very calm and patient despite our “louder dynamic”! Over the next weeks in Tulum, we would bump into each other getting cacao or at Holistika and always shared a sweet conversation and a smile. One of the lines in his Instagram bio is, “Smile and tell the truth” … and with that beautiful and essential call to action, I leave you to read our interview with Khoa … it might just make you book a flight, get into an ice bath, or inspire you to train for happiness. Enjoy!
If you’d like to meet Khoa and be in community with them and other good humans, join us in The Wellness Intelligence Collective. Find all of our interviews, including this one, and so much more Wellness Intelligence.
When you say, “walk in faith, not by sight”, what do you want us to think about?
To walk in faith, not by sight, means for me trusting the process in order to achieve something you want, although it is not in your sight yet. I believe that it takes time and patience in combination with consistency in your actions. For example, if you plant a seed, you will see the growing results by time. The only requirement is that you need to water it consistently.
How long have you been a “happiness mentor” for?
In the beginning of 2022, I started with a new adventure, to mentor people about happiness. Currently, we are living in a fast-paced world, where work and personal life are often rushed and melted together in a blur of activity. It puts a lot of pressure on us. Many of us feel stuck in the vicious spiral of unhappy life. I believe most of the happiness comes from learning your own happiness over the years and developing it with a lot of techniques. Maybe you have never thought about this and don’t have it clear for yourself yet what makes you happy/unhappy and why. Happiness is a high skill that can be learned, like going to the gym or nutrition. My mission is to help people learn how to work towards happiness in different areas, so that they can unlock their infinite potential. Later this year I will be following NLP courses, so I will be a certified mentor.
If you have a full time job, how do you spend so much time traveling?
I’m helping companies with setting up Salesforce CRM according to their business requirements and this can be done from any place. So I combine my full time job, Salesforce consulting, with traveling by working remotely. In the future I would like to work as a freelancer, so I am fully independent. For me traveling is about the experience, every time I travel I always have that feeling of growing myself in different areas. One of my favorite quotes is, “choose your future, don’t let the future choose you”.
What do you do to stay fit when you travel?
To stay mentally fit, I read books and listen to podcasts about mindset. To stay physically fit, I love to hit the gym, play tennis or go for a run. Next to that, I also do breathwork every morning. I love the Wim Hof breathing method. Wim Hof is a Dutch guru that focuses on embracing cold and breathing techniques.
Breathwork for me is about focusing on the way of breathing, so it makes you calm and refreshes your aura. I believe with a peaceful aura, you worry less and be more happy. After the breathwork I shower cold to embrace the cold and activate my body and soul ;), then I am ready for the day!
Ocean or forest?
Really good question, I like both but if I have to choose, I would choose the ocean.
I feel fully free when I see the ocean. Also the sound of the waves makes me really zen. The ocean reminds me also of the way of being humble. Below the ocean there is life, where we humans can’t see it from land. All the “work” finds place below the ocean, which I can correlate with one of my personalities, namely being lowkey/street/humble.
Meditation or dance?
Dancing is also a way of meditation for me. Lately I have been practicing Salsa and bachata and after it, I feel very zen. So I believe dancing is a movement meditation.
Did you really learn how to be happy the same way you learned to eat well and get fit?
For me I really learn by years how to be happy the same way as to eat well and get fit. It all started for me with seeing the results of my habits that I did not like. Then I became more and more aware of changing my habits and I fully decided to change.
In puberty I did not care about happiness, eat well or get fit. From my 18th until the early 20s I decided to maintain an athlete lifestyle, because I have experience that this lifestyle brings me more joy in life. During that period, I also had some mental health issues, I was sensitive to online sports gambling. It was a really dark time for me and I decided to change my life. I went to a rehab for a year, which most people don’t know, and changed my life drastically. I believe that my experiences brought me to a person how I am nowadays, a grateful person with full awareness of different areas of life. I believe that we humans sometimes have to experience the dark side in order to improve ourselves.
Is technology a blessing or curse?
I believe technology is a blessing, because for us humans it saves a lot of time. For example, with our smartphone we can set up and maintain appointments with our colleagues, friends, family, do our financial administration and book tickets with a few clicks. In my opinion time is the most valuable asset, (because we never get it back), so that’s why I see technology as a blessing.
Did you train to be a public speaker? How can we all learn to speak more confidently?
Currently I am still training myself to be a better public speaker. I believe by learning public speaking techniques, (one of them is to speak more with confidence), that you can find online and in books, you can become a decent public speaker. Note that you have to combine this with executing it. To know but not to do is not to know 😉
How does your degree help you in life?
I have a bachelor degree in marketing and sales and nowadays I know how to apply techniques in the field, so it really helps me in life.
Favourite breakfast?
In the morning I like to drink water and to eat toasted bread with peanut butter and blueberry, 4 slices. After this, I like to eat 1 boiled egg. Then I am ready to go for the day!
What does Wellness Intelligence mean to you?
Wellness Intelligence means for me to make better decisions and take better actions with the aim of improving the quality of life, how YOU want it.
The quality of life can be divided in the following aspects:
- Emotional
- Spiritual
- Environmental
- Social
- Mental
- Financial
- Intellectual
- Physical
