Influencer Ivan Kuster – update

In this week’s blog (17^th of July till the 23^rd of July 2023) we had an interview with Ivan Kuster. We will invite you to our next MYM Book presentation on Tuesday, the 25th of July. We will share some short videos on ‘The emotion Code and High Performance Habits’. We will upload one of these videos every day on our facebook.com/share2uplift page.

Could you share with us some information about your family life?
I was born in Curaçao as the 6th child out of a family of 8 children. My parents came from Surinam as migrants and my father worked at SHELL and my mother was a full-time housewife. We were a family-centered family. Both parents worked hard and engrained in us the need to study to become our best selves. I am grateful for the biggest gift I believe parents can give to their children: “To work if you want to grow and be family-centered”. I am married and we have no children but both of us love our families.

Could you share something about your educational background and your experience?
After high school in Curaçao (Radulphus College), I went to Holland in 1971 and graduated as an Economist in 1980 at the University of Groningen. I worked in Government from December 1980 till the end of December 2014. In 2011, I got interested in Leadership Development as I followed different LMI courses offered by Roxanne Croes LDI in Curaçao, and at first, thought that this was going to be my next career move. Of the 34 years in government, 28 years I have been in management positions in Finance, either in the former Island Government of Curaçao or the Government of Curaçao after 2010. As my career ended in government, I got more and more interested in Leadership Development and the development of people.

In November 2015, I organized the launching conference of Share2Uplift and for the last 4 years, I am collaborating with Haydee Hermans, Soul Garden Curaçao, and O’dennis Daal, MasterYourMind Training and consultancy under the brand CurEmotions.

How did you got involved in “Emotions”?
As we were presenting books every month at Mensing’s Caminada “Chit Chat” Café, in 2019, Haydee Hermans presented a book titled: “Dodging the Energy Vampires” written by Christiane Northrup. This book drew a record attendance of mostly women.

This was a defining moment for us in defining our “niche”. Our combined experiences and the intention to focus to master my own emotions better, made me decide to spend the rest of my life teaching those who want, mastery over their emotions. Why? Because emotions affect so many things in our lives, our cognitive abilities, relationships, decision-making, our mental and physical health, and our creativity. So if we want to enable people to change their mindsets and behaviors, we need to teach them how to gain mastery over their emotions, the pleasant ones which most of us have no trouble at all feeling them and the unpleasant ones.

What is your BIG WHY or driving motivation to be who you are right now? And why is it that you want to find ways and means to contribute?
I want to be my best version and I want to serve humanity, starting with those close to me and those open to learning. I am a lifelong learner. I have transformed my expertise over the last 9 years and now consider myself someone that helps people master their emotions. With my colleagues Haydee Hermans and O’dennis Daal and those who underwrite this goal, I want to help put “social-emotional development” on the national agenda encompassing all walks of life, especially our youth and the next generations. In other words, my BIG WHY is: “Helping people to connect with themselves and therefore be able to connect and relate better with other people in this world”.

What are your plans for the coming years for the coming 5 years from now?
5 years from now the group of 250 Influencers that we are interviewing (www.share2uplift.org) has grown and together with like-minded people, we have reached a turning point, where through improved and deeper connections we are having a measurable and increasingly impactful effect in the respective sectors of society based on a shared vision in collaboration with Miguel Goede > https://www.Curaçao2030.net. Helping our societies to Grow Through the different transitions the world is experiencing. Hereby exemplifying horizontal organic collaborations that are creating more and more productive synergies.

5 years from now, “We”, as I am aware that I can’t do this alone, also with like-minded people and organizations will have created Big Ripple Effects in Curaçao and more and more walks of life will have gained significant social-emotional growth. How? By enabling and training enough facilitators/trainers the ability to teach an ever-increasing number of people. This train-the-trainers principle will have spread to all walks of life in Curaçao and elsewhere in the world. To make this effort sustainable we will have connected with new younger generations of coaches, trainers, mentors, and leaders that underwrite the importance of emotional development at the core of their being.

To further scale up, we would collaborate with like-minded people and organizations, to accelerate a Ripple effect creating a more Loving, Compassionate, and Collaborative society.

Interview in Papiamentu with Ivan Kuster about emotional development

What are the challenges that you are dealing with? And how are you dealing with these different challenges you confront?
My biggest challenge is the pace of the change and the acceptance by people that emotional development and mastery are important. It is not only in Curaçao btw, it is a worldwide phenomenon. We were so conditioned to use our left brain which makes us think logically and rationally and want to control things, that it is a real challenge for most people to allow their right brain to play a more significant role, as it is our creative part, it is were our intuition can be tapped, it is our link to the field of all possibilities and where we can feel our emotions. But I deal with it, by being more patient. Emotional development is not necessarily everyone’s favorite subject matter. So I know that when the student is ready, the master will appear. I hope it would be me, our like-minded teachers, coaches, and mentors. As I believe that mastery over one’s emotions is such a BIG change-maker.

Secondly, after a person has decided to change, the challenge is to let him or her understand that he/she needs to practice deliberately for the rest of their life. Once you stop you fall back into being your old self.

We try to create a “family of like-minded people” that through Community of Practices constantly hone their skills and exchange experiences. This is how we try to let them stay on their transformational course.

Thirdly, how we connect with the next generations so that we can make this approach a sustainable one that is here to stay.

To connect with the next generations, we are planning to organize joint activities among some leaders of Youth organizations, in the hope that we can recruit some trainers, coaches, and mentors out of this group.

Do you use your inner voice to evaluate when dilemmas show up? How does that work for you?
I use “Me-Time” to listen to my inner voice. It could be by hiking in my garden, being active in my garden, or journaling. In all these instances, I shut down distractions to be open and listen.

How are you trying also to keep up with your knowledge and skill levels?
I follow courses, like at this moment I am becoming a certified Emotion Code practitioner, I have a Spiritual coach, and I read and present one book a month every single month of the year. I participate in different communities of practice to exchange experiences on skills, knowledge, and know-how. I also interview an Influencer every single week of the year. I learn a lot from getting to know people on a much deeper level.

What are your strengths?
I am passionate about my own and all other people’s personal development. Because of that, I inspire people. I am a connector and I am a sharing person. I am very consistent in what I do, once I have decided to take up something. I am focused and consistently applying deliberate practicing and a mix of deliberate habits aimed at becoming my best self. That is why I continue to follow courses, read books, and influence people via my coaching, mentoring, workshops, and collaborations.

Do you have hobbies or interests that you are also passionate about?
I love hiking, gardening, and spending quality time with Loved Ones and friends. I love learning more and more about personal development. I love Tai Chi & swimming and I love watching sports news

If you Ivan would meet a stranger on the bus (let’s say in New York or Medellin Colombia) and they would ask you to introduce yourself, what would you answer?
My name is Ivan, I come from Curaçao, and you, where do you come from?

How would you describe Ivan in one word or one sentence?
I uplift, connect, share.

Who are the persons that have inspired you the most in your career?
My wife Sixta, as she helps me to stay with my both feet on the ground and is constantly teaching me how to be considerate; two of my best friends Miguel Goede as my sparring partner for years on international and local trends, and Mike Jacobs because of his social engagement. Roxanna Croes who has mentored me in Leadership Development and Carlo Monsanto who has taught me to live from the Inside Out. Lately Bradley Nelson, the author of the Books The Emotion Code and the Body Code, because of his game-changing approach to Emotion Baggage release.

What is a trait that is still a work in progress?
How to prioritize the things that I want to do, as I am eager to learn more related to Emotional Mastery and Development.

What was a defining moment in your life?
The moment I was appointed Head of Finance at 32 years old in 1986. The moment I met Carlo Monsanto in 2019 as he taught me “Quantum Social Learning” or IoLee (Inside Out Learning Experience Ecosystem). Getting to know Bradley Nelson’s approach from his book The Emotion Code and The Body Code. Now I am following his online courses.

What would you want your Loved Ones, family, friends, and others to say about you let’s say 20 years from now?
That I care, love, and share.

What makes you stay optimistic about the future of the world? Is there anything else that you would like to add?
I have a rather good understanding of the 10 major transitions (the 11th transition is your own personal transition, according to Jan Rotmans) that the world is experiencing at the moment. I have read the books of Yuval Harari “Sapiens, Homo Deus and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century” and Jan Rotman’s book: “Omarm de Chaos”. https://janrotmans.nl/en/. I can see on a “Meta-level” what is going on in the world and how we are reacting instead of responding to these major transitions in Curaçao. But what makes me optimistic is that I also see a parallel world of initiatives, that irrespective of what is being shared in the mainstream media and in the government, I see and meet all sorts of people, Influencers (some we have interviewed), innovators that are from the bottom up creating a new and better world and a better Curaçao.

What can I do to help create better momentum? I hope more people will join and create more connections, to amplify the possibility to align and create impactful changes that can impact all walks of life in Curaçao and the rest of the Dutch Kingdom. I hope more people help Vision Curaçao 2030 (Miguel Goede’s initiative) to become a success as it makes it possible for people to join in and further develop organically a vision, but also enables those who want, to create an impact in the sector they choose to contribute to. That is why I am optimistic about the future of Curaçao and the world in general.

More info or connect
– Share2Ulift
– LinkedIn

One of the 250 Influencers

Ivan Kuster is a driven, eager-to-learn life-long learner, trainer, coach, and mentor in Emotional Development and Mastery. He considers this an important element in a person’s personal development as it influences one’s cognitive abilities, decision-making, relationships, mental and physical health, and creativity. That is why he formed a group that works under the brand CurEmotions (go to www.Curemotion.cw for more) with two colleagues to create a “Ripple effect” in Curaçao.

As the founder of the Share2Uplift platform, he is also connecting people on a quest to create a critical mass (250 or more Influencers) of people that will connect, align, and collaborate to create measurable impact in all walks of life.

Having a rather good understanding of the 10 major transitions (the 11th transition is one’s transition, according to Jan Rotmans) that the world is experiencing, Ivan sees on a “Meta-level” what is going on in the world and how we are reacting instead of responding to these major transitions in Curaçao. Through his interviews and his work on spreading a Ripple effect on Emotional development in all walks of life, he tries to connect to a parallel world of initiatives, that irrespective of what is being shared in the mainstream media and the government, through these Influencers (some were interviewed) and other innovators, from the bottom up are creating a new and better world and a better Curaçao. For his role in this area, we consider Ivan Kuster one of the 250 Influencers, representing the Educational & Coaching Sector. Look at the list of the Influencers we have interviewed or reported on, up to now.

The goal of the core group of Share2Uplift for 2023

The goal of the Share2Uplift movement is to: “Identify 250 leaders from all walks of life to connect, align and create impactful changes in all walks of life, which includes intergenerational collaboration by the end of 2022.” We will use interviewing Influencers, meet-and-greet events, “train-the-trainers”-programs on “Emotional Mastery” and “Intentionality “as national intervention strategies, to reach this goal on top of our goal to scale up the possibilities to connect, align and create impact via a virtual platform. We believe that by collaborating with Miguel Goede on the virtual Vision 2030 platform, we will accelerate the possibilities to connect the diaspora and others elsewhere in the world and on the island willing to constructively create impactful changes in Curaçao, to join.

As Share2Uplift, we are fully trying to align with this thinking of Center for Curriculum Redesign to promote this agenda in our educational systems and workplace. So, in that sense, we fully support any initiative to make our educational system 21st-century proof.

Share2Uplift aligners are those that:
– Create an inspiring vision of the future;
– Motivate and inspire people to engage with that vision;
– Manage the delivery of the vision;
– Coach and build a team, so that it is more effective at achieving the vision. These criteria are now being polished.

We also consider these 5 values the most important ones for Share2Uplift aligners. They are:

• Peace from within;
• Compassion;
• Respectfulness;
• Integrity;
• Responsibility.

As we will progress towards this goal, we will update you on the progress.

MYM-platform session

Our next MYM-platform session will be on Thursday the 25th of July via Zoom from 7 – 9 pm, where we will present two books on High performances: High Performance Habits, by Brendon Bruchard and The Compound effect, by Darren Hardy.

High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way
These six habits will make you extraordinary
After extensive original research and a decade as the world’s highest-paid performance coach, Brendon Burchard finally reveals the most effective habits for reaching long-term success. Based on one of the largest surveys ever conducted on high performers, it turns out that just six habits move the needle the most in helping you succeed. Adopt these six habits, and you win. Neglect them, and life is a never-ending struggle.
We all want to be high performing in every area of our lives. But how? Which habits can help you achieve long-term success and vibrant well-being no matter your age, career, strengths, or personality? To become a high performer, you must seek clarity, generate energy, raise necessity, increase productivity, develop influence, and demonstrate courage. This book is about the art and science of how to practice these proven habits.
If you do adopt any new habits to succeed faster, choose the habits in this book. Anyone can practice these habits and, when they do, extraordinary things happen in their lives, relationships, and careers.
Whether you want to get more done, lead others better, develop skill faster, or dramatically increase your sense of joy and confidence, the habits in this book will help you achieve it. Each of the six habits is illustrated by powerful vignettes, cutting-edge science, thought-provoking exercises, and real-world daily practices you can implement right now. High Performance Habits is a science-backed, heart-centered plan to living a better quality of life. Best of all, you can measure your progress. A link to a professional assessment is included in the book for free. This book will be presented by Ivan Kuster.

The Compound effect
No gimmicks. No Hyperbole. No Magic Bullet. The Compound Effect is based on the principle that decisions shape your destiny. Little, everyday decisions will either take you to the life you desire or to disaster by default. Darren Hardy, publisher of Success Magazine, presents The Compound Effect, a distillation of the fundamental principles that have guided the most phenomenal achievements in business, relationships, and beyond. This easy-to-use, step-by-step operating system allows you to multiply your success, chart your progress, and achieve any desire. If you’re serious about living an extraordinary life, use the power of The Compound Effect to create the success you want.

This book will be presented by Ivan Kuster.

Date: 25th of July
Time: 7.00 – 9.00 PM
Entrance fee: Free

Subscribe by emailing us: at sixtaivan@gmail.com and we will send you the Zoom link so that you can participate in our presentation of this book.

Personal Coaching Tip

This week we will share some short videos on ‘The Emotion Code and High Performance Habits’. We will upload one of these videos every day on our facebook.com/share2uplift page.

Bradley Nelson: “The Subconscious Mind” | Next Level Soul #shorts – YouTube