An explain article

Beyond Instagram, pop psychology, and tear-off calendars

The impression was lasting. A funny guy who doesn't hold back. One moment you're laughing out loud, the next you're suddenly very thoughtful. Whether the interview should reach a similar depth, Mara was still unsure at the beginning of the phone call. David had little time. Half an hour until his next coaching session. And yet, an interview emerged that could have easily filled many more pages, I'm sure. About soccer, motivation, influencers, and the urge to make a difference.

Dear David, you call yourself an inspiration coach. How did you come up with this term?

When I started accompanying soccer players in the 90s, the term "coaching" wasn't common yet. The word "mentor" was more familiar. Dirk Heinen, my best friend, played soccer in Leverkusen at that time. He was a goalkeeper on Christoph Daum's team. And even then, he said, 'Soccer is decided in the head. We need motivation.' And the more I sat with Dirk, the clearer it became to me that the guys needed an inner strength that you don't learn in soccer.

Back then, I was something like a mentor for the guys. Dirk kept bringing more soccer players who were interested in the topic of "motivation." But the more I delved into it, the more I realized that it's not about motivation at all. Because the guys are all motivated. But it's about inspiration – they don't have the fire. "Inspirare" in Latin means "to ignite" or "to breathe into," in the sense of breathing life into it. I could relate to this "igniting" or "lighting up." I always found motivation to be so superficial. "The day is yours." and "You are invincible!"

It's like a tear-off calendar with great sayings – pop psychology. But that's not enough. That's why I eventually decided: I am definitely not a motivational trainer. I don't motivate them. I try to inspire them. To ignite enthusiasm within them. So that they are "on fire" for something again. This is much more challenging, but it leaves much more lasting traces – if it succeeds.

But you don't just accompany soccer players, you also give lectures to prison inmates. How did you come up with the idea?

The work in prisons is somewhat part of my philosophy. I try to make it clear to the guys again and again that values help me define myself. They help to find out who I actually want to be. What is sacred to me? What makes me strong? For this reason, I eventually developed the 4D model – humility, serving, gratitude, and discipline. Humility is a strong value when you understand it. Or when you recognize that serving people is actually a sign of strength. Our society has somewhat forgotten this. On Instagram, more egoism and narcissism are taught. Just these two values – humility and serving – are reasons to also go to prison and share something. Because it doesn't help if I write the values on a piece of paper and hang it on the wall. Then I haven't filled it with life for a long time.

Going to prison, for example with Davie Selke or Heiko Herrlich, is simply a great inner cure. A therapy for what society does to us. It's not about recognition and likes here. We cure our egoism by going to prisons. Or visiting sick children with leukemia or similar diagnoses in the clinic. That's where you feel real life. It also helps soccer players because they come back with a different attitude – much more grateful and relaxed. And the people in prison are inspired because they experience someone who has something to tell. About their own failures, for example. That encourages others and shows them that they are not alone. I'm not the only one who screws up sometimes. And that achieves a lot. It makes you incredibly happy to make a difference.

Then you're lucky that your job essentially consists of making an impact on other people.

Yes, that makes you immensely happy (David laughs contentedly). Above all, it makes sense. However, I admire people like caregivers even more because they really make a difference. And they don't even get a proper salary. These are the real stars in life for me. Someone who works in care for 20 years for just 1,200 euros a month. That's special. Many others have to ask themselves: "Am I really making a difference in my life?"

As an inspiration coach, you want to make a difference. Where do you draw the line between Instagram, YouTube, and Co. and what is called "influencers" today?

So, for me, the line is clearly set by what I ultimately trigger in the recipient. The inspirator for me only has positive outcomes. If I excite people about something, I associate it with 100% positive associations. The influencer can include both sides – positive and negative. The word "influence," for example, is also negatively charged for me. If you look at history, Adolf Hitler was also an influencer who influenced in a very shitty way. Or today, Trump, who wants to build a wall with Mexico, is somehow an influencer too. But by now, even a 15-year-old girl calls herself an influencer, who has 60,000 followers on Instagram. But she's just painting her nails or showing how to make smoothies with ginger.

Conversely, Gandhi or Mandela were also influencers. Or Obama, to name a few good names. But the first association I have with the word is teenagers on YouTube, walking somewhere with stars on a red carpet, and you think: "Who is that????" Do they actually have something to say, or is it just about being famous?

And when you ask them about their message, they start to stutter. If everything in Germany were super, everyone totally inspired and satisfied and happy, then I would grant every internet influencer their 2 million likes. But our society craves inspiration and orientation.

Where should the inspiration or orientation come from?

Actually, we need more "real influencers" again, i.e., role models. It's difficult to connect that with influencers on the internet because it's much more anonymous here. True messages are also combined with the authenticity of a person. With an internet profile, authenticity is hard to grasp.

But wherever you look, the great beacons from my youth fall apart - Beckenbauer no longer dares to leave the house because no one knows where the World Cup organization millions have gone, Ulli Hoeneß was in jail, VW cheated. I would like to have more of these real influencers again, who are role models in real life. And the woman next door, who has been working in elderly care for 20 years, she is a fantastic role model. But she doesn't have much influence on people. That's why I enjoy working with Jürgen Klopp on my projects. When you listen to him, you notice that he is a positive influencer. He has something to tell, talks about values that strengthen, talks about his faith in God. He's not embarrassed by it because it's what makes him strong.

Such people are important. We want to help our country. So also for the youth who go through life disillusioned, only smoking weed and hanging out in front of video games. Or people who are stuck in a midlife crisis, have burnout, who simply can't find a deeper meaning in their lives.

Before a Bundesliga match, you're probably under tremendous pressure. Probably similar to just before a performance. Were you able to learn any tricks from soccer players that you can perhaps apply on stage?

Yes, there are definitely parallels. That feeling that you want to shine, that it resonates, you perform. There's a certain standard you hold yourself to. And just as I say a performance was great, the footballer feels the same about a good game. But there's also a kind of duel in your head: fear and perfection against anticipation and gratitude. I had my key experience 15 years ago. I was invited to moderate a five-hour music festival at Berlin's Waldbühne. 25,000 spectators, really awesome bands - it was a dream! I was totally honored to be asked. But the closer it got to the date, the more anticipation turned into nervousness. And a few weeks before I looked at the calendar and thought, "Oh shit! Soon it will be time." Total pressure. I start reflecting - why am I shitting myself? I was looking forward to it and had told all my buddies. I had bragged a lot. And now I'm standing there and realize: The fear is getting bigger, the euphoria is gone. Why do I have such reverence? Quite simply - I didn't have a good program.

I slapped it together in 2-3 hours on three pages of paper. It was okay, but not really great. Of course, I was afraid. That was my biggest learning: no joy without preparation. If I, as a soccer player, know that the game begins in two hours and I played PlayStation half the night, then comes the bad conscience, the tiredness, the regret. And that's not far-fetched - many professional footballers are game addicts.

Then the game comes and of course I'm not the best version of myself, instead I mess it up. Back to the Waldbühne. I worked like crazy on the program for another two days, threw 20 versions in the trash because nothing was good enough. Only on the 21st piece of paper did I think, "Aaah! There's the red thread. Now it will be awesome!" From that moment on, it was fun again. Because I had confidence in my performance. A wave of 25,000 people, singing little songs for the introduction and 50 other cool ideas. Confidence is essential - no matter where you perform. And confidence is based on preparation, on effort. Without effort, there is no joy. I had a lot of fun during the five hours at the Waldbühne. And that's another recipe for success. To love what you do. And I love giving lectures, moderating, doing cabaret - inspiring others.

You also mentioned humility earlier as part of your 4D model. Can humility help genuinely inspire people?

Absolutely! Humility is not necessarily a very beloved word. You can't inspire people with humility today. But the danger of losing your grounding when you have success is immense. When I get a lot of applause, a tiny bit of pride creeps into my heart unconsciously, and I don't even notice it. That's where humility helps and questioning oneself.

Why am I doing this? Do I just want to satisfy my narcissism? Or do you want to serve people? About ten years ago, I discovered this attitude for myself. And it fundamentally changed a lot in my life. I no longer wanted to see the ambitious career-David I saw in the mirror. So I started to develop in a different direction.

What did that change for you?

I see myself more as a servant or, more modernly expressed, as an encourager for people. I consider it a gift that I am allowed to give lectures. If every speaker made themselves aware of that... If, for example, every pastor made themselves aware at 9:00 a.m. on Sundays what a privilege and gift it is to speak before 500 people, then the services would certainly be less boring. Then I couldn't just pull something out of the drawer that I've already preached 150 times. But a routine just sneaks into life - whether you're a pastor, coach, trainer, speaker, or politician. And at some point, it all happens at the push of a button and no longer comes from the heart. I think that's a problem we have in Germany. I generally find it sensational that some pastors and politicians can talk for an hour and still say nothing. And you go home "empty" and uninspired! But with humility and questioning "What do I really have to say from the heart?" you approach things very differently.

Who inspired you? Is there anyone who encouraged you to become the best version of yourself?

Good question (laughs). There are several people. For example, the American bestselling author Joyce Meyer. She made a name for herself in pious and misogynistic America. At a time when women in the church were only allowed to hand out hymnbooks. And today she fills halls with 50,000 people because she speaks fantastically about the topic of "attitude." She was the trigger to rethink my own attitude. She is still an inspiration to me today. Every morning I read her "Daily Devotion" in the newsletter. That's maybe 20 lines right to the point. It starts my day very differently than if I were to turn on breakfast television, for example. As a Christian, I am also inspired by the message of Jesus. My mother was a religious teacher, but I still didn't read the Bible cover to cover until I was 23.

As a young adult, I then discovered what Jesus really says and lives and what values he stands for. Why he is the key to time history and we still set the time after him today, 2019 AD. I knew all that superficially before, but I hadn't understood it with the "heart." And that is still my source of strength today.

Thanks to formats like TEDx, there is now almost a stage in every city to share inspiration. And other conferences, slams, and open stages pave the way for people who want to inspire others. Now, surely nothing stands in the way of inspiration anymore, does it?

In the end, it depends on the message. Is it deep enough to inspire and touch people in their hearts and ultimately bring about change in terms of "more joy and more ease in life?" Only then does TEDx make sense to me, because you can organize the most beautiful speaker events, but in the end, the "keynote guys" just celebrate themselves and the spark unfortunately doesn't jump across because everything remains on the surface and the art serves only its self-purpose. Unfortunately, there are millions who have never heard of these formats. And we also have to reach those who have a different context.

Those who sit on their phone all day or watch RTL II. I am an idealist and dreamer who wants to make an impact in terms of "bringing joy." I also see that many good things are happening. Our task is to make inspiring messages accessible to a larger audience. And that is a very beautiful, but also challenging task. To "awaken" people to real life.