During the crisis, Andrea Mikisch founded the company “Neubeginn-now”, which supports people on a voluntary basis who are struggling with the current changes.
Founder from a new beginning now
KURIER: During the crisis, you founded a company with little financial means. You and six life and social counselors advise people over the phone who in these times no longer know what to do, are desperate and full of fears. Together with your team you help on a voluntary basis and do not earn a single cent. What made you do it?
Andrea Mikisch: A few months ago a friend called me and said: 'Andrea, I'm so desperate, I don't want to live anymore.' I knew then that the need to act had arisen. Everywhere the practices are full of people who can no longer cope on their own and we are happy to help because it is important to us.
What problems do the people who call you have?
People call who suffer from existential fears, who no longer have a job or are afraid of losing it. Old people call who ended up in isolation due to Corona and are now very lonely. But it also calls people who can no longer distinguish the truth from the untruth and lose themselves in conspiracy theories. And people call who have made careers for years because it should be and are now questioning their lives and looking for a job with meaning.
How can you help these people over the phone?
You need someone who listens openly and without judgment. They need closeness and compassion, caring, rather than ready-made advice or a quick range of rational solutions. We create a space at eye level where everyone can express themselves as they want. Rant. Cry. Let off some steam. Everything is allowed.
How does this help an unemployed person to find a job again?
To do this, I have to go back a little. Our society has learned to function. Most of us, however, have not developed inner strength. Most get their strength from money, material goods, their careers, from being someone, or from their partnership. The problem is: this strength is very vulnerable. If it breaks on the outside, what is happening now in the crisis, the strength is gone and everything collapses under you like thin ice. Then comes fear and panic and the storm of thoughts. The thoughts go to the future: 'If I lose my job, I can no longer pay the bills, then I will lose my apartment and maybe my partner too.' Massive emotions arise and you get into a kind of paralysis. You can hardly get out on your own and need someone next to you who is firm and stable and can support you. In a first step, we help to get out of this rigidity and fear. So that hope and creativity can arise again. Otherwise you will not make any decisions or only make chaotic decisions.
But don't you need a plan to get out of your personal crisis?
Our minds say, 'I need the big plan and when I have it, I take my steps.' Most people now fail because they don't have a plan on how to proceed. It's about the now. What is good now Okay, I still have a warm apartment. I have a partner by my side. Appreciation and gratitude can flow again when we focus on what is positive in the now. So we come back to relaxation. And from there comes the next step, which is necessary and which feels good. You go the path that unfolds instead of sticking to a structured plan. So you cope with one day at a time and regain confidence.
Your company is called “New Beginning Now”. What should start again?
We live in a society of understanding and have lost access to intuition and our compassion. But it needs a society of the heart. A change in values. The values used to be: earn money, make a career, no matter what it costs. And if it costs me my health or my partnership. The new values are: How can I be honest and truthful? The tenor used to be: What can I buy, have, do good for myself. That doesn't work anymore. This is the old world. The new world is focused on: Who am I really and what can I give to other people?
How do you get from the old thinking to the new?
The first step is to be honest with yourself. To be present, to be in the moment and to feel how you are doing. Emotions have to flow, if we suppress them, our heart becomes a grave. All the suffering, all the poison has to go out so that something new can arise. As an organization, for example, by listening to people and making them feel that someone is really there by their side, the emotions come out and a new force arises. To suppress emotions that you are tired of your work, for example, costs a lot of energy. And this energy should be available to us for creativity and new things. Hence we need to let the emotions flow.
Neubeginn-jetzt.com
Andrea Mikisch founded the company “Neubeginn-Jetzt” during the crisis. Qualified life and social counselors from different areas (educational counseling, focus on young people, crisis management, etc.) are available on a voluntary basis for people who are struggling with changes, are under enormous stress, suffer from fears or are simply looking for support and encouragement. You can make a non-binding appointment on the following platform: www.neubeginn-jetzt.com