About Paul
I'm Paul Bartelink. I have been an entrepreneur for more than twenty years, working in environments where people need to make choices, solve problems and build something.
One question has been a recurring theme throughout my work:
Why does something work extremely well for one person or situation, but not for another?
Over the years, I have helped aspiring entrepreneurs take their first steps and supported established entrepreneurs with practical and strategic questions around their business or personal situation.
I have also always been fascinated by why people think, learn, work and respond so differently.
Those worlds come together in Your Next Step Up.
How I work
My role is not to decide what you should do. I help you look more clearly, ask questions, create structure, explore possibilities and identify a logical next step.
My strength lies primarily in seeing connections and possibilities.
- Listening.
- Asking questions.
- Challenging assumptions.
- Reducing complexity.
- Creating structure.
- Turning thinking into action.
From projects to people
In my professional work, I spend a great deal of time working with projects, technology, collaboration and decision-making. But ultimately, systems, businesses and projects only work when the people behind them can work with them.
That is why I am interested not only in what someone does. I want to understand how someone thinks, why something does or does not work, and what kind of environment helps that person function well. That curiosity also lies at the heart of Your Next Step Up and the book “How My Mind Works”.
Not a conventional coach
I do not see myself as someone standing on the sidelines telling you how to run your life or your business. My role is better described as Creator of Solutions.
Your Next Step Up
For me, Your Next Step Up brings several worlds together:
- entrepreneurship;
- curiosity about how people function;
- learning and development;
- structure and problem-solving;
- actually taking the next step.
Sometimes that step begins with insight. Sometimes with a choice. And sometimes simply by finally getting started.
Ik heb een boek geschreven
Die eenvoudige gedachte vormde het vertrekpunt voor Hoe mijn hoofd werkt, een boek voor kinderen van 7–10 jaar en voor ouders en leerkrachten die hen beter willen begrijpen. Sommige kinderen denken sneller, dieper, breder of gewoon anders. Ze zien verbanden die anderen nog niet zien, stellen vragen waar geen eenvoudig antwoord op is of lopen juist vast omdat hun hoofd al een paar stappen verder is. Met verhalen, ontdekvragen en kleine opdrachten nodigt het boek kinderen uit om te onderzoeken hoe hun eigen hoofd werkt. Zonder score. Zonder goed of fout. Zonder hen in een hokje te plaatsen. Want begrijpen wie je bent en hoe je denkt, hoeft geen eindpunt te zijn.
Het kan juist een begin zijn.
De nieuwsgierigheid achter Hoe mijn hoofd werkt stopt voor mij niet bij kinderen. Ook als volwassenen blijven we ontdekken hoe we denken, keuzes maken, leren, samenwerken en richting geven aan ons leven of ondernemerschap.
Diezelfde nieuwsgierigheid zie je terug binnen Your Next Step Up: niet beginnen met hoe het volgens anderen zou moeten, maar eerst helder krijgen wat je ziet, wat bij je past en welke volgende stap daaruit ontstaat.
What is your next step?
Maybe you want to start a business. Maybe you have already started and are looking for more direction. Or perhaps you first want to better understand what truly suits you.
You do not need to have everything figured out. You just need somewhere to begin.