Four ways people think, feel and create

Why we often function – but don't truly flourish

Many people function flawlessly – and still don't feel truly alive.

On the outside, everything works: You make decisions, take responsibility, are reliable. But internally, there remains this quiet feeling of not quite being in your element. As if you're playing a role that suits you, but doesn't truly belong to you.

Perhaps it's not because something is missing. But because your work doesn't match your essence.

I know this from personal experience: For years, I worked in structured, performance-oriented environments. I could analyze, make decisions, deliver – but it never felt like home. It felt like effort, not like flow.

Later I understood why: I'm naturally playful, intuitive, and relationship-oriented. But my work constantly demanded logic, structure, and performance. It wasn't a problem of competence – it was a mismatch in essence.

I wasn't broken. I was in the wrong place.

Today I work in my natural modes: Creativity lives in my art, connection in teaching and in exchange with people. And suddenly work no longer feels like adaptation – but like expression.

This doesn't mean we should avoid everything that challenges us. We also grow through the unfamiliar. But it can be liberating to ask: What if there's a difference between what I'm capable of – and what I'm designed for?

When our work doesn't match our inner temperament, we don't just feel tired. We feel disoriented.

We don't need to fix ourselves. We need to understand ourselves.

And sometimes it's not about becoming more – but about becoming more aligned.

This blog is about exactly that: How we recognize what truly suits us – and how we can live more in our own energy again.

1. The Color Spectrum as an Inner Map

How different approaches show what truly suits you

Colors in this model aren't types in the classic sense. Rather, they describe how you naturally express yourself, work, and perceive.

Some people think first in structures. Others feel first, before they act. Still others come into action through creativity, movement, or exchange.

When you recognize yourself in this, there's often immediate relief: You realize that you're not "too much," "too chaotic," or "too sensitive" – but simply function this way.

The model helps you see:

• Where does something come easily to you?

• Where do you feel aligned and clear?

• And where do you notice that you're adapting?

  
  

So the colors don't show who you are, but how you currently function best.

And they remind you that your approach is allowed to change.

Because you're not just one color. You move through an entire spectrum.

2. The Four Approaches – and where you recognize yourself

Read through the following descriptions and sense which feels most familiar. Often it's not just one – and that's completely normal. You might also recognize different colors in different areas of life. At the end of this blog, you'll find a free test that helps you understand your personal color combination more precisely.

🟡 Yellow – Vision & Flow of Ideas

Where new possibilities emerge – and why you quickly lose patience there.

Yellow immediately sees what else could be possible. It's this spark that inspires others and brings lightness to thinking. People with a lot of Yellow like to start new projects, connect ideas, and love creative freedom.

Their challenge? They lose focus as soon as things become too structured or repetitive. Then everything feels tight.

You're in your element: when you can explore possibilities, spin ideas, and rethink things. Open processes, variety, and creative spaces give you energy. Too narrow specifications or always the same routines? That drains you.

🟢 Green – Connection & Feeling

Where depth and humanity work – and why boundaries are sometimes difficult.

Green senses what's needed – often before it's spoken. This approach creates spaces of trust where people feel seen. Here sustainable processes emerge that truly move something.

The downside? Green often carries too much – and forgets itself in the process. When everything is only about numbers, pace, or efficiency, this approach withdraws or slowly burns out.

You're in your element: when relationship, meaning, and atmosphere matter. When you can work at a mindful pace and build genuine connections. Pure performance orientation without human depth? That costs you more than you show.

🔵 Blue – Clarity & Structure

Where order emerges – and why your thinking can also block you.

Blue brings calm to complex situations. This approach analyzes, sorts, and makes things understandable. People with a lot of Blue create clarity where others only see chaos.

The shadow side? Sometimes the search for the perfect solution goes on so long that the beginning never comes. Or the mind goes in circles because not all information is available yet.

You're in your element: when you can think things through, understand, and structure them. Complex topics, analysis, and thorough planning give you security. If there's no room for thinking or speed is prioritized over quality? Then inner pressure builds.

🔴 Red – Action & Implementation

Where things get rolling – and why pace sometimes seems more important than feeling.

Red gives direction and makes sure something happens. Decisions are made, projects move forward, results become visible. This approach has clarity – and no fear of responsibility.

The challenge? Sometimes it goes so fast that your own feeling – or that of others – can barely keep up. What needs to be finished gets finished. Even if it rumbles internally.

You're in your element: when clear goals exist and you can move things forward. Responsibility, room for action, and visible results give you energy. Too much coordination, endless discussions, or indecisiveness? That slows you down.

Why this is so important

Many people don't recognize themselves in just one approach. Often a different color shows up at work than in private life – or one that was in the background for a long time because it wasn't asked for in the work environment.

"Being in your element" has less to do with talent than with alignment. It describes this state where things aren't effortless – but fitting. You're present, clear, and feel internally involved in what you're doing.

We often realize late that we've functioned for years in roles that brought results but didn't match our natural way. We adapted because we could – not because it nourished us.

Becoming aware of this is a first step. Not to change everything immediately – but to understand why some things feel right and others like constantly swimming against the current.

3. Between Comfort-Color and Growth-Zone

Why we grow where it first feels unfamiliar

Every color has its familiar area. There we feel safe, competent, and "right." This Comfort-Color is the place where we act intuitively and fall back on what's known.

But development rarely emerges where everything stays comfortable.

The Growth-Zone begins exactly at the border of this color – where something feels foreign, disordered, or even slightly uncomfortable. Not overwhelming, but unfamiliar.

Why all four colors are important

In a perfect team, all four types are represented: The Spark brings ideas and lightness, the Connector ensures trust and cohesion, the Deep Diver creates structure and clarity, the Catalyst drives things forward and implements. Together, a balanced whole emerges.

But we don't always work in teams – and even when we do, we can't always wait for others. That's why it's valuable to not only know your own dominant color, but also to learn from the other types.

If, for example, you tend to be more structured (Deep Diver), a free, playful approach (Spark) can open new perspectives. If you're strong in feeling and connecting (Connector), a clear expression or quick decision (Red) can show unexpected strength.

Art as a safe space for experimentation

Art is a particularly safe space to test other approaches. It doesn't demand right or wrong, but allows experimentation without consequences.

With color, form, or material, you can explore other energies without having to explain or prove yourself. You're allowed to discover how it feels to let another side of you speak.

And the beautiful thing: What you learn there doesn't just help you with painting. It helps you in your daily challenges – with decisions, in conversations, in the way you approach problems.

Growth here doesn't mean leaving your Comfort-Color. But expanding it. Step by step – at your pace.

From recognition to expression

This awareness has changed a lot for me. It has not only helped me make more aligned decisions, but also to create things that might never have existed without this understanding.

My book emerged from exactly this process: as an invitation to not only recognize your own approaches, but to try them out playfully.

And perhaps that's exactly the beginning: not knowing everything, but becoming curious and getting to know yourself further through creative experiences.

→ To the free Quiz | More about the Book