Tim van der Vliet

Biography

Tim van der Vliet was born in Amstelveen, The Netherlands on August 17, 1969. When he was 11 years old, his father died during a ski trip. He grew up with his 2-year older brother and mother in a free-spirited and eccentric household.

After finishing high school, Tim started traveling through Europe. He studied Spanish in Salamanca, picked grapes for the Beaujolais primeur wine in France and worked for a discotheque in Salou (Spain). He moved to Amsterdam when he was 18 years old and after trying a variety of studies, he started studying Economics at the University of Amsterdam when he was 24. During a class in Portfolio Management Tim had an epiphany: he realized he wanted to become a market maker at the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. Shortly after his 30th birthday he received his Master’s degree.

Financial career

Tim started working as a market maker in Philips and Royal Dutch options and stocks at age 29. He worked in the pit: the part of the trading floor where options and stocks are traded in an Open outcry system through shouting and hand signaling. Just after his third child was born, at age 34, Tim lost all his money. He decided to turn to the more academic side of trading and started working with a Swiss high-frequency algorithmic trading company called Source Capital AG. Source Capital AG executes trades through computer programs, thus trading without human intervention. Most of his colleagues had PhD's in Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science and Tim discusses with them the academic and mathematical side of his new-found passion: spirituality and Mysticism. During his years at Source, Tim passed the three exams of the CFA Institute, took up a daily yoga practice, raised three children and read and philosophied at night.

In 2010 Tim decided to quit his job. He felt a burn-out coming and realized it was time for a change. During his first week off, he declared he would not do anything for the next three months. This proved to be untrue because six weeks later, just before Christmas 2010, Spiritual Awakening (the easy way) was published.

Writing career

Tim’s writing career started one early December morning in 2008, after attending a spoken word performance the night before. While watching the performance, Tim experienced another epiphany: he felt a minute-long chill in his entire body. The next morning he sat down and wrote his first poem in one breath. This was the first verse of many to come.

Although Tim is Dutch, he writes in English most of the time. He became a full-time writer in 2010, after quitting his financial career. He self-published Spiritual Awakening (the easy way) and without doing any other form of PR than asking 30 shop owners in Amsterdam to sell his book, the first print of Spiritual Awakening (the easy way) (1500 copies) was sold out within one year. Tim released a second print, and in February 2013 signed a contract with Hay House UK for the republication of Spiritual Awakening (the easy way). Spiritual Awakening (the easy way) is the first book in a series dedicated to spreading Zen from Amsterdam; offering readers a practical and grounded approach to spirituality.

Giving away / Givolution

Tim believes in the power of giving away. He thinks we are both an individual and a collective, and that by serving the collective, we also serve ourselves. By giving away, we get into the flow. Tim donates 10% of Spiritual Awakening (the easy way) to charity. He also encourages people to spread his books by passing them on to their friends.

Personal life

When he was 27, Tim met his future wife, who is Japanese, while living in Seoul (Korea). The couple settled in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where they raise a family of four children. The family lives in a quiet area, near the centre of Amsterdam and very close to the famous Vondelpark. Most of Tim’s inspiration comes when he is relaxing in front of his house, watching his children play.