Stress Management | Vitality | Changing Organization and Society
Mikkel Hofstee
Mikkel Hofstee is the author of Oermens 2.0 & 2.1 and a vitality expert. He helps organizations become more vital, thus performing more sustainably and effectively. A win-win for the organization and its employees.
Languages:
Employability:
Keynote spreker
Employability:
Keynote spreker,
About Mikkel Hofstee
As humans, we have lived 99% of our time on earth in small groups, in nature, and with scarce resources. How can we adapt to a world of abundance? Our body and brain are doing their best, but millions of years of evolution did not anticipate that we would end up in this world. And as we can see, we are not adapting well.
We are permanently ‘on’, addicted to stimuli, performance, consumption, and affirmation. Society has become hyper-nervous: we are mentally overloaded, physically exhausted, and increasingly less resilient to setbacks. How do we transition from overstimulated and hyper-nervous to a fundamentally healthy way of living and working?
Mikkel Hofstee – entrepreneur, author of Oermens 2.0 and Healthy Behavior is Contagious – holds an inspiring mirror up to us. With humor, recognition, and a touch of self-deprecation, he shows how we have lost our primal human compass and what we can do to become resilient and fundamentally healthy again.
Based on his experiences as the founder of Lifeguard and Healthguard, he combines scientific insights with life experience and practical wisdom. His message: we do not need to go back to the cave, but we do need to return to the center — to a society where balance, connection, and meaning are once again leading.
About Mikkel Hofstee
After a career at ABN AMRO, Mikkel founded Lifeguard, one of the first companies to systematically integrate vitality into organizations. Later, he founded Healthguard (occupational health services 2.0), Your Healthy Career, and the Amsterdam City Swim. His books Oermens 2.0 and 2.1 and Healthy Behavior is Contagious illustrate how we as a species can adapt without losing ourselves. For the Jane Goodall Institute Netherlands, he organized the Know Yourself lecture series. Mikkel is a highly sought-after speaker on vitality, leadership, and humanity in a rapidly changing world.
Speaking Style
Authentic, provocative, and full of energy. Mikkel knows how to touch his audience and get them moving – with stories that resonate and insights that are immediately applicable.
We do not need to go back to the cave, but we do need to return to the center
Mikkel speaks with humor, sharpness, and expertise about how we – addicted to notifications, affirmation, and performance pressure – can rediscover ourselves in a hyper-nervous society. He connects neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, and practical wisdom into a sober yet inspiring narrative about being human in a digital world.
His lectures are an invitation to reconnect with what makes us human: calmness, wonder about the world, and genuine connection. Mikkel combines entrepreneurial spirit with philosophical depth and offers not only analysis but also actionable perspectives.
Those who hear him recognize themselves – and feel that another way of working and living is possible.
Specialist Subjects
Videos
