Wouter de Jong
Bestselling author and trainer in mental fitness
Wouter de Jong put mental fitness on the map. With the Mindgym series for adults and Superkrachten voor je hoofd for children, he reached over 200,000 readers in the Netherlands; his work has been translated into six languages. His background explains why his sessions feel different from an average lecture on stress. After studying Dutch law, he attended the Amsterdam Theatre School and worked as an actor, before deepening his expertise in mental training, stress regulation and attention training. This combination of content and performance makes his keynotes interactive, insightful and entertaining. Scientifically grounded, yet accessible enough for even the most pragmatic audience.
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Biography
From Law to Drama School
Wouter de Jong studied Dutch law and subsequently trained at the Amsterdam Drama School, after which he worked as an actor. An unconventional path, but precisely those years on stage explain why his sessions feel more like an experience than a lecture.
Mindfulness trainer and mental coaching
Later he deepened his expertise in mental training, stress regulation and attention training, and trained as a mindfulness instructor at the Free University Amsterdam. The Mindgym method that emerged from this is based on recent scientific insights into attention, resilience and positive psychology.
Bestsellers for adults and children
With the Mindgym book series, he brought mental fitness to the attention of adults; with Superpowers for Your Mind, he did the same for children aged 8 to 12. The latter grew into a brand in its own right, with multiple bestsellers, an educational card game, and in 2024 a cinema film. His books have been published in English, German, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, and Chinese.
Full Body Thinking
In 2025, his latest book, Full Body Thinking, was released, exploring the interaction between body and brain. As an expert, Wouter has regularly appeared in programs such as Pauw, RTL Late Night and Boulevard, and participates in radio and podcast discussions about the topics he writes on.
Expertise
The Four Brain Circuits
The core of the Mindgym method: attention, resilience, positivity and kindness are trainable like a muscle. Wouter shows you how to consciously exercise those circuits and what it delivers: more engagement without burning out, better adaptation to change and more effective management of time, emotions, stress and colleagues. Presented in an accessible way, also for people who don't relate to meditation.
Body and brain as one system
In Full Body Thinking, Wouter describes how breath, posture and muscle tension continuously influence each other and your thinking. Under pressure, your body reacts before your head has found a solution, and that's where you unknowingly lose flexibility and control. It explains why stubborn patterns keep repeating themselves even though rationally you've long known what would be better.
Mental Resilience in Children
Superpowers for Your Mind reached hundreds of thousands of children aged 8 to 12. The strength of the method lies in the playful way it connects with their world of experience: through this, the techniques come alive and stress, emotions, and behavior become discussable. For teachers, Wouter translates this into the everyday classroom, without adding extra work.
Performance and transfer
What sets Wouter apart from other speakers on this topic is his theatrical training. He knows how to command a room, when to deploy an exercise, and how to transform an abstract concept into something people feel rather than merely understand. Without this skill, mental training remains theory.
Themes
Mental fitness and Mindgym
How to train your brain the way you train your muscles. About the four brain circuits: attention, resilience, positivity and kindness, and what happens when you consciously exercise them.
Attention and focus
Dealing more effectively with time, distractions and a full inbox. About where your attention goes and how to take more control of it.
Resilience and Stress
Stay engaged without burning out. About the mechanisms behind stress and what you can practically do about it.
Body and Brain Under Pressure
Why your breath, posture and muscle tension respond before your mind finds a solution, and how to use those signals instead of ignoring them.
Mental resilience in children
How children aged 8 to 12 take control of their own minds. About stress, uncertainty, distraction and conflict, in their own world of experience.
Resilience in Education
Practical tools for teachers to bring calm, connection and resilience into the classroom — and into their own role.
Why Wouter
More than 200,000 readers
In the Netherlands alone, with translations in six languages. His ideas are not new to your audience. Many people in the room are already familiar with his work, which makes the keynote a deepening rather than an introduction.
Actor and mindfulness trainer
The drama school shows in how he stands on stage, the academic knowledge in what he tells. Few speakers on this subject have both, and the difference is immediately noticeable in the room.
Accessible to skeptics
Mental fitness raises resistance in part of any audience. Wouter brings it with humor and pragmatism, in a way that even the most business-minded room goes along with.
Scientifically grounded
The Mindgym method is based on recent insights from attention research, resilience research, and positive psychology. Not life wisdom, but tested mechanisms.
Directly applicable techniques
Each session delivers exercises that participants can use the same day. That's precisely where this topic usually falls short.
From fifteen minutes to several days
Energizer, keynote, workshop, training or day chairmanship. Wouter is deployable in virtually every format your program requires.
Talks
Mindgym: gym for the mind
45 to 90 minutesHealth begins in your mind
You're truly comfortable in your own skin when you're mentally fit too. Wouter transforms the room into an interactive gymnasium for the mind, where everyone leaves energized.
Four circuits to train
Attention, resilience, positivity and kindness: how to train these qualities and what they deliver for your engagement, your approach to change and your collaboration with colleagues.
Techniques for tomorrow
With humor and unexpected insights, but above all with exercises that participants can immediately apply in their work and daily life. Also for the pragmatists in the room.
Full Body Thinking in the Workplace
45 to 90 minutesYour body reacts before your mind does
A deadline, a full inbox, a conversation that's not flowing smoothly. While your mind searches for solutions, your breath, posture and muscle tension have already reacted to the pressure — and that's where you imperceptibly lose focus and control.
Why patterns keep returning
Wouter demonstrates how body and brain interact with each other, and why stubborn behavior repeats itself even when you rationally know what would be better.
Staying agile under pressure
Using techniques around breathing, tension and body signals, you discover how to stay connected during moments that demand a lot from you. Less stress, and more awareness in how you work, collaborate and decide.
Superpowers for your mind
45 to 90 minutesFor teachers: the classroom of everyday life
Children who get stuck in frustration, struggle with emotions or clash with others; every teacher sees it daily. Wouter translates his method into practical tools for the classroom. No extra work, but guidance for more calm and connection.
For children: boss of your own mind
In an interactive version, students discover for themselves how to train their superpowers. How do you deal with stress, uncertainty, distraction, or conflict? With humor, relatable examples, and exercises.
A method that has stuck around
Superpowers for Your Mind grew into multiple bestsellers, an educational card game and a cinema film, reaching hundreds of thousands of children.
Reviews
“A range of innovative insights and inspiration to do better, whatever that means for you.”
“In an extremely likeable way and with plenty of expertise, Wouter de Jong teaches you to (once again) take control of your own mind. Highly interesting!”
“Wouter de Jong is a skilled trainer who knows how to move and surprise even the greatest skeptic”
“Contagious and relevant!”
“An inspiring workshop on having an "Innovative Mindset" where Wouter captivates you from the very beginning with a fresh and energetic perspective. He challenges you with thought-provoking insights and practical examples that push you to think differently. I left full of energy and with new ideas. Absolutely worth recommending!”
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