As the year is coming to an end, I’m spending a few minutes to think about things I’ve learned, things I haven’t learned and things I would like to continue learning.
Here are my thoughts… in no particular order.
Laugh at yourself and with others.
Be irrational. Some of my best decisions in life and business are neither reasonable nor logical.
Be curious. Ask great questions, challenge the conventional and don’t blindly follow what everyone else is saying or doing.
Be patient. I’m not good at this.
Stay adventurous. The older I get, the more I’ve come to I realize that I’m never going to lose my addiction to travel and adventures. When I was in my early twenties I thought maybe one day this wanderlust will ease off, it hasn’t.
Fuck it, just do it. One of my team members shared this life philosophy the other day and I fully agree. Don’t overthink everything and do stuff that scares you a little bit.
Fuck up and learn from it. Sometimes when you ‘fuck it and just do it’, you fuck up. It’s only human and it’s ok as long as nobody gets hurt in the process. Being challenged is the best opportunity to learn and grow.
Invest in growth. I love learning new things, trying stuff, growing, inventing, debating, thinking, doing.
Don’t judge. This is an ongoing intention. Sometimes we are so quick to judge something or someone for no reason at all. ‘Look mummy, she’s got purple hair!’
Small talks are not my thing. This is where my patience is usually being challenged very hard. Not judging.
Smoke bomb. I love smoke bombing (a.k.a. disappearing from events without any fuss) especially when there is too much small talk. If it doesn’t impact anyone negatively, I’m out of there.
Speak less. We talk too much. After doing a seven-day silence retreat this year this dawned on me even more than ever before.
Get salty. The ocean is my most powerful, crazy, wild and salty ally. One of my all-time favorite adventures of the year is living on a boat in the Maldives surrounded by nothing but ocean, surfing, diving, hanging out with turtles and getting a little sunburnt.
Getting hot and sweaty is also deliciously salty and so are tears. They are all good for you.
Don’t outgrow precious friendships. Not all ‘we’ve grown apart’ are equal. Sure, there are people you grow apart from and it’s time to say good-bye, but there are people who even if you believe you’ve outgrown each other, you don’t let them go. Some of my closest friends from kindergarten have naturally evolved in different directions in life, but I would never let them go, ever. They are my family. They get me without talking. They have my back and I have theirs.
Work smart, play hard. I absolutely love working! I wake up pretty much every day excited about work. I might even have a small work addiction.
And I love playing, there is no work-life balance for me, there is just living.
Or as country music legend George Strait sings ‘I ain’t here for a long time, I’m here for a good time.’ Copy that!
Keep it simple. Most things in life are pretty simple, but we often complicate. I don’t like drama either. Bye.
Don’t believe all the hype. There is a lot of noise out there. The media is exaggerating or making stuff up, people are buying into it and repeating after each other. Put things into perspective and form your own opinion.
Stay away from shitheads. Oops sorry, nuff said. Not judging.
Be a classy potty mouth. I’m the first to admit, I love swearing, especially in Swiss and Spanish, but I don’t want to be ‘un-classy’, so I restrain my potty mouth when speaking on stage, unless it is intentionally placed to make a point.
The rest of this article will be potty-mouth less.
Exercise your creative brain. As entrepreneurs we often get stuck into left brain activities. I love being creative by playing music, writing lyrics, learning a new instrument, drawing, writing.
Read more. Take the time to read. I used to be such a nerdy bookworm and then I started reading non-fiction books mainly. This year I’ve been loving switching it up with fiction and non-fiction books and always got a few books on the go. I’m still a nerd.
Deliberate practice. This is something I’ve been pursuing in different areas of my life. One thing I wanted to master this year was doing handstands and splits. I can now hold a handstand for a little bit longer than half a second but it’s still a work in progress and needs more deliberate practice. As for the splits, I can make banana splits, that’s about it.
I’m also applying deliberate practice to playing music. When I first moved to Sydney I used to play the saxophone in bars with DJs and I love to improvise. But my commitment is to add a bit more deliberate practice by playing ‘boring’ scales and working on technique and details.
Give freely. Be generous, not just materialistically, but with your intelligence, love, time, encouragement.
I just set a new intention to message someone every single day to tell them that I appreciate them and I will do so until this becomes a habit just like brushing my teeth is. It’s the most fun when I message someone who least expects it or is a bit unemotional. My brother normally thinks I’m weird when he gets a message from me.
What are some of your reflections from 2016?
Yours Truly,
Franziska