Contrary to my last post, I didn’t write anything at all. Instead, I have been focussing on my personal growth to overcome some of the obstacles life throws to you. While I’m also not a strong believer in making New Year’s resolutions, I do think it is good to reflect. Even if you’re not all that etheric, like me. My personal reflections list is pretty straightforward:
- Purpose and Passion: What (still) drives me? What am I really passionate about? This helps me to clarify my life’s direction and aspirations.
- Relationships: How do you I connect with others? Reflecting on my relationships with family, friends, and colleagues offer insights into my social and emotional well-being.
- Growth and Learning: Am I evolving? Do I still seek out new knowledge and experiences? To me, this is crucial for personal development.
- Health and Well-being: How am I taking care of body and mind? Do I strike the right balance in my lifestyle and do I prioritize physical and mental health enough?
- Gratitude and Appreciation: What am I thankful for? To me, recognizing and appreciating positive aspects of my life foster a greater sense of fulfilment and happiness.
..the smaller it is I’m grateful for, the happier I seem to be..
Michel
Purpose & Passion
As far as purpose and passion go, I’m passionate about a lot of things. Maybe a bit too much? When I look at my everyday go-tos, it is pretty obvious for me: technology & music. Technology is a structured interest, appealing to my rationale, while music speaks to the soul and emotion. And it gets most interesting when the two meet 😃 So over the last year, I’ve bought a new DAC/AMP combo to drive my headphones (Topping DX5, if you’re interested), which is a nice marriage of tech and music to be able to enjoy music as the artists meant it (next to visiting concerts, which I also still do).
Another passion of mine is racing and last year I finally built my race simulator at home.
Spend a few hours per week in it, which also helps building arm-muscles 😃
Relationships
I’m not good at connecting quick as I prefer to take my time and build trust. I tend to set (too) high expectations to avoid disappointment, but this also hinders relationship growth. The best relationships require time and start with mutual trust. By recognizing past behaviours, I am still changing for the better, which helps me open up and create stronger relationships. So pragmatically, I am providing more provisional trust, instead of having way to high expectations. This puts me (and others) in a place where there’s room to grow, or at least learn from some of the experiences.
Growth & learning
Actually, this one was very easy for me this year. I’ve invested quite some time in trainings and reading up to increase my knowledge about a lot of things. And by simply experiencing things. I can honestly say I’ve grown in both personal and professional perspective by both pragmatic experience and application of knowledge. Apart from the usual tech stuff I’m always very interested in, I think I’ve grown the most in my confidence to publicly present, influence (business) people and coaching/mentoring others. A lot of it was already there instinctively, but it made a couple of things *click* for me so that I can apply them more consciously. That does sound a bit business-y, but actually there’s a lot that works in private life too as it is all about human beings in the end.
Health & Wellbeing
I have prioritized mental wellbeing a lot. Those that know me a little and the things I’ve encountered on my life’s path, know that it has been quite hard at times. I know I’m also not alone, but it does take someone to speak up about it before a conversation starts. This is why I keep on being very open about my experiences. It might help someone else.
The other part, the physical part, is one of my focus areas (is that a new years resolution after all?😏). I know I am in a real good place mentally, strong & resilient and able to change behaviour, but could be more in balance with my physical being.
Which helps, as mental & physical wellbeing go hand in hand.
Gratitude & appreciation
The last thing on my reflection list, but: it is one of the most powerful ones in relation to my own happiness.
But instead of listing what I am thankful for (which is a lot), I will just summarize:
- My girlfriend. I know it sounds cheesy, but she knows me better than I know myself. In times of unclarity, uncertainty, negative thinking etc. she is the one to push/pull/correct me or at least give me nudge, often in the right direction.
- The life I am able to lead and the freedom of choices I can make within it. This covers a lot (job, friends, family, travel, cats 🐈🐈⬛🐈, etc.etc.). Generally, the smaller it is I’m grateful for, the happier I seem to be.
And last but not least: I’m thankful for me, still developing, still evolving, still keeping an open mind.
Loosely inspired by renowned and well-known spiritual enlightened leader Snoop Dog 😜.
Might read a bit as a narcissistic jab, but your own role in your own happiness can never be overstated, in my opinion.
Kind of paradox too, as narcissistic persons seldom acknowledge their own role in anything, really 😜
Conclusions
Instead of writing more to this already lengthy post, I’ve asked my good friend Morgan Freeman to tell you instead:
I do encourage you to do your own reflections, leave some in the comments if you want if this inspired you.