The Rainy Sunday Self-Syndrom — Why I am starting to write
I had a discussion with my good friend Pascal about moving on from Project Management in Corporate structures to starting something new. Products, companies, projects, … anything not related to our current work-work-balance.
We are both white, privileged men, self-employed, single, highly assertive in the workplace but still socially likable (except when nobody looks) and on the edge of 30.
I mean, not to overstate our worth but we are f*cking machines, pushing 50–70 hours per week of clean work through corporate structures.
But still: you feel like catching water, running the hamster-wheel, banging your head against walls again and again and to be honest: Not earning enough. Here I need to insert a sincerely-subjective comment:
Objectively-speaking we are probably part of the 1% earners, especially within our demographics. So we should shut the f* up and be appreciative, especially in these times of crisis. But we are not comparing this income with our demographics, our fellow countrymen or the world.
Subjectively-speaking we still feel that we should be compensated a lot more because we compare the income with the stress that we feel when
- we get called to save the day,
- we need to explain something obvious to somebody who should know it,
- we dive into a topic which is unknown to us before but we realize that the nominated person has no clue what they are talking about
- we take the shots for other people’s laziness
- we hear what those people actually earn.
To clarify: I do not think that this is cool or something we should be proud of but it is uncomfortably sincere and we are, in fact, coping with that.
So, this is who I am:
A self-confident (sometimes unfortunately arrogant), outspoken (sometimes self-harming), self-reflected, 1.70m, half Italian — half German (from both sides the worst ;-) ), Business Bachelor (from a university nobody has ever heard of), lost romantic (I got burned too many times) who despite of the success and positive feedback in his everyday endeavors gets anxious and wonders about the purpose in his doing on every Sunday Afternoon.
- Can I actually take on the next week?
- What about the “real” world outside of my bubble with real people not enjoying the same privileges?
- What about a partner? Nobody seems to be able to tolerate my restlessness, my shell of seeming invulnerability…
- What about a family? Am I able to settle down for my most prioritized “project”?
And as Pascal told me, he feels the same way, I think we are not the only ones who seek for more. Not “more” in the consumer sense (money, attention, gratification) but in the creator sense (meaning).
What I want to achieve with my blog
The main goal is to bring back responsibility to the individual level and make the most out of the Pareto-Principle as the Heuristic for every part of your life. Meaning: IF you commit to something, do NOT do it half-heartedly. That is f*cking disgusting to me if I am being honest. At least, if you are as blessed as I am.
My personal goals with this blog are partially altruistic and partially egotistic:
Altruistic Goals:
Accelerate your ambitions
I would like to give you a heads-up before/during starting in Consulting or in Corporates so you will
- get a reality check on what the highly-advertised industries really look like
- have the chance to mitigate the mistakes I did (classic) and
- to change cultures within companies from day one with your personality.
- In addition, I modestly think that I have some things to say which you might find useful when trying to climb the ladder.
Customized Knowledge-Sharing
Additionally to my advice, I would like to share
- Templates, like a hands-on Risk Matrix,
- Frameworks, like my Circle of 7 to move into every kind of organization and thrive immediately
- Methodologies, like my Strategy — The infamous One approach to build an executable strategy
- & Personal Truths which will give you my sincerely-subjective view on the AS-IS of culture within the Business World
As an example the Business Model Canvas:
- Almost everybody knows the canvas.
- But when do you really use it?
- When do you need to build a “Business Model”?
- How can you modify it for other areas than building a business model and look cool?
- And last but not least: How do you incorporate it into a methodology to reach a goal/a deliverable?
Yep, exactly. Think about that for a moment.
Opinions on things which are going on …
- … how you should position yourself to make things better for yourself and your surrounding
Share my inner demons
- I will also document what I have to fight with,
- where I was terribly wrong and
- what losses I needed to accept
Egotistic Goals:
I think I am special
Yep, I really do. But not because I have achieved anything in particular but because my empathy is ooooff the charts which makes it really easy for me to relate to any kind of human. Therefore, I am eager to see if it also works in this written way.
Personal Branding
I think that in the future, resumés will lose their significance more and more while personal creation will decide if people are good knowledge-worker or not. So, this is my way of communicating my CV.
In addition, I NEED MORE ATTENTION! I am working all day so I need to get the validation that it is worth it!
Build something independently
No matter what I do, I always — mainly due to my deep need for giving people a good feeling — need to align with stakeholders the “next steps”, the “approach”, the “solutions”, listen to their (most of the time useless) feedback …
Here, I can do whatever I want! Perhaps, if you appreciate my way of thinking, I will also build some of this stuff into a product. But no worries: Not planned yet!
Areas which will be covered
- #Health
- #Technology
- #Consulting
- #Entrepreneurship
- #Finance
- #Philosophy
- #Relationships
- #Productivity
- #Psychology
- #Sex (Yes, I am serious).
- #Trends
Roadmap
I need to hold myself accountable, so I will already communicate what I would like to talk about in the upcoming weeks while finishing the biggest project of my life for my client Airbus:
- In CW 11 I would like to finish my “PMO — The most practical Guide to Project Management”
- In March I would like to finish my introducing article for starting in a new organization: Circle of 7
- Within March I also would like to send out my first newsletter if I reach the number of 20 subscribers (so, sign up!)
If you would like to have me writing about something, feel free to let me know!
