I write these updates from a very personal point of view. They are neither meant to brag nor to convince anyone of anything. Since my work ethic is: NO bullshit, NO secrets and keep it REAL, I ask you to hold nothing back.
These updates are my way of holding nothing back, to show who I am and what I think. Even before we meet for the first time. You choose: You like me, or you don‘t.
If you do… let us have a chat.
As I write this update I am sitting on a sunny terrace in Elba and am reflecting on the past summer.
In May, I knew I had to get out of the Swiss mountains and see the world. About 10 years ago I was living and working in Berlin and chilling a day in a park was the best. For the last year I was living with one of the greatest views you can imagine and still I was longing to get out.
Comfort is just something you ge used to
Having a nice view. Living at a nice place. Having comfort. All of that means so much more when you don‘t have it. Once you do, you start taking it for granted sooner than you expect. That happened to me and it became obvious again, that all the external factors only motivate me so far. Values, beliefs, desires are more important on the long run. If you don‘t satisfy those, they will wear you out.
A value of mine that is major driver to me is freedom. Take away my personal freedom and a lasting frustration is guaranteed. After COVID lockdowns, lack of travel, being out of business for a year and stuck at a Swiss mountain village, where interest, tolerance and understanding stops at the front door I needed to get out. I wanted to meet like minded people, different life concepts, seeing other parts of the world and have the feeling, that you are where you are because you chose to, instead of being forced to was my goal for the summer.
Summertime – Isola d‘Elba
A day after my second vaccination I was off for Isola d‘Elba in Italy and I spent the largest part of the summer here. I worked on a friends boat to help him get it into the water. Then I worked on my own boat, which was lacking a lot of love and care over the last 1 1/2 years.
I still had obligations and things to do. Some in Switzerland and others online. I managed to drive North every once in a while, while being able to spent 3 full month out of the last 3 1/2 months on the water.
Life is different when you live on a tiny anchored boat. Space is limited, nights might be rough, depending on the weather. When you want to go anywhere you have to get to land first. Often I was tired and focusing on office work was hard when the weather was too hot and the boat too shaky.
Yet, I loved it.
It is long ago that I felt so free and enjoyed what I was doing so much.
Corsica, here we sail
And yet, the best was still to come. If you know me for a while, you may remember that I tried to sail to Corsica in 2019 and failed a couple of times. Beginning of September we finally made it. 3 of us went with the friends boat, that we worked on earlier this year to North Corsica, went on some amazing tripos there and visited the island of Capraia before returning to Elba two day ago.
If you are a sailor that might not sound like a big thing and looking back it wasn‘t, but for me it was and I can wait to discover new places. The time of stayng around the same island is over.
At least, that is my plan for the future.
You see, I am working on myself and as a coach for over a decade now and I am still rediscovering myself and my dreams. Maybe that is normal. Maybe normality sinks in, no matter what we do. The secret is, to keep questioning what you do, how you feel and then keep on dreaming.
Shoot for the moon, you might end up in the stars.
What were your dreams of the summer and what are you dreaming of right now?