Welcome to my journey!

 The second month of the year just passed. There is more devastation and suffering in the world like never before. I hope March will bring peace and prosperity. Today, I won't watch constantly the news, but I will hope at the end of the day to read finally some good news.

 Today I received an email from a small business in Ukraine which I purchased something from. They provided information and asked to be shared. This is another example of things we can do when under pressure. Just stop watching and start doing. If all those small or medium-size businesses start actively seeking support, anything is possible. If you protest and start seeking support from your colleagues, friends and government, anything is possible,  

 Life must go on. This is what I am trying to convince myself when I constantly monitor the news for some good signs. One thing is social media addiction, another even worse is war news FOMO watching. Waiting desperately for some good news. But there are so many things we can do. We can campaign to stop the war, we can set up a site to spread unbias news and so on. Sometimes the best thing to do is to stop watch and start doing something as little as it is.  

 War is a never single sided story. Something happened overtime, tension raised and suddenly erupted. But is the war a narrative of one individual or the entire nation? When one individual decides what is best for the entire nation, it is bad. When the entire nation is associated with one individual, it is even worse. In was there are no winners, but it's up to the people of the nations to make their voice heard and condemn the actions of a single individual. Otherwise, don't be surprised if the rest of the world start associating that person's actions as your own.

 The civilized way is to talk and find compromise. When everything fails, it is time for a war. And this is the time when we don't talk about winning, but about who will lose the least.

 Fear over uncertainty is the sentence of 2022. There was a lot of tension held in the past few years and now it seems everything will blow up. Would this be another cold war? How will inflation will affect all of us? It seems like we reach the peak of economical boom and now we are moving down the economic curve. What happens in such periods is people will prioritise security and certainty. Would we see so much digital nomads and movements? Most probably not. This year could be the end of free movement and the beginning of the iron curtains.    

 Authenticity is rare. After reading the 100nd post from coaches who go from zero to hero using the same blueprint it finally striked me. Coaches is a business like any other, most people don't know what to do and they go to market gurus. Those gurus teach them to be authentic, but also to be stuck in a frame. Something that maybe worked for that guru 2 years ago. The issue with the secret and the winning formula is that is stop being a secret once enough people do it. And for coaches there are planty of people doing the same thing. The best take away is for anyone doing coaching business is to choose wisely from whom they would like to learn from and what they would like to become as people. If they failed to do so they might not like what they become in the future.  

 I hate the guru talks about mindset. How everything is 90 mindset and you never learn anything from them useful for your own case, because usually those gurus are too much of generalists. However, a simple strategy we can all use is directing our focus by asking questions. What would you like to experience this Monday? What attitude will serve you today? This might not help you a lot, but at least you might find the right battles to fight and ignore everything unrelated to your long-term goals.

 Losing weight is mostly solo mission, you are against your bad habits. Gaining friends is fun. People rarely lose weight, because it's hard to do it and the pain of going through the process is greater than the benefits. But, people love to make friends, at least the majority do, so why not combine it. Make friends who are into a particular sport. Socialize with them and try this sport more often. You will be surprised how suddenly you will have good times and feel and look better. We try to go solo on many journeys, which should be better taken with friends.

 It's funny to use dating apps. Especially for a problem old like the time. Dating is a big issue for a lot of people, especially expats who travel a lot. You don't know many new eligible people and you, of course, try many options. However, during my research, I can see that many people end up being frustrated. One reason for that is the over-promise of all the apps. Your expectations might be extremely high, but let's face it, swiping in someone's artificial pictures provides you a vague idea of what kind of person they are. Also, another thing providing higher difficulties are all those spam bots, or scam bots. Spam bots are annoying, the dangerous one are the scam bots. Those scam bots try to pretend they are real people and try to sell you something, like investing all your money in crypto. Dating is a difficult game, so if you are not ready to play it, better give up early before you become bitter and upset or even lose money.

 Why Friday is so important to us? Is it because of the sense of the freedom the weekend provides to us? Or is it because we will experience some diversity in our life? Even if you love what you do, having the opportunity to change the scenery is important. Otherwise, you will experience the life as a dull repetitive event which will drain all your life force.   How would you change your life and make it more exciting is a question worth asking!  

 Many smart people know a lot of facts, but they are very unhappy. I know people who are half as knowledgeable and live fantastic life. It's all about the focus. A long time ago I heard the following phrase. Would you like to be happy or would you like to be right? You might think that all the knowledge gives you happiness and the fact that you can state it to others how much you know. But sadly, this costs you your happiness. I am still fascinated about the people who watch all those game shows, but I know better that having the right knowledge focused on the right activities is way more valuable than having encyclopedia knowledge. So sometimes, by saying no and focusing on your own things is way more valuable than wasting your time by watching and reading so many facts.

 Have you ever had your luggage being lost by the airline company? It's terrible experience. Especially if you are visiting someone and you are bringing gifts. Even worse, if you know that in one day you need to move to a different place. In EU, even though there must be some sort of compensation, it is very hard to figure out what you need to do. And on top of that, it is even more inconvenient to send that gift to your friend once you receive your luggage. The airline companies must find a better logistic way to sort this kind of problems! But until they treat every case with the same urgency, the travelers will treat every airline company the same way. No wonder why more and more travelers don't even care about airline brand and service, but only about the price. The moral of the story is if you don't know how to support your customer when the things are worse for them, don't expect them to do something for you too!  

 No matter what people try to make you believe, traveling as a process is quite boring. Especially now, you have to stay in the airport with face masks and be even earlier at the airport. But boring is good. If you know how to utilize your time during boring times, you will be able to be successful in life. Because we can train ourselves to focus on the things we want to complete. Maybe you wanted to learn something new, read a book or practice drawing. You can do it during the down time the so called boring times. I always try to utilize the boring times and learn something. This is how I completed another degree during the Covid pandemic. My question for you is how come you also use boring times and become a better version of yourself?

 Many things can affect our mood. Including the cold winter weather. Unfortunately, the professionals can't afford to fall into the excuse trap. Because once you start, it's all done into the rabbit hole. The weather is bad; I feel tired, I can do this tomorrow. It's all excuses and you might have the best excuse in the world which worked when you are in highschool, but when you grow up, no one will give you points for your excuses. If you want to see proof, look no further than tennis players. They need to play no matter the circumstances, because at the end of the year they will be judged not because of the good excuses, but by the rank they took during the year.

Once you achieve something, you want to be surrounded by people who get it and are part of your peer group. Once you buy a flat, then you have so many things in common with other flat owners. Once you have a partner, you want to meet other couples. Once you start to regularly go to the gym, you want to hangout with other gym rats. This could apply to negative things. Once you start gambling, you will be surrounded by gamblers. Be careful what you start, because this might really change your life and your social group. Start something good worth being surrounded by people you admire!  

 You can schedule many things, meetings, events, trips. Use scheduling to your advantage. Computer and notifications distract us from our goal to be productive. Looking at TikToks or Instagram or other social media, hour after hour is not healthy. Schedule your social media time and see how much more productive you can be. The challenge is this: do you really want to be more productive?

 It was last week that people were thinking that BTC is a goner. The price plunge of 20% was enormous, but yet again it bounced back. What does it mean? Better solutions surpass technologies, yet again BTC stays on the same pedestal for over 10 years. Is BTC perfect? Or does something else make it so appealing? Only the future will tell if BTC will keep its crown!

 Each and every single one of us lives in their own reality. Some of us are blessed to live in a reality of opportunities, others in reality of despair. It's strange to see more often than not the raise of the percentage of people arguing on the social medias. One of the reason for that is that the two people who argue see the world differently. It is getting harder and harder to make a point. You just need to spend so much time to educate people to see your reality. This is true for business too. If it's hard to sell your goods, then you better try to move to the reality of your customers, because they for sure will not want to see the world as you see it. Not with the time you have, and not with the budget you have. Some companies managed to do so, companies like Uber and Airbnb. Something previously unthinkable is part of our reality. But many more had failed. Would you have the time and money to convince people, then go for it? If not, sometimes it's better to shut up,

 There is something magical about being committed to do something regularly. No matter if it's sports or writing or business or something else. Just keep working towards what you want to achieve! In the end, if you enjoy it, it will be time well invested!

 There are many cures for procrastination. One I know as very affective is the time boxing method. If something is hard, just spare 1 - 5 - 10 - 20 minutes on it. If you don't feel like working out, do just one push up. If you don't feel like writing, just write one sentence. Sometimes, that is all there is to unblock your creativity and help you keep going.

 I read some comments on LinkedIn about a fortune cookie advice. What is a fortune cookie advice you might ask? It is a quote someone shared that is so generic that people would either accept it blindly, because a famous person had used it or find many use cases that this advice is extremely impractical and complain about it. That is why it is never a good idea to give fortune cookie advice!

 One thing that I found out is purchasing a home is an enormous decision and you must not take it lightly. Do the research way in advance. Find a specialist who can support you in this decision, because you and I might not be the experts in this area. Better spend more many and ask experts before you make the purchase instead of spending even more money asking experts afterwards to help you with fixing all the issues you find out.

 What is social media for? Is it to have a meaningful discussions, or is it for people to show off? A lot of time, we share things that are not understood by others and we end up wasting tons of time explaining ourselves.   Sometimes it is better to walk away and don't bother and use your energy to create something meaningful.

 It is hard to achieve something without commitment. Try to learn language, do sports and so on. Maybe you already suffer from the New Year resolution syndrome and you experience this firsthand? Instead of blaming lack of time or different priorities, accept your responsibilities and either let go or commit fully to the process.  

 One product I really like is Moov. The idea is amazing, but now when I checked their app store and social media, they seem to be abandoned. No new posts since 2018 and no new app updates for over 2 years. What does it mean for me as a user? My confidence in this product is shaken. Would there be an adequate support? Will I receive new updates? Another great product I enjoy is TypeMatrix. They seemed to share the same social media silence. How come good products gave up on being noticeable? Posting is for free, but people judge your products by the amount of engagement you have. Maybe they had created their tribe of fans buying their services and they don't need additional market share? I doubt it. Companies are hurt when they lack UX Content Strategy . And this is something we can all take away. You might have the best product or service, but if you are unable to promote it daily and reach out to your target customers, it will be very hard for you to be successful!    

 This year, I would like to improve my language skills. I am thinking, is it another try, or am I really moving to the right directions. I need this language more often now and it seems the practical thing to do. However, I will be missing out on different things and this is the place where I need to weight pros and cons to make the decision. Do you do the same when you decide what you do with your time? Sometimes, the best thing to do is to let go. However, for me at the moment, this year will be another try.

 Today I looked at interesting video on designing your life. One of the interesting idea about the misconceptions when designing your life is that we need to be passionate. I love what I do, but it is very hard to be passionate all the time. One amazing quote I listen to was "Wanting what you get, instead of getting what you want". Many people are afraid to make the next step just because they could be disappointed. Today's society is extremely passive. We are waiting for good things to happen and we are fearful when they don't. But this is the passion trap. We need to learn to let go of the high expectations and follow our vision. However, we must also check regularly if we are on the right track or not. The rest is to work hard and have habits to support what you want to do. Passion is just optional.