Last night I attended a seminar in Brussels. I could not find a parking spot nearby so I had to quite a walk. I was quite late when the seminar ended. During that time there was still a lot of activity in the city but I felt like the city was preparing itself for a quiet night. Considering the situation this was the perfect situation for the kind of thought that you also get when your are travelling by train.

Brussels is a city I am not that familiar with. I have to admit that in fact I am not that crazy about the city.  But that night suddenly the feeling hit me that everything around me was ultimately placed there by another person. At the same time I was amidst all the anonymity of a big city and sourrended by a maximum of human effort. Instead of the prevailing perception of a city being technological and without a spirit I perceived the city as being organic and with a soul. It is really strange to describe the feeling I had at that moment. I certainly put a smile on my face and it was the best moment of my day.  I hope to have the same experience with other cities.

Bottom line: let the town you live in surprise you.

When I was a kid I always felt somewhere in between. When I was playing in one playground I did not really fit in because I was to much like those other kids playing in another neighbourhood. Then when I went playing in the other playground with those other kids I did not really fit in neither. Yes, because I was too much like the ones I mentioned before. I had really good friends in all the playgrounds I went and every time I turned up we all enjoyed the time together. So that is not the issue. I think the interest to search for something unknown and new was there. Those days I really did not think about it but it appears to me that I wanted to share the best of several “worlds” to my friends.

I was a member of two different scouts groups at the same time. That too gave rise to a lot of questions why I was into that other group. I guess I just wanted to enjoy the different ambiance in the groups. I tried lots of different sports (I stuck with athletics forever though) because I liked learning the techniques and the different kinds of activities.

During my years at university I really enjoyed getting a scientific education but at the same time I went to language courses during the evenings. I thought there is more than just left brain or right brain (not or but and). I had the luck to have the opportunity to go to study abroad for a longer period. I guess that really triggered my further decisions to gain international contacts. I got active in an international student organisation and got to know great people from all over Europe.

During my first professional experience I had the opportunity to develop a team. I am really humble in saying that I was a full-time learning experience. The urge to interact with people from other departments and to help the organisation grow did stick with me. I was the lighting match of an initiative that looks to the future of youngster in the organisation and the future of the organisation itself. The will to do a project abroad lingered though. Finally I got the opportunity I had worked for so hard. I am able to go on a mission in India and Middle East for at least a year. A year of pure entrepreneurship and personal challenges. I can say I am up to it even though I know I will encounter some humps along the road.

That is why I feel so good today. Really! So forgive me that I overused the “I” word in this post.

Bottom line: Just go for it!

Having to keep your mouth shut about something and not talk about it or mention it to your peers can create a strangling effect on your thinking in the long run. It is quite normal to have your own secrets, that’s not what I am talking about. The difficulty lies not in keeping some trivial facts to yourself but lies rather in keeping stuff to yourself that can shake the ground of your peers. Mostly you’re very involved in these situations because you are for instance very excited about it.  Your involvement ensures that those yet unspoken thoughts come up your throat urging you to scream them out. The physical feeling of really having to swallow them down again is a reality. Also, on a mental stage, it really gets to you. These kind of knowledge is always in the back of your mind. It comes up playing in every situation you encounter. In the long run some situation will provoke a confession. It can be on an approprate time or premature. If it is already OK to talk about the issue no harm is done. If it is still premature make sure that you take the proper further steps.

Bottom line: Truth always finds a way out

In the dredges of our daily work we are too occupied to make much consideration about engaging personal projects. We’re busy trying to tie the ends of our tasks in our “normal” task program. Looking for opportunities that can bring benefit but don’t fit anywhere yet, is not on the hand.

That’s where some companies try to make wave and give some time to embark on personal projects. The 20% rule at google dictates that employees can take a day every week to think of new possibilities and to realise them.

Other companies calculate some extra money in the budgets they approve for company projects. This extra money they expect to be devoured on some side project an employee secretly is exploring.

In my opinion, these kind of initiatives are necessary to maintain a culture of innovation.

Bottom line: Give time and money and look away so something new that will be looked at can be created

I will start this one with an example out of my daily life and then look for the general behavior that is behind it.

Today I had some visitors in my appartment that I share with two friends of mine. You know what happens when people live together. Well, they tend to accumulate some stuff. Also, cleaning is a bit disregarded sometimes. Even though we have made some very clear rules about it, the execution of those rules is another matter. I already mentioned that we had some visitors coming. To give them a good impression about our apartment, we brushed and cleaned up our apartment nicely. I admit that it felt good to get to action, even though I am very fond of those cleaning tasks. It felt good because it provided some kind of a fresh start.

This takes me to the second part of this post. I felt somehow obliged to host my guests in a nice environment. In that view, our action to clean was externally driven. But at the same time, it felt good personally to take action. In that view, our action to clean was internally driven.

Now I wonder what trigger is the strongest in general. Is it the obligation we feel towards other people or is the self-interest we are seeking for. In my opinion the external trigger (obligations) is a very strong trigger for putting us into action. However, in the longer run we are looking for self-interest: we want to feel good about the thing we do. We want to give them some kind of perspective: will I benefit in the longer run?

To sum up, I believe that our environment is the strongest trigger for starting our actions. But in the longer run we want do do things that are in line with our goals and aspirations. In that view we are driven by self-interest.