noochi

A Fresh, New Decade is upon us! I strongly feel that great things will happen, as we all open our eyes in acceptance of reality and opportunity.

If you dream about a change for too long, without taking action towards it, you become unreliable as a person. Tons of literature, coaches, whatever, will help you break down your goals into easily executable pieces, but you already know instinctively what you have to do.

As 2009 has come to an end, I feel particularly grateful for my ab fab O, for my modern family and gorgeous friends. My Granny died in the Fall and it was Nature’s cause and a merciful death. She was my only grandparent and now I have none. I feel grateful for everything she taught me and for her love. I don’t fear death, because I live. Its a new family structure though. My parents are the old ones now. I’m the grown up.

In 2009 I have (pretty much) done what I set my mind to (travel plans slightly altered but I am very content). That makes me feel strong. I want to be physically stronger too. And I want to analyze less before I take action. These are my new year’s resolutions. I will leave some excess fat and redundant analysis behind.

Although there are tons of things to criticize about our planet, War, Recession, climate going to hell, I feel that trends look promising. The underground values become mainstream.

I thank everyone who stretches the norms. Everyone who shares and cares and do their own thing, or who follow with their eyes wide open. Please share what you plan on leaving behind or doing differently moving ahead.

My motto for 2010: ACT (rather than reACT).

tags:act, appreciation, family, friendship, new year

i am not a parent. but trying to imagine your lifes, my friends, makes me certain that this is the case: kids & grown-ups will never really understand each other. at least, kids will never understand adults. when they do, that’s exactly when they are no longer kids. when you start to feel that life really is about being in the reality of things (as martin krasnik said somewhere). and not about planning for future achievements and goals and dreams. not too many vivid daydreams of what living, loving, eating, working, sleeping, partying, hanging, singing and, and, and…will be like. you realize that the meal you have cooked for yourself, you have cooked out of choice. this is the meal you are presenting yourself with! eat it. or think of something else to cook. circumstances play a part too, i guess. where have i put myself? oh, here i am…

it’s a bit ridiculous, really… that, as i grow up, i start to feel that the whole society has been put around to fulfill my needs alone. yet, is it clear which of them built the other? needs didn’t necessarily come first. we need to consider quite frequently, if we get numbed by all sorts and types of instant gratifications? life is too short for crap.

part of growing up is also that you don’t mind blending in so much anymore. no need to live in a white castle. a # in an apartment building is fine. tasteful and discrete. nothing too fancy. why? because you are here. in the real world. god put a smile on your face. and it’s important in my view, to try and do something to make a difference. even if its tiny. wonderful mother theresa said it. all the time. constantly. try to improve your social surroundings with what you can. i cleaned the elevator in my apartment building today (its been bugging me for a while). that, blipping some mighty fine music, and this blog post (!) was all i had for the world on valentine’s day.

that was the day i wrote the majority of this post… but it had a kind of capitalist sidetrack that i needed to edit out before publishing. don’t know why it took me so long. but i wrote it on that day, because i missed you. i want to grow up with you. a bit longer, please. and remind you to love hard and laugh out loud with your friends (as well as your kids) once in a while. life is this. i hope you had a sweet day, as i did with my ab fab valentine. thank you for growing up along my side. x

tags:friendship, growing up, materialism, valentine, zen

one of the best pieces of advice i embraced in 2008 came from danish king of entrepreneurship, martin thorborg, and is: FACE YOUR SHIT! in this post, i want to pass on a highly efficient way of ensuring this. this was presented to me by the danish podcaster of the year 2008, jette harthimmer (who interviewed thorborg, which is how i became familiar with the face your shit-anthem). she makes a living on giving advice, and presented the following on her annual new year’s course, which i was happy to attend. she is cool and said it herself: its not a secret, so pass it on (i still asked for permission). visualizing is not enough, and reminders to take action will always be needed. let’s get started:

think of yourself as a garden. facing your shit means that you can have a blooming garden in which you feel truly happy. this requires:

seed

water

fertilizer (organic, of course)

time

1) seeding

take every aspect of your life and list it. for example personal growth, love life, friends, work, home, hobbies, health/ body, finances, being a citizen etc. for each area, write down a wish list for how you’d like things to be. and don’t be too rational. if you want to look like scarlett johansson, write it down. if you want to be a guru in your field, write it down. if you want a u-boat, put it on paper. in the present tense, as if they were already true. i am healthy. i kick ass in my field. i have a loving relationship. i know what my field is. i have a ton of money in my account. prioritizing kicks in later!

write it, as if you were a child just old enough to write (write with your left hand if you are right-handed, if you want to make sure your old habits and norms don’t play too much of a trick on you)! be honest to yourself now. listenlistenlisten to your inner voice. and don’t be too rigid in your wishes and requirements. you may for example change the look like scarlett into i am “#¤% hot… or instead of writing being a .NET evangelist at microsoft you can write share my passion for technology with like-minded. this way you remain open to the fact that the universe might actually have something better for you, than a copy cat appearance or a job at microsoft.

2) water

now, read your lists carefully and assess which areas need change. choose and circle in at least 3 elements with which you are not willing to compromise, from each of these areas. if where there is a discrepancy between what you do not wish to compromise and how you currently live your life, take action.

write down 5 very achievable actions that you can pull through in direction of your goal. if for example you have that secret scarlett-wish you could put down buy shoes for running, call a friend for running company, run, buy luscious lip stick, pamper myself with a massage. that’s good enough! no need to overdo it. baby steps are fine, as long as you do at least one thing from one of your lists per day.

replace the actions on your list as you carry them out to keep your watering can filled up.

3) fertilize (if you want to speed things up)

read the most important goals from your wish list and the connected actions out loud every morning, or make a vision board and hang it where you see it the most. make little mottos for yourself reminding you to stop worrying and take action instead. it actually requires less energy. put them on the fridge, in your wallet, anywhere you see them often. i changed all my passwords into something joyful that i want to achieve. it is very efficient, actually.

4) time

enjoy the journey. praise yourself for each action carried out. commend yourself for taking charge of your own life and your own happiness. enjoy being the captain of your own soul!

thank you, jette hartimmer. your welcome.

tags:enlightment, freedom, happiness, inspiration, new year, notafraid, will, zen

stress is so uncool. embarrassing, really. yet recently i have been the most tense and most ruthlessly targeted version of myself. and i did not like it. because i slowly realized that i was determined to reach all the wrong goals. i guess my soon-to-be-former employer would tend to disagree that i accomplished the wrong things, but important yet forgotten birthdays, friends in “project” contours and wrinkles getting deeper ahead of time beg to differ. there is no hocus-pocus to it, i know my stressors.

one of them a job change. instead of becoming an internet millionaire immediately, i decided to quit my job, and take on another. the playing field for working in a highly constructive manner at the place i am going to is simply too appealing (worked there before)! so i decided to spend some more time learning. by doing. practicing to communicate what i’ve learned in a more efficient manner, and facilitate that others develop in a good way.

another stressor, or perhaps a symptom of my stress, has been that i felt mainstream. awfully mainstream. although i’m not sure that is the worst thing you can be (and this was “relaxation hour” in my oh-so-busy life). i’ve now decided to look at it like this: i am a professional. i aim at being a front runner in my work while actually getting the job done. follow the books when these make the most sense, and continue to ignore the poorly written ones and experiment with the right things. for now, that is cool enough for me. and i guess that stressing after the wrong things - even though its not a sound investment - contains a strong energy, and i’ve been lucky that my hands grabbed the right tasks. or well… i actually don’t know.

i want more art on this blog again. more clever parties. more friendship, love and talent. no stress. all passion.tags:dayjob, love, stress

22nd of september is declared earth day for the internet by one web day (since 2006). this year’s topic is “online participation in democracy”. to honor this initiative, here’s my modest say on the topic:

reach. kiva.org, micro-lending site, loans that change lives. kiva has experienced such a spike in traffic that very often, there are no entrepreneurs left to lend to. they’re all funded and transaction stats are out in the open. the organization simply can’t keep up with people’s willingness to give in this way. what a potential!!! huge!!! if organized in the right way, this concept could change the balance of this world into a better one!

money doesn’t do it. a cool friend of mine works as a new media fund raiser for red cross… she makes use of e.g. youtube& facebook to get the message across. almost a must in b2c. and so the channels for utilizing viral qualities from peer to peer are heavily explored exploited for commercial interests which clutter the space and makes it extremely difficult to get through the noise… if the message is strong enough, if your home video is truly funny (no link on purpose), if the interface makes it easy to act while people are there, you can involve them. with no other resources than your internet connection and your right to communicate. corporations spend sick amounts trying and failing.

perspective. i laughed loud and from the gut… quite a few times before i had enough. watch the richter scales‘ interpretation of the new bubble below (i too have a web millionaire inside who hasn’t come out yet!). they even predict that we all blog about them… the wannabees and the failed entrepreneurs. but also just people for whom it adds life quality to get a new outlook on things from the comfort of their own sofas, and who share taste and humor. peers and experts in all fields. they’re here.

voice. this blog has an average of 10 daily visits… and it holds very few comments. however, the people who did comment, mainly commented because i wrote my opinion about them. and they responded. that makes me proud… that is also practicing democracy. it gives me a strong feeling of safety as a human being. that i can speak my mind… even if it is in a way that clutters the space… and there is a chance that the right people hear it.

coordination. before i get too ceremonious, i also think stumbleupon demonstrates a kind of e-democracy, even if its a little bit passive for participation… and even if it has, and may increasingly have, a strong commercial aspect (according to this interesting article that i stumbledupon on… humpf… tophostingcenter.com) … our voices as consumers of products as well as information count. and mass culture is perhaps not as dangerous on the internet as elsewhere, because we have become so brilliant at searching and sorting through to the information we want. tophostingcenter.com posted an interesting pov and is immediately remunerated.

more e-democracy heroes at one web day for your web education. these folks probably know better…tags:blogging, democracy, kiva, participation

i’ve explored claircasts, podcasts (all in danish) made by jette harthimmer, clairvoyant and award-winning podcaster. she explained to me, in a very charming and transferable way, the meaning of life. it is about listening to your intuition and to give something back. very true. and i listened (for 2 full hours!) to jette harthimmer interviewing martin thorborg, godfather of danish entrepreneurs, speaking about life and business in a very inspiring way. what i brought with me from the martin thorborg podcast:

free is worth so much more than 0,001 cent, so give real value away. no bull shit.

add on and charge after you gave it away.

live your dreams – if for nothing else, to avoid waste of your life regretting that you didn’t.

say no to ad offers and phone sales men. stick to pr. its efficient and its free.

keep your focus in one place.

FACE YOUR SHIT. don’t fool yourself. stop making excuses. life doesn’t start when you go on vacation, it’s right here.

re-evaluate the norms and revise them.

don’t settle for less. mediocrity sucks. and it sucks big time!

a great idea is worth nothing in the hands of incompetent people.

give your best ideas away. get it out and get over it. enjoy that others prove it… or prove it wrong.

don’t worry. you’ll get another idea. and it will not be a problem.

clever guy. more instructions for life. keep it simple. you are the captain of your own soul. the captain of your own soul is you.tags:belief, entrepreneurs, feelgood, freeconomics, listening, podcasts

the status line of one of my linkedin connections made me curious about zenzuu. a half-way empty (real estate wise that is - seems packed with folks) and perhaps-a-good-idea community. a quick pep talk later i signed up. i now have one more profile. i have so many profiles its actually absolutely absurd when you come to think about it. my name-and-email passports get me every where i want to go on oh! so many levels (no microsoft ad intended)…

yeah… i know that makes me sound a hundred years old in the sweet world of geeks… but i think it is a sound reflection. don’t just pollute our beloved space. read about it. ask others. investigate. check it out. decide for yourself. curiosity is a good thing… and my connection’s argument that it is a fascinating development we’re witnessing convinced me. will report back if i make any money with it (and feel free to sign up under me :-)) - perhaps we will get rich together.

i hereby mark this post with a ? (and if the video below goes black - take it as a sign).
added september 20: i replaced the embedded video with a jpg. made up my mind now…

tags:community, money

i am listening (passive and reflective) at the moment. to inspiring voices in my network, and to critical voices too. some believe it, some don’t. and i am looking. at courage in others (henriette who quit her job and started a network and event organization with a friend, and dorthe who sells slippers with a friend, for example). and i am trying to think like a genius:

8. Prepare yourself for chance.
Whenever we attempt to do something and fail, we end up doing something else. That is the first principle of creative accident. Failure can be productive only if we do not focus on it as an unproductive result. Instead: analyze the process, its components, and how you can change them, to arrive at other results. Do not ask the question “Why have I failed?”, but rather “What have I done?”

all it takes is doing… says my own inner voice.tags:courage, genius, inspiration, listening, toilet art

4 out of 5 grandparents in my family were entrepreneurs, and 3 out of 4 were even entrepreneurs by choice. probably the foxiest among them is shown in the picture above: clara thorhauge at the age of 21, taken in 1929. i’ve made a slightly superficial description of my entrepreneurial family roots, as i feel it fits my blog. tags:entrepreneurs, family, independence, love

this time of year is the most beautiful one, here in denmark. the sun is warm and shining through my open windows, and i hear the sounds of people enjoying it, as i engage in the first noochi-related “privately held”, semi-commercial web project. i like the idea of making little projects, finish them, and learn from them. i have started to believe that this is the way forward… instead of waiting for that one brilliant idea. there is a ton of energy in going for little ideas, and in carrying out asap. more to follow when i have something to show for it. i feel very enthusiastic about my future as an entrepreneur (as well as an employee, btw). and very grateful for the feedback from beloved friends and cool network! my hands of ideas now pay off.

tags:idea generation, inspiration, photos, support, work