A new awakening
In October 2006 after going through a difficult time with my agency, triggered by issues I was having with a customer, I became aware of how my state of mind affected the quality of my daily work and the relationships to the people I work with. I also realised that my mental state in turn was to a large degree determined by how I was feeling physically and emotionally. It became apparent to me that my physical state determined my emotional state which again determined the way I interpreted the goings-on around myself and as a result the way I communicated and acted. One of the main reasons why I left the prepared path of pursuing a corporate carreer was that I felt more like a rat in the treadmill, selling energy and quality life-time to a corporation in return for security. I had a different vision. Back in October 2006, I realised that I needed to reconnect to this vision . Although working as a free-lance entrepreneur struggling to keep his business going, I suddenly realised that I had the most valuable possession right here in my hands: the ability to make my own decision over how I wanted to spend my time. The experience of the past view weeks had also led to the conclusion that working non-stop in front of my Mac didn’t lead to creative solutions. I realised that I needed to re-structure my working day, making room for creativity and catharsis. Deeply anchored in my office were the tasks of administrative and operational work, leaving little space for the creative . Still, changing places, dedicating a different setting to the creative tasks at hand appeared not to be enough. The solution could only be found on a higher level, where it was possible to widen my perspective. In reflection upon the situation, I realised that my body was the key and that the solution lay there just in front of me, materialised in the Asics Gel Kayano that I had bought the summer before. My realisation appears to be an obvious one for someone with a long football career in his rearview mirror, still for me it was a break-through. I started to introduce a weekly routine of runs into my work day and soon noticed the difference these forays into the woods of Leechwald made for me. These runs distracted my attention, cleared my mind, injected fresh air into my lungs and stimulated my metabolism. Returning from these runs, I felt like new born, happy, in tune with myself and the world. Although the runs cut out one to two hours from my work day, they appeared to be a real time safer. I became more efficient and – most of all – better able to stay cool and focused in difficult situations. It was like a new awakening. I believe in goals because I think efforts need a direction. Attractive goals also stimulate motivation . In order to spice up my running even more, I decided to take part at a marathon . After my first marathon in Vienna in April 2007, the time has now come for my second. It takes place next Sunday, October 14, in Graz, just round the corner of our flat. No matter how it turns out, we will be celebrating with beer and chili-con-carne afterwards with friends .
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