During the last months, I joined a group of four other passionate fellows to compete in an Accenture case competition. Our goal was not to compete but to win.
(more…)Tag: Personal Development
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Team Work and Self-Awareness
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2 min read
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Reserve some Time for Yourself
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2 min read
I felt overwhelmed during the last weeks. I was running a business, writing three exams, participating in a case competition, and preparing a few presentations. Last Friday I felt totally exhausted and I didn’t know what to work on or what to focus on. One thing was clear: I must have some time for myself in nature.
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In Germany, there is a very good saying which says: Einmal ist keinmal. It is translated into English with once won’t hurt. But in my opinion, the German saying is expressing the same thing differently. A literal translation would be: Once is not once – but well, it sounds pretty strange in English and in the end the idea is the same.
However, I found out that this saying is completely wrong. Whether you say einmal ist keinmal or once won’t hurt. It’s wrong. I learned that it is a very harmful excuse for people to skip a good habit for a day.
Once Won’t Hurt is an Excuse for Losers
So when do you actually use the saying once won’t hurt? I realized that we use this saying to get our own permission to do something stupid. In other words: by acting according to this saying we are looking for an excuse to break a bad habit or to do something we know is wrong or even harmful.
In the last weeks, I acted like a loser. Now ask yourself why I acted like a loser. The answer is because I acted according to this harmful saying of once won’t hurt or einmal ist keinmal. Not once but even multiple times.
There was a day where I absolutely didn’t feel like writing nor blogging. I said to myself: “Marius, einmal ist keinmal. Before you write a shitty story today wait until tomorrow and you’ll write something more qualitative”.
Guess what I did the next day. Did I write a more qualitative blog post? No! I did not write a blog post at all! This small decision destroyed my habit of daily blogging (until today of course).Then I had the plan to wake up earlier to find some time for my morning routine. It worked out great until recently. There was one evening where I realized that to continue my morning routine I would not get my desired 7-8 hours of sleep but rather 5 hours. I said to myself: “Marius, once won’t hurt”. WRONG! Skipping my habit once DID HURT the development of my habit. This small saying which told me that once won’t hurt literally hurt me developing a habit of waking up early.
In fact, I see many people which are acting according to this saying.
– I am on a diet. Well, it’s one cheeseburger. Once won’t hurt. WRONG
– I quit smoking but well, one cigarette. Once won’t hurt. WRONG
– I want to learn for my university course every day. Except for today, once won’t hurt. WRONGIn every scenario acting according to this saying hurts. The saying once won’t hurt is absolutely wrong – not because one cheeseburger or one cigarette is especially harmful – but because this attitude destroys your habit. I experienced it myself. If you skip it once, it is very likely that you will skip it another time and another time.
Once will hurt. Don’t skip your habit. Stay with it.
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How to Quit Being Shy in front of an Audience
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4 min read
Presenting, public speaking, participating in discussions, and stating one’s own opinion is harder for some people than for others. I never had a problem to present my ideas in front of an audience. Public speaking has never been a problem
(more…)for me. Many other people are desperately afraid to do all these things. While they might have a strong opinion about something they are not able to express it. They are tremendously intelligent but they cannot present their amazing ideas to team members, work associates, their boss or professor. -
Time-Related Stress: It is Simply not Worth It
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4 min read
What is
(more…)the time? Yesterday I read an article by a time scientist. Until yesterday I did not even know that you can become a time, scientists. Well, the real reason why I read the article is that the headline said: “Being on time is completely unnecessary”. Am I looking for excuses for being late? No, I simply like the approach of questioning our current concept of time, clocks, minutes, and seconds. -
Just a few weeks ago I decided to make a Monday morning run my new routine. Every Monday I will wake up, get into my running clothes, drink one liter of water and a small oat-drink and start running.
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Change your Attitude and Manage your Time
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3 min read
A few weeks ago I accepted a side job to finance my monthly expenses and to finance my business. The good thing about this side job is that I only have to work 18 hours a week. To put it differently: I work around 6 hours for 3 days a week.
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Break your Morning Routine = Break your whole Day
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1 min read
Woke Up Late – A Mistake?
Today I woke up late. With late I mean 8.30AM. My morning was totally unproductive, my noon as well. Right now I am sitting at my desk and I try to reflect what might have been the problem. One thing I just realized is that I woke up pretty late today. Might this be the reason for an unproductive morning? Maybe.
In general, I have very good experiences with the habit of waking up early. I think that my days are more productive the earlier I get up and the more sports I do.
Today I woke up late and I postponed my gym training until late in the evening. By breaking your morning routine your break your day.
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Why you should try to have one day off
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2 min read
Today is a regular Sunday but I did something unusual for me: I took a day off. Usually, I spend 7 days a week on stuff including at least half of a Sunday. Today I didn’t. I rejected to set an alarm clock for less than 8 hours of sleep. So I woke up at 8:30 AM. It feels amazing to have 8 hours of sleep! Then I enjoyed a great breakfast, a good coffee, and some chit-chat with my girl. Right after lunch, I headed to the gym while video calling a friend who is currently in Australia. After a great gym session, I enjoyed a great walk outside while the sun was shining.
In short: I didn’t sit down at the desk before 7 PM.
Right now I feel great. I feel refreshed and I am ready for the upcoming week. This Sunday off feels like a very healthy choice for my body and I think it is a great thing some hustlers should try themselves as well. Quit your daily routine on a Sunday (or whichever day you want) and simply do everything differently. Calm down, go to the gym, read some books but don’t sit at your desk the whole day.
The strange thing: I don’t even feel bad about achieving “nothing” but my body feels refreshed.
Enough for today, have a great start into the next week!
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6 Days of Commuting = 1,5 Books
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2 min read
Do you also frequently commute to your work or to some customers? Within the last two days, I used 6 days of commuting to finish an entire book. Here is how I did it.
Since last year I need to commute to Oberhausen 3 times a week. Each drive takes me around 45 minutes one way. In total, this sums up to a driving time of 540 minutes or 9 hours of commuting. Within 6 days I spend 540 minutes in my car commuting between two cities. Instead of wasting the time by listening to music I use the time to listen to audiobooks.
Your mind is working faster than we can speak or read so I usually set the audiobook on 1.4 speed.
9 hours of driving times 1.4 equals an audio book of 12.6 hours.Within the last 6 days of commuting, I finished the audiobook of “Predictably Irrational” (My rating: 9/10) by Dan Ariely. This book has a playtime of 7,5 hours which leaves me with an additional 5,1 hours of listening time. After I finished listening to “Predictably Irrational” I started listening to another audio book and now I am half way through it.
Just think about how much time you spend commuting and how much time you waste by simply listening to non-sense radio or music. Get an Audible subscription or buy audio books on iTunes or the Play Store.
My last word on music: I don’t think that it is bad listening to music in the car. I think it’s great and I do it daily. I simply limit it to a few uplifting songs. I don’t listen to 2 hours of shitty pop music but instead, I listen to my favorite 3 songs and that’s it.
What is your opinion on audiobooks and commuting? Leave a comment below and I will join the discussion!