14/9/2015
Packing, sorting, working
on selling my camper van, catching up with people. Rinse and repeat.
Been listening to 'Thedrunken taoist' podcast by Daniele Bolelli for quite a lot in the
last week. I've ordered his books so that I have some good reading
material when I return to Austria and been in email contact with him.
Sensational podcast – totally blows your mind. Daniele is a
university lecturer, author, mixed martial arts fighter, single
father since his wife died when their little girl was 19 months and a
lot more.
Brutally honest and not
afraid to speak the truth as he perceives it, the Drunken Taoist
podcast, despite being in the Philosophy section, is really about
life at its very nature. Daniele is peeling back several layers of
our filters, mostly the ones installed by our culture and religion.
He kicks and punches dogmas in the face with well presented
arguments. Luckily I've stumbled over his podcast after listening to
one of the very early Tangentially Speaking episodes, where Chris
Ryan interviews him. Shame there are not more lecturers at high
schools or universities like Daniele.
After getting in touch
with him by email, he sent me a small e-book he put together with
quotes from his books and future works to come. Some of them, whilst
unknown to me back them, sum up some of my thoughts why I wanted to
get out of the corporate world:
7:
"Fun" is not the antithesis of serious. It is only the
antithesis of boring.
18:
Rules are for people who are too stupid to live without rules.
20:
Dogmatic, unchanging rules are drunken elephants in the house of
crystal that is life. Rules without exceptions do more damage than
good, for they don't possess the necessary delicate touch to be able
to adjust the game plan to the present. By inviting us to follow the
same recipe in all contexts at all times, they force us to apply a
static model to a dynamic situation. Trusting an unchanging strategy
to work in a reality that is always changing is plain delusional.
102:
What I'm interested in is forging human beings who don't need laws to
remind them how to act.
[from: Daniele Bolelli –
Defiant Smiles & Middle Fingers: Quotes and Aphorisms]
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| A picture I found on my iPhone, and saved it before I handed it back |
With Alex' help, we
managed to stuff most of my belongings into the wooden crate for
shipping it back to Austria, close it and nail it shut. I hope it
stays that way. Dropped it at the depot where it will be stored until
the ship will leave Fremantle port around the 18/9/2015.
 |
| The wooden crate |
 |
| Before packing |
 |
| Filled up to the maximum |
On the reading front I've
finished Dale Cargenies classic: 'How to win friends and influence
people'. As I've discovered over the years in my work life, it is one
thing to do things well yourself, but in the end to make big things
happen, you need to be a really good leader to get your
tribe/coworkers to follow you and give their very best in order to be
really, truly successful.
Written in the
1930s, Dale is, from my perspective, the godfather of a lot of
today's leadership literature. Reading the book, you can partially
feel a distinct difference in our culture from more than 70 years
ago, but to me it is astounding how much was know already back then
by the upper class and higher management, who spent time on such
training. But where did they go and why did the paradigm shift that
much from back then until now?
I could identify a lot of
the concepts brought up in this book in newer literature that I read
over the last years. Hence, reading this book and thinking his
arguments through, could save you a lot of time.
I've started with BenjaminFranklin's 'Autobiography'. So far, a very interesting read,
originally published in 1793. Very old English though! Can be downloaded for free from Project Gutenberg.
It was fantastic to catch
up with so many people over the last several days. Delightful
conversations, walks, meals, drinks and lots of laughter. Truly great
way to finish a chapter in life. Hope I'll see those people again,
either in Australia, Austria or anywhere else on this planet.
The dinner at Harry's
place was an absolute highlight on Saturday evening. I've seen his
kids grow up over the last 5 years and it is amazing how well they
have developed. Harry's family has always made me feel very welcome
and I have many great memories from time spent with them. The
'Austrian' block in the Perth office is getting smaller and smaller,
now there is only Harry and Willie left.
Djuanda organized a
farewell bike ride (my second one, I already had one before I went on
my trip around Australia) and we were lucky weather wise – the rain
stopped the night before and the wind dropped as well. It was a cold
morning, but after a few kilometers I felt okay. As this was the
first time back on a bike since I broke my foot my body was badly out
of shape for riding, compared to last year. Luckily we did a 'social'
ride, and Alex, Djuanda and Rodriguez didn't punish me too much. It
is odd how sections that look almost flat when you are fit, are
really hilly when you are struggling. The bike paths in Perth and
around the river are amazing, and the scenery beautiful, to say the
least. Even riding along the freeway, with the river to your left
when you head towards the CBD, felt amazing to me again, despite my
protesting thighs.
Guess it is time to take
up some endurance and resistance training again, once I'm settled in
Austria.
Only one more night in
Australia, before my move back. It starts to dawn on me how big a
change in lifestyle this will mean. But it feels like the right time to make this change.
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