As I almost close my laptop for a few days of rest after a very intense year, I stare at my to do list and smile at the checked boxes ✅. One is still empty: “write 2023 reflection’.
Geez where to start.
By the end of 2022 I had no work. I had left the company I had helped start up and I had taken a few months to reflect and do nothing. Doing nothing is definitely not my forte but I needed it and it worked. My dog and I saw every park, beach and woods in the South West of Holland in those months.
At the end of December I flew to Bangkok for a university teaching gig and a project opportunity that was worth the gamble. I flew back at the end of January with a 90% chance of having landed the project of my dreams. The stars were favorable and the work started. Meanwhile another project in the south of Thailand landed, that was possibly even closer to my heart. Two Dutch projects came my way and I was in business. And now I can’t believe it’s January 2024 already. And it’s time to reflect.
So here are some things I am proud of that I achieved this year:
- I’m proud of having landed on my feet after the big switch I made: from being a director in a 100 people international consultancy, to sailing solo again. I thought it would be harder than it actually is. I love the freedom it gives me, the time for reflection, taking my own decisions, following my own gut, and having zero meetings that are not about content. It brings me back to the core of my entrepreneurship, which is all about purpose and passion.
- I’m proud that my daily work now combines three things I deeply love:
- I have always loved my craft: strategic experience design and innovation.
- I have also loved how in the past 5 years I’ve been able to apply my craft to the domain of urban challenges and sustainable living environments.
- And I have always loved being on, in and near water (sailing, motor boating, swimming, walking my dog along rivers and beaches) and I’ve loved all things on, in and near water (boats and all water mobility, marine life, especially whales, and coastal urban developments). Believe it or not, my work is now a perfect mix of those three passions and I’m intensely grateful for it.
- I’m proud that I’m strategically involved in solving relevant issues that I care about and that contribute to a better world: I’m working on helping communities become more resilient to flooding, on electrifying water mobility, on creating solutions to live on water, on marine wildlife rescue and conservation, on avoiding collisions between ships and whales, on more sustainable real estate development through digital innovation and on reimagining the visitor experience of a museum and the role it plays in the city. Thank you MQDC – Magnolia Quality Development Corporation, Blue Carbon Society, Heembouw, Museum Prinsenhof Delft and Whale Guardians™ for your trust and making my dreams come true.
- I’m proud that I’m taking life easier and work slower. I’m proud that I take my dog on long walks almost every day and that sometimes I even manage to leave my phone at home ;). I’m planning my weeks to leave room to breathe, exercise, sail and work on my boats. I’m saying no to things more often (and in a gentler way). I like being 54. I like being a more adult version of myself. I like not being too busy and not bloating my ego with endless stage presence and meetings that sound cool but are actually toxic.
- I’m proud that my work is all about people and relationships. That my clients and partners trust me and that they enjoy working with me. I always invest a lot in bringing myself to work, and to be present, personal, vulnerable and human. Because I believe this attitude forges bonds that are essential for innovation. And it works well for me. I truly enjoy the company of the people I work for and with, and they feel like friends I can trust and be myself with. We have fun, we dare to be exposed and we get a lot of shit done ;). Thank you Aisoon Sucharitkul Wim Rampen Fred Montijn Chaiyong Ratana-Angkura Wip Vinyaratn Kath Vasinee Saeng-Uraiporn Noppadol Weerakitti Marciano Birjmohun Alijd van Doorn Léon Heddes Peter Holleman Roland van Oostrom, Gert-Jan van Lubeek, Nattapong Punnoi, Delphi Waters Michael Fishbach, Danielle de Jongh Christiaan Weiler Gulay Ozkan Roy Gilsing 🔩 Maarten Scheffer
And here are some things I aim to do better next year:
- I want to focus even more. I really deeply believe that I can make myself useful by focusing on experience design for urban challenges that happen where cities meet rivers, seas and oceans. It may sound like a niche within a niche but there’s a tremendous amount of beautiful work to be done: coastal urban developments, flood resilience, fresh water supply, public transport over water, electrification of leisure and utility boats, marina design, river cleaning, marine wildlife protection, blue carbon, the protein transition, floating cities, marine aquaculture. This is work I want to do 🌊🐋.
- I want to slowly move away from a 100% fee based consultancy model. All throughout my career I’ve been advising others what to do and I’m good at it ;). But I am open to start practicing what I’ve been preaching and move towards launching a product service innovation of my own or taking a stake in the services I design. Every time I visit a boat builder (and I love visiting boat builders, thank you Igor Kluin, Godert van Hardenbroek and Arnoud Gregorowitsch for the inspiration) I think: wow: these people are actually making something, inventing something, making a dream come true. I want to listen to my heart when it gets excited. But the right opportunity needs to come along. And I need to be aware of the kind of entrepreneur I am. And the kind I’m not. So: to be continued.
- I want to practice some of the things I learned in temples in Thailand and through my coach Ariane Grigo: I want to embrace more silence to funnel my inspiration, I want to focus more to increase my impact and I want to exercise more to harness my physical and spiritual strength 💆🏼🧘🏼🤸🏼. I am a guy who’s always a little too busy with networking coffees, who reads news on the toilet, who answers countless whatsapps just before going to sleep and who has team calls while walking my dog. That’s not the way of the enlightened one ;-). I am a spiritual being but I can also be a Duracell bunny 🐰🥁 ;). Very slowly I am slowing down and it brings only good things. So more of that in 24.
Thank you all for being inspiring, patient and supportive. Onwards. See you on linked in and hopefully on, in or near the water 😉 🤟🏼🙏🏼
