Things I've learned in 2006

• It's rather hard to give sincere compliments; it's possibly even harder to give sincere compliments that are in fact negative. And yet there's one that works about 90 percent of the time: insecurity. If you tell some girl she's insecure, she's not gonna slap you upside the head. She's not gonna yell at you, call you names. However, she will feel empowered because (finally) someone else noticed a trait in her that she values greatly.
• I used to think my most important motivation in life was to be right all the time. Win all negotiations, win every discussion, always be the (moral) victor; Although it is still an important motivation, there's one that trumps it: getting asked. I don't need to be right all the time, but I value greatly that everyone comes to me first for everything. That's why I put myself upfront for the owners' association, and the works council, and proposals at work, and giving training and so on and so on. And sometimes this snowballs and consumes me whole.
  
• I am completely unwilling to take a risk to be truly and completely happy in love. Several different opportunities presented themselves in which clearly one more step from me could seal the deal. And every single time I choose to back away instead. Now if I just keep doing that, it ceases being bad luck, and just becomes symptomatic. I choose to be unhappy, because otherwise, I wouldn't know what to do with myself. Nope, it's not a unique feeling I'm sure, but it is one that can only be felt and carried within.
  
• I learned people from my past apparently think I'm worth looking up, even after an extremely long amount of time. I didn't learn however why exactly. Given my newly found most important motivation, I am extremely honoured by it, but understand it I don't. I mean, have you seen me back then?
• Pro-action is a misunderstood concept; there's only this trait that allows you to remember everything and prepare for everything well ahead of time. It is being careful and disciplined. You react to gaps and issues, and that's not pro-action, it is a re-action. Except in this case the action is taken before the issue, instead of after. The concept pro-action people speak of and value highly should not be called like that. It should be entrepreneurship.
  
• People think and feel as they do, because they do. Your success in society depends greatly on if you can convince many or if you can convince key people to match your thinking and/or feelings. And you have to. If you just sit still and hope everyone will eventually make the world as it should be ideally, then you can wait for a bloody long time. Just like pro wrestling, you need to sell it to pop the crowd.
• I don't have a problem with my salary. I do however have a problem with what I am able to do with it. I perceive that given my environment, experience, track record, skills, attitude, strength, education etc. I should be able to go out every week, fly out for a vacation twice a year, buy and maintain an appartment, buy reasonably nice stuff, get proper health care, drive a nice car and so on. I should be trusted to be able to do so, but society doesn't, so I have to cave a little: no nice car, no second vacation. The solution is simple: Either my salary goes up, or the prices overall go down.
• The Flop, The Turn, The River
• Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and French
• No matter how well I prepare presentations or sales pitches, it becomes completely irrelevant to how I feel during the actual pitch. If the body gives out, the body gives out. Nothing I can do about it.