[P]review 2023/2024

Time to reflect

On having a vision

I never really had one.

Until August 2023, everything I did was just “what seemed like a good idea at the moment” and that led me to all kinds of interesting places and activities.

Mostly this happened in the context of a relationship, taking pleasure in helping my partner’s dreams come true.

Being out of a relationship for over a year now showed me that…I was really bad at having my own dreams.

It took me two months in 2023 to get to the point where now I have a rough idea of what kind of adventure I want life to be.

Dreaming is a skill

It needs constant practice and feedback, like any other skill.

Some dreams turn out to be not important to you, but you only realize that after exploring the dream for a while.

Others suffer from the opposite problem: you are 100% sure that this is what you want, but figuring out what “this” means exactly is like shining a light into the fog: the reflection blinds you.

Reading “The 12 Week Year” helped me with putting a vision into place for my life, starting with very big ideas and then gradually refining them on smaller and smaller timescales.

The word “vision” comes from “vidēre” - to see

Having a vision is about seeing the future clearly as if it were a reality already.

This image will guide you through the present to move closer to your desired future.

Eight futures

For each of the eight areas I identified this year, I had a milestone that I wanted to reach this year:

✅ Bolt: starting a mentorship program for engineers in my department. I did, and it was well received.

In 2024, I aim to get at least one team member promoted.

✅ Garaažistan (گاراجئستان): turn it into a dry box. It is dry, and a box. And it even found a renter now.

In 2024, it’s time to ⚡️ electrify the place, and optionally add a💧water connection as well.

✅ The House In Sweden: get to the point where I can manage all operations remotely.

In 2024, the roof will be replaced and the house will have its first paying client.

⏳ Relationships: originally I wanted to find a partner – then life happened – and after having been swept off my feet by two amazing women and ultimately realizing that we’re not compatible, I’m taking a step back from a concrete vision here and trying to pursue that vision.

In 2024, I’ll create space - physically, mentally, and emotionally - for another person in my life.

⭐️ Decode Estonian: I reached my turnover goal for 2023, which has shown me that the language courses have value and deserve more energy.

In 2024, Decode Estonian workshops will happen outdoors during summer, with new teaching material, and paid subscribers will get access to video lessons.

⏳ Fitness: I fell short of my 70kg @ 12-13% bodyfat goal. This morning, I weighed in at 67.9kg.

In 2024, I’ll keep grinding with high intensity, dial in my nutrition more and keep putting on weight.

❌ Eesti 200 / Politics: after seeing the amount of sacrifice active involvement in politics requires, I decided to drop my ambitions of becoming actively involved.

✅ Personal Growth: my sole goal this year was to get Estonian citizenship and thus cement my bonds with Estonia. That’s done 🇪🇪

In 2024, the important milestones are passing the B1 exam in Hungarian and getting certified as a personal trainer.

Moving to Kalamaja

As part of “creating space”, I decided to move to Kalamaja in December.

You can now find me at Suur-Laagri 18 most evenings and if you are reading this, you are invited for tea in front of the fireplace 🫖

The last week of December was spent in construction stores and shopping centers to make the place not just liveable, but actually nice.

It’s the first time I’m taking charge of creating a nice interior space and after this week I find it very understandable why “Interior Designer” is a profession.