2014 WAS MY FIRST STEP!

It’s almost 2015, and all of 2014 deeds are either history or have been forgotten…Remember that we are more than 7 billion’s now. That means 7 billion paths crossing each other, erasing one another, and within each path there is always that first step when you decide to make your life happier, healthier or just more meaningful. I am referring to this because 2014 was my first step to follow my dreams, and I must say I’m anxious about 2015! But what about you? When will you take your first step?

There is a famous quote where Mark Twain says “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why”… Since I was a kid I knew exactly what I wanted to be. When my second grade teacher asked our class what we wanted to be when we grew older, I remember hearing everyone say stuff like football players, fireman, models… and well, I just said the first thing that came in mind: “I want to be happy”. That of course after many years saying in the nursery that I wanted to be an astronaut… But who doesn’t, right? Anyways, at the age of seven I discovered my final goal even though I did not know the means to achieve it. The thing is, happiness comes in many different ways to everyone. And even that changes with time. I’m not saying that since I was seven years old I always choose what made me happier over what needed to be done, but I tried to find the perfect balance between both. In 25 years I’ve had my ups and downs, and what drives me also changed over the years, but it was always related to the areas of different creative fields. Since I started to learn about real jobs I dreamed about being a “creator”. From architect, to artist, what made me feel good was always to create something from scratch. Luckily I choose the design field. Despite being more focused on the product area I try to connect myself with all the areas touched by design thinking, and how this type of thinking can help everyone.

Today I consider myself lucky for not disappointing the past me, and I know every day has been a blessing. I have a great family, the most special person to share my life with and the best friends a guy could ask for… So what was it that made me take that first step to change my life you may ask. At that time there was nothing wrong, but that’s why you always need someone who cares about you to give you advice. Life gave me all those great things but I usually gave priority to my professional life rather than my personal one. And until the middle of this year I was spending 80% of my life focusing on my work. Now I changed to create a new balance between 60% to 40%. And that made be a better professional, son, brother, boyfriend and friend. I’m working less hours but working more efficiently, achieving greater results in half of the time I used to. And the free time has given me the chance to improve myself as a professional and most importantly as a person. But I don’t regret any of the past, since it was that time that lead me here today, making me find happiness. A fun fact is that up until June I had designed 9 pieces, and now I’ve added 27 pieces and some on-going projects to my portfolio… making it a total of 36 pieces per year, a mark that I will for sure surpass in 2015, with even more pleasure than I had until now.

I’m thankful I found soon what makes me happy professionally. I’m going to risk sounding a bit tacky by using the old maxim “find the job you love and you will never work a day in your life” but I’m sure I found it, when I find myself regularly drifting away and realizing it’s already 5 am and I’m still highly exited with my creative process. The greatest thing about this year was to have the chance to work with several different brands, different people, and even just by myself. This constant sharing of different opinions and knowledge while creating different kinds of typologies is what really motivated me to keep pushing boundaries, perfecting myself as I go. The thing is, if it wasn’t for the stability in my personal life, I would have collapsed a long time ago, and would never dreamed as high as I dream today.

With all that said, 2014 was a special year for me. I reached goals that I intended, some that I wasn’t even expecting, and of course, failed at some too. I won my first international award, I created pieces of my authorship for several brands, I’m currently working with 5 different brands, and I’ve created more than two pieces a month. All those were professional goals that I had and that I scratched from the list this year. About the ones I failed… there is one everlasting goal that is “I will stop drinking so much Coca Cola.” but so far no luck… I guess I’m an addict. I also failed to go on vacations outside of the country, but as expected they are already in my 2015 achievements list. I achieved more professional goals than personal ones so far, but this year will be about finding the balance not only in my day-to-day life but also in achieving my personal goals. So my 2015 advice to you is: Try to be the best at what you do while having fun with those who love you. I wish you the best 2015 you can hope for, and a Very Merry Christmas! Enjoy your life!