2016 has come to an end and I see
everybody complaining about how it did go. Ok, it’s true that it has not been a
good year in terms of politics and, most importantly, due to
the terrible catastrophe of war and terrorism. These things are scary and I’m not
sure we are taking our civilization in the right direction. But on a personal
note, 2016 has been great for me and I want to share my interpretation of it.
It’s been about balance. I know you
would think that I should have started saying that it was awesome, exciting,
full of achievements or whatever that would make this year spark. But yeah,
it’s been about balance. The balance in between the three parts of everybody’s
life: family, own space and work. All of them have worked quite well, I’ll
explain right after, but the important thing is that I have had the right
portion of each of them to make me feel complete, happy in all senses.
In previous years of my life,
although I cannot complain about how it has gone, it’s always been unbalanced.
Too much work usually was the source of it. And I’m not talking about the time
I spent in the office but about the quality of the time I spent out of it.
Travelling too much didn’t help to keep up with family and self, but the source
of all problems was not in travelling. The source of problems was about not having
the right focus when outside of work-time; not to have the discipline to make
something for me and to invest quality time with my family. So the focus was
always in work… no matter how good or bad the work was, travels, blackberry
(yeah, I used to have one) and then been exhausted all the time... By the way,
being all day attending emails, calls and thinking only on work does not make
you more productive, most of it is noise that can be ignored. So then it’s
simple, it’s about having the right weight in each of life dimensions, if not
life doesn’t feel rounded. But with the current balance I have had, it has made
me enjoy everyday to its max.
Family
During 2016 I have lived a life I
had never lived in terms of family. In my current role at work I don’t need to
travel. And that has made a big difference. I have had the chance of doing
things I never did before. Enjoying a coffee with my wife in the morning,
taking my kids to school, attending their amazing performances, having dinner
with them… being around. And it’s not only about the time during the week but
also on weekends. When I used to travel a lot, I got home usually tired, wanted
to get in the couch and be a vegetable for the whole weekend in front of the TV,
sleepy. Now, I have the energy to be part of the family activities and that has
made the difference with my wife and kids.
I missed my family in Spain, that’s
true, but at least the time I spent with my closer family was longer and of
more quality
Own-space-time
I call own space to that part of
your time that you own deeply. It’s what you do with your own personal time.
You can spend it with friends, reading, watching movies, practicing sports or
doing whatever you please to. During 2015, mainly when I worked in Saudi, my
own-space-time was a disaster. Working too long hours, stupid hours I’d say,
left very little space for self. Getting back late to the hotel made me not
even to want to got to the gym so I just hit the room as soon as possible and
just read or watch series. It was too lazy.
In 2016, I decided to take a much
more active role. I started challenging myself in running and have definitely
improved a lot. By the way, I never liked running, but it has brought me the
needed challenge to catalyze that thing inside that makes you push yourself
everyday. It has triggered discipline, sacrifice and ambition… I’ve loved it
I’ve also enjoyed my friends in
Dubai and met very cool people, but the daily challenge of training hard has
really made the difference
Work
Work has always been very important
for me. Sometimes even obsessive. But what can I say?, I like it. But lately I
had lost a bit the spice. I need to feel part of a bigger thing, to be
challenged, to fight against the odds, to explore new businesses and
technologies to get the best out of me, to be a part of a team with a common
ambition. Probably, since I left running BlueVia in Telefonica I had never felt
that. I had cool jobs, but none in which I could bring everything I have
inside. But this year’s challenge was great. Got into a business line
(Enterprise new business) at du that was making the same mistakes we lived in Telefonica
Digital and we had to turn it upside down, transform not only the portfolio but
also how everything was done. And we’ve made it.
It’s true that it was easier because
I shared background with my boss so I didn’t have to argue with him about what
was the best way forward. We were almost totally in the same wavelength. That
way I could focus my energy in building the team, changing the roadmap, aiming
at the right working model and hitting the market as fast and strong as we
could. It has not been easy though, telco transformation is not an easy task
but my colleagues and team have made it even a pleasure. And you know, if you
work hard enough in the right direction, you just need a bit of luck to be
successful… And there we go.
So, yes, it’s been about balance. But
there are still things to improve. Now, I want to push on two sides: focus and
quality in the three dimensions of life. I’ll write more about it soon. But,
meanwhile, let’s celebrate the end of 2016 and wish everybody for a great and
peaceful 2017.
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