Satori #03: The conclusion of a long journey
After almost two months, I look wistfully at the past. While some of me are already looking forward to my journey home, the other looks wistfully at the past and wished that this adventure would never end.
For us, it was the first time that we actively took ourselves out of the day to day for several months to devote ourselves to our personal development. In this way, there were many learnings and stories that I would now like to share with you. And who knows? Maybe you’ll start your own satori soon?
Before the start of the trip, we of course made a plan. But as so often, things end up differently than you think.
Although we managed to check off a large part of our to-do’s, we did more customer/project work than originally thought. And a few really nice projects for Porsche and the Digital Impact Lab have also come out. Of course, they are still under lock and key, but as soon as they are public, I will briefly introduce them here.🔥
Achieved
At the end of the day, I regularly feel unproductive — the heroic deeds and the tasks completed are forgotten. That must be due to my Jung von Matt time. It said so excellently:
“We are never satisfied, it can still be better!”
Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to a few of the Satori projects here.
VeganFacts.de
As vegans, Sophia, André or Juli and I are often confronted with the craziest prejudices. The range ranges from a “You don’t look like a vegan at all” to “Isn’t that harmful to health?” — nutrition is complicated! We would like to enlighten without condemning or bored to death. So how cool would it be to have something in your hand that you can just send around?
So everyone could get an idea of themselves and just see if this topic might also be interesting for them.
Said, done! One of our first projects was born.
And that’s why VeganFacts.de deals with the myths about veganism and tries to enlighten neutrally. Just take a look and form your own opinion. Maybe you still have myths for us that would interest you burningly? Then don’t be afraid and just send us your questions! (You can find the contact link on VeganFacts.de)
Pomodory
Some projects are particularly popular, but at the same time the reverence for them seems so great that you hardly dare to approach them. So does Pomodory. In theory, everything is ready for implementation, but the process drags on.
The Pomodory team consists of three people.
- André: Technical advice,
- Falco: Implementation,
- David: Concept, design and vision
At its core, Pomodory is a classic Pomodoro tracker with a meditative touch, as well as some extra features that clearly set it apart from the competition. I will be happy to tell you exactly what these features are as soon as Pomodory is live! Until then, there are a few designs and animations to see here.
SCRUMLY — Scrum Poker
How many times have I searched the App Store and yet wondered about the unappealing SCRUM Poker apps every time… We have now taken this as an opportunity to create our own adoption of classic SCRUM Poker.
To share your opinion with us, you can test SCRUM Poker at the following link: scrumly
Unfortunately, the app currently only supports a public SCRUM poker room and should be used for at least two. If you would like to test our SCRUM Poker adaptation with your team, just leave us a comment and we will be happy to set up your own room. ❤
Help! My friend is gluten intolerant
Some projects just won’t let you go. At the same time, however, you will never find the time to tackle them or, in the worst case, even lose interest in them after a while.
That’s how I felt about this app. Every time I meet new people or travel abroad, I think how cool it would be to have an app now that helps me explain or gives me useful tips and tricks about gluten-free travel and living.
When I started Satori with André and his girlfriend, I had little desire to deal with them and educate them in detail about my illness and the associated consequences.
“Living together with someone who is hyposensitive to gluten can quickly become an adventure. Even the smallest traces of gluten can lead to a seizure with consequences!”
There are so many little things to consider that it is not much fun to talk about it — and this is exactly where my new gluten-free app comes in. It is not only a support for people like me, it is also a help for everyone who has to do with a gluten intolerant (celiac disease) or even lives with him/her. Ask my girlfriend. She is now an absolute pro in this field. ;)
So you have a boyfriend or girlfriend who also has celiac disease? Then this app is just right for you.
If you are interested in testing, or know someone who might be interested, then don’t be afraid and leave me a comment. 🕵️♂️🔥
The success diary as an app
A project on which André is particularly attached, hence his very personal Satori final project.
So that André can fully concentrate on the implementation of his vision, we have the start with a quick ideation phase incl. Rough concept made. From here André was then able to work on the project alone — a really great project, about which I hope I can tell you more soon. ;)
If you want to take a look at the first DEMO now, just drop by here: victorly
Books read out
Already in Japan, an old, wise man revealed the secret of eternal youth and spiritual strength to me. He told me that as long as I keep my head fresh and develop, my body and mind will not age — excitingly, there are actually studies today that prove that the neurons in the brain reform as long as they are actively used. This is therefore exciting because only a few years ago one assumed that the brain is exposed to an indispensable decay with advancing age (in another blog article then gladly more about it).
I found this romantic performance extremely desirable. After all, it is indeed the case that Buddhist monks still educate themselves in old age and study their scrolls.
During the week, I often take too little time to read, so I really enjoyed being able to divide the time myself. Thus, the morning usually became a time for personal training and training. Here is a small overview of the books eaten and one or the other recommendation.
- The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.: on my list for a long time and finally finished. A really interesting book and a very clear change of perspective.
- The China Study: Revised and Expanded Edition: Fresh update to the original China Study but with more studies and the latest findings from research. For everyone who is interested in nutrition, a must read. It is hard to believe how much we harm our body without even actively perceiving it.
- Losing My Virginity: The Autobiography: The first biography of Virgin founder Richard Branson, here are some exciting insights from his life as well as his greatest learnings. If you like reading biographies, it’s worth a look. Even though I found Elon Musk’s biography a bit more interesting, that was probably more due to the bigger nerd focus :P
- Shoe Dog: The official autobiography of Nike founder Phil Knight. I would have to lie if I didn’t say that I was attracted to the Nike brand. In the book you will learn everything about the founding of Blue Ribbon aka Nike and its career with all the ups and downs of the company. Nike definitely had a very stony path, after which it is all the more remarkable what they made of it.
- Halo: Silent Storm — I don’t read far too few novels, so there has been a real novel for me to come down for a long time. Halo Silent Storm combines the best of the Halo series and manages to tell an exciting story about Spartan. Definitely a must read for me as a fan of novels and video games!
- Eat that frog — I am a little divided with the book, on the one hand the book gives you a lot of productivity tips but on the other hand there was unfortunately little new for me. I would especially recommend the book to people who are just getting immersed in productivity. Here the book gives a very good insight into all kinds of productivity hacks
- Goodbye to vegan cliché!: Scientific answers to critical questions about vegan nutrition — If you have already read the China study, you will feel at home here. Unfortunately, I have only devoured a few chapters of the book so far, but I am already a big fan of the neutral scientific writing style. Here you will find practical tips on nutrition as well as the associated scientific evidence. A recommendation for anyone who wants to eat a balanced diet.
New articles for the blog
Since Raiken.de went online, I have been trying to find the countless articles from my OneNote and my head to get on the blog — a preview of the upcoming articles has been haunting on the homepage for a good year now.
During my satori time, I naturally tried to reduce a pair of the contaminated sites in which I published some articles or released them for correction by my girlfriend — many thanks at this point, to my girlfriend, who actively supports me in all publications.
You can look forward to regular updates and best practice in the next few weeks!
If there is an article or topic that interests you most, then don’t hesitate to leave me a comment.
YouTube Live Design Session
I have been working for Apache NetBeans for several years and try to polish up the dusty image together with the team, here and there we have already succeeded quite well. In recent years, we have introduced a new logo for NetBeans and a much more modern splash screen for the IDE. However, the site and the IDE itself were still a thorn in our side.
We tackled the former as part of a live design session, but the results are impressive. Not everything went as planned here and the actually relevant actors could unfortunately not be on site due to unforeseen events (aircraft delay, illness, etc.). Fortunately, we had already collected a lot of suggestions and feedback in advance, so that we could get started despite the adversity.
For me personally, it was a great challenge to stream my design process live on the net at first, but the nervousness disappeared over time so that I could start enjoying the process.
For the future, I could well imagine making more streams and maybe even uploading one or the other best practice video. Back in Germany, a somewhat more humane period can then be found again.
Daily routines
You are certainly wondering how you can imagine such a day Satori with us? Basically, it usually looked like this:
Get up at 7 a.m. to start training directly. Afterwards, there was a short meditation, as well as a daily stand-up to discuss the project status or distribute tasks.
In order to work focused, I then booted directly to the nearest café or park — it’s really unbelievable how different coffee can taste.
At noon there was another little refreshment to explore the area and work. This usually dragged on until late in the evening.
Before going to bed, there was either a common Netflix round, a little daddling on the Surface Book, or a relaxed book.
Basically similar to my normal routine, with the small difference that I was allowed to commit myself here above all to my own projects.
Failures
Should a child stop running because he fell down while trying? — I don’t think so! Satori was a great experience and something I will definitely repeat. Next time I would pay more attention to expanding our projects according to the MVE and duly celebrating small and great successes.
More travel, more culture.
Unfortunately, we have all too often just locked ourselves up and stayed in one place for far too long. In retrospect, we should definitely have focused more on working with others in order to create synergies. Certainly, there were short acquaintances from time to time that helped to broaden one’s own horizons, but it should have been even more. In order not only to hop back and forth between the different cafes, we will also visit one or the other co-working space next time!
The people
Surely I would have liked to get to know more exciting characters, but at least there were one or the other very interesting acquaintances here and there. Whether it was the former Thai boxer who now works as an English teacher in France or the café owner who also builds his own design business. Or even my new training buddy, who travels around the world as an international lawyer.
Motivation
Our biggest motivator was certainly the fact that we may never have the chance to work on our internal projects for so long and effectively again. And if there was a low motivation, I took the opportunity to get to know the country a little better and be motivated by the new influences.
In short
Satori was an incredible experience that showed me new ways. Without Satori, I would probably never have found the time to work in ReactJs or advance my ideas.
There is no more vacation this year, but I can already have a big ✅ To my to-dos and have the feeling that I have already done more this year than in the last 10 years in total.
Above all, Satori helped me to recognize what I actually need to be really effective and happy.
For the next round, in a year or two, I would like a little more “crazy”, less conventional methods — Why not just rent a pop-up store in a foreign country and sell coffee for a few weeks?
Just do it, is quickly said, but made even faster! Feel free to tell me about your experiences or plans, would a satori break also be suitable for you?
