Layouting issue 3 with Sarah while continuously reviewing our work together. I’m trying to take as much time in between everything else to progress on the designs.

I had to work myself out of toomuchness this week. Still trying to secure funding for the magazine, still coordinating with contributors and editors every day.

I finally did a complete health check-up. I haven’t been to the doctor in years and it felt great to have clarity: everything is looking good!

I started to work on the next Present Newsletter. This may sound paradoxal (as I’m writing this in a weekly log) but I feel I need to communicate more to the outside world about all the things we are building.

A great, quick excercise to understand what’s going on: Write down your loudest thought.

I met my old buddies Johannes and Claudio this week and also met up with the London crew of W/ (a music project I’m advising for, founded by my friend Carlo) who were visiting Berlin.

Resist the urge to worry about the future, focus on the now and leave the rest to fate.

Input:
Music: Mordechai by Khruangbin
‍Video: Marc Rebillet on Lafayette & Spring
‍Text: Can creatives break the mold and still find success online?

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Back in Berlin, feeling grateful for the beautiful and productive past month in Paris!

This week I kept on shipping funding outreach e-mails like a mad man. It’s quite rough at the moment. Felt pretty stressed at several points this week. Gotta watch out.

We are in intense layouting phase and we’re making good progress everyday! I’m currently listening back to St. Germain’s Tourist album from 2000 while designing.

In the upcoming Issue 3 of PRESENT and we will have a Present People section again, this time we want to ask you: When you feel lost, overwhelmed or unfocused, how do you reboot? You can participate from the Present Community or shoot me a DM :)

For Newfoundation we launched a new research platform that I designed and developed, focusing on emerging practices at the intersection of fine arts, fashion, philosophy and culture.

”You possess a one-of-a-kind combination of passions, skills, and experiences; there is something you bring to your work that no one else could.” ~Todd Henry

Input:
Series: Beef (imdb)
Film: Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (imdb)
Album: Okra by David Versace (spotify)

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I’m having troubles falling asleep these days, even after a good night routine, just way too many things and ideas in my head, a never ending stream…

The work in issue 3 is intense, but it’s all coming together and this is very exciting. We are working a lot on layouts and organizing and editing last contributions. Had good calls with our editor Henry, with Nea-Kosma, and with my friend Eosmin in South Africa.

A really nice place to work from in Paris is Pause Café in Bastille. Big up’s to the wonderful team there! One of the best sandwich spots in Paris is Chez Aline.

A feature about my work has been published this week by JOIA magazine from Chile.

I’m working on a new product for Newfoundation called safe.energy, which will be out soon. Good conversations and progress with the team, and promising demo sessions.

We went to a neighbourhood bar in our street to see a Bossa Nova concert and to the amazing Chez Janou for lunch on Saturday. I really enjoyed that and we finally had some sun!🌞

Inputs:
Film: Caché by Haneke (1997) [imdb]
Film: The Hot Chick (2002) [imdb]
Reading: I’ll Never Write My Memoirs by Grace Jones

Make envy your enemy. ~Jerry Saltz

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We started layouting a lot of stories for PRESENT issue 3. It’s this time of the year now! It’s getting intense ~ and I’m so glad Sarah is with me on the journey. She’s a force and on top of everything: a great designer, giving so much quality and love to each layout💫

There are very loud construction works next to our current litle apartment in Paris, so I’m working most of the time from a café around the corner. It’s spring in Paris and this helps!

I soft-launched the new present.xxx website. There is still areas that are getting refined, but it’s coming together! I rebuilt the CMS from the ground up and we will publish many more articles online in the coming months. Let me know what you think!

I ran and worked out more heavily this week. Clearing my head, shaking of pressure. At the end of the week I felt proud that I finally shipped so many funding e-mails. This is not an easy task for me, I think it never is.

We met with our friend David Kaltenbach who living between Berlin and Paris at the moment as well. Saturday we walked the whole day, then had apéro at our favorite Jean Nicot and the dinner at Fro. Paris Est.

Present Post: You're not failing. You're just in the middle of succeeding.

Input:
Film: The Scent of Green Papaya (imdb)
Film: Close (imdb)

Every time you compliment someone in your head, try saying it out loud. even if it's a stranger. do it for the rest of the day and see what happens. ~WNRS

I’m thankful to be able to be in Paris at the moment. I feel so good here, despite such intense times. This was another very busy week. I tried to squeeze every minute, and it felt pretty non-stop!

On Monday I to the home and  atelier of Etienne Diop aka Tareet. We had a photo shoot with Pauline Scotto Di Cesare for PRESENT issue 3. It was fantastic! I had a great time with the whole team and it’s super excited seeing everything coming together.

We had a call with editor Henry Levinson who will help us out in the coming weeks. Excited to have his support! Still, I feel nervous about our printing deadline. I feel a lot of pressure at the moment to get everything done. But I managed these situations many times before, and I will also figure it out now!

I’m trying my best, despite hectic times, to take a concious break in the afternoon to go over my Principles and Wisdom lists. This always makes me feels good. Principles are notes from myself about things I’ve learned and noticed so far in my life. Wisdom are my favorite quotes and texts from other people.

The Pareto principle points us in a very clear direction: the majority of what you want will come from the minority of what you do. ~Gary Keller (From his The One Thing book)

Post: MY DOJO: Hannah Dunkelberg

Monday morning I met with Madeleine, Sofiane and Tony at Full Node where we booked a space and recorded a podcast the whole day. We talked about our backgrounds, projects at Newfoundation, and our hopes for culture and new technology.

Next to all the PRESENT and NF tasks, I continued delivering updates for various Mugler projects this week.

On Thursday night we landed in Paris. I feel thankful that Sarah found such a nice and calm apartment for a low price. For the first days our friend Matthias joined us as well. It feels right to be back in Paris.

PRESENT: Working on a massive e-mail wave to activate potential partnerships and ad opportunities for the upcoming issue. Reached out to printers to get offers. Continued editing texts, coordinating tasks, designing layouts.

We wrapped the week up with having beers in the sun, then headed to Bambino for dinner. Saturday we met with our friends Jonas Vahl, Tereza Mundilova und Lucas Christiansen. Later Carlo, Hannah and Fanette joined us as well. We had dinner at Chez Robert. Sunday: Walking the whole day, Pain de Mie Carré for Japanese sandwiches, Marché des Enfants Rouges for brunch, Ramen Tsukiji for dinner.

Input: Currently reading The Creative Act by Rick Rubin. I also watched new episodes of Succession and The Mandalorian for relaxation.

There’s a tremendous power in using the least amount of information to get a point across. ~Rick Rubin

Back in Berlin! Fighting overwhelm. I’m pushing through. I’m thankful that my health is stable. Procrastinating on finishing the podcast editing. I’m nervous about issue 3. But I remain ultimately more optimistic and hopeful than ever. And I know we are able to solve and finish it all. And I have to remember that I can figure out everything as long as I manage to put my energy and full attention into it.

We had a great in-depth session with Sarah where we reviewed and analyzed Present issues 1 & 2 and made a list of what we loved and what we want to do differently. To explore what we have achieved in the past gave us a crucial positive push to move forward. Fresh hope for the next weeks of the adventure of finalizing the next issue.

I continued and shipped updates on several projects for Mugler. Thankful to have the opportunity to support another brand close to my heart.

I met with my friend and past Present contributor Erkin Karamemet. And I had another FIFA night with some good buddies. Thankful for my friends. On Sunday night I had dinner with my colleagues who where in town for a few days: Sofiane, Madeleine and Tony. We also recorded a podcast together. It was inspiring!

"I have something more important than courage. I have patience. I will become what I know I am." ~M. Jordan

Sarah and I met with our friend and artist Dennis Buck to discuss ideas for his contribution, which was really nice.

Lots of mails and back and forth with many contributors for the new issue. Worked on editing some upcoming interviews and providing feedback on photo shoots and essay contributions.

As always, trying my very best to juggle everything, trying to figure it all out, without going nuts! Continued building the Present website, while working on the issue 3 page plan and socials. Good call with Nea-Kosma discussing their upcoming contribution.

Started running again. Preferred in the early evening which clears my head from the work hours before and gives some extra energy for a last session in the night.

One good journaling prompt I picked up in the WNRS newsletter: Write down your loudest thought.

Saturday morning I took the train to Cologne for my father’s birthday and easter with the whole family🌷

A winner is just a loser who tried one more time. ~George Moore

Article: The Imperfectionist: Urgency doesn't exist
Series: Welcome to Wrexham

I could smell the spring this week for the first time and it gave me an exhilarating rush of motivation. This might by my favorite times of the year, when you feel that Spring is finally arriving: it always gives me fresh energy and new hope!

And it’s really needed right now. Overwhelm is creeping up on me. Lots on the plate. Juggling more than ever. Next to writing and designing and coordinating contributions, I still need to finish to edit the podcast. And to launch the updated website I’m still building, which I need to be able to tackle funding once more.

Productive Present team call. Issue 3 is in the making. The iron is hot. Lots of organization, but getting closer. We are still a tiny team, so it’s a shitload of work: it’s very intense but we keep it fun!

I took on two additional projects: Working on secret project for Mugler and helped out the Luudan team for a quick job.

Thousands of thoughts in my head, my head is blown away by the daily advancements of AI. What a time to be alive.

A thought: When you think you are at your limit (mind and body) you are not even at 30% of what you are actually capable of. We are much stronger than we think.

“Disregard your rejections. They vanish from history and years from now, you’ll appear to be an overnight success.” ~Markus Almond

Post: Jiu Jitsu Poetry

Monday we met our good friend Carlo who was in Paris for one day. Went to one of our favorite easy apéro spots Chez Prune and had dinner at Onii-San!

Back in Berlin. Still building the new Present website, which should be a big step forward. And will hopefully bring some partners on board! We are still searching for support to handle the upcoming issue and beyond.

I’m thankful my cold is gone and I can work out, make runs, and feel fully alive again!

Thursday night I went with a bunch of friends to the concert of Nu Genea, a band from Napoli that I love. It was amazing. Congrats to my friend Magnus for making this all happen.

Friday I had a call with Casey Cadwallader in Paris for an upcoming Mugler project I’m excited about.

Saturday I met with my Content Boys gang, good talks, good times. Later that night I was DJing a few hours at the birthday party of two of my best friends at Anita Berber club. Bliss!

Podcast: Lewis Hamilton talking with Jay Shetty
‍Video: Paco de Lucia - Entre dos aguas (1976)
Series: Liaison (not as good as I thought but still entertaining)

“Recognize a truth embraced by the most productive and important personalities of generations past: A deep life is a good life.” ~Cal Newport

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On Monday I participated in a Newfoundation/Newforum panel on Defining Transmedia Fashion with my friend Tony Wang and Sam Walker. Thankful for an inspiring and insightful conversation!

Tuesday we met with photographer Pauline Scotto Di Cesare in her studio to talk about her upcoming Present Shoot with fashion designer Tareet. It was great! It’s so good to see contributors in IRL, even if only once.

For the upcoming upgrade of the Present website I indulged myself in technical explorations, building a new and highly adaptable cms system, subtle animations and a dark-mode-switch, which was fun. I’m getting closer to soft-launching it👀

On Friday we went to see the Faith Ringgold black is beautiful exhibition at Musée Picasso ~ and it was really phenomenal. Afterwards we headed to Belleville and went to a small gallery for the vernissage of Hôtelissimo.

I never had better ramen than on Saturday night: Kodawari Ramen Tsukiji ~ amazing experience and highly recommended.

Sunday we went to the 1997 Fashion Big Bang exhibition revolving around the most important year in fashion, shaping the business and aesthetics until today. It was so fascinating, we read every single text of the whole exhibition.

My Paris Tipps from me and Sarah:
• Jah Jah By Le Tricycle (fantastic Jamaican food, vegan)
• Haikara (another great izakaya)
• A Jean Nicot (our favorite original bar-bistro, ran by a really lovely older couple)
• Fréquence (dance bar)

Other input this week:
‍Film: Le monde est à toi
‍Film: Everything Everywhere All at Once

Vocation at its deepest level is: ”This is something I can’t not do, for reasons I’m unable to explain to anyone else and don’t fully understand myself but that are nonetheless compelling.” ~Parker J. Palmer

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I took a flight to Paris on Tuesday night and went straight with Sarah to the Ciccolina party at Folies Pigalle, marking the end of Fashion Week. Good times and amazing music by Bearcat.

We met with Liselotte Girard who reached out to the Present team with a great contribution idea. It was nice meeting IRL and making further plans. I wrote a bunch of posts in the Community and recorded my monthly video update. We also had another fireside chat. (The next one will take place on March 23)

What I’m struggling with: I’m making good progress on a lot of things, but: severely procrastinating on the edit of my podcast. But I’m aware, and I’ll get there. Still battling with taxes stuff. When will AI solve this pain?

Had a great call with my friend Moritz Gottlob, amazing producer, moving to Japan next week, who might be able to help coordinating and connecting when it comes to future Present Products.

I’m thankful to be in Paris. I always love to be here. I’m thankful for encouraging messages from my friend Lars. I’m thankful to be completely fit and healthy again.

Film: Call Me Chihiro (lovely!)
‍Podcast: Jay Shetty: Ex-Monk and His Hell (these guys!)
‍Book: I’m reading Delta-V by Daniel Suarez, a near future sci-fi novel, and I like it a lot. I think I’m just really enjoying finally reading fiction again for a change!
Post: Junko Tabei🏔

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I was struggling to get completely fit again this week, but now finally I’m back 100%. Simply the best feeling. The only positive thing about beinging sick: The contrast once you feel better again. Feeling fully alive again. Realizing that being healthy is by far the biggest gift.

I continued working on a new, upgraded version of the Present website I have in mind since a while. I’m drafting in Figma and Webflow and build something that I find exciting. I caught myself feeling like a kid on Christmas building a new Lego set. Thankful to have something that is challenging and at the same time giving me so much fun and satisfaction!

Every day we are working on Issue 3. Lots of coordination, planning and e-mails. What I'm struggling with: I’m very happy seeing more new members in our Community. But I’m stuck in how to engage everyone more. How can we change this, and inspire more engagement?

Helped my brothers with their birthday party flyers. It’s been like this since I’m 15. And it’ll probably always be like this, I love that I can help with my craft :)

I’m thankful for my apartment. I’m thankful that I can be hopeful for the future. I’m thankful that I have a longterm vision.

Recognize a truth embraced by the most productive and important personalities of generations past: A deep life is a good life. ~Cal Newport

Input I enjoyed this week:
Movie: Ad Astra
‍Documentary: Rhythm Is It!
‍Essay: How to Get Out of Your Own Way at Work

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I turned 35 on Monday. I’m not one to freak out over numbers, but this one felt a bit different I have to admit. But my 30s were so damn good so far and I feel so thankful for everything in my life, so let’s fucking go✨

I celebrated with family and friends in my hometown Cologne. It was beautiful to hang out there for a few days, and it was in the middle of the carnival! I was DJing on Saturday and we celebrated the Rosenmontagszug on Monday before heading back to Berlin.

On Thursday we had our first live event in the PRESENT Community with Pauline and Carl Baumberger, founders of GLOW GLOW wines. It was a super insightful and fun 1.5 hour conversation, where we talked about the joys and struggles in the life of a wine maker, family dynamics and much much more. I’m grateful it worked out so well and I’m looking forward doing more of those events.

Most of the week I was fighting off a gnarly cold and trying to get fully fit again. This was annoying me, I hate nothing more than being sick. Also, I had to do my taxes which didn’t necessarily lighten up my mood. But it was all ok in the end :)

Saturday I was having dinner with some buddies and we ended up playing FIFA22 which we borrowed from another friend. I haven’t played in 15 years and it was incredibly fun and my thumbs were swollen afterwards🥹

Never underestimate the degree to which people crave clarity and respond positively to it. ~Ken Segall

Article: The Cup of Coffee Theory of AI
‍Video: How This Mushroom Savant Identifies Fungi by WIRED

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What a week! It started with a personal highlight on Monday watching Rihanna’s phenomenal Superbowl performance and discovering she wore the Salomon x Margiela sneakers with the logo I designed❤️‍🔥

I finally booted up Adobe Premiere for the first time and got started on cutting the first PRESENT Podcast. While editing I decided for the next guest and could confirm already!🤫

On Wednesday we had a video call and interview with artist and food stylist Suea in NYC. We talked for almost two hours and it was really lovely and insightful! This will published in PRESENT Issue 3.

I helped Sarah to develop her new website (check it out!) and then had some organizing and packing to do for my upcoming birthday and travels to carnival in my hometown Cologne. (I’ll DJ there and go as Ace Ventura🦜)

I talked to my friend Pauline Baumberger to plan the event next week and to clarify some open question for our upcoming collaboration and published the announcement🍇

Recorded a new welcome video for the Community Space. Hope this makes it a bit easier for new members! Additionally I shared a community update via video to keep everyone in the loop about recent developments. We also had our first fireside chat test. Nice!

We went to MIBAP on Friday night for some delicious Taiwanese food and then to Cologne on Saturday morning. It was a wild and beautiful trip!

Input: Break Point (I just love sports documentaries. Always motivates me to improve my craft!)

Post: GLOWGLOW Wines Live Event in the PRESENT Community

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Week’s Highlight: We launched the PRESENT Community to the public! Grateful for the first new members, and grateful for all beta testers so far! I’m excited for how this space will evolve and how we’re going shape it together🌿

A revelation this week: You don’t need more time, you are just scared. Some tasks sat on my to-do list way longer then they should, and I blamed all the “small tasks” that I needed to get out of the way before. But I was just procrastinating out of fear of failure. Which was of course just a cheap trick of my monkey mind aka Resistance trying to hold me back. It didn't succeed😌

Present team calls and follow-up’s with contributors for Issue 3. I’m also reviewing past Chapters and Present Principles and writing new ones. Would love to write more again in general.

Great work sessions with Sofiane and Daša, building new intro and outro sequences for Newforum, new profiles and diagrams for the Newfoundation ecosystem.

Then I was struck down by food poisoning for 24 hours. That wasn’t nice. But I watched Last Of Us and Wakanda Forever, which I both enjoyed very much.

Friday night I went to ORA with Sarah, Saturday I had a dinner with friends at my place. Recharging<3

Input: The Story Of Sean Paul "Get Busy"

Post: An excerpt from Louise Friedlaender in PRESENT Issue 1

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This week I got caught up too many times in that feeling of toomuchness. Struggling with not being able to do enough work for Present. Just felt I have too much other shit that I need to eliminate before I can’t get to the important stuff ~ the classic old struggle. I did my best to push through, and in the end just accepted for how this week unfolded.

Not complaining though: I had productive team calls with Sarah and Paz, mostly about Issue 3. Wrote many e-mails to clear things up with contributors. Made overall small progresses here and there, keeping the ball moving.

Lunch meeting with Sofiane, Madeleine, Rafa the Builder, and Victoria Camblin (032c) to talk about web3, publishing, AI and everything in between. Lovely!

With Sarah and Gila I visited Schinkel Pavillon for the opening of EVERYTHING BUT THE WORLD by dis. Afterwards we went to “Zentrale” for another funky exhibition. This was inspiring.

Saturday I went to St. Bart for some great pub food with some good old friends, and Sunday to Cocodrillo (both highly recommended✨)

Input: Stay on Board: The Leo Baker Story
‍Input: What Discipline Really Means - Jocko Willink

Learning how to think really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience. Because if you cannot exercise this kind of choice in adult life, you will be totally hosed. ~ David Foster Wallace

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On Monday night I recorded the first Present People Podcast episode with my friend Jasmin Truong. We talked for four hours!✨ It was a special situation and we had to get used to it in the beginning, but then we found a great flow…it was really fun. A first episode wouldn’t be real without a technical problem. One of the cameras overheated and stopped recording multiple times, so we had to restart a few passages. I don’t think it’s a big problem, it’ll be just a bit of extra work for me in post-production.

I’m quite on the edge of my capabilities at the moment, trying to squeeze in time here and there to cut the episode ~ can’t wait to publish it and share it with you!

I’m thankful how the beta version of the Community Space is evolving. There is already so much valuable content in there. Thank you to everyone helping out so far. We are working on launching it for the rest of our community next week.

I finished my work for Mugler, the show took place on Thursday in Paris and was mind-blowing! Congrats to the whole team.

On Thursday night I went to Rome with some old friends of mine. We spend most of our days walking around and eating tons of pasta and Birra Moretti (also Trappazetti Roma and Focacceria Roscioli were heavenly!)

Input: How I Became The Worlds Best DJ With Only One Arm: Black Coffee
‍Input: The Power of Routine, Intuition & Ayurveda With Thomas Tuchel

Imagine all your responsibilities and obligations vanish overnight. What would you miss doing? What would you choose to add back to your life? If you're searching for more time this year, start with a clean slate and choose what to add to your days rather than starting with a full schedule and trying to figure out what to eliminate.

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I finished and shipped my interview for JOIA magazine from Chile🇨🇱

I made last preparations for recording the first PRESENT Podcast beginning of next week. I’m nervous and excited. Fingers crossed!

Next to pushing projects at Newfoundation, I was supporting the team at Mugler this week with producing graphics for their fashion show on January 26th in Paris.

New smoothie recipe I’m loving at the moment: açaí, banana, frozen berries, oats, cinnamon, coconut water. (I’m mixing in one scoop of AG1 as well).

Went to Kadewe with Sarah (she’s starring on the massive billboards outside!). We met Carlo there and our buddy Jakob had a stand for his Avaa/Verjus drinks. Afterwards we went to the Bubble Crew’s pizza event by my friends Taylor and Raoul. Really enjoyed that🍕

This week I watched an amazing documentary about the life and mathematical vision of Maryam Mirzakhani who became the first woman, and the first Iranian, to be awarded the Fields Medal, the most prestigious award in mathematics. It moved me to tears. → Secrets of the Surface: The Mathematical Vision of Maryam Mirzakhani

The goal of adulthood is to let go of the other possible existences and to make the best of the one. A successful adult is one who understands that it doesn't matter which life you ultimately pick, only that you live it well. ~ Chris Ballas

I feel grateful that I had such good energy this week. Finally, after a tricky December. I felt a new clarity in general, which is always and simply a main energy boost! Life and work are much better once you see cleary what you want to do and what you have to do, short-term and long-term. Clarity is power.

I took time to clean up my priorities for the next weeks and months and worked on building a much clearer PRESENT Dashboard (in Notion) for me and the team, so everyone know exactly what to focus on.

I continued working on getting the PRESENT Membership program off the ground. It’s technically tricky, as I want to avoid Memberstack and build it directly with the Webflow Memberships Beta. I’s seems it hasn’t been done so far in the way I want to do it. But I’m getting there.

I adapted the podcast equipment one last time. Got different cameras, which work much better now. I continued writing my answers for my upcoming interview with Joia magazine.

Thursday night we went to Sameheads for the Banoffee Pies records party. Really enjoyed the proper UK sound. Good vibes. Friday I attended the playlist call with my W/ crew and played a track from Little Simz’s new album (Who Even Cares) and an old Nelly classic (Luven Me)🥹

Input: How to Create More Clarity in Your Life

Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity. ~ James Clear

From the bottom of my heart, I wish you all a fulfilling 2023. Health and strength to get started on whatever it is that will make you happy in the longterm. I believe in you.🤍

I took it slow in the first week of the year. Really didn’t feel like rushing into the new year. That was a good decision.

Lots of reading and running. I did some reviewing and planning ahead of the next months. Here are some questions I asked myself:
• What do you want out of life?
• It's one year from now. December 2023. The habit you were hoping to build during the year didn't stick.
• Fill in the blank: I’ll be upset with myself if I'm still ______ next year.

I continued testing a refining the setup for the upcoming podcast recording ~ I’m excited about it!

Met my old friend Max (Vallot) of District Vision who was visiting from L.A. for a tea at Château Royal. On Sunday I went with Sarah to the exhibtion Let’s See What We Find curated by my friend Sebastian Peter at Museum für Fotografie, recommended!

Input: Everything had a first version, find them here.
Input: Questions to ask before giving up: https://www.dropbox.com/s/52yhkp4897o1608/9ad5a624-0481-48f2-8e44-0c3729e854a3.jpeg
‍Input: Simplify via Alex Tan
• One of the most intelligent case studies in design is the Chinese tea cup. They’re made without handles simply because if it’s too hot to touch, it’s too hot to drink.
• Humans naturally want to add more. Add a cardboard sleeve, add a warning on the outside of the cup, add a handle. The result of all these things never cools down the actual contents. And in the end, you’ll still burn your mouth from drinking too early. It’s not that people don’t see the warnings, we’re just adding more layers of separation between us and the answer.
• Simplify until it's obvious.

Watched: The Menu (not as good as I thought!)
Watched: Amélie (a joy to rewatch again after so many years!)
Watched: The Banshees of Inisherin
‍Watched: Charlotte Perriand - Pionierin des Alltagsdesigns ~ for me personally, one of the absolute most amazing women of the 20th century

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Beautiful but quite an intense Christmas break. Felt good afterwards to have a few days all by myself in my Dojo in Berlin before New Years.

Long calls with friends. Long runs in the snowy rain. Continued to write and assemble the 8th issue of my Newsletter — and finally sent it out on the 31st. In the last afternoon before the New Year.

Looking back at the year, one thing I’m happy about is that I jumped over my shadow more than once, silenced the “monkey brain” and got started on tackling new projects. I see this year in many ways as a foundation year for the upcoming one.

I continued to write my answers for a long upcoming interview with an international magazine. This always takes me quite a while!

From the bottom of my heart, I wish you all a fulfilling 2023. Health and strength to get started on whatever it is that will make you happy in the longterm. I believe in you🤍

Present Post: Imagine this year as a blank slate for your life. What would you want to change?

Watched Emily the Criminal
‍Watched Kill Tony (it’s a weekly live podcast/comedy show and I love it)

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Feeling better again! Seems like even the last bits of the annoying cold are gone. Now I’m trying to give it all in the last days before the Christmas break.

Worked on portfolio updates that I want to share in the upcoming Newsletter. Worked on adding new works and building the timeline/archive section.

Wrote for the upcoming Present Newsletter. It always takes me quite an effort and time, but it’s important for me to do it. And I want to send it out this year still. Went on two Christmas markets and to the cinema with Sarah.

Designed the UI for our app store on the new version of the Newsafe wallet for Newfoundation. Good, longer calls with Sofiane.

Took the train to Cologne. Worked on the whole train ride. Group zoom call for my friend Taylor’s birthday, who’s in Sicily right now. Went to go to Manufaktum und Muji for some last minute gift shopping. I’m in a great mood. Looking forward to Christmas and family!

Glühwein and bar with my old buddies from my neighborhood. And I was DJing at Jaki club for our annual Christmas Groove party.

Present Post: Insomnia 2 (1997) by Massimo Vitali from PRESENT Issue 2

Watched WeCrashed

Watched All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

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I got sick, like everyone around me in Berlin. Always the worst feeling. Hate it so much. The first day I was still trying to work, the second day there was no chance. Spent an entire day in bed.

On Wednesday I felt a bit better. Foggyness is mostly gone. Thankful. Only forward.

I packed myself with so many things to do before Christmas, I had to backpedal. Need to focus and put a few things to January and tackle them with fresh energy! Now I’m back to the feeling of: I’d just love to freeze time. To be able to have more time for finishing all my shit.

Lots of work for Newfoundation. We’ve launched nco.newcoin.org, among others.

I organised a Christmas dinner at my place with some good friends. Jasmin was cooking phenomenally. It was beautiful. I wasn’t back at 100% but happy we could do it at all!

On Saturday we spent the day at my sisters place with a bunch of friends. Baking Christmas cookies and watching a bad romcom ~ cozyness! Saturday afternoon I watched the worldcup final with Sarah. What a ride. What an amazing game!

Watched: Triangle of Sadness (great!)

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow men. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self." ~ Ernest Hemingway

Still figuring out the podcast setup. More work than expected. Borrowing equipment from my sister. Buying additional new (used) equipment. Cameras, Microphones, Lights, Cables. My buddy and DOP extraordinaire Julian Schmitt came over for coffee and to give me some tipps.

Feeling a bit exhausted mentally these days. Stressing myself because I want to get so much done before Chrsitmas. But it feels simply too much right now. Too many open options and tasks, struggling to focus. This week the pressure seems to make me feel stressed and creates sadness.

In the middle of the week I was seriously asking myself: Where did my joy go and how do I get it back? I will find back to joy if I have less tasks, very clean priorities and plan, and then finishing the right things.

Some powerful sprints and good longer calls with Sofiane and the Newfoundation team. Thankful for the positive feedback I got. Updated the UI of a bunch of apps, mainly the Newsafe wallet and its upcoming App Store.

Had a few quick run’s in the dark and in the rain this week to counter stress.

Dinner at my place with my buddies Matze and Basti. We got deep into a rabbit hole discussing the recent AI development and tools, which are simply game-changing…

On Saturday we celebrated the whole my friend Carlo’s birthday and I was on the turntables until late…

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In our last days in Bangkok we visited the Reclining Buddha, went up the Maha Nakhon (tallest building in Thailand and highest I’ve ever been to). Rounded up by enjoying the Jodd Fairs at night with my friend Karl, who’s living in Bangkok since several year.

Back in Berlin and feeling surprisingly fresh after the long flight. Next day: a lot in my head. Trying to make clarity…

Can’t deny a strange gloomyness on my mind these last days. Why is that? Too much pressure? Too many things I want to do until Christmas? Or simply the contrast from sun/beach/thailand to cold/grey/berlin?

Went to the Rosalía concert with Sarah and Berin. Amazing show. Such an amazing artist, I was blown away. Bliss! Thanks to Sarah for making it happen <3

Input: The Art of Fermenting Great Ideas
‍Watched White Lotus (such good entertainment!)
Watched Happy Old Year

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Thailand is treating us well. Thankful for the phenomenal food and my daily beach runs.

That’s it for now for this week :)

Reading Stillness is Key by PRESENT contributor Ryan Holiday. It’s a perfect vacation read, highly recommended.

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Lots of communication with Present contributors. Send the mediakit to more potential partners. Also worked intensily on launching the updated Newcoin website.

Felt under pressure because I want to get so much done before my travels🥵

I worked tirelessly those last months. Hope to be able to recharge in Thailand🇹🇭

We woke up very early on Wednesday to head to the airport and fly to Bangkok. It was a long flight, but I found it enjoyable :) Got a lot of reading done.

Mission now: relax and enjoy. Bye for now!

”Find out WHO you are. Not what you do, not what you are, or where you want to be. It took me way too long to realize who I am and what I want out of life. Explore and push your boundaries. Try new things and learn what you like. Meet new people, challenge your own beliefs and understanding, walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, and then share your knowledge with others. Become YOU.” ~Unknown

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Energetic start into the week. Designed decks and graphics for a series of Newfoundation events at gallery and Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London this week.

Finished the new PRESENT mediakit and started sending it out to potential partners. Excited for that. It was a lot of work, but a useful challenge.

We recorded an interview with Tareet, one of our favorite upcoming fashion designers from Marseille, who we will feature in the next issue.

Triying to get everything done before my trip to Thailand next week! Feeling pressure to finalise unfinished things before, trying to push!

“We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about.” ~Charles Kingsley

Input: The Diary Of A CEO with Scott Galloway

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At the start of the week I needed to first get rather unexciting things out of the way (taxes, admin work), but combined it with more joyful errants afterwards (getting new plants for my Dojo).

Finally carved out some time to get back to designing new Present Products and merch ideas. Challenge: too many ideas floating around. More focus needed to make decisions. But it will happen!

Quick simple thing helping me at the moment: Setting a Daily Highlight. Each morning, ask yourself "What's the most important thing I want to do today?" and then make sure you do that thing. (Or at least get started!)

Trying to get everything ready for the podcast recording, figuring out all equipment needed. Taking more time than expected. I know I shouldn’t be too perfectionistic about it, but I will do video as well, so this adds complexity to the whole operation.

Met with one of my oldest friends from Cologne for running and intense late night football practice at the pitch by the canal to counter stress.

Friday evening ritual: sending a thorough audio message about my week to my friend Carlo. This is a good habit. Afterwards for dinner to Sorrel with Sarah and Matthias, later we ended up at Bar Sway. Good night, great talks <3

Sunday for recharging. Took a walk with Sarah, we watched The Humans and Agnes Varda’s The Gleaners and I which I thought was really great!

“This is all you need in life: a computer, a camera, and a cat.” —Agnes Varda

Present Post: Log: Week 43

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Good start into the week with a good Present team call. Cherishing the conversations with Sarah and Paz! They are both amazing. I’m thankful for them and for the chance to open up this project more and more.

On Tuesday I had a feeling that I need a real break soon. I felt real overwhelm with everything. Too many tasks on my plate and on my mind. And it stressed me out. But this was then a chance to recalibrate. A chance to clean.

On Wednesday I was much better again. Maybe I just needed more sleep. The power of being well rested. I reduced and reprioritized and put myself into monk mode…

Finally got started on the next Present Newsletter. Hopefully ready to ship it soon. The mediakit proceeds slowly. Got a tough time finishing this one. Have to let go of perfectionism. It’s never going to be perfect, so just get it done. Still working on integrating Memberstack onto our website. My head was steaming from navigating all possible options, but getting there!

Went with Sarah to the vernissage of our friend Felix Rank in collaboration with Apartamento. Met some friends there and ended up at Tom Król and Klara’s new place where we had some glorious pasta! Good times.

Friday we spent the night with our friend Lesha Berezovskiy who was visiting from Kiev. Thankful to hear all his stories. He is a great guy and great photographer. He is also volunteering in the war in his home country. I’m impressed and heartbroken and thankful for people like Lesha. Respect.

Saturday we were at the 60th birthday of Regina Schilling, one of the coolest and kindest women I know. Afterwards a Halloween party with the gang, which was a fun, wholesome, and drunken reunion. A long Sunday run in an attempt to cure my foggyness and hangover, but felt blessed for the last days and for my friends and family.

After last weeks’ slight under-the-weatherness I’m back to life. And back to cold showers. This core habit makes me feel alive, alert and powerful. Several energizing runs this week to have a clearer mind.

Present: Drafting, planning, making. Research and communication with contributors. Happy to have received some really great content! Can’t wait to share it with you. And we’re organizing our first online live event. And I’m currently researching and testing how to build the upcoming membership login and dashboard for the website.

I got excited towards the end of the week when I brainstormed and took action on the upcoming Present Podcast. I finally got around taking the first step and secured the first guest. I was procrastinating on this project for a while now, because it scares me. But I know that once I take the jump it will be worth it and I know will be glad I did.

Rediscovered the afternoon nap. 20 min is usually already enough. Makes a huge difference: better energy and more positive mindset afterwards.

I went to the opera with Sarah to see LAB_WORKS | Half Life by Sharon Eyal. It put me in quite a meditative state. It was the second piece I’ve seen from her, and I loved it again.

I visited my friend Marius who is a masterful craftsman and got myself a fresh haircut. Those visits are always combined with deep conversations and I feel thankful for that.

On Saturday we went to Siegessäule and participated in the big demonstration: Jin-Jiyan-Azadî. It was good to be there.

Present Post: Breathing Techniques by Shuaitong Zong

Input: The Playlist gripping series on the birth of Spotify

Rising brutally early to get everything done. It’s a battle at the moment to have a day job and trying to push my passion project to the max.

I’m fighting my way back. In need of fresh motivation. Cleaning up. Starting again and again. Everyday is a new attempt to get important stuff done and achieve more clarity.

Worked out a new timeline for Present. Trying to make all tasks more visible to my team to allow for more support. We are getting more structured with our operations via Notion. Feeling thankful to have Sarah and Paz’s support and fresh ideas!

I’m still working on the mediakit. It’s much more directed now to what we actually need and looking for. We are still trying to figure out the Community Space. The aim is to make this public as soon as possible for Present Members.

Friday we went to the newly opened Bar Sway, which was fantastic. Felt lucky to have such an amazing new spot in my neighborhood. We connected with the great Anna Santangelo there and that was really nice!

New rule: Alcohol is fine, but just don’t get a hangover. I had enough hangovers in my life. I’m drinking conciously, so I can enjoy it, and also enjoy the next day.

Felt fresh on Saturday morning. Spontaneous visit from Carlo. Brainstorming on future magazine and publishing ideas … fun! Sunday we cooked brunch at my Dojo with our good friend Matthias. Afterwards we walked at the canal, then ordered pizza and finally watched Kwaidan, the 1964 classic from Masaki Kobayashi.

Input: Rick Rubin in Conversation with Lex Fridman (Podcast #275)

Last week was intense and I woke up on Monday physically tense. Pretty much under the weather. Put up the fight to not get sick.

This was the first week in a while that was not so great. Because I didn’t feel fully healthy. And it frustrated me. I couldn’t do what I wanted to do. Towards the end of the week it became a bit better.

Got me some new and needed early-rising motivation via Jocko content (go through the motions) and thanks to an old principle of mine: You’ll never regret having risen early.

Great call with Nea-Kosma and afterwards with Paz and Sarah for PRESENT. I was giving in to my vulnerability. Sharing doubts and dreams with full transparency.

Newfoundation action: Newforum website updates, documentation website start, new brand kit, new pitch decks for next funding round.

Sarah’s brother Anthony was in town for the weekend. We went on a kanu tour in the Spreewald. Lovely! Afterwards dinner with our friends Sebastian und Klara. Later we went to Phantom, a new bar from my buddy Silvan, who’s also running Bar Brutal, another favorite spot.

Saturday: Pizza pop-up by my buddies Taylor and Raoul (Bubble Crew) and afterwards Beuster Bar. Sunday: long walk through Kreuzberg, ending on Tempelhofer Feld, then checked the Jon Rafman and Anna Uddenberg exhibition at Schinkel Pavillon. Cooked and watched Bullet Train.

Rather than choosing a life in which you do nothing for fear of making a mistake, choose a life that improves through failure and pain. And shout out loud to your struggling self, “I love you so much!”  Haemin Sunim (from: Love for Imperfect Things)

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