# Heart of Gold — Complete Content > Personal website of Ondrej Svec. Coach, technologist, cyclist. All posts concatenated for LLM ingestion. Site: https://ondrejsvec.com --- # The Courage to Slow Down in the Age of AI - URL: https://ondrejsvec.com/posts/the-courage-to-slow-down-in-the-age-of-ai- - Type: writing - Published: 2026-04-07 - Author: Ondrej Svec - Description: AI makes teams faster than ever. But what happens when speed erodes the human connections that made us good? A CTO's honest reflection. We were building faster than ever. A small team shipping what used to take ten people. And it still wasn't fast enough. That's the tension nobody warns you about. You adopt AI, you transform your workflow, you ship features in hours that used to take weeks — and the people around you look at it and say "why isn't it faster?" Because in the time it takes you to do things properly — to plan, to test, to make sure the architecture holds — someone who doesn't understand engineering sees only that the output could be higher. And in that pressure to go faster, the first things you cut are the ones that feel slowest: the meetings, the check-ins, the conversations. The human parts. I know because I just lived through it. --- Last July, I joined Aibility as CTO to build Aimee — an AI coach helping people discover what's possible with artificial intelligence. Over the months, we grew a team around it. Tom — co-CEO with Martin — driving product and design, Kačka helping shape the UX, Slava and later Petr joining on development, Žaneta driving sales, Filip as the founder, and everyone else making the company tick. It was a real team effort. We built with AI from day one. Claude, Cursor, agents — the full stack. And the speed was real. A small dev team delivering what would have taken a traditional team many times our size. Aimee ended up working across multiple countries, used by thousands of people. We helped Aibility adopt GitHub for their knowledge base, set up modern workflows with agents and CLI tools, built Aimee for Slack, created self-service tooling. We did a lot. And at the end of April, our dev team — me, Petr, and Slava — is leaving. Aibility is refocusing on the Superpowered Professional methodology. Our chapter is closing. We didn't ship everything we dreamed of. But we shipped enough to know it was real, and the company is in good hands moving forward. It wasn't smooth sailing though. And honestly? The rough parts taught me more than the wins did. That's what I actually want to talk about. --- Here's what I got wrong. We were a small team. Five, six people at the core. I genuinely believed we didn't need heavy process. Groomings, sprint plannings, formal demos — that's for bigger teams, right? We're small, we're fast, we message each other on Slack every day — that counts, right? We had our weeklies. We had bi-weekly office days. That should be enough. It wasn't. What happened in practice is that things drifted. Our product person gradually stepped back from the day-to-day. Our key stakeholder wasn't present at most of the meetings we did have — getting information secondhand instead of seeing the work directly. Demos happened for a while, then stopped. The marketing team, the education team, the back office — everyone was doing their part, but nobody was seeing the full picture together. Not regularly. Not in a way that kept us aligned. And here's the uncomfortable truth: we tried, a few times, to get the rituals going. But we never drove it hard enough or long enough for it to stick. There was no one person relentlessly making sure the right people were in the room, that the stakeholder saw the product evolving week by week. In a small team you assume alignment happens naturally. It doesn't. It has to be built and maintained, deliberately, by someone who cares enough to keep insisting even when it feels like overhead. We didn't do that well enough. I should have insisted harder. It cost us. In quality — things slipped through that shouldn't have, testing wasn't where it needed to be. In alignment — people working in different directions, not out of malice but because the connective tissue between us had worn too thin. In shared understanding — devs, product, stakeholders, nobody seeing the full picture together. Those rituals we never properly established? They weren't process overhead. They were social infrastructure — the thing that kept us connected as people. Without them, we were just individuals working on the same thing. We learned that the hard way. And I believe what happened to us is a preview of what's coming for everyone. --- **AI is removing the reason people learned to work with other people**. I want you to sit with that for a moment. Not "AI is taking jobs." Not "AI is changing teams." Something deeper and, I think, more unsettling. A developer who used to pair with a colleague now pairs with an AI. A designer who needed a conversation with a product manager can now generate, iterate, and ship alone. A project manager who ran standups finds that agents already track everything. The need to collaborate — actually **need**, not choose — is shrinking. Fast. And here's the thing: the standups, the code reviews, the pair programming, the whiteboard arguments — those weren't just about producing better software. They were the training ground. For communication. For empathy. For the messy, uncomfortable, incredibly important skill of understanding another human being's perspective. When you don't need to collaborate, you stop learning how. Think about who this hits hardest. The people who already struggle with social engagement. The introverted developer who never loved standups but who, because of them, learned to articulate their thinking. The junior who grew by sitting next to a senior, absorbing not just code patterns but how to disagree, how to compromise, how to work through conflict. Those people don't get that training anymore. Not because anyone decided to take it away — but because the work no longer requires it. I worry we're heading toward a world of brilliant solo performers who can build anything — and struggle to work with anyone. And honestly? That worries me more than job replacement. --- "But we'll have meetups! Communities! Slack channels!" Maybe. But here's the crucial difference. Those are opt-in. The genius of the old way — the thing we didn't appreciate until it was gone — was that collaboration was opt-out. You had to actively resist working with people. The default was together. AI flips that default. Alone becomes the path of least resistance. And opting into collaboration requires exactly the social skills that are atrophying because you don't practice them. It's a loop. And it's already spinning. I see it already. And here's the uncomfortable part: the solo path genuinely works in some ways. One person with AI, no communication overhead, context shared seamlessly between them and the model — they can be remarkably effective. You can't just dismiss that. But here's what they lose. The challenge. The collision of different brains with different experiences. The moment when a colleague says something you'd never think of — not because they're smarter, but because they've lived a different life and see the problem from a place you can't reach. AI can simulate expert panels and devil's advocates, but it's extrapolating from patterns, not thinking from lived experience. Our messy, contradictory, emotionally-driven human brains still do something that AI doesn't — and that something is exactly what gets lost when you optimize for one person doing it all. And then there's the quality question. We're moving so fast that things break in ways they didn't before. GitHub — the platform most of us build on — had to publish a special blog post addressing their "recent availability issues" after six incidents in February alone, with some services hitting 90% failure rates. Anthropic accidentally leaked Claude Code's source code through an npm package just this week. Studies are finding that AI-generated code has 1.7 times more bugs and over half of developers have shipped AI code with security flaws they didn't catch. This isn't because people are careless. It's because the speed is intoxicating and the checks that used to catch these things — the code review where a colleague actually reads your work, the demo where a stakeholder spots the gap, the conversation where someone says "wait, have we thought about..." — those are the same rituals we're skipping. The same social infrastructure we're letting erode. We trade robustness for velocity and tell ourselves it's fine. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it's 2 AM and something breaks and there's one person who knows how it works — because they built it alone, with an AI, and never talked anyone through it. --- And here's the thing that keeps me up at night. Communication isn't just a workplace skill. It's how we stay human with each other. Listening, disagreeing and still respecting each other, holding space for someone's perspective — that's not just what teams need. It's what families need. Friendships. Communities. The workplace was, quietly, one of the last places where adults were forced to practice being with other adults who think differently. If that goes away, where do people learn it? Social media? We've seen how well that's going. --- I don't have a framework for this. I don't have a five-step guide. I'm not selling anything. But I've built products. I've led teams. I've done coaching work with people on how they lead and how they talk to each other. And I keep getting pulled toward the question of what happens — to people, to teams, to the systems we build around them — when everything changes faster than we can adapt. About a year and a half ago, I wrote a post called "Jump into the Unknown." I was leaving corporate life, stepping into coaching, wanting to help people on their transformation journeys and, through that, slowly change the systems around us. I had no idea what I was getting into. I still don't. But I've been inside the thing now. Not reading about AI transformation — living it, with a team, with all the mess and the speed and the drift. And what I came out with isn't a methodology or a playbook. It's a question: how do we keep teams human when the work no longer requires them to be? That's what I want to figure out next. Not as a product. As a purpose. --- To Petr and Slava — you are my friends, not just colleagues. Petr, we've been building things together across companies, across years. I know I can always rely on you, and I'm grateful — for you and for your family. Slava, this was our second time working side by side, and I'd do it again without hesitation. To everyone at Aibility — Tom and Martin, co-CEOs who believed in this from the start. Filip, the founder. Kačka, who shaped how Aimee looked and felt. Žaneta, the queen. Petra, Aneta, Verča, Helča, Blanka, Jakub, Hanka. And those who walked part of the way with us — Verča, Pavel, Honza, Petr, Čeňka, Jakub, Alča, Jakub. Every one of you made this what it was. Thank you. And that gratitude? That's the point. Those names aren't just a list. They're the people I grew with, argued with, figured things out alongside. No AI gave me that. --- We're entering an era where working alone is easier than ever. The tools are incredible. The speed is real. But your AI won't genuinely disagree with you. It won't bring a perspective shaped by a life you haven't lived. It won't push back because it cares about the outcome in a way that's different from how you care. It will be helpful, agreeable, and fast — and none of that will teach you how to work with someone who sees the world differently than you do. That's the trade-off nobody's talking about. And I think it's the one that matters most. If any of this resonates, don't just like this and scroll on. Talk to someone about it — a colleague, a friend, the person next to you who's been unusually quiet lately. And if you want, talk to me. I mean that. I'm not the most naturally social person, and reaching out still costs me something every time. But I think that's exactly why it matters — choosing to connect when you don't have to is the whole point. --- # The Return and the Road Ahead - URL: https://ondrejsvec.com/posts/the-return-and-the-road-ahead - Type: wandering - Published: 2026-02-21 - Author: Ondrej Svec - Description: I went to Madeira looking for an answer. I stayed for almost a month. This is what I came back with - and where I want to go next. A month ago I stood against a rock on Madeira with tears in my eyes and wrote about stopping. I was there for a few days. Then I stayed for almost a month. Have you ever gone somewhere looking for an answer and come back with something you didn't expect? Not the answer exactly. But the feeling that maybe you've been asking the right question all along. It wasn't a vacation. I was working. Walking levadas with my thoughts racing, sometimes talking to myself, sometimes singing out loud like a madman on a mountain path. But then there were these moments - off the trail, sitting on stones where the water just flows and flows, waterfalls all around. And there I actually stopped. Just sat and listened. I had two lives on that island. In the north, it was just me. Me and the mountains and the work and those stolen moments by the water. When you're alone, there's this freedom that's hard to explain. You stop when you want. You take the path no one else would choose. You don't worry about whether you said the wrong thing or if you're being too much or not enough. The people pleaser in you gets to rest. You just... are. In the south, I was with people I'd only known for two years - someone I used to coach at my previous job. We clicked somewhere along the way, and when I went to Madeira, they took me in. Nine days in their home. They cooked, they hiked with me, they made it feel like I belonged there. One hike, her partner stepped right into a levada. Leg went down, water and mud everywhere. We laughed so hard. Another time we walked through a tunnel that was completely flooded - properly underwater. And one evening we ended up in front of a poncha bar, drinking Poncha de Pescador - the fisherman's poncha. We didn't choose the conversation that followed. The locals just came to us, so warm and open, and suddenly we're all standing there chatting in English, which was funny and a little absurd and honestly kind of beautiful. And that's the thing. Being alone gives you freedom. But having someone to laugh with when everything goes sideways - someone to tell "you won't believe what I saw today" - that makes it real. --- So did I find what I was looking for? --- I think so. I want to stay in places long enough to have a favorite bakery. A favorite coffee roaster. A favorite levada. A spot in the mountains where you know exactly when the light hits right. A climb you keep coming back to - on the bike or on foot - because you know there's more in your legs than last time. But it's also about the people. The locals who just come up to you at a poncha bar. The friend who takes you in. The stranger who becomes less strange. The person you meet on a mountain trail - you smile at each other, say hello, and keep walking. Or sometimes you meet them in a hut and suddenly you're talking. Sometimes it's raining and it's just you and them and a few words are enough. I'm not good at that part, honestly. I'm an introvert who worries about not being enough for people I don't know yet. But Madeira showed me that sometimes they just come to you - and that's when the best things happen. I'm already dreaming about where to go next. Scandinavia, France for L'Etape du Tour, Switzerland - and not alone, ideally. I'd love to share that road with the person I love most. But life is messier than dreams. There are people I love who need me close. There's a dog who's getting old and can't come along. There are things in my personal life that aren't sorted yet and might take time. And when I got back from Madeira? I jumped straight into work. But not because I had to - I love what we're building and I really want it to succeed. It's more that I need to remember that taking care of myself is part of doing good work. Not separate from it. I don't have it figured out. I'm getting back on my bike, trying to find some shape again. Trying to be a whole person and not just someone who works. But I know what I felt there. And I know I want more of it. Maybe that's enough for now. --- # Working from the Clouds - URL: https://ondrejsvec.com/posts/working-from-the-clouds - Type: wandering - Published: 2026-01-21 - Author: Ondrej Svec - Description: After a year of pushing through, I traveled to Madeira to work remotely. Instead, I found out that I just might learn how to stop and enjoy, finally. Have you ever arrived somewhere and realized you forgot to actually arrive? It would be brilliant to tell you that my first morning in Madeira started with some cinematic moment of peace - waking up to fog curling through the mountains, feeling this deep sense of finally being here. But the truth is, the house was cold, I hadn't figured out how to use the heating yet, and all I wanted was to stay under the covers for five more minutes. That feeling of arrival came later. Much later than I expected. Twenty-four hours earlier, I walked into the airport lounge in Prague and found my friend sitting there. Not just any friend - a guy I studied with at university, worked with at IBM, cycled with through Sweden years ago. He was there with his family, heading to Tenerife. On bikes. Sometimes life does this thing where it reminds you that the world is smaller and stranger and more connected than you think. We talked, caught up, and then went our separate ways. A small gift before the journey even started. Then I was pressed against the plane window watching the world unfold below me. First the snowy fields around Prague, then the Alps as we crossed into Switzerland - Mont Blanc rising massive and white, surrounded by lakes that looked like mirrors from above. After that, just clouds for what felt like hours, until we started descending and suddenly there it was: ocean. Ocean from here to nowhere, nothing but water and sky stretching to the edge of the world. When the cliffs of Madeira finally started rising from the Atlantic, dark and dramatic against all that blue, I remember thinking "Hey, this is actually happening." I was pumped. Everything was going to be fine. It wasn't. The car rental lady was nice, I'll give her that. Patient, even, as I stood at her counter trying to understand why my virtual credit card wouldn't work. "It's in the terms and conditions," she explained. Terms I didn't read. Classic me. Have you ever had that sinking feeling when you realize you've messed up something basic, and now you're standing in a foreign airport trying to figure out what the hell to do next? She offered an alternative: I could use a debit card instead, but then I'd need to pay for their insurance. Six hundred euros. For insurance I'd already paid for through Booking. The whole car rental was supposed to cost maybe four hundred total, and now just the insurance alone would cost more than that. I probably gave her a hard time, asking why, trying to find some workaround, but there wasn't one. What followed was an hour of calls and scrambling. The Booking.com guy was helpful - arranged a cancellation with reduced fees, even tried to educate me about credit cards for next time. Then I remembered my backup: a Czech woman living in Madeira who arranges things for visitors. She was amazing, worked some magic on closing hours, and half an hour later a Fiat Panda pulled up to the airport. No deposit needed. More expensive than planned, but done. When I finally turned the ignition and started driving - no phone holder, navigating by voice commands and wrong turns - I didn't care. I was moving. The owner couldn't be there, so his mother met me at the house instead. She didn't speak English and I didn't speak Portuguese, but honestly, after the day I'd had, her warmth was exactly what I needed. This big smile, this genuine kindness radiating from her as she showed me where to park, handed me the keys, pointed at things that mattered. We didn't need words. Sometimes you don't. When I finally got inside, I realized I hadn't eaten since before the flight, so I went out to find a shop and do some proper grocery shopping. Came back, unpacked, messaged friends about the whole adventure. That feeling of finally settling in after everything - the chaos at the airport, the scrambling, the wrong turns - it all started to fade. I had weeks ahead of me on this island, split between this house and time with friends on the other side of Madeira. For now, I was here. --- The next morning brought the cold house and the not wanting to leave the bed. Eventually I did, made breakfast, opened my laptop, started working. The work felt familiar, but every time I glanced up from the screen, there were mountains disappearing into fog instead of the flat fields and construction sites I see from my Prague window. But the real moment, the one that actually mattered, came later. I went for a walk up toward a small chapel on the hill, following a Levada - those old irrigation channels carved into the Madeiran mountains, water running alongside a sketchy path that's barely a path at all. There was a small waterfall, and I had my earphones in the whole time, listening to the AI Predictions show that our company founder put together. Still working, in a way, even out here. Taking photos. Always moving, always capturing, always doing something. When I walked down from the chapel, something made me stop. I leaned against a rock and just looked - at the ocean stretching out below, at the hills rising around me, at the fog rolling slowly through the valley. The wind on my face. The silence, once I took the earphones out. And that's when it hit me, really hit me: I'm still rushing. Even here, in this bloody beautiful place, I'm still rushing. Earphones in, capturing content, thinking about what comes next. Not actually feeling any of it. Not really stopping to be here. You know that feeling when you've been running so long you forget you're running? When busyness becomes so normal that even rest feels like something you need to optimize? The past year was crazy. I wrote about it before - the changes, the lows, the not admitting things to myself. I wasn't really anywhere during all of that. No proper time away. No real stopping. Just pushing through, always pushing through, telling myself I'd rest later, slow down eventually, take care of myself when things calmed down. But things don't calm down on their own, do they? We have to choose it. Standing there against that rock, looking at the fog and the ocean, I had tears in my eyes. Actual tears. Not because the view was beautiful, though it was. Because I finally understood what I'd been doing to myself. And because, for the first time in a long time, I actually stopped. --- I'm here for twenty-five days. Working, yes, but also trying to change how I deal with time - not just while I'm on this island, but maybe after I come back too. It's not really a vacation. I don't like "work-cation" either - that word feels like something a startup would invent to make you feel okay about never switching off. It's more like... work, then explore. Using the fact that I don't need to be at a desk all the time. Dictating thoughts while walking. Planning my days as I want, without bloody millions of meetings filling every hour. Something in between. I don't have a name for it yet. But I'm starting to think the name doesn't matter. What matters is the stopping. The actually being here. The letting the fog roll through without trying to capture it, analyse it, turn it into something I can understand. Maybe that's the thing I came here to learn. --- # The Not So Perfect Year - URL: https://ondrejsvec.com/posts/the-not-so-perfect-year - Type: writing - Published: 2025-12-31 - Author: Ondrej Svec - Description: I write this in stark contrast to so many sharing their ups, their achievements, how brilliant it all went. You know the posts. Hey dear traveler, welcome, welcome on another part of the path you've chosen to observe as I walk it. I write this in stark contrast to so many sharing their ups, their achievements, how brilliant it all went. You know the posts. The highlights. The wins. The carefully curated success. This isn't that. For me, 2025 was a bumpy ride. Ups and downs, ups and downs. My life has been all over the place. Many of you who talked with me this year saw one of two people: someone determined to build something amazing, or a man completely lost. Sometimes both in the same conversation. I took a few leaps of faith this year. Not many landed. First, coaching. I went all in. I had good feedback from the previous year, a decent number of coachees, and it seemed like the right move. So I jumped. And I ran into a wall. Not of stones. Not of lack of skill. A wall of my own making. Can you guess what it was? Fear. I watch my peers go to great lengths to put their name into the world, going with their skin to the market. Even when it scares them, they do it anyway. I find that I can't. I have such a deep fear of failing - of being seen as a failure in others' eyes - that I don't even try to go the extra length. Funny thing is, if you looked at me from outside, you wouldn't say that. I've completed half-ironmans. I did an everesting - 8,849 meters of climbing on a bike in a single day. Not bad, you might say. He can achieve what he wants. And there lies the problem. I don't know what I want. Not "I'm figuring it out." Not "I'm on a journey of discovery." I genuinely don't know. After years of trying for children, deciding that maybe I can live without them. After my marriage taking hits I still don't fully understand. My mind and body have been in chaos the whole year. From the outside, you'd never guess. I crossed finish lines, showed up with energy, did an amazing training camp in Andalusia, helped deliver the International Coaching Week, tried being an Agile Coach, found people whose company I truly enjoy. But inside? Fog. And then came the opportunity that shaped the rest of the year. Building Aimee. A product with a vision of helping people bridge the growing gap caused by artificial intelligence taking ever more presence in our lives. At the same time, I was being torn to pieces. Battling inner fears. Love life in shambles. Heart unable to move on, unable to understand the change that happened. Not wanting to understand. Not wanting to accept and deep dive still hoping for the love of my life to get back to me. With all that chaos, it was so easy to take a plunge into the vast sea of work that comes with building something new with an ambitious team. I poured my heart and time into it. Slowly cutting away everything else. Training. Good habits around sleep and living. Vacation time. And yes, also a new relationship I had tried to start - ending up hurting both myself and the amazing person I was seeing. You often hear people say what working too much can cause. You might expect me to tell you it was stupid, that I should never have done it. But I won't say that. Sometimes we need a lifeboat. Aimee was mine. Yes, many things could have been handled better. Taking it slower. Protecting my way of life. Working smarter, not just more. Hell, it's easy to write those words. It's easy to recommend that to others. Living it is different. Looking back at what we built - an AI tutor and coach, a team of people I'd call friends rather than just colleagues, a product that might just become something real - one could say we've done an amazing job in just a few months. We kickstarted something that might be quite a success in the year to come. Was the cost worth it? I'm still figuring that out. And yet, I wouldn't be me if I didn't end on a note of gratitude. To those who work with me, support me, talk with me. Who bike and swim with me, laugh with me, love me. And also to those who don't enjoy my company, who maybe don't like me at all - even to you I send words of thanks. For being able to live and breathe next to you in what might just be one of the most exciting eras in human history. Yes, there's still bad shit happening in the world. And yet, I can't help but be pumped about what's coming. The research discoveries around artificial intelligence and how the ethics and sustainability will play out. The traveling I'm planning now that I don't have to care so much about where I work from. The people I'll meet with who will change my life. The small things I can do to make someone's day a bit better. Friend, traveler, I wish you this for the years ahead: Excitement. Curiosity. Kindness. And the will to live here and now, the best way you can. Even when you don't have it all figured out. Especially then. --- # The new beginnings - URL: https://ondrejsvec.com/posts/the-new-beginnings - Type: writing - Published: 2024-12-16 - Author: Ondrej Svec - Description: The last week working on a project for Kindred ends and the jump into unknown starts. It was a year full of twist and turns, finding my path in Leadership an... The last week working on a project for Kindred ends and the jump into unknown starts. It was a year full of twist and turns, finding my path in Leadership and Coaching and looking for a vision. I’ve had an opportunity to work with truly amazing people, people I hope that will stay in my life and our ways cross again. Why then are you leaving them man? Well, the lack of purpose and vision I’d like to stand behind together with a weighted feeling on my chest, and soft voice in my head saying that the life is too short not to try something silly :), that is why. What will be next? Who knows. I want to dive into the world of professional coaching, both with individuals and teams, with a vision of **cultivating systems empowering us to live wholeheartedly, taking care of ourselves, so we can authentically support others**. As one path is ending, and with a large degree of humbleness and curiosity, I am starting to walk on another. I do not wish for it to be a solitary one though. I’d be more than happy, if some people decide to walk the path with me, or invite me to walk with them for a bit. You might not know me too well, you might not know why our paths should cross and join, hell I don’t know that either, yet ! It fills me with both, “what the hell is going to happen” (humming to anticipation, anxiety) and “I am so bloody curious what lies in front of us” (humming to excitement, curiosity, joy). Let’s walk together and with a spring in our steps :) Prompt: Make the following more succinct, writing in kind tone from the depths of the heart. As my journey with Kindred draws to a close, I stand at the threshold of the unknown—a year that has been a profound teacher of leadership, personal growth, and self-discovery. This chapter has blessed me with extraordinary connections, souls who have touched my heart and whom I hope will remain part of my life's tapestry. Why leave, you might ask? A gentle whisper within speaks of life's brevity and the courage to embrace the undefined. A sense of misalignment and an unquenchable curiosity have sparked my next adventure. I'm stepping into the world of professional coaching with a vision that resonates deeply: cultivating systems that empower us to live wholeheartedly, to nurture ourselves so we can authentically support others. This transition is not a solitary pilgrimage. I extend an open invitation to fellow travelers—whether to walk alongside me, share a segment of the journey, or simply exchange insights. The path ahead is painted with both anticipation's nervous energy and excitement's vibrant hues. I may not know all the details, and that's the beautiful mystery. With humility, curiosity, and a heart full of hope, I take this step. Let's walk together, with lightness in our steps and openness in our hearts ❤️ As my journey with Kindred draws to a close, a year that has been a profound teacher of leadership, personal growth, and self-discovery, I stand at the threshold of the unknown. I am thankful for all the connections, souls who have touched my heart and whom I hope will remain part of my life going forward.🫶 Why leave, you might ask? A gentle whisper within speaks of the shortness of our lives and the courage to embrace the undefined. A sense of misalignment and of intense curiosity have sparked my next adventure. I'm stepping into the world of professional coaching with a draft of my vision: 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱𝗹𝘆, 𝘁𝗼 𝗻𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀. 👀 I do not wish for this transition to be a solitary pilgrimage. 𝗜’𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀—𝘄𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗺𝗲, 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲, 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀. The path ahead leads over some very steep mountains, which makes it all the more exciting to me. I do love mountains, and I need challenges 🙃. I may not know all the details, and that's the beautiful mystery. With humility, curiosity, and a heart full of hope, I take this step. Let's walk together, with lightness in our steps and openness in our hearts ❤️ --- # Coaching circle of support - URL: https://ondrejsvec.com/posts/coaching-circle-of-support - Type: writing - Published: 2024-12-09 - Author: Ondrej Svec - Description: We often talk about introverts as people who have a challenge with having conversation with people, too shy, too soft spoken, too, hmmm, afraid? And more ove... We often talk about introverts as people who have a challenge with having conversation with people, too shy, too soft spoken, too, hmmm, afraid? And more over, do you know how energy draining group conversations, well, conversations, more like group individual talks are? How amazing is then when you put the said introvert into a smaller group of people who shares the same interest and ideally know each other for some time and, voilà, you get an energetic person, charged by the conversation and very lively indeed. I have experienced that first hand today when we’ve met with my three friends I found through Coaching. Two hours of constant talk about Coaching, our lives, where we are right now, what is in-front of us and also, what is behind us as it is just so slightly over a year we’ve met, younglings on the Coaching course organised by a matador of the craft. I can’t say how energising listening, and boy oh boy (girl oh girl) talking about the challenges we face is, especially with like minded folks. Feels really like a proper support circle every single one of us needs to thrive in their life and, it might be a beginning of something bigger. It would not be meet-up of Coaches if there would not be an action coming out of there, or rather a promise of deeper collaboration to be actioned on, combining our unique styles and life experiences could really be quite fun :). Although, not all is smooth sailing, two of us are trying to find a living in this vast Coaching world and seeing, how difficult it might be. There are so many Coaches so so active on social networks and with the amazing algorithms of today you keep seeing all this brilliant content, which funnily enough, only drives us out of social networks in the longterm. But, but, what do I do without social networks? How will people find me? I need to promote myself, I need to share what I am working on, I need to share what I am thinking about, I need to post and post and post and post. For introvert, this is really crazy and it poses an amazing challenge of, how do people find you without those tools of mass destruction? (ok ok, sometimes, quite useful, depends what you do with them and how you use them, knife can kill and it can, in the hands of good chef, your grandma, create the most wonderful meal you have ever eaten). Where were we, challenge, yes, my own Coach asked me just the other day “And what, you love challenges right? What is different on this challenge compared to the ones in sports? What could you learn from those?”. That makes you stop right? How comes I can imagine doing Tour des Stations, 9000m elevation climbed on a bike in a single day, yet this one terrifies me and I keep downplaying myself, joking about me coming back into IT crying in March next year cause I have no money. You can see on that how little I believe it will actually work, yet, I am also thrilled by giving it a go. The wonderful thing on a Coaching circle of support is, you get to see people who are either in the similar situation or who feel how you feel, they do not merely sympathise, nope, you can sense they care. And, I can’t ask for more. If you were reading to the end expecting some further revelation or deep thought, you ain’t gonna get one. Yet, I want to leave you with the following. As you ponder your life and challenges you face, like a tree facing the strong icy wind coming from the north, swaying freely from side to side, yet staying strong and agile, ask yourself: What are the roots supporting me in here? and, What can I do to keep them healthy and growing so they can continue to do so? --- # Jump into the Unknown - URL: https://ondrejsvec.com/posts/jump-into-the-unknown - Type: writing - Published: 2024-11-30 - Author: Ondrej Svec - Description: And here we are. What? Where? When? When, that we know, end of the year is coming and with it the time for a reflection and course correction. It is the time... And here we are. What? Where? When? When, that we know, end of the year is coming and with it the time for a reflection and course correction. It is the time, we need to slow down our lives, which is kinda funny as most of us speed up to buy gifts, finish all the work, do this, do that and then, exhausted, try to bring our best to the family table during Christmas. Slowing down, deliberately, is actually really hard and for me, even more important than ever. This year brought so many changes to my life, some I can easily share, such as moving out of our house to a city of Prague, regular psychiatry sessions, quite a step up on my coaching journey, trying to lead people, joining a triathlon club, starting to dance again, pushing myself to meet and talk with more people, and there would be more, but some I do not really want to share. It was a really tough one, I’ve been really down, although you who met me, you might have not seen it as I did not admit it to myself either. Fortunately, it’s starting to pull together once again and with the beautiful Autumn, telling us to wind down and rest, I am living here and now, and starting to change my life to be the way, I feel I want it to be. The next year is almost there, will it also impact the life as much? I can already say, probably yes and I am gathering my strength for it. From January I am changing my work course and stepping out of the Technology world of corporations, a wild step, perhaps even a jump into the unknown waters. Yes, unknown, I know I love coaching, working with individuals and teams to not reach new highs, but rather orient ourselves, put both our legs firmly on the ground, slow down and focus on what is really important. Our world so often is focused on being productive, delivering faster, cheaper and with higher quality, yet, aren’t we loosing ourselves in it? I see it so often in this time of the year, companies asking people to just hold a bit longer, to just dig a bit deeper, and yet, I can’t shake the feeling we are just patching the holes and not healing the system. As the next year comes, you’ll find me looking for ways to heal the system, not as a doctor, not by creating the most amazing and awesome artificial intelligence of our era, not as a politician or a leader of a corporation. I leave those to people, who are far more suited for those, than I currently am. Starting as a coach with people, helping them on their transformation journey, and through that, slowly changing the systems around us, that seems like a path I want to choose. Even though the path is quite foggy at the moment. With time and with all the amazing people around adding their bit and helping others, in schools, companies, corporations, public organisations, non-profit organisations, wherever it is, I really believe we can get there. Will you join us? --- # My soul, my mind - URL: https://ondrejsvec.com/posts/my-soul-my-mind - Type: writing - Published: 2024-10-05 - Author: Ondrej Svec - Description: Sometimes, you just have to write. You have to, you feel compelled to, compelled by the overpowering sensations flowing through your mind like a massive wave... Sometimes, you just have to write. You have to, you feel compelled to, compelled by the overpowering sensations flowing through your mind like a massive waves of water on a vast sea. While writing this, I can’t stop crying, my heart feels, feels and feels full of emotion, full of sadness, full of sorrows, full of love. In the background, music plays. Calm, soothing, relaxing simple piano melody brings me even deeper inside me, inside my soul. Looking out of the window, through my soul eyes, I see a world, clouds, sky, nature, frame of our being. Frame that is here and now, its not the same as yesterday, not the same as tomorrow, not the same as moment ago, not the same as in a moments time. Its ever changing and we change with it. We all our formed by a small piece of that, framed to be a being of earth and flash, framed to be part of the whole. Yet. Are we? Every single one of us is unique, unique being, yes, the same unique as a bee, as an ant, as a bird, as a tree. For a reason to me unknown, we, peoples of the world defy the natural. Not by our actions against nature, with our actions towards us ourselves. No wonder the way we can make ourselves and others suffer is a wonder even for gods in so many stories, the creativity of a mind knows no bounds. We can create wonders, masterpieces of technology, art, masterpieces moving our whole soul, bringing forth emotions, dreams, nightmares. Our minds are as powerful as the most terrifying weapons, and as powerful as the most wonderful moments of serenity. Do we care for them though? Do we nurture them, water them, bringing only the best soil, water, shine of the brightest of suns? Do we connect them with the others like plants connect to strengthen and build beautiful forests we so love to walk in? Where do we run all the time? Not stopping to take care of what is the most essential to ourselves, our mind and body? What does it take to persuade us to do so, does it have to be an ending of something beautiful, does it have to be a start of something terrifying, or, can it be a sparkle created by a gentle soul, mind, heart trying to help, trying to connect? I am of no religion, nor do I worship, yet, I can’t stop from feeling there is something more. There has to be right? We want to believe there is something beyond our earthly live, beyond or bodies, a reason for everything that happens, a reckoning for all we do. I wish it would be so, what I find myself driven to, is a belief in the nature itself, belief in people, animals, trees, rocks, water, winds, earth. We live in connection with it all, we live in connection with each other and we influence each other. If all of us would just be a touch more loving and touch more positive, it would be a wonderful place. And, I believe it to be my journey to help people on that way, on the way of optimism, integrity, curiosity, courage and wholeheartedness. Sounds silly, I know, even more from a person like me, closed in his own shell, yet, I do think that is my way still on which I walk, falling and getting up every damn time to continue. Thank you for reading what my soul and mind had to write. --- # What to do to Accept ourselves as we are - URL: https://ondrejsvec.com/posts/what-to-do-to-accept-ourselves-as-we-are - Type: writing - Published: 2024-07-07 - Author: Ondrej Svec - Description: Do you accept yourself for who you are? Or do you need an external appraisal from others to define who you are? Do you accept yourself for who you are? Or do you need an external appraisal from others to define who you are? If you are struggling to answer the questions above or if you see yourself in them, this is a story for you. One allowing me to open my heart, and get out all the imperfections, fears and struggles. --- # What an incredible month of ups and downs. The last week - URL: https://ondrejsvec.com/posts/what-an-incredible-month-of-ups-and-downs-the-last-week - Type: writing - Published: 2024-06-02 - Author: Ondrej Svec - Description: What an incredible month of ups and downs. The last week brought a particular joy to me as I’ve received many kind requests for coaching as a reply on an org... What an incredible month of ups and downs. The last week brought a particular joy to me as I’ve received many kind requests for coaching as a reply on an organisation wide email sent by human resources. Just imagine a coach in making who is so in love with the profession and it just seems so impossible to do it, and now that coach is suddenly given both time and opportunities required. I’ve been already thinking about changing the course of the career, shorten my contract to pursue my dream and now I have even more people wanting me as a coach then I can really take and all willing to work on themselves, just wow. I can’t wait to see where we’ll get in the upcoming months, as it is already visible just how much we all can learn from each other. It is quite thrilling and uplifting in those rainy days. Even more thrilling as I can see myself in them, the very same struggles I’ve been through and, well, I am still wrangling with. The struggles of the quote unquote modern life, so modern in-fact that we loose ourselves in it. So modern that we are asked to perform on 100% every day and deliver results quickly, efficiently and most importantly, just be productive. The belief of companies in financial results being the motivator for our growth and in the center of their culture is breathtaking to me. Of course, there are people whose pursuit of wealth is quite visible, but even there I dare ask, is it money the real motivation or is it something else? Something a bit more internal to us. In coaching, we have to look behind the curtain of what is there on the first glance, catching glimpses of one’s true intentions and dreams. That is what makes coaching so captivating and rewarding. Week in, I have done 3 introduction sessions with my coachees and many still awaits me. The plan was to introduce ourselves, explain what the coaching is and is not and outline the plan of the set of 12 coaching sessions. Next we had to find out, whether we are a good fit to each other. I have carved out around 25 minutes out of 45 just for what essentially is a free coaching on topic of their choosing. And, well, how did it go and what have I learned? - I always went a little bit over the given time, but only after asking whether we can spend 5 more minutes to properly close it. Always ask for permission, do not assume it is alright, ask. - Many heard about coaching, open questions, looking at the given topic from various angles and guidance. None was coached yet, but, many had experiences with psychotherapy. I guess, I am still asking myself. if that is alright or if it should be the other way around, hmmm. - Using [SCARF](https://neuroleadership.com/research/tools/nli-scarf-assessment/) to feel out what is the social motivation in coachees, you can also adapt your coaching questions to better suit them and avoid paths that could lead to lower engagement of their [prefrontal cortex](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499919/). - It really helps when you can relate to your coachees, it makes them feel better with you and trust goes up, you only have to avoid one of the biggest dangers: “Do not, do not make it about yourself.” Well, at least not too much :) --- # Need for ~~Speed~~ Sleep - URL: https://ondrejsvec.com/posts/need-for-speed-sleep - Type: writing - Published: 2024-05-05 - Author: Ondrej Svec - Description: I know, I know, a little silly of me to call a post like this. But I’ve did it on purpose as I wonder what kind of thoughts and images your mind would produc... I know, I know, a little silly of me to call a post like this. But I’ve did it on purpose as I wonder what kind of thoughts and images your mind would produce when reading the title. Might it be a speed in terms of productivity and a suggestion of sleep as the more important out of those two? Or, for some of us, a trip down the memory lane to times when we played the game called Need for Speed, but then, why the connection to sleep. How important is the sleep to you? I often talk about how I need at least 8 hours of sleep to get recharged and be of any use the next day and yet, when I look on the results of my sleep monitoring device, I’ve got barely 6 and half hours of sleep in average in April. More striking is the amount of Rapid Eye Movement \(REM\) sleep, in average only 51 minutes, and sleep score of 70 from 100. You see, I am a prime example of a person who knows a bit how our brains work, has a good enough understanding of what we need to perform at our best and still manages to get it spectacularly wrong. Couple of days ago I’ve read a post on LinkedIn from Chris Knight where he formulated two options, loosely said you either punish yourself or get curious and ask questions. **What stands between you and the good enough sleep?** I know not all of us are fortunate enough to be able to freely change our habits, especially those working as shift workers. What scares me a bit is, it takes only 1 night in a week over a couple of weeks where you deviate from your regular sleep pattern, going to sleep few hours later than usual, to disrupt our circadian system in a way that is very close to shift work limiting our chances to get a truly restorative sleep. If I take myself as an example, I do have a long term goal of getting asleep between 9:30 and 10:00 p.m. and waking up at 5:30 to 6 a.m. without an alarm. Looking at my behaviour over couple of weeks, I can see a pattern, where any kind of an evening activity, be it a dance class or a theatre play, challenges an ability to hold myself accountable to that goal. Even though I get home in time, often my first action is to take a bath and start playing chess, watching videos or reading a book. When I eventually find my way to bed, phone on a table next to it shows values north of 11 p.m.. I tend to wake up consistently a little bit ahead of my alarm even in times when I go to sleep later then I should. You might say, oh great, that means you don’t really need that much of sleep and your body wants to start moving. Eeeeh, well, not really, I can’t get myself from the bed and I start the day asking why the hell I can’t do the things properly. Out of curiosity, how many questionable behaviours and habits you see in the short text above? To list but a few: - Bright blue light exposure close to the sleep (it is recommended to avoid it 1-2 hours before bed time, and even avoid bright light between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m., [you can find more in this article](https://www.hubermanlab.com/newsletter/using-light-for-health) ) - Punishing myself in the morning and starting the day on a back foot. - Setting a goal for certain amount of hours in bed instead of working on sleep effectivity - Coming home in late hours and taking a bath that takes at least half an hour and in case of chess, might also induce negative thoughts when I loose. **Dig deeper, most likely those are just symptoms, what is the driving force behind them?** There we go, step, bend your knees, straighten your hands over the head and jump in a nice arc diving right into the slightly scary place of our mind. It took me some deliberation to find mine. Often, there might very well be many forces pulling you in various directions and in that case, you might want to pick one and start untangling. Pulling one of the threads, an old companion of mine jumps right in-front of me, the Monkey. She loves me feeding her with all the videos, games, sweet food, those little pleasures for which she trades small amounts of dopamine. The question is, how strong is she/he/it in your own mind? Powerful enough to make you doubt the effort you need to put into pursuing the goals that might and might not get fulfilled and might and might not give you the envisioned reward? **What can I change to remove the blocker?** Now that you have done your research and have a better understanding of what stands in a way, it is a time embark on a journey to fix it. My Monkey is a really strong one, I am quite adept in feeding her and I’ve done so for a very long time. I am not suggesting to eliminate play and little pleasures from our lives, not at all, rather we should build a cosy space for the Monkey to live in, effectively making sure boundaries exist. In my case, it is creation of an environment in which I can train my mind to deal with the Monkey overtime. Environment making it much harder to take a bath, play chess or watch videos after certain hour, limiting the options the Monkey has and increasing our chances to keep up with the goal. **What in practice can you do now?** To illustrate the extent to which those like me have to go, I’ve listed bellow my actions and considerations: - Luckily there is a lot we can do with our phones, for example iPhone has a Screen Time feature where you can schedule a time in which only certain apps will be available to use. For me, I’ve set it to disable all but essentials from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Only allowed apps are [Waking Up app](https://www.wakingup.com/) and Audible (with commitment to listen only to books that entertain me, not any educational stuff). This effectively blocks all the Social Media, YouTube, Streaming platforms and games. - I have also moved the phone charger from my bed side table to a location further from my bed, making it harder for me to reach out for it when lying down. - To make it harder to get a bath instead of a shower, I’ve hidden the bath plug :) - Additionally, based on the recommendations of both [Dr. Andrew Huberman](https://www.hubermanlab.com/) and [Dr. Matthew Walker](https://www.sleepdiplomat.com/professor), I’ve started doing [NSDR practice](https://www.hubermanlab.com/topics/nsdr-meditation-and-breathwork)s to get my brain and body into a state of deep relaxation. - In the morning, I try to get sun light into my eyes as soon as I can, not behind a window, outside. [There is a comprehensive article on that by Dr. Huberman](https://www.hubermanlab.com/newsletter/using-light-for-health) When you implement your own practices, please also monitor their impact on your sleep. Either with fancy wearable devices, or just with a pen and paper noting every morning how refreshed you feel on a scale from 1 to 7. No need to get obsessive about the duration of your sleep, at the end, the more important is how do you feel. --- # Tech Leader continued - URL: https://ondrejsvec.com/posts/tech-leader-continued - Type: writing - Published: 2024-04-09 - Author: Ondrej Svec - Description: Processes Last time I wrote about my Beginning of a Tech Lead Journey and 3 months in I find it fitting to continue with a part 2. I’d like to take you on a journey not exactly well-trodden. I believe it is fair to say that for a couple of decades now we were fascinated by the productivity, making sure we produce more in less time and for less money while keeping the elusive work-life balance. Recently I have started to read a book, which might sound quite counterproductive on a first glance: My new book: Slow Productivity by Cal Newport. Slow Productivity, what the hell I might hear? or oh yeah, I know what that means? Does it ring a bell for you based on your own experiences or does the word “Slow” next to productivity make you jump from your chair and yell on the screen of your reading device of choice? My own experience from those 3 months shows my inability to be productive when you get more than 3 competing demands for your attention, and even 3 are quite a lot and I know I can properly focus only when taking care of 1-2 areas. To show you what I mean, here is a list what I had in store for a single day once: - Fire fighting delays of delivery for one of the most important markets - Figuring out the structure of and planning teams sharing calls - Working on the definition of the company Jira backlogs - Acting as a project manager for two teams as we have a shortage of those - Doing 1 on 1s and other planned meetings. - Advanced coaching coarse in the evening What do you think? Does it look sustainable? Does it look familiar in the sense of what all you have to juggle in your work? As you can already guess, I don’t believe it is. Apart of that, I also get all those shiny instant messages to take care of, Microsoft Teams is the main communication stream in the company and also, the torture device of choice for tech leaders. I can already hear some of the Advice Monsters rumbling, “wait man, wait, you really have to learn to prioritise” or “use this methodology”, “you should have a look on this system” or the one I love the most “I’ve got an excellent app that will surely help you”. You’ve gotta love the easy fixes, the lists of 5 things to do to instantly get on top of your list of tasks. I am not saying there won’t be something that is going to help you, but it is very unlikely that it will be specific enough for your own situation and your very own unique brain. The approach I’ve chosen to follow is the Slow Productivity introduced by Cal Newport, defined as: > A philosophy for organizing knowledge work efforts in a sustainable and meaningful manner, based on the following three principles: > 1. Do fewer things. > 2. Work at a natural pace. > 3. Obsess over quality. I won’t go into detail about them or how am I trying to apply them as it is still too fresh. Instead, I’d like to share questions on which I am trying to find an answer and leave them here, with you: - How many things am I working on in a day? - What am I getting from being busy all the time? And what am I loosing? - What do my co-workers, friends and family think about how busy I am? And what they think about the quality of work I do? - What trade-offs do I make every day to be as productive as it is expected? - Imagine the ideal world to live in, nothing is impossible, what would be my ideal pace of working? And what can I do to get there? --- # First month as Tech Lead - URL: https://ondrejsvec.com/posts/first-month-as-tech-lead - Type: writing - Published: 2024-03-19 - Author: Ondrej Svec - Description: Year of 2024, January the 2nd, the day that started a number of significant changes in my life, the day I have taken on a new role as a technical leader for ... Year of 2024, January the 2nd, the day that started a number of significant changes in my life, the day I have taken on a new role as a technical leader for an IT company. Month later, still there, it is a time to reflect I believe. As you read the lines bellow, remember, I am by no means an expert on leadership or on coaching, I am only a humble human trying to walk the path of wholehearted living for all people I can influence. My first month started very calmly at first and it all looked as I’ll have a time to onboard myself, do all the certifications necessary and get a good picture of what the daily work practice is. I always remember one old saying when thinking back now: “Man plans, and god laughs”. As you can guess, it all changed rather quickly. Right as the first week has ended, my dear friend working for the same company and in the same role jumped straight into the parental leave and I had to take on his agenda. To be honest, at that stage, I was not afraid and believed I can manage, which I am proud to say, I actually really did. Well, sort of :) The real onboarding, certifications and other “nice to have” items on my to-do list went out of the window pretty quickly as I had two full teams of about five people assigned to me for a direct leadership to me and then I had another 5 teams of similar size temporarily. While that makes for a pretty scary number of developers, testers to manage while catering to the needs of project managers as well, there was no need for me to have regular bi-directional meetings with every single person. It would not be possible to work properly with all the approximately 28 people and I was fortunate to be able to narrow it down to my direct reportees making it a much more manageable number of 10. With that in mind, I’ve started, albeit a bit slowly, with regular bi-weekly 1 on 1s and weekly team calls. Theme I have borrowed from the wonderful book of MBS “How to work with (almost) anyone” and the keystone conversation got woven into the fabric of interaction with all my people and the model of radical candid leadership from Kim Scott served and still serves me well in setting of the structure in the dynamic environment of my daily work. What still amazes me are all the personalities in the teams. It is oh so easy for a leader to project him or herself onto them, but, and it is a huge but, their lives are different, their thoughts are different, their brains are different and hence, their realities are different. Even though I’d love to see everyone grow and be the best version of themselves, I should not force it. I believe that might be one of the hardest truths to accept when you care deeply about people. What do you think? --- # Cycling Passion - URL: https://ondrejsvec.com/posts/cycling-passion - Type: writing - Published: 2023-12-08 - Author: Ondrej Svec - Description: I’ve been asked by a very good colleague of mine to write a post on my passion for cycling and where it comes from. It is interesting how I may seem to be an... I’ve been asked by a very good colleague of mine to write a post on my passion for cycling and where it comes from. It is interesting how I may seem to be an avid cyclist nowadays, when it was not always the case, actually, on the contrary. Would my friends who know me for completing various cycling challenges, with the latest Tour de Stations with over 9000 meters of elevation on 250km distance, expect me to both hate the bike and be overweight when I was younger? Would you? How did I get here and what the bike means for me nowadays? The story begins in my childhood, as it often does :) I still remember cruising on our bikes at our grandparents, how easy and fun it always was with our friends there. We all took our fairly old and creaky bikes and owned the roads in the village… Hmmm what a memory. If we fast-forward the time a bit, you can find me sitting at my desk, in my room, at my PC and, you guessed it, playing games. While I do not look with regrets on that time, for cycling it was not a particularly glorious one. I can vividly see that one time when our father took us out for a ride. We got out, slightly older, on slightly newer bikes and we headed straight for a hill we called, imaginatively, “deadly”. In the early teens it felt like riding into a wall, so steep, even zigzagging did not really help. I don’t remember the rest of the route we took, I only know this was a last time I have touched a bike for quite a time. To be honest, I guess even without that experience, I probably would not go cycling very often, but still, please be kind to whoever you want to teach the passion for cycling, start slowly and make it fun :) I have to give credits to my wife for getting me back on the two wheels. It was not an easy start and I was barely able to hold her wheel, but a passion slowly started to find its way into my heart. The fire in my soul was ignited the day I took on a challenge which seemed totally crazy to all around me at the time. I’ve registered for the Czechman triathlon: 1,9km swimming 90km bike and 21km run. To get myself ready for it, I’ve started to listen to Purple Patch podcast, got my first indoor rollers for riding my bike indoors in a winter, got back to swimming and started to run. When the day came, fortunately I had my wife and friends supporting me and even through it was bloody hard, we all were amazed when I got to the finish and, well, I was not exhausted, I actually felt pretty good. From then, the passion for training and sports started to grow. With Covid restraining our movement outside of our homes, I’ve doubled down on cycling. One day I’ve seen a video from the Global Cycling Network presenting The Tour des Stations in Switzerland, cycling Everesting event and from then, I could not get it out of my head. I’ve been able to train for it under the Purple Patch Tri Squad program and with the slow increase of the length of my rides to just over 250km in one day, it started to look achievable. You know how amazing it actually feels to be on the bike for the whole day ? The freedom, the views, the coffee and cakes :D, the people you meet. That combined with multi-day trips we took with my wife, carrying all we need on our bikes, that is what nurtured the cycling passion in me. Today, I try to ride when I can, either outdoor and if not possible, indoors. I always look for a new cycling challenge to ride, not to win against others, but to fight my own natural laziness. And, because we should not only think about ourselves and there was a lot of me and “I” in the whole article, I do also donate to World Bicycle Relief to bring bikes to places where they change lives. While cycling is not an answer to all the questions, it surely makes our life a little bit better, more active and mindful :) --- # Procrastination - URL: https://ondrejsvec.com/posts/procrastination - Type: writing - Published: 2023-11-13 - Author: Ondrej Svec - Description: Procrastination, instant gratification monkey, what holds you back and what could you do to stop yourselves from postponing everything When I’ve set my mind to write about procrastination, it became very quickly clear to me, that there is a lot already out there. I am not going to give you numerous different methods to solve it. Nope, no no. I can’t, really. Instead, in the lines following my own story unfolds and the real struggle is presented to you in its full glory. Let me introduce the characters, you may already know some of them from the wonderful TED talk by Tim Urban. Rational Decision-Maker, Instant Gratification Monkey and the best of them all, Panic Monster. As the last character, it is me, the humble human whose head is the living playground for them all. There is a believe that all of us procrastinate on something, meaning we needlessly delay working or even starting on a task. I am myself very aware of this and it caused me great pains in my life. I have no trouble with starting on task work in the business or at school, but I needlessly delay work on our house or my sports training. As you can see, tasks I procrastinate on are those, that are either for my or my family benefit, but are not crucial per se and maybe, maybe they can wait. What might be already clear to you took quite a time to get sorted in my head, the tasks I procrastinate on are actually more valuable to my happiness than those I push through in my work. Heh, what? In addition to that, I also tend to needlessly delay by watching all the crowd favourites, streaming and video platforms are just, well, crazy. See, we do not have a TV in our house, but, we have our phones everywhere. How easy it is to fire up your phone or tablet and dive right into a fantasy story taking you out of your life with your hard tasks into an amazing new world, or maybe you fancy watching sports, tv shows, cooking shows, pottery or glass making shows, murder mysteries and so on and on and on and on. And if you get yourself out of that, what about those social media platforms, what did your friends post, your colleagues, someone you follow? What does this have to do with procrastination you might ask. For me, everything. Don’t take me wrong, I love the age I live in and I do not long for the days without technology. Unfortunately, it is very easy to become a slave to our devices and give in to the endless stream of distractions, minutes turn to hours and all your time you had to work on your tasks is already gone and lost forever. Aaaand all those distractions are the best energy source for our Instant Gratification Monkey while our Rational Decision Maker is screaming somewhere in the corner and our panic monster is chasing monkeys of people who are even in deeper trouble then we are. > “The issue of short-term mood repair in favour of long-term goal pursuit is a crucial one when it comes to addressing our procrastination” > Solving the Procrastination Puzzle: A Concise Guide to Strategies for Change, Dr. Timothy A. Pychyl We need to learn to be mindful, to be present in the moment, to understand the pulls and pushes in our lives and know our emotions. If the main challenge is with the mood repair, which I guess in my case is really true in a lot of cases, as I watch videos and streams mainly when I need to chill out or when I do something else, how do we deal with it. For me, I am going to try and use the following: > “Think: IF I feel negative emotions when I face the task at hand, THEN I will stay put and not stop, put off a task, or run away” > Solving the Procrastination Puzzle: A Concise Guide to Strategies for Change, Dr. Timothy A. Pychyl Now, you might think, ok but I cannot just simply start every task that comes to me as that would make me context switch a lot and that might not be the best idea. For that, I commit to the following strategy, simple one I believe: **IF a new task comes to my mind while I am working on another, THEN I write it down AND IF it has higher priority and is not a distraction, THEN I will switch and start on it right now, IF NOT, THEN I stay put on my current task AND IF I feel negative emotions when I face the task at hand, THEN I will stay put and not stop, put off a task or run away**. (by the way, have I mentioned I also develop software from time to time? My developer and rules management brain is happy when IF THEN ELSE is used :D) If you boil it down, it is about mindfulness, recognising your emotions when there is a task at hand you need to start on, you start and if there is one you need to continue on, you stay put and do the work. Sounds easy right? It is all but easy and we’ll continue to dig deeper together as I implement the rule above and start adding another practices on top. I do believe for me, that simple rule is something, I have to internalise and apply in every decision on what I’ll do. Couple of weeks passed from the last time I've written a blog. Weeks filled with learning and struggling. The "IF THEN” protocol seems to work nicely in getting me to start doing an activity I have chosen. It is not yet as much internal part of me as I would like to, but I am getting better at it. To accompany the method, one good colleague, Jan Holec, has recommended me a book written by Petr Ludwig. The book End of Procrastination is an absolute must read if you want to understand procrastination and methods how to fight back, all that in a very readable way. The core here sounds to be the ability to build habits effectively. --- # My first Blog post - URL: https://ondrejsvec.com/posts/my-first-blog-post - Type: writing - Published: 2023-09-24 - Author: Ondrej Svec - Description: Perfectionism, Perfectionism, my dear friend, you are always here to freely give me a view on what more needs to be done to finally reach whatever I am striving for. The other day I’ve cooked a dinner at home. Red Curry, own blend of spices with red chilli based heat, blended together with other goodies and really tasty greek extra virgin olive oil, pumpkin, spring onion, cashew nuts, coconut milk and I could go on and on. Yeah, I do love cooking curry, or at least my version of it. Thanks to you, the meal was good, it wasn’t good enough though, I could have added a bit more heat, could have roasted the pumpkin, add a bit more flavour and make it perfect, right? Hmmmm. Sure, I do get praises for it tasting good, but, does it? I don’t know. I can recall many situations like this throughout my life. Endless hours spent on preparing for a presentation, creating a perfect technical demonstration, and also actually not even starting to do an activity as I felt afraid of not being able to do it in a way that would not disappoint other people. While flying to a conference, needless to say for which I have spent hours preparing, and sitting on a plane listening to an audio book, surprise washed over my face when I heard your name: “Perfectionism is not the same thing as striving to be your best. Perfectionism is the belief that if we live perfect, look perfect, and act perfect, we can minimize or avoid the pain of blame, judgement, and shame. It’s a shield. It’s a twenty-ton shield that we lug around thinking it will protect us when, in fact, it’s the thing that’s really preventing us from flight.” ― Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection Hmmmm, interesting. My friend, I always thought of you as my inner voice. The voice leading me to do my work the best way I can and through that achieve the recognition of people around me, ultimately giving me the sense of worthiness. While I acknowledge your contribution in me becoming an expert in my field of work, I have to think about what Brené Brown said. With reflection, I am very vulnerable person at my core and I struggled to be accepted in my past. We have probably met while I was in my middle school years. It seems that kids who are a bit on the heavier side, not very well versed in jokes and a bit more introverted, might often look for other ways to feel the sense of belonging. Unconsciously, over the years, I’ve created a version of myself trying to please others, avoid judgement and along the line also making sure I perfect the things that matter. They might not matter to me, but they bring me the recognition and sense of belonging. Shielded from a possible harm, I forgot how to really open to others, hell not even to my wife. Friend, why have you not helped me out of this? I feel sad and betrayed. Should I lower you down my shield and let you rest a bit? Maybe, maybe, but I hear you, let’s not do any harsh decisions. If only you could make yourself a bit lighter, smaller, more like a buckler, that would be awesome. It might help us to redefine our relationship into the belief, that we avoid pain and suffering by simply being good enough, not perfect, but good enough. And who knows, one day we might agree on seeing how we feel about a bit more space between us, giving you time to rest and assess what you could do to better support me. “No matter what gets done and how much is left undone, I am enough. It’s going to bed at night thinking, yes, I am imperfect and vulnerable and sometimes afraid, but that doesn’t change the truth that I am also brave and worthy of love and belonging.” ― Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection Your friend, Ondrej ---