They’re part of the process, and I sometimes share them with friends when the moment feels right. Little MP3s sent as DMs that capture a point in time. Some of those sounds eventually disappear, overridden by the next version. Every so often I listen back to them; they bring back the memories I associate with each one.

In an attempt to inspire you, or maybe bring a bit of novelty to your day, I want to share those moments with you.

That’s not all. I’ll also share things in there you won’t hear about anywhere else, like secret shows and other behind-the-scenes stuff…

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I used to think I had it figured out. I thought that the best thing to do would be a job that makes as much money as possible given the time investment. But also something where I’d have to use as little of my creative energy as possible so that I could keep it for the music. I thought that the less I’d have to generate ideas, the more I’d be able to work on the music without feeling creatively drained. The more money, the more time and comfort I could buy myself.

But I realize now I might have forgotten about something important. And maybe that comes from the fact that I worked alone or remote for most of my life.

The things you work on and the people you spend time with eight hours a day / five days a week matter. They influence your thinking and give you inspiration (or not) for the time you sit down to create.

So if I spend my days working on boring stuff, or worse, stuff that is so bad it’s flattening my taste, that’s working against me. The moment I get back to the creative work, it takes forever for me to get into it again. It’s like the cold start of a motor, basically. I need to shift my headspace to come up with good ideas again.

It’s constant task-switching between creative and mechanical tasks. Every return to the art is like rebuilding the mood board from scratch. I end up lacking the inspiration that defines how I execute ideas.

I also used to hoard ideas because I thought I’d run out of them: I’d run out of the good ones if I used them up. But that’s not how it works. The more you execute on them, the more inspired you get and new, better ideas appear like clockwork.

I also found that the ones I “saved for later” never got made; that better moment never came.

Now imagine if you were working on things that inspire you, and you’re also using the same skills as when creating your art. Working those same skills on repeat keeps sharpening them. You just get better.

And the next time you do come up with that cool idea, you can execute much faster. Without that speed, a lack of skill can bring you out of the flow, since you end up spending too much time on a single element.

That’s why I think experience likely outweighs money, provided the skills you sharpen on the job carry over to the creative work.

That said, there is something even better that comes out of all this time creating things you enjoy: energy and fulfillment.

It’s so powerful. You’re in the flow. Fatigue disappears. When everything you do aligns with your bigger artistic vision, everything becomes effortless. And those moments of doubt become easier to overcome, as progress keeps confirming the direction.

I recently got back from my yearly Costa Rica getaway. For those who don’t know, my parents live there, so it makes it easier for me to go. If I didn’t have family there, I’m not sure I would even go on vacation at all, to be honest. I don’t feel like I can allow myself to take much time off until my music reaches a point I’m satisfied with. And even if I did, I wouldn’t have the money to spend on this right now anyway. Which brings me to the next point.

Cash flow was pretty bad these last three months. I could have totally anticipated that, but I didn’t. I’m not making money from my music yet, so what I’ve been doing for the last year or so to support my music career is working as a freelance designer and web engineer. But because, in my head, it’s just a temporary occupation — one that brings enough money to survive (quite comfortably) — I’ve invested as little energy as possible into it. I was mostly waiting for projects to come to me instead of doing outreach. On top of that, the fact that I wanted to spend as much of my time as possible on music didn’t help.

So this cash flow problem was a bit of a wake-up call. Three of the four weeks I spent in the tropics were spent working. Add to that four days of food poisoning, and I ended up with something like three days off in total. Since I still wanted to enjoy a few beach days, that didn’t leave much space for working on music.

I had set myself a goal to release a new track every 4 to 6 weeks. You can be sure I didn’t stick to it this time. And even if I had, I usually invest around 400 euros per track in mastering and promotion. I do not have that kind of money right now.

That being said, the music is far from standing still. There are a few things I’ve been working on.

Live shows

I’ve finally put together a band. Every single person in it is great. We’re currently practicing regularly, and we’re very excited to play our first shows soon.

It’s amazing to see those songs I wrote finally come to life. Each song has its own little details that make it sound different when played live.

Make sure you subscribe to the newsletter to be the first to know when shows come up. Who knows, maybe there will be some secret show I will only post about here…

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Artist website

I’m building a cool little website for my music. I’ll use it mainly to have a place with all the useful links related to my music, and to have a link to share when booking venues.

Soundtrack for a surf movie

My friend Micah is releasing a surf movie. We spent a lot of time surfing together when meeting for the first time in Costa Rica two years ago. The film will be documenting the unusual life of a surfboard courier in California. I made a rough soundtrack for it from unfinished instrumental tracks I had lying around. I will share it here as soon as it comes out.

Soundtrack for a short film

Andela, whom I’ve only met online a couple of weeks ago, is making a short film. For the soundtrack, we chose an unreleased track of mine that will come out in the near future. In the movie, you will hear the instrumental version of it. Stay tuned for the release of that movie, which I will also share here.

That’s it for now. And this is exactly why the way I spend my weeks has to change: so I can spend more time on music.

I’m working on projects and developing my “agency” (design & web dev) business five days per week right now. That leaves me two days a week to work on the music, and to find a bit of time to rest, if possible. That’s not much.

My goal is to reduce that business time to three days per week, while making what I need to survive, plus some on top to pour back into the music.

Also, I would like to slow down a bit — not with the time I spend working, but metaphorically with the way I write music and build the universe around it. I want to take more time to explore and experiment with new ideas. Think more carefully about the story and aesthetics around that.

By the way, if you also have a creative project (whether that’s film, music, or art) and would like to collaborate in some way, drop me a message. I’m always excited for the opportunity to create something and connect with like-minded people.

Song of the day

I’ll leave you with this song by Domenique Dumont. I went to their show in Berlin two weeks ago. They’re only two, a guy and a girl, which I didn’t expect for some reason. And it was really inspiring to see how much you can do by combining only a drum machine, some synths, and a guitar. Such dancey sounds!

Over groovy basslines, retro synths, and a hazy, ethereal atmosphere, I found myself reflecting on moments I didn’t fully appreciate while they were happening, and the quiet realization that they’re not coming back.

It’s not a sad song, though. It’s like sitting down with an old friend and talking about the good old times over a beer. You walk away feeling thankful, not sad.

The track itself went through its own transformation. I originally recorded it in the studio alongside drummer Michael Christofaris, but when I returned to the song months later, the vocals and melody no longer fit. A week before the deadline, I reworked the entire structure and re-recorded the vocals at home: a last-minute reinvention that gave the song the intimacy it needed.

Listen to Hindsight here

I am currently putting together a live band for shows later this year. So I thought why not have some of my great bandmates play a part on this track!

The groovy bassline was played by Adrian Cristea and the ethereal guitar for the chorus was played by Thomas Becker.

Felt something otherworldly going down from Cyrus Korn here, he has the soul and a good deal of swagger but there is a dissonance so it felt like he was floating in space during the recording process. Gives the piece a most haunted of feels but it never dilutes the sense of dance that may just ensue when the One Thing is around both on earth and high above. […]

That’s how one of the playlist curators I pitched the song to put it. Were they high when they wrote this? Probably. The sentence structure is all over the place, but honestly? It still nails the vibe of the song perfectly.

Of course, a trippy review from a possibly stoned curator isn’t the full picture. That’s why I recommend you grab your best headphones, pour yourself a nice cup of coffee, and listen to it yourself. Then you can decide if their description was spot-on or just really good weed.

Listen now

Hey guys!

I made a new song and wanted to share it with you.

If you’re wondering why you’re getting this email, you subscribed to my mailing list a while back, probably when pre-saving one of my previous songs. So here I am, updating you with new stuff! :)

The song is called Hidden Frequencies, and you can stream it on all the usual platforms.

Listen now

This is the first time I recorded vocals in a studio instead of DIY from home. I usually layer the vocals, but this time I decided to keep it simple and raw.

Until now, I didn’t bother mastering my tracks. This time, Philipp Rumsch — who also recorded my vocals in the studio — mastered it, so needless to say, this is gonna be music to your ears.

With this song, I wanted to capture the moment you slow down and finally hear yourself again. It’s a sonic journey between city noise and countryside silence. It doesn’t have the usual structure you’d expect because I let it flow in whatever way felt natural, not forcing it in any direction, kinda like a stream of consciousness.

I’m excited for you to listen to it, and I would love to hear your feedback (good & bad)! Feel free to reply to this email and share your thoughts with me.

P.S. I’m proud to say that this track won the KulturLandKlänge competition, which was organized by the Leibniz-Institut für Länderkunde Leipzig together with the Landesverband KKW Sachsen e.V.!

Every day I try and remind myself to seek uncomfortable situations. I’m an introvert by nature so if I don’t do that, I will always avoid social situations by default. It’s not a problem for me to talk to people once an introduction has been made. It’s making first contact that’s hard.

I’ve realized new meaningful connections only happen when someone steps outside their comfort zone. If that person isn’t me, I’m depending on others to create new relationships in my life. Being a tall scary looking guy (especially since I got a buzzcut) and having what people describe as a “resting bitch face,” people rarely approach me spontaneously. I have to be the one to go out of my way.

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I find the unknown exciting. But if I passively wait for new experiences rather than actively seeking them, they’ll only occur occasionally. I don’t want a perfectly predictable life. As Alan Watts said: “You would dream the dream of living the life that you are actually living today.” which means that even if you could have the perfect blissful life you are dreaming of, you wouldn’t actually get to enjoy it because you’d always know what happens next. You always crave adventure and uncertainty.

So in order for that life to happen, I need to push myself to initiate interactions with strangers. As Father Bronques (Make Art Not Content) said to his friend back then, I told myself: “throw me in”.

I’m still not “throwing myself in” as frequently as I would like – my shy nature still often prevails. But when something becomes a habit for long enough, it becomes part of who you are. So I feel myself gradually evolving towards a more “social” identity.

If I keep pushing myself for long enough, will I become an extrovert?

Song of the day

Movie of the day

With my friends, I talk about marketing & sales a lot. If you heard me speak about it, you'd think "this guy definitely knows what he's talking about." But even though I talk about it with conviction and confidence and it seems like I know well about how to build a funnel or create a social media strategy, I’ve never actually applied most of it. I just read about it so often that I ended up having the illusion that I did.

Have you heard of "tutorial hell"? It's essentially a cycle of endless learning where you keep reading about new things but never apply any of them. Since there's no better way to move forward than by applying what you've learned, this cycle prevents real progress. I think I fall into this pattern quite often.

I keep falling into this pattern because it feels like entertainment to me. Every time I read about a new point of view about a certain topic, it makes me feel good. You know, that rush of motivation and excitement when you learn something new? It also makes me feel like it was a good thing I didn't apply the knowledge I had yet. Because if I had, I would have been lacking an important piece of the puzzle. I don't apply the things I've learned right away so I end up never really applying them at all.

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As I learn more, the gap widens between what I do and what exists only in my mind. These realms blur together, making me believe I've accomplished more than I actually have. It's kind of like in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" where the protagonist constantly daydreams about actions he never takes.

I notice this happening even when collaborating with others. We spend so much time discussing ideas that we remain trapped in the ideation phase. After using most of our available time thinking and talking, we fail to execute. It kind of feels as if I already tried the idea out in my head, and it didn't work out in theory, so there is no point trying it in real life. If I talk about an idea for long enough, I will always find some flaws that prove I shouldn't work on it.

The more content I consume, the more perspectives I encounter. I end up trying to create my own framework as a blend of all these different points of view. But there's always an opinion that doesn't fit into the big picture I've created for myself, and I end up confused about what information I should trust. Feeling stuck, I want to resolve these conflicts before applying what I've learned. The result? Complete inaction.

This is why social media is pretty cool in some ways if you're documenting the process, because looking back at your feed, it kind of gives you a timeline of the things you've actually executed on and put out there.

So I recently decided, I should stop thinking so much about things and start doing.

I decided that once I consumed content about one topic, I should apply what I've learned before I'm allowed to consume more. Or, even better, I should only look up solutions to roadblocks when I encounter them.

Song of the day

Movie of the day

Even though I usually start with high motivation, thinking I can ignore my lack of passion for the process, I always end up losing that motivation at some point. You really can't avoid those moments of doubt and lack of motivation, but those have a much bigger impact when passion is missing. For those projects, the only motivation is the idea of earning a significant amount of money from them in the future. And that never seems to be enough to sustain it.

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Until today, the only venture I am able to keep working on despite the ups and downs, moments of doubt, and temporary lack of motivation, is music: writing and producing my own pieces of music.

And music makes any other project that isn't directly related to it even harder to follow through with. I see any of these secondary projects as temporary and they feel like a distraction from the main goal. Any time I am working on them, there is a voice in the back of my mind telling me this is time I could be spending on music instead.

The only thing that keeps me going back to these side projects is the need for money, really. Because I need money in the short term and I know I can't earn that through music yet, I always have to come up with ways to make ends meet. In the long term I am confident I can make it work through music; it's the short term that keeps me coming back to those ideas.

And then beyond all this, there is simply the fact that I love trying out new things. People call it the "shiny object syndrome". So I really have to regularly check in with myself and make sure I'm not putting too many projects on my plate. Because even if I don't come up with new ideas, there will always be someone around me that will want to partner on something. Sometimes it's hard to say no because collaborative projects bring a whole new level of motivation and excitement.

So I monitor how many things I am working on at the same time, keeping that number as low as possible. When I realize I made a mistake and added too many things, I drop some of them.

I could just tell myself to not start on anything new at all, but I usually always find a way to convince myself that it supports the music in some way. That it is related to that goal in some way. And to be honest, I also need to allow myself to have some fun from time to time, as long as it doesn't drive me away from the music too much.

In the end, my mood usually seems to be a good indicator of whether I'm moving in the right direction. If I feel uninspired, if every action feels like excruciating work, if I can't talk about it with passion, if I don't look forward to sharing this work with the world; it's usually a sign that I am no longer on the right path.

As I am writing this, I am back on track baby! So I'll try to keep it this way. And that also means you can expect a new post from me every Sunday in the upcoming weeks :)

Song of the day

Movie of the day

The other day, my friend Marvin and I were discussing how important it is to remind yourself of how great your life truly is. Often, we only realize this in hindsight. We just look back at it as “the good old times”.

It seems much easier to see how great other people’s life are. Probably because we’re looking at it from the outside. It’s much harder to observe something when you’re in it.

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Writing things down seems to help you gain a different perspective on your own life. You can read what you wrote and observe these thoughts from the outside, with a more neutral, unbiased mindset. Beyond reminding you of how awesome your life is, you can also observe patterns. Both good and bad ones. You can improve those and think of better habits to improve your experience in the future.

Interestingly, I’ve noticed that sharing on social media can have a similar effect. We tend to showcase a romanticized version of our lives. That can sometimes be harmful to those consuming that content, as they may compare themselves to an idealized version of reality. But for yourself, it’s almost therapeutic. You can suddenly look back at all the great things you have achieved lately. You can see that you’ve actually been up to something. You might have forgotten about these things, sometimes overshadowed by the bad moments. But your content hasn’t.

I feel inspired when I see other people’s content on social media because it shows me what’s possible. And sometimes, I forget that I can do those things too. So I have to remind myself by writing things down. Before I get somewhere new, how do I see myself living my life there? Will I go surfing every day? Will I make myself a coffee every morning while writing for an hour or so? These are the kinds of things I’d love to do every day. The things I’d love to have integrated in my routine. But when the time comes, and I don’t remind myself, it can be easy to forget.

has an interesting take on that. He actually moodboards his future life. For those of us that think visually, that’s probably the best way. We can strive to align our lives with the moodboard we’ve created.

Our lives are movies and we write the script for them. You can make it a boring telenovela, or a mind bending, inspiring, romantic indie movie. That is why I never shy away from an unusual situation. You can’t make life interesting if you always know what comes next and never let yourself be surprised.

So, what kind of movie are you directing? Are you making one worth watching?

Song of the day

Movie of the day

“I’ll never take drugs in my life. Ever. They’re dangerous, and I don’t need them to have fun.”

That was my mindset a few years ago, as a confident 20-year-old. I had never read about drugs. I’d never tried to learn more about them. All I knew was what I’d been told at school by people who probably hadn’t tried them either. For some reason, I just took that information for granted and made a decision based on it: “Drugs are bad. Period.”

It’s funny how, at certain points in life, you think you’ve got it all figured out. You believe you know where you’re headed, what you’ll do, and what you won’t do. But then, you go through life. You evolve. You experience more. And soon enough, you realize how temporary most of your beliefs really are.

If I don’t change my mind on some things, I’m probably lying to myself. I’ll keep changing forever, and that’s a good thing.

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A couple of years later, I started hearing about magic mushrooms. My curiosity was piqued. Unlike synthetic substances, mushrooms grow in nature, no chemical processes involved. That made them feel more acceptable, less bad. I thought: “If you can find it in nature, how harmful can it really be?”

Eventually, I found myself trying them with friends in Mexico City. The experience was incredible. Music came alive in a way I’d never experienced before. Every sound had depth and texture. I could almost feel the music moving through me. I started noticing tiny details in songs that had always gone unnoticed. I could isolate a single instrument and focus entirely on it, as if switching from mono to stereo.

Suddenly, I found myself enjoying electronic music — a genre I used to hate. My narrow musical taste began to expand, opening up to new sounds and genres.

Still, I told myself I’d never touch synthetic drugs. Those were too dangerous. Or so I thought…

About a year later, I stumbled across a Netflix series called How to Change Your Mind, where journalist Michael Pollan explores the history and science of psychedelic drugs. But it wasn’t just research, he actually tried these substances himself.

As I watched, I realized how much of what I’d been told about drugs was misleading. For instance, MDMA was once used in therapy to treat trauma and anxiety before being banned. Many of these substances were initially developed for healing, but political and social forces shaped their reputation as something dangerous and forbidden.

I suddenly saw how blindly I had accepted other people’s opinions without questioning them or seeking my own answers.

Eventually, I tried synthetic drugs — carefully and with intention. Surprisingly, alcohol’s effects on me are far worse than anything I’ve experienced with certain drugs. Alcohol leaves me drained and hungover; with psychedelics, I’ve had experiences that felt eye-opening, even healing.

Of course, I’m not saying drugs are without risk. Everything in life is about balance. Drinking too much water won’t hurt you like drinking too much alcohol, but anything in excess can have negative effects. Moderation is key.

What this experience taught me is simple: curiosity matters. Being open to new perspectives — even the ones that challenge your beliefs — is essential for growth.

Every day, I try to open up my mind a little more. Because until I’ve experienced something myself, I can’t be 100% sure of my opinion.

The day I stop changing my mind, I will have stopped growing.

I love it when people are being honest. I think everybody does. Honesty is a trait that so many people value and like to talk about. Everybody agrees on it, yet so few people care to be that person.

But I get it, telling someone something you think they might not want to hear is always hard. We don’t want to be the bearer of bad news. But ultimately, I have never seen a situation where lying or silence was the better alternative. When it comes to trust, clarity, and mutual respect, honesty is just the way to go.

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I’ve been dating a bit recently, and there are many things I hate about dating apps, but ghosting is definitely at the top. You get ghosted a lot (or at least I do). You match with someone, exchange a few words, and then before you even get to set a date: silence. It’s pretty bad. I’d rather have a negative answer than none at all.

Whether it’s a friendship or a relationship, “ghosting” — the action of suddenly and without explanation withdrawing from all communication — seems to have become a common practice these days. And when you think about it, it makes sense. It’s so much easier to say nothing than to have to think about formulating a response (especially a negative one). Texting makes it even easier, since you can pretend you haven’t seen the message in the first place.

Now, I am a very curious person, so I love to know the “why” behind things. And I think most of the time, the true “why” is rarely worse than what you had in mind — often, it’s even better.

There’s something so powerful about being told the truth, even when the message is negative. It makes you feel in control somehow. You have all the information you need to make a proper decision on what to do (or not to do) next. You stop wondering what could have been. You switch from “guessing” to “knowing,” allowing you to process and move on.

When we have to deliver bad news, that’s when being honest gets difficult, and that’s where most people lie or avoid saying anything instead of simply telling the truth. While trying to “save” the other person from the truth, we achieve the opposite effect, as they are left confused, seeking clarity on the situation, and annoyed by the lack of communication.

It’s funny how your perspective on the best course of action shifts entirely depending on whether you’re the one delivering or receiving the news.

In any situation, I try to put myself in the other person’s shoes and consider how I would want to be treated. When I imagine myself receiving bad news, I might feel sad, but I also appreciate the honesty. I actually feel grateful for their openness and integrity.

But for some reason, it seems like we always imagine the other person will take the news worse than we would. Yet, when we finally do take action, we’re often met with a gentle and understanding response that not only brings relief but sometimes exceeds what we had hoped for.

So, sharing ends up being a liberating experience. You don’t have to analyze each and every one of your thoughts before sharing them with the outside world. And because it builds trust between you and the other person, the relationship feels more intimate, and communication becomes much easier.

As the recipient, if you’re not being told the truth, your mind will often try to make up a “why” for what’s happening. But because it likes to imagine the worst-case scenario, you usually end up with a guessed “why” that is actually worse than the real reason behind it. Say, for example, your friend stops talking to you: you might think it’s because they see you as a boring person, when in reality, they just feel insecure and are afraid they can’t get on the same level as you.

Knowing the truth helps you learn from your experience and grow in the future. You become a better person who can make conscious decisions based on facts, not guesses.

It’s actually very satisfying for both sides when honesty prevails. It simply feels nice to be nice and treat the other person as well as possible.

When being honest though, I’ve come to realize that timing matters too. Sometimes, you don’t want to share thoughts prematurely, as they might not be clear in your mind yet, or you might not be sure about them at the moment. It could put the relationship in jeopardy for no reason. In that case, it’s probably better to wait until you have more clarity before sharing them. It’s worth noting that I don’t think you should stop communicating altogether in the meantime, though. That would end up feeling like ghosting for the other person — eventually damaging the relationship. But if you can’t talk normally to them at that point, then it’s probably time to share your thoughts anyway.

Often, it’s hard to define the point when your thoughts become clear enough to be shared. And at some point, it might feel too late because the feelings or emotions you last shared with the other person are long outdated, and you feel a bit dishonest. You don’t want to wait too long before doing so, because the gap between reality and what’s in your mind will keep expanding as time passes. Eventually, you will end up feeling like you’re living a lie and wasting that other person’s time by giving them a fake version of yourself.

How you share your thoughts is also important. You want to avoid hurting the other person unnecessarily while being as honest as you can. I think that’s a delicate balance. For example, you don’t want to tell someone you think they dress like shit just because that happens to be what you are thinking. These are opinions, things only you might perceive from your point of view. Depending on the situation, it might not help the other person to share these thoughts with them. So I think you should be careful about how you phrase things or even whether there’s a point in sharing them with the other person. It might only make them feel more insecure or sad, without actually helping them.

I hope these thoughts I’m sharing with you will give you some ideas to bounce back from. If you got this far, I’d love to hear your opinion on this topic. You can message me anytime — I will not ghost you, promise. :)

Much love,
Cyrus

It’s hard to define yourself with words. The truth is, you’re not just the sum of your job, the one thing you’re good at, or your main hobby. Defining yourself that way would be like describing a dish using only one of its ingredients. You’re the combination of all these things, and more. My passions, the things I dislike, the music I listen to, the food I eat, how I spend my free time, how I spend my busy time — all of these shape who I am.

When I meet someone new, it always reminds me that it takes time to truly see the full picture of another person. Initially, you get a simple description, often defined by their job, appearance, and style. But as you learn more about their past experiences, passions, and aspirations, the two-dimensional, black-and-white version evolves into a vibrant, three-dimensional portrait.

I believe that everyone is interesting in their own way, shaped by their unique experiences, passions, and dreams. However, much like in marketing, the way people present themselves influences how others perceive them.

That said, I find the discovery process beautiful. A bit of mystery and surprise makes getting to know someone exciting. It’s tempting to share as much as possible about yourself when you want to impress someone, especially if they ask the right questions and are a good listener. In those moments, I remind myself that it’s not all about me; it’s far more engaging to learn about the other person than to rehash what I already know about myself.

Confidence plays a big role, too. The way you present yourself can significantly influence how others perceive you. But it’s challenging to confidently describe certain facets of yourself while remaining honest, especially when you’re still figuring out those aspects.

For example, I’ve recently started dedicating more time to music production. It’s something I’ve always done as a hobby, but now I’m taking it more seriously. I’m not yet certain if I can sustain this lifestyle or if I’ll enjoy it in the long run. So, when people ask what I do, I often hesitate. Which part of myself should I share? Most people expect you to talk about what earns you money, and since I don’t make money from music (yet), I feel reluctant to define myself by it. But I know that’s wrong — money doesn’t need to validate passion.

Self-presentation can be a powerful tool. Sometimes, I think the way you present yourself can even become a strength. Repeatedly talking about one of your skills or goals to others can help you believe it’s truly happening. When so many ideas and dreams remain trapped in your mind, sharing them with others can make them feel more tangible and remind you that you’re closer to achieving them than you realize. That’s something I’ve come to understand for myself.

In the end, none of it matters if you’re not actively “doing” things. You need to pursue what excites you, to bring your ideas to life. If you’re not passionate about your identity and the things that define you, no one else will be (at least not for long, until they discover the real you). I recently told a friend: “The most attractive thing about a person is their excitement for what they do, when they have passion for something, no matter what it is.”

So, keep doing the things you love.

Song of the day

Here is a thought I've been having for a while now: I really need a routine. Why? It seems like no matter what you want to achieve in life, it's achieved through repetition.

Success (whatever it means for you) is never the result of one single event. You achieve your goal by repeating the same action multiple times, tweaking it using what you learned from your failures, until one day it has no other option than to work. As I read recently in 's book The Art of Focus, "Focus is what separates action from distraction. […] Focus is the habit of habits."

I'm always extremely optimistic about the fate of people around me who keep "doing." They just keep posting on social media, working on their business, making music, no matter the feedback (or absence of it). And I believe that if they keep up that rhythm for long enough, they will have learned so much from their mistakes that there will be no option left to try other than the one that will lead them to their goal.

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Lately, I have not had a routine. I wake up, not knowing what I am going to do that day. Maybe I'll work on something, maybe I'll go outside, maybe I'll hang out with friends, maybe I'll make some music, maybe I'll plan out my next project idea… you get it.

This indecisiveness means I will first have to think about what I want to do in the next hours before I can start my day. Of course, this decision has to take into account multiple parameters like sunlight, how good my body is feeling, whether a friend texted me back or not, whether I feel inspired or not, and obviously the things I need to prioritize that day.

All in all, it's a mess. So much information I need to analyze and process before I can even start with my day. This wastes not only a lot of my time but also my mental energy. Sometimes, it can feel overwhelming because the sun will be setting (Berlin winters, am I right?), yet I will feel like I've done nothing useful thus far. And even though my friends will tell you that I do create and work on lots of things, that daily stress is not the greatest feeling, and I could probably do better without it.

Now, why haven't I implemented a routine yet? For one, I love change. It gets me excited about the future as I think about all the new possibilities that come with it. If I keep doing the same thing for too long, I get bored and doing that thing becomes unenjoyable work.

Then, there is my body. See, I have IBS (for now) and that means two things: (1) I have to cook very often to accommodate my complex diet, which seems to be that of a spoiled princess. I swear, it's ridiculous — there are so many things I can't eat without suffering from it later, and it seems like I cannot eat the same dish more than once in the same day. (2) When my stomach happens to hurt, it will drain most of my energy and leave me in a painfully unmotivated state for a few hours, sometimes more.

Because that wouldn't be fun on its own, I also have problems falling asleep, so it means I might waste a few hours doing nothing in bed before actually falling asleep. The problem with that is that if I fall asleep too late, I usually have to sleep in because otherwise my stomach will hurt from the lack of sleep.

Enough complaining though, I am working on fixing both with meditation, yoga, my diet, and reading about sleep, so that should get better soon hopefully.

My last reason for not implementing a routine is the fact that I have been changing paths very often in the last year. I left my creative studio in April, started working on some content creation projects, stopped around July to work more actively on building a business/startup, experimenting with many ideas, to then realize in November that what I truly wanted to do was produce music. Since then, I'm trying to balance that with the need to make money on the side.

This means every time I started getting used to a routine, I had to redo it completely.

In the end, I think I would have gotten bored of those routines anyway because I wasn't working on something that was meaningful enough to me. The pursuit of money as a motivation would have died out before getting to my first million for sure.

This time, I believe it will be different. I am pursuing a path where the process itself is truly rewarding, not relying on the money reward to give me the focus and motivation necessary to continue.

I am starting to plan my next routine by setting minimum amounts of time I want to be spending on each of my tasks (whether that's music production, content creation, business, or health). This will hopefully provide me with enough flexibility, yet enough structure to know what I could be working on next, without having to think too much about it. That minimum amount of time will help me dedicate enough time to a single task, without mindlessly hopping from one task to the next.

When it comes to the order of my routine, like which task I should start with and when I should work on each, I hope it will define itself through experimentation. For example, I might not want to work on music when I don't feel inspired. So, I will be experimenting with different times in the day for a single task and take notes of what works best, until I find the best structure. That structure will be a guideline for my day, as opposed to a strict schedule, because I still want the freedom to play around when I want to. But it will hopefully provide enough structure for me to not have to think so much about what to do next.

I've also noticed lately that my creativity/inspiration seems to be peaking around the time I go to bed. It's probably the worst moment my mind could choose to be inspired because I feel tired and just want to go to sleep. So there I am, lying in bed, trying to fall asleep, but all these great ideas keep popping up in my mind. My perception of the likelihood of realizing those ideas and the possibilities they enable for my future is also extremely positive. I guess it's probably because I am so close to the dream state that my mind is simply working on realizing my dreams in the real world. I love being in that state because everything seems possible and there is nothing and no one telling me that something is not achievable.

At some point, I do eventually fall asleep, my ideas written down on some notes or dictated to Siri. And then I wake up the next morning, in a totally different state of mind. Everything seems harder to achieve, less doable, less realistic. It will take all day again to climb back to the state I was in at the end of the previous day.

I wish I could always wake up in the same state that I went to sleep in: motivated, focused, and excited about my ideas. I think it's possible, so I need to work on that. I started reading this book about sleep: Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. Maybe the answer to my question lies in there…

P.S. This is my first attempt at blogging, so I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback! :)