2024 in review
Published at Jan 26, 2025
Hey readers. Thanks for stopping by. 🙇🏼♂️
I’ll keep it short, and appreciate you being interested in some updates in the first place. If some of these resonate with you, I would be more than happy to hear from you via mail or reach out to me on Social Media.
Some Wins 💪🏼
I guess Fitness is the biggest one. Early in February, I was in a really bad spot. More on that below. I also realized that I actually gained too much weight. I was also feeling not fit and great on various levels. So it was time to change that.
I started a remote training and fitness coaching session with a personal trainer. We came up with a plan for three months to set me up on a path to success.
The goal was not to just do something for three months and then go back to normal, but start a changing process. One of my goals with this was also to hack my own brain. I know how to eat healthy, I know how to do training and all that. I did quite some sports when I was younger. But what I struggled with is staying on the ball now, while life is in full motion. While kids wake you up at nights and require attention. While work is demanding and taking time.
It was just too easy to say: “I’ll do my training tomorrow”.
Nope. Not any more. I would hack my brain by paying someone external to tell me things and who would control how things progress. Eventually I would be absolutely stupid to pay a lot of money to not do anything with it.
It worked.
Over the course of three months, I update my diet (I also tried out some new stuff thanks to my trainer I would otherwise not have) got back into being active, and did some training. Just the fact that I started to do more walks again with a goal in mind on steps to reach was a big factor.
My trainer did not push me, but supported me on the path forward. I lost over 10kg sustainably in 3 months, and felt better than I had in years. I am able to pretty much keep that weight since then and am now continuing what I started. Looking back, I am super happy at what I did, and that I started to invest in my self again.
Here’s also a link to my trainer. Absolutely check out Julian. He’s a great person to work with. You’ll find him here julian-fuernholzer.at.
Some Lows 😿
2024 was also a really bad year for me personally. I realized it a little too late, but I was in a really bad spot. I slept bad, felt trapped in a job that even as I approached it with motivation and energy, single days would drain all my energy from me.
I really enjoy my work. Even there I was able to work with a few really amazing people. But too many things were not right, and only after I made the decision later in the year to call it quits, I realized how much of a relief it was to let go of that place. I will not go into details, and don’t want to talk shit about a previous work place. But it was just not the right place for me.
Sadly it trickled down so far, that one stressful evening at home with the kids, I ended up snapping really bad at our young one who was pushing all my buttons. And I felt horrible.
I did restart some psycho therapy, which helped in processing things. Helped me a lot. I can only recommend to talk to a professional, if you ever have hard things to go through.
Later that year, I also quit the job there. Was probably the best decision, especially as I landed a job at a new company, dramatically different to the previous one. I guess that brings me to my highlights.
Some highlights
A new Job
At Swat.io I got the opportunity to start as Head of Product. I wanted to switch to a product focused role for quite some time. When this opportunity came up, I had to take it. (I will share more about my application in the future)
One thing that stands out to me today is, when I got sick during my first week already (got Covid) I was incredibly frustrated. I wanted to show my best, and have a strong start. But I just could not.
What I got from everyone in the Company was amazing support. A get-well package delivered to my home. The affirmation that health matters.
So I focused on recovering and continued to get up to speed from home.
Now I am here, 4 months later and I could not be happier. It’s the best place I’ve worked at and would not like to be anywhere else right now.
You’ll find me writing more about my work here and on LinkedIn.
My YouTube Highlights
I discovered some new YouTube Channels last year, I fell absolutely in love with.
This dude makes amazing documentaries. Great story telling, personable host. Wild production value. Absolute recommendation.
I’m someone caring a lot for what I eat, and I also eat mostly vegetarian. So this show should not be on my thing. But Sunny is just pure comedy gold and a great human being. I had so much to laugh watching hours of this show. 11M+ Subscribers, and absolutely deserved. Love the content.
I’m likely late to the party on this one (pun intended), but love the content here. Simply great DJing and a wide variety of styles on display. Some days I just have some sets running in the background while working. Can recommend!
Ready into the next year
Thanks for reading. I am personally very pumped and excited for the new year. I’ll try to give it my best on and off screen, and already look forward to what I’ll be saying about this year in retrospect.