I’ve been toying with the idea of blogging again for some time now. Primarily because I realize how much I consume media content in various formats (podcasts, YouTube videos, blog articles, newspaper texts) and how little I formulate my own thoughts, or even create the space in my head to spin out a brief flash of thought. Writing down thoughts is a great tool to give them space, to water small seeds so that they can grow, to remind myself better of what I have thought by writing it down.

Will new posts with original thought pieces and carefully researched and curated net finds now appear weekly on this blog? Rather very unlikely. But for some time now, I have been writing regular emails with the subject “Nuggets”. They contain things that I have found, that I find interesting and that I want to think about further or that I believe will help me at some point in the future. Why not share this with others (for the few readers who regularly find themselves on this site)? But also just a few thoughts that move me and that I would like to record.

Self Efficacy

At the moment, I find it wholesome to listen to clever people who look to the future with a certain optimism. Enter Florence Gaub.

Florence Gaub is a military strategist, futurologist and research director at the NATO Defense College in Rome. The first time I came across her this year was in this article, which began with New Year’s resolutions, but then quickly moved on to her own role in society, what an individual can achieve and how this can be used politically.

Her presentation at last year’s re:publica is also worth seeing and encourages us to take action. The future is not something that happens to you, but can be shaped. I like the optimistic attitude, not an “everything will be great” optimism, but an optimism that critically analyzes possibilities and weighs up risks.

Adventures

For the last few weeks since November 10, my first glance in the morning has been at the Vendée Globe tracker. Once around the world by sailboat, all alone, without stopping, everything you need in your luggage, exposed to the elements. Sailing, navigating, repairing. I am incredibly fascinated by this adventure. About Charlie Dalin, who was the first to sail back into the harbor of Les Sables des Olonnes with an insane record. Pip Hare, who suffered a broken mast 700 miles off Australia and dealt with this difficult situation with incredible resilience, confidence and creativity (Slow Boat to Melbourne). Boris Herrmann, who started out with great ambitions, had a lot of bad luck along the way, but never lost his courage and confidence in his own abilities and his own boat.

Despite everything, there are actually enough reasons to start the new year with confidence.