“On a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being extremely happy, smart and admired, where would you want to stay?”

When asked by my coach, I told him I wanted to be everywhere.

For me there’s no point in choosing a number between 1 and 10 and do everything within my power to stay there.

If my life is about something, than it’s about learning how to appreaciate everything from 1 to 10. It’s about learning how to appreciate life with all its up- and downsides.

Easier said than done.

At the time of my meeting with my coach, I felt I was very close to 10.

But today I’m quite close to 1. And it scares me.

It scares me because it makes me want to fight the feelings and fears I’m experiencing right now. It makes me angry as well because I want to blame some one (me?) for doing this to me. And although I keep telling myself that this miserable moment is as much part of life as that splendid n° 10 moment, it doesn’t make this experience less distressing.

Still, being afraid, being unable to cope with some of my worries, being unable to control myself or repress my feelings and thoughts proves to be a valuable lesson.

Whatever insights I have, whatever training I receive, I will always be human. I will always experience moments from 1 to 10 for the rest of my life. And if I want to enjoy that life and get as fast as possible from 1 to 10 I’d better start to look at these miserable moments with compassion and respect. I better care for these emotions and feelings instead of trying to ignore or repress them.

After all, one of my most profound beliefs is that wisdom only works for those who accept their complete human condition as a gift.

Again, easier said than done.

Although, I guess, there’s nothing else to do in life than to do.

Don’t you?

No, not another marketing claim. Just my way of anouncing that I will be blogging live from The Future Summit (#tfs09 on twitter). Roularta and Flanders DC gathered some fine speakers to shed their light on our time being. I’m really excited since this is my first official invitation as a blogger. Thank you for the invitation guys.

I’m hoping to meet some interesting people, have some great talks, learn to listen a bit better and get inspired.

Now, who’s coming tomorrow and what will they be talking about

Tom Savigar, Strategy and Insight Director, The Future Laboratory. Savigar will talk about The Fifth Scenario. The what? That’s what I’m asking myself as well. Most likely – since that’s what the website tells me – he’s going to talk about how companies and brands use wild ideas and uncommon strategies to prepare for the unthinkable. Being a fan of Foucault and his description of Unreason, I’m really looking forward on how he will take a pragmatic approach to the improbable but nonetheless probable.

Herman Konings,CEO , PocketMarketing/nXt (Belgium). Konings is one of the most well known trendwatchers in our country. Yet I’ve never seen him live and I haven’t read any of his books yet (shame on me, I know). Yet he’s going to present us the results of some brand new research on trends.

Ian Pearson, Futurologist, Futurizon. Ian Pearson is a futurologist. I usually think futurologists are people who are highly sensitive people with a great imagination. They can sense things which are around us, which are already happening but before we become well aware of them. Of course you can’t tell from looking at an embryo what he or she will look like in 20 years, but you can tell a thing or two about how they will most likely evolve. Not only do I hope to hear more about the embryonic ideas and concepts Pearson has spotted in our present and how he thinks they will evolve. I also hope to get a glimps of how his sensitivity works. Maybe I’ll ask him personally tomorrow.

Also on the speakers list are three people with inspiring case studies

- Isabelle Maenhout, CEO of Navitell who will be talking about software which can help you navigate through life by the use of authentic storytelling

- Bernard Lahousse, Director of Creax Food who will talk about his foodpairing project

- And last but not least: Bart De Waele, CEO of Netlash, one of the best performing web-agencies in Belgium. Bart is a well known entrepreneur and webpersonality in Flanders and beyond. We ran into each other on some occasions but we’ve never actually spoken to each other. He did however invite me to participate in his trends-project (in Dutch) in which I was asked to share my thoughts about what 2009 would bring in the online world. Writing for this project meant a lot to me. Bart gave me the opportunity to work on some ideas I had in my head for quite some time but which I’d never worked through before. They have inspired me ever since so I’m very grateful for him putting me to work. Now I’m looking forward to hear Bart live, talking about his experiences with trends.

So, that’s all for now folks.

You can follow me live @superblyhuman (twitter) and on this blog.

Dutchspeaking readers can also follow me on @hcouvreur (twitter) and on our companyblog www.thebigpicture.be

Listen to the course of the world and to your own nature; and you’ll know what to do. Most people think that dialogue is a form of talking. It’s more about articulating what’s been heard and at what level. What are you actually listening to? (Bill Isaacs)

Read more here @Fastcompany

Via @Dailygood

I don’t know about you but I find too many options inconvenient.

Having a choice is fine. It’s a great way to express who I am and to explore what I want. I love to choose the clothes I’m going to wear. I love to choose the words I’m going to use. Choices are – to a certain extent – empowering and an affirmation of freedom. I can do what I want. Nice.

Or not?

More and more often the idea of too many options gives me stress and makes me choose the default option. Well, choose. Let’s say I’d rather stick to the default option because it feels safer. The net result is that I’m pretty much happy, while at the same time I feel frustrated because I didn’t explore the possibilities these options offered and I might end up paying more for something I don’t enjoy or use completely.

For years now half of my mobile phones’ widgets remain unused, sometimes because I don’t read the manual, sometimes because I know I don’t need them, but most of all because I don’t like to screw things up and ‘disturb’ the phone. Aka: I don’t want to make a mess of it.

So I get to what I call the Options Paradox: at a certain point: offering more options only makes the default more appealing.

Another story. Last year I made my first trip to New York. One evening I wanted to order a wrap in a Mexican restaurent. So I looked at the menu and picked one. What followed was a very frustrating and confusing conversation. The guy behind the counter questioned me for every single ingredient which was supposed to be in the wrap I wanted to order. What kind of bread? How should the bread be backed? Meat? Sauce? Vegetables? I’m simplifying it a little since I can’t remember all the options anymore.

I was so surprised and overwhelmed by what I was asked that I just started nodding and ended up with a role that didn’t live up to what the menu had promised me.

And the worst thing was, it was my choice. Or that’s what was understood as such. If you have all the options and still fail to pick what you want, that’s too bad for you.

Ok I hear you, I may have been a little more assertive.

But it made me think. If options are there to allow us to a) make sure we get what we want b) let us explore and enjoy freedom and c) are supposed to make us feel better about ourselves, then could it be that

• giving too many options is just what you have to do to miss the point?
• if you want people to use the default option, do you have to give them way too many options?
• if you give a lot of options and want people to explore them completely you’d offer them gradually?
• the default choice is actually the default choice and the best choice as well for a reason other than what I’ve stipulated before?

These are questions I cannot answer yet but which I’d love to be able to answer any time soon.

If you know examples or are willing to share some thoughts about the Options Paradox, feel free to contact me @ superblyhuman-at-gmail-dot-com, or leave a comment here.

Sometimes, it’s simple …

1) Whoever comes is the right people

2) Whatever happens is the only thing that could have

3) Whenever it starts is the right time

4) When it’s over it’s over.

The Law is the so called Law of Two Feet, which states simply, if at any time you find yourself in any situation where you are neither learning nor contributing – use you two feet and move to some place more to you liking.

(source: Purple Pointr)

… but it sure isn’t easy.

I ponder a lot about what happened in the past: what happened yesterday, last year, a decade ago, …? And I often worry about the future as well (what will happen next? where will I be in a year or so? …).

It’s not a bad thing to do, is it? We learn from our mistakes and making plans for the future keeps us focused, right?

I’m not so sure about that.

You see, whatever memory you have and whatever plan you’re thinking about: all you have is now. So to make the best of your mistakes and to realize most of your plans the first you have to do is:

make the most of now. Makes sense, since now is all you’ve got.

And so I take my best shot at doing exactly that.

Every single day, that’s what all of us do: we get up and try to make most of what we have.

Now.