I am now into my second year since I had my last drop of alcohol. I do not miss it at all. When we were expecting our son back in 2018, I needed to be ready 24/7 to get in the car and bring my wife to the hospital. Any responsible husband, soon to be father would do the same. When our son finally was brought into this world, there where a lot of new habits that needed to be established. We had plenty of new commitments as any parent can attest, and thus there where never any proper time, nor interest to have a drink. Not until I went on a business trip a couple of months later, on the 7th of March 2019. I was staying in a nice hotel and had plenty of time to eat a fantastic dinner. Better yet, I could now enjoy a beer to my dinner, for the first time in months!

Philosophy, HabitsRikard ÖqvistApril 11, 2020alcohol, food, hangover, drunk, incremental improvement Comments

Cultural nerve gas

The English language is a gatekeeper to wisdom. To information, to knowledge, to your health, wealth and relationships. I use to say that if you compare a person who knows the English language and knows how to use the internet, with a person who doesn’t know any of these two skills, they are so far behind that they might as well have been a different species. And the gap is increasing with exponential acceleration. Every. Single. Day.

Philosophy, EducationRikard ÖqvistApril 4, 2020language, globalisationComment

A cloudy sunrise

The beauty of nature is often most pronounced during sunrise and sunset. It is a symbol of a beginning and an end, in a cycle that repeats perpetually. Why is it so? I believe it has something to do with contrast. When the sun is close to the horizon, the contrast is maximized in many ways. It is the same bright sphere up in the sky during the day, but when the sun is close to the horizon, the shadows become longer, and the sky is painted in many colours. Everything around us is suddenly portrayed in a whole new way. Those things that used to hold no beauty at all, suddenly can become immensely beautiful for a moment, like a stone, a tree or even a virus outbreak.

PhilosophyRikard ÖqvistMarch 21, 2020nature, virusComment

Failure is not allowed

How would you rate yourself on your ability to drive a car on a scale from 1 to 10 where 10 is the best? There are two ways to answer this question and the answer is determined by your reference points. If you accept the doctrine that failure is not allowed, you should use Lewis Hamilton, Ayrton Senna or Michael Schumacher as the reference. Consequently, your driving ability is 1, no matter who you are. Expect the same result if you compare your singing skill to Pavarotti, your cooking skill to Gordon Ramsay or your scientific ability to Einstein. The elite, unfortunately, seems to be the most common reference point. The other way to answer this question – the one I prefer – is to compare yourself to everyone else, not just the elite.

Habits, PhilosophyRikard ÖqvistMarch 14, 2020growthComment

Visualisation of Fear

You will never surpass the level of your greatest expectations. This is valid for fear too. Your fear will never surpass the level of your greatest expectations either. I have tried to come up with examples where I was afraid of something I was about to do – and then did – where it turned out reality was even worse than my imagination. I couldn’t find a single example. No matter how much fear that grips you in your imagination, reality will turn out better.

PhilosophyRikard ÖqvistFebruary 29, 2020success, goalsetting, fearComment

The biggest lie of all

“You are fine just the way you are”. That’s a message that I have heard many times in my life. If I interpret the message in the most positive way I possibly can, it would be something like this: You shouldn’t try to be someone else. Motivation, value and happiness must be intrinsically driven. You should follow your own dreams instead of someone else’s. This is true by definition – If you don’t live your own life, you will live someone else’s.

PhilosophyRikard ÖqvistFebruary 22, 2020habitsComment

Beauty matters

Last summer, we moved to a house in the countryside in the north of Sweden. The house is located literally next to the sea, surrounded by dense forest and no neighbours in sight. Before, we lived in the middle of the city with walking distance to everything. The contrast is huge. I grew up in the countryside and so did my wife, so I suspect that is why we consider this to be our dream. I actually visited this place many years ago and the very first thought that entered my head when I saw the place was “I want to live here”. It was true love at first sight.

PhilosophyRikard ÖqvistFebruary 1, 2020beautyComment

A creative outlet

This is my first post on my new blog at the site creativeacoustician.com. I have a very good feeling about this. Here, I have found a creative outlet, where I can express my thoughts completely unfiltered and authentic. When I started vlogging and blogging little over two months ago, I had no idea that I would find so much joy in it. It has become like therapy for me now. The blog is a useful tool to put your thoughts on paper and when you write them down, you are forced to take a stand. It is like having a public debate with yourself, similar to the scene with Gollum in Lord of the rings when he is talking with himself as Smeagol. You move forward as a consequence.

PhilosophyRikard ÖqvistJanuary 18, 2020creativityComment

The importance of writing

The last two months have been a wild ride. I have attended the London Real Business Accelerator, an 8-week intensive course in business development and online marketing. The course has pushed me to my limits and beyond them and expanded my comfort zone. As an engineer who has a tendency towards analysis paralysis, it is a healthy exercise to attend a program like the Business Accelerator.

Habits, PhilosophyRikard ÖqvistJanuary 11, 2020Comment

Love

In my last blog I wrote about Opportunity cost and how every decision you say Yes to will take you down a new timeline and closing more doors than you open. In this blog I will present my thoughts on the most important Opportunity cost of all – love. Your choice of life partner is without a doubt the decision that will affect your life outcome to the highest degree. When you choose a timeline with a life partner, you also close the doors on the timelines with all the other potential mates.

PhilosophyRikard ÖqvistJanuary 4, 2020loveComment