Dec 28th 2022. Dear diary, I’m turning 50. Page 49 was indeed all about post-pandemic regeneration and it felt like one of the most horrible years ever. Amor fati. Turning pages. 15 years of corporate life, 15 years of entrepreneurial life. Curious to see what’s next!

People do not decide their futures; they decide their habits, and their habits decide their future. If you change how you look at things, the things you look at change. So, as promised, I focussed on letting go to let come, trusting the universe. A very scary experience for a control freak like myself. My body, mind, relationships and business changed because of it. For the better.

The degree to which people can grow is directly proportional to the amount of truth they can accept about themselves without running away. The most beautiful soul you will ever find is one who has experienced loss but chooses to love, one who has experienced tragedy but continues to have faith, and one who has experienced failure but continues to pursue their dreams.

Think about where you were last year. Think about the things that used to worry you so much that they no longer consume your mind and time. The relationships that weren’t healthy, the stress of what this year would be like, the things you never thought you would accomplish but did. All those things taught you something and are grace-filled reminders that after everything that happened, there is room for you to learn, grow, and be okay.

When I fed these paragraphs to ChatGPT, this is what I got back.

This was my 2022 in pictures

In case you missed it: I received a padel racket for my 49th birthday, which got my back in a healthy, competitive lifestyle with lots of new friends from all over the world (kudos Jan, Ritu and Dupas). Maximme, Amaury and Julietta evolved in a very positive way. Marriage 3.0 started in August in London, and we finally rebooted the business in Belgium (kudos, Inge and Kris) and Dubai (kudos Ronald) by investing a lot of resources and energy in it. Making plans for the future (kudos, Koen and Kathleen).

This was 2022 in pictures too

What should I stop doing, keep on doing and start doing? Context is everything to determine your purpose. In my head, I live in a fast-changing world where challenges seem to become more and more wicked to me. Here’s my context on a moodboard.

I believe we are in a global societal transformation, and the speed of change is increasing in the quantum field. It will have an effect on people, relationships and work. This wicked problem keeps me busy every single day. I want to make sense of all the dimensions. We need metasystems to fix them.

Turning 50: what will 2023 bring

I trust the universe to bring the right people on my path, and will keep my healthy habits and ditch even more unhealthy ones. I’m curious about the next 15 years. Here are a few promises I make to myself:

• What will I do less: eating and drinking after 8pm as it affects my sleep. I want my resting heart rate to go below 60 next year.
• What will I start doing: now that the kids are okay and we have restarted our business, I will help Inge develop the advisory side here in the region by launching the English version of “Employee Engagement, what else?”, keynotes, services and expanding our community.
• What will I keep on doing: improving my general health and well-being by resting, eating healthy, doing sports, connecting with incredible people, letting go of what I can’t control and…getting back into the coding game to challenge my creative brain (thank you ChatGPT).