Estou alegre... Porque estás alegre?

Last week there was one event which made me feel hope and another one that made me feel proud and I would like to share them with you…

I went for the weekend to Osijek to participate in their Local Training Seminar. For different reasons my motivation to go was really low and I didn’t feel like travelling and going there, but I went and I returned which a huge sense of hope. Hope that things will get better, that people will challenge themselves, hope that they will grow, learn and surprise me, hope that AIESEC in Osijek will succeed and start doing AIESEC:

Then during the week I received the news that one of my best friends who was also part of my Executive Board in Lisboa during my term as President of AIESEC in ISCTE was selected to be Organizing President of a big international conference AIESEC in Portugal will organize next year, EuroCo.

When you are leading people or a team much comes down to this: feeling of hope and pride... Hope that your influence will somehow have a positive impact in those people, hope you are doing something right, hope that they will surprise you, hope that you are managing to take everyone towards the right direction, hope that the next ones after you won't screw your work, hope that those people will become better than you are.

And after that, all that hope becomes happiness if they actually become better than you, if they manage to survive without your guidance and help, if they manage to surprise you, if they manage to be successful. And then you know that something you must have done well and you feel proud because those people are growing.

If there is something I feel after being President in AIESEC Lisboa ISCTE is proud of the individuals I have worked with because they make me smile every day, because they don’t quit, they are making the best out of their AIESEC Experience and because they became literally people I admire. I feel proud not because of me, all that they have achieved was due to their growth and effort, I feel proud because they are live examples of AIESEC’ers, each one of them!

If you are reading this and if you are a team leader I wish you a lot of hope during your term because that will help you to go through it and I wish you to feel proud once you finish, I wish you to see that the people you lead became better than you.

Do It 2008 and Switzerland

Some years ago there was a guy that told me that I should apply for facilitator at Do It conference. I said he was crazy because I had no facilitating experience but he convinced me to apply and of course I wasn’t selected.

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Today that is one of the most important lessons I hold about what is to support people to do things they don’t believe they would ever do and to take them out of their comfort zone by challenging them. In another situation I asked him what was to be a mentor, and among other things he told me that a mentor convinces his mentees to apply for faci at Do It. The day after I invited him to be my mentor which he is until today. That was one of the wisest decisions I have ever made.

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All of this to say that this conference always had a special meaning for me, and I always knew that one day I had to be facilitator in this conference. So I applied again this year and now I was selected!

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So in the last week of October I caught a train and found myself in Bern, in Switzerland together with other 23 people (Facilitators + Chair) to deliver one of my dreams. .

The conference had over 200 delegates with something like 31 countries represented, it took place in Fiesh, in the Alps and it was exactly what I needed.

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To go to a national conference in another country challenges your idea about how a conference is runned, it challenges how an agenda is built, it makes one reflect on its own reality which is taken for granted, it helps you to questioned which AIESEC do you believe in and it made me question myself, my skills and what I want.

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There are few words to describe the experience but I would definitely focus on one thing. I’ve meet people from all around the world that got together randomly in a small room with one goal: to make that a unique experience for the conference delegates. I meet the facilitators team which was inspiring, funny, random comprised by a bunch of amazing people.

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Thank you for reminding me why I am in this organization and why I am doing this.

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And besides that I had the pleasure to get to know Zurich. Switzerland was always a bit of a mystery for me because I always knew a lot of Portuguese immigrated there but I never knew exactly why. Know I think it is because Switzerland offers a life quality which is unquestionable even for a one day visitor. I recommend.

So in the end, thanks for the challenge Pita and Jih-Ming, I owe you both.

Small things...

...can make life so much happier, simpler and relaxed. Let me introduce you, the one and only, my first full salary this term:

Beautiful right? I also think so.

It's not much, but I have learned how to appreciate it. That is one thing I've learned: to appreciate small stuff.

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It's not about money, it's about independence, it's about not worrying, it's about stability, it's about making things work :)

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P.S: And it won't be the last one! But I just wanted to record the moment ;)