An absolute coincidence, but a cool coincidence – I just ran a half-marathon (first time) today, exactly one full year after I first arrived to Denmark.

I had a lot of feelings as I crossed the finish line – it has been ONE YEAR. Wow.

It was not just the last steps of the long 21KM race  – it was the last line of a fantastic, excellent year. Copenhagen has been great – from the start until now. It keeps getting better, and I wouldn’t change a thing.

It’s GOOD TIMES – and it has been good for a while. Especially since I lost the elections I’ve been going from success to success. In health, relationships, money and career, it has been all going steady up.

Just as I reflected when I lost, I reflected on the victories – how did I make all this happen?

I came to the conclusion that it has been the continuous, and constant flow of victories – ‘small victories’, as I’ve been calling them – which, always in the horizon, kept pushing me to the right path and thirsty for more.

I’ve discovered which is my North, and lined up plenty of small (and sometimes bigger!), short and medium-term goals that will keep me going in that direction.

With success (and sometimes without), I’ve been fighting for these small victories and giving it all on the way. The results are pretty clear – life has never been better, and things will only go forward.

Here I want to give you a hand – and help you prepare and start lining up your own small victories. These are the three keys I found out:

1- Have Very Clear Goals (And Dream High)

There are no limits to what you want to do in life. Have that very clear.

I may still be this young, idealistic dreamer. But hey – I live the dream. I love to prove ‘nay-sayers’ wrong, to keep showing (and inspiring) everyone on the way, and to keep achieving the goals other think are ‘undoable’.

And it’s not that I’m smarter, more attractive, more charismatic or more anything than the rest. No – I’m just like you could be. All I have is absolute confidence in myself and what I can do, a clear list of goals, and all the energy to make them real.

That’s it – no surprises. And to make things happen, the recipe is no other than to WORK – and to work really hard. If you want to emulate the most successful people, the number one quality they all share is that they work all the time, anywhere they are.

It sounds stressful (and it can be, sometimes), but as long as you really love what you do, as long as you are thrilled and excited by your goals, you’ll have the energy and passion to keep going.

All this ‘love what you do’ talk can’t be more right – just go and FIND OUT SOMETHING WORTH FIGHTING FOR.  Find a big, kick ass goal that you want to make real – and then go for it.

Work your ass to get it right, to push it forward. If you don’t want to put your life for it, then you are not so much in love with it.

And if that’s the case, turn the page and look for something else. Look for something outstanding, something worth fighting for, and something that will give you an absolute sense of a mission.

Then break this mission all down – cut it down into smaller, short-term and achievable goals and work to make all of these real. Those will be your small victories.

Going back to the first example, I can’t run a full marathon without trying (and succeeding) at the harsh project it means to run just half the distance. And it feels so good now, that it gives me the motivation and inspiration to keep going for the bigger prize – and sooner (rather than later), the prize will come.

2- Prepare, Practice, and Prepare More

Wise men say success comes when opportunity meets preparation. My past few victories have been all about preparation – and I’ll give you a concrete example.

A couple of months ago, I got a great job at the biggest and most important company in Denmark. The job itself inspired me – helping the world, making a difference in the lives of millions by using all of the company’s capabilities, assets and personnel to help in large-scale disaster response. Cool thing, and the type of project I like to work with.

But so might have thought the other hundreds of people who applied. I was up against an army of very, very skilled professionals – with more experience than I have, with better grades than I have, with more languages and hey, of course, an army of DANES. I’m from ARGENTINA.

But I! got the job. How? Well, I got a bit crazy about it – I had a matching profile, but then, knowing it was not enough, I took decided action.

After being called for an interview, I went quite berserk, and asked myself: what do I need to do – how I make sure that I do all what’s humanly possible to ace this interview?

Well, in the end, a job interview is quite straightforward – you know what you’ll be asked. They always ask the same – or at least 80% of the questions are always the same.

So well – I prepared seventy (70!) pages of notes, and a pin-pointed, precise and perfectly carved answer for the ~100 or so most likely questions.

When the time I came, I had researched, prepared and practiced the great majority of the questions I was asked. It felt like going to an exam, but knowing all the answers from the start – magic.

And I succeeded. A week or so after, I did exactly the same as I applied for the university’s start-up incubator. Same result – after twenty minutes, I was in.

People may call me crazy – I may take it a bit too far. But I won – and the others were left out of the race. There’s this quote, that says: “somewhere in the world someone is training when you are not. When you race him, he will win.”

I am that someone, and you won’t win against me unless you are as crazy as I am. Hard life – but that’s how you need to play when you are aiming high. That’s how you pile up victory after victory.

For your own mind’s sake, just make sure only go all in in the things that really matter.

3- Have Great People Next to You

My first small victory this year was to find a very special someone. I’m very sure of that – the road to success, glory and dreams is beautiful, but it’s also long and hard. Having someone (a great someone) with you makes the ride easier and much more pleasant.

That’s what I look for in a woman now – to feel inspired, supported, and, of course, loved. I like and enjoy saying: ‘If I’m here, it’s because of you – it’s because YOU helped and inspired me to come all the way’.

And while this is best and most clear in a romantic relationship, it still goes beyond – all men and women, anyone of your friends can be one of these great people.

Everyone, in his or her own unique way, is special and worth meeting and hearing. You just need to figure out who, at THIS specific time in your life, you should speak to and hear from most.

Here again comes the much-famed concept of a mastermind. I tried twice (and twice failed) to start a mastermind group in 2011, but I’ll try again. The benefits are too big – and I’m committed to keep going until I get it right.

I know, and I’m very sure, that as long as I spend my time around great and inspiring people I’ll be close to new small victories. I’ll spend time with people who are pursuing their own success – and I’ll help them, support the, and learn from their victories and mistakes along the way.

You should do too – it will help you immensely.

And You’ll Fail – But You Must Keep Going!

It looks that 2011 can’t get better – it’s just too good! But it will, as I’ll keep pushing myself for exciting, heart-pounding and special challenges.

I’ll fail, of course – as any other person striving for great. I failed and will fail a LOT. It will suck – but I’ll keep going. It won’t stop me.

If a road closes, I’ll go and look for another road. And if that one also gets closed, I’ll look for a third road. And I’ll look for 200 roads if I need to – I’ll just never give you.

Neither should you. It’s your life, it’s your dreams and it’s your own goals on the line. Take them seriously.

(By the way – all my respect for everyone who has ever run a complete marathon. 21KM were tough, and those guys run 42! – CRAZY.)

Looking for the Inevitable Success Guide? Cool - just follow this link and it will be all yours!

There’s no perfect girlfriend or boyfriend – no perfect woman, no perfect man, no perfect couple. But there are some that come quite close.

After long trips, living in four countries and a zillion of other experiences, I kind-of figured out what’s the trick – what do I need to look for in a person (in my case, in girls), to make sure any relationship I have is strong and full of love.

I always look, almost unconsciously, for five key aspects – and I strongly suggest you to look for these same too. I write specifically about girls, but, in general terms, the same kind-of applies to guys too.

Here they are:

1- She Has to Be Attractive

It’s sad, but that’s the way it is – if a girl is not nice looking, it won’t go. I don’t consider myself superficial, but I still won’t feel attracted to a bad looking girl.

My instincts push me for a nice face, a nice ass, nice tits – it’s printed in my soul, and so it’s the soul of other men. What is attractive is, though, subjective – it’s all up in the air. What I like it’s not what you may like, and viceversa.

However, in the end you need to feel attracted to your couple – if you don’t, it won’t work.

What’s the point of being with someone when you’ll be looking around for others? Better to take some more time and then find someone you truly feel attracted to and stick to him or her.

2- She Has to Be a Great Woman

I’ve a weakness for great women. I have a fetish for girls doing something special – from crazy health and sports goals, to work and studies, to whatever it comes. All as long as it’s not ‘normal’, and it’s epic in a positive way.

Greatness is a crazy trip, experiences, starting a movement, a foundation… It’s just something cool! Something that few have done.

I like great women because I like to learn. While it’s fun to be the ‘papa’ in the relationship, that gets old, and gets old fast – it’s more fun to make it all an exchange. I like to inspire, to teach, to help, to love, and I like to get the same in return. It makes matters more fun.

I bombard girlfriends with questions, ask them for advice – all the time, and about things they find ridiculous, unnecessary. But then, it makes me more in love – it helps them win my total respect, it makes me to look up to them. It makes me excited and looking forward to see and talk to them.

3- She Has to Really Love You

If I had to pick just one thing in a girlfriend, this would be it. It’s even more important than beauty or greatness – it’s what, in the end, really matters.

And it’s hard to find – unconditional, total love it’s not a commodity. But then – there it is, and the benefits of having it blow over anything else.

You need to work for it – I sometimes overdo myself to make girls feel that they are really loved. I say it every time I can, and I do stuff to make them feel queens of the universe, the one and only in my mind and in the world, etc. This, with persistence, tends to pays off.

It works because, in the end, I get the same feeling in return. I get girlfriends who would put their hands in the fire for me, and who will be there for me to support, help and encourage me when I need them.

Of course, I can’t and won’t show unconditional love to every girl I am with. I need to feel it – when I say what I say, do what I do… I need to be genuine. It has to really come from the heart. It’s kind of a give-and-receive, plus the two points above. But it’s there.

And sometimes it can go all wrong – sometimes you put a lot of effort, and then it doesn’t really pay off – you can get hurt, get sad, but, then again, it’s still very much worth the risk.

When you are with someone that really likes YOU – that’s when you have a really strong and sustainable relationship.

4- She Must Be Good in Bed

Again, this is sad to say, but that’s the way it is. Bad sex leads to problems in a couple. Not in the short-term, but it does definitely in the long run.

I had some girlfriends who were very bad in bed – without passion, even selfish… and while that never killed the relationship directly, it of course hindered it, it made it worse, and was a part, want it or not, of any eventual break up.

Good sex is the other side of the coin: while it won’t replace any other thing, or make a relationship strong on its own  – it’s a layer on top of everything, and can potentiate all the good stuff.

And it’s not that complicated. It’s not all about how long we last, how good she moves – it’s about the feelings you draw from each other. It’s about feeling wanted – it’s about making the couple feel special, unique, etc.

It’s kind-of the same of the point above, but taken strictly to a deep physical and emotional level. It’s cool, and it really works.

5- She Must Have the ‘Special Touch’

And this one is because I like special people – I like the magic spark. Everyone is, in one way or another, special – by his or her past, by the things he or she does, and by a whole lot of other reasons. I try to dig deep, and really ‘catch’ what can make a certain person in particular special – and then I try to take it all out.

Of course, this magic touch and where to look for it depends from person to person – in my case, this has been, for instance, similar worldviews and similar dreams and goals.

Given that some of my dreams include to live and just meditate and relax for months on a Buddhist monastery in China or Tibet, when I find someone with similar, special ideas my radar instantly turns on. It makes her immediately stand out – for there are billions of girls in the world, and not that many, just few, share some of these ideas.

Or, for instance, I love and love some more Vienna. And, when I find someone who has, in one way or another, a strong connection to that city, it makes matters special – again, it immediately turns the ‘special’ light on the radar.

###

Photo Credit

Looking for the Inevitable Success Guide? Cool - just follow this link and it will be all yours!

Just one month ago, people were coming up to me and telling me ‘’Oh, Mario, you are the next president of AIESEC (a student-run organization) in Copenhagen, right?” Without even campaigning – without even saying “I want to do this”, people were already speaking about me as the next president.

As crazy it is, I’m now, a month later, at this café writing how I actually lost the AIESEC presidential elections. A lot of things happened – many well done, many wrong – but the result is clear: I lost.

I HATE losing – I hate losing at anything. If I go for something, I want to succeed – I want to win, and this was not the exception.

But then, what happened – how could I pull this blunder off? Here are a few thoughts of the day after.

1- You REALLY Need to Want You Are Going For

I made a passionate, energetic, loving speech – I could see it in people’s faces. They loved it – they told me they loved it. But then, up to the moment of the speech, during the speech, and during the Q&A round, I, deep down, was still unsure whether I wanted to be the president or not.

I’m always very precise with what I want – I’m pretty sure what’s the destiny I want to have, and never hesitate that much about what I’ll do next. But this was the rare exception.

I applied to “see what happens” – I thought: if I win, it will be fun. But then, if I lost it would all be okay – there are many things I want to do anyway.

Deep down, I it was more important for me to win for the sake of winning than to become the next president. This made me lack the substance that, I’m sure, my rival in the end had.

Also, as I didn’t decide fast, it took me long to apply. When people were asking me “Mario are you applying?” I constantly answered: “I’m not sure yet”. It took me LONG to apply, to start campaigning – and I gave my rival an open window.

By the time I had finally decided to run (just one week before the elections), the other guy had been campaigning like crazy already for a couple of weeks.

You never want to give anyone that kind of advantage.

2- Campaign Everywhere and Where It Hurts the Other the Most

My rival had the experience, but also had a big set back: until only a couple of weeks ago, he was unknown to most of the new members. He had been in the organization until August last year but disappeared for months after that.

He left a great impression back then and had a deep friendship with the ‘old’ members – all these guys, I assume, voted for him.  I kind of leveled with the votes from everyone who joined in September – all my friends, all who wanted me to win. The die, then, fell on all those who joined in March – with those who didn’t know me well, nor knew HIM well.

He dealt with the hustler’s way: for two weeks he was ALWAYS at the office, went to every meeting, went out with all teams, and talked with everyone he could. He’s not charismatic, and most times was quiet – but he was there. People like people who “are there”.

He then hurt me where it would hurt me post: he even crashed MY team’s dinner two days before the election. My ‘boss’, a good friend but a damned honest Swede invited him over – “to make it fair”.

It didn’t make me uncomfortable outright but it made me play defensively where I thought I had sure-votes.

If you want to win, you need to be as shameless.

3- Rehearse, Rehearse, Rehearse – But In Front of People

I was studying and working while he was living at the office – I knew I was losing ground but I was confident to kick his ass where I do best: speaking in front of people.

I prepared a solid, very inspiring speech, and I rehearsed it countless times. However, with the exception of with ONE special girl (and in bed), I never rehearsed it in front of people.

The speech, then people told me, went just how I wanted: it was very inspiring, got the emotions there, had a frantic pace and surprised everyone. I could see in the moment – it looked like a total success.

BUT – beyond the inspiring words, my exact plans were not that clear. If there’s one thing I have learned in Denmark, is that people want to hear exactly, VERY exactly, what will you do – either in a job interview, in a school project, or, in this case, what I would do as president.

I prepared accordingly – or I so thought. But then, during the Q&A round I kind-of noticed that apparently people had caught my message, but not the pinpointed details I had given. They had gotten the overall picture and my vision, but not my exact plans.

If I had practiced my speech in front of a real audience (and not alone), this could have been avoided.

Bonus Lesson – Don’t Be Overconfident

Up until the end, I was very sure I was going to win. The guy had ten times more experience in the organization than I had – but, at the same time, people called him ‘boring’ and ‘uninspiring’. His application kept giving that impression: he looked as a working machine, but showed no emotions. “I won’t speak about emotions with anyone if there’s work to be done”, he wrote.

I am the antithesis – didn’t have the experience in the organization (but did in life), but at the same time was, people kept saying, the most charismatic and inspiring guy there was there. I played that card – bringing an idealistic, dream-like goal of where the organization had to go.

They didn’t buy it. Many actually did – but it was not enough.

Bonus Lesson – Die With Yours…

I’m Argentinean – and in my country any campaign goes like this: see what type of opponent you have, scan which are his or her biggest weaknesses and stab him or her THERE, where it hurts the most.

“Oh, no, Mario, in Scandinavia you can’t do that. Don’t criticize him during your speech”, I was told. The guy had RESIGNED from a higher position when things went bad last year.

I could have subtly but decisively killed him for that – but kept still. If I had to do the speech again, I would die my way and, no matter how uncomfortable it can make people here in Denmark, I’ll make it so dramatic that it won’t matter.

And The Good Side Is…

Again, I hate losing – and don’t believe in this ‘’you have to be happy for competing’’ kind of talk. Screw that – I’m not that type of guy. When I go for something, I want to win and nothing else. I hate to lose and, though there is this ‘bright side’ of learning, in the end I don’t give a shit about it.

It’s in this moment, however, when my inner fire has to burn strong – the inner fire that anyone aspiring for big changes and big schemes MUST HAVE. Now it’s when I (and whoever happens to be in a situation like this one) have to take the spear and push forward – for anything!

In my case, it’s time to finish the book for ExpertBiz and start an epic rally of 100+ interviews to CEOs and cool start-up people in Denmark with two or more friends.

###

And last, the next habit of the month post for is coming up soon. Between my trip to Lapland, exams and these elections I still couldn’t stick down this new routine, so we’ll continue working on it through April.

The whole idea is that I want to learn better, faster and more effectively. I’m slowly programming my mind in all the tricks to do this. It involves sitting down to invent metaphors, visual connections, links between all the new ideas, concepts, and more. It’s an exhausting process, but I’m hoping to make it ‘automatic’ in the very near future.

Cute Bird Photo by Aussiegall

Looking for the Inevitable Success Guide? Cool - just follow this link and it will be all yours!

Last month’s experiment was a huge success – as I said, January was one of my best months in a long time. Big results, a big push forward – great motivation.

February was not much-so at a first glance – at least business-wise. But then, I wanted to make February an emotional month, and I think I pretty much achieved it.

The new routine this time was to live without criticizing – no complaints, no criticism, no gossip. All love.

Just as Tim did on this article, I defined criticizing as: describing an event or person negatively without indicating next steps to fix the problem.

It’s not that I was a big gossiper, or a consistent critic – but then, going to zero was pretty intense.

As last time, I had a prize. One of my best friends here in Denmark, believing it was “impossible” for me to achieve this, betted me dinner in Noma (world’s best restaurant – very expensive!) that I would fail.

Thankfully for my budget, I didn’t. I didn’t criticize for the whole month – at least not in front of him or my friends.

But then, the results were not as deep or life-changing as I expected. At least at a first glance.

Even if I succeeded, I don’t have the same feeling I had a after installing the ten habits – last time it was like breaking the finish line in a marathon. This time there’s no such feeling.

But then, socially speaking, I think February was one of my best months ever.

I can’t say exactly whether this is a consequence of the new routine or not, but more than never since I came to Denmark I felt I constructed deeper and stronger friendships with many people.

I’ll give it a thought for a while – it can be possible that by never expressing any negative feelings people might (at a subconscious level) find me more attractive, a better friend, etc.

It’s striking, but it’s a very good and unexpected result. Perhaps Dale Carnegie was right – he points out in How to Win Friends and Influence People (GREAT book) that the likes of Abraham Lincoln and other superstars never complained or criticized.

I’m now only a few hours away from going to Lapland – my first time north of the Arctic Circle and off to some reindeer safaris, husky rides and a lot of really crazy stuff. You’ll hear the stories very soon!

All the best to you and have a great March!

###

Looking for the Inevitable Success Guide? Cool - just follow this link and it will be all yours!

“I worked hard, and I worked all the time. But then, you are not ‘working’… you are building something – and it’s fun.”

Paraphrasing a bit, this was how Niklas Zennström started his talk in Copenhagen. He’s the co-founder of Skype, as well as Kazaa, the mythical P2P file-sharing powerhouse of the early 2000s.

I had the chance to hear Niklas live for more than hour. He spoke about his own ventures, how he invests and gave general advice and ideas for want-to-be entrepreneurs. Here I’ll share a few of his key points with you.

To start, Niklas talked about investments. He explained how his investment group, Atomico, invests in companies  - to sum up, he mentioned the following characteristics as the keys:

a) They have a superstar team – which, in his words, means people who are: ambitious, leaders, highly intelligent, with a lot of stamina and with a diverse academic or work background.

It impressed me that he named stamina among the five main points – but then, as the quote I started with implies, when building something great you need to work A LOT. Keep that always in mind – no big success will come easy.

b) They have a game-changing technology. Not copycats – teams working on something original which, he pointed out several times, can be scaled fast. Category winners, and international-oriented by default.

Think about these as the keys to success – straight from a very successful guy who has done it twice.

Then, he made some good points about location, especially for European entrepreneurs. He said that companies starting in places like Denmark (a smaller economy than the US state of Washington), have the advantage of being internationally-focused by default, given that the local market is very small and, if going for the big bucks, the entrepreneurs have to think for a global market from the start. That’s an advantage to, say, German, French or even American entrepreneurs.

But then, he also threw a rock at Europeans in general – in the EU, he said, people try to protect the past (via social security, welfare state, etc), while in Latin America and other emerging markets people just go forward and push for the future, making innovation more likely.

The Success of Skype

Skype was a huge success – Niklas had already started Kazaa, which in the early 2000s was the most downloaded software in the world. A huge precedent, this made him and his associates no strangers in the start up world.

Kazaa, via its immense platform, and the buzz around its founders made the funding and spread of Skype easier – but then, what’s remarkable is that Skype, with 600+ million registered users, completely eclipsed Kazaa. And, for the record, it made (and keeps making) big money – something which Kazaa, given it’s nature, found very hard to do.

Other keys for Skype’s success, he said, were:

• They had the right timing. Skype hit just when broadband connections were spreading big time – was it before, it would have flopped. Was it later, it would have been too late.
• They were very fast. They rapidly integrated Kazaa’s technology to the product. Skype was nothing about file-sharing, but the technology behind Kazaa’s direct-user connections was what ended up powering Skype’s own connections.
• Skype passed the Mom’s test. It was a super advanced software, but it needed to be easy to use. Niklas made his mom and sister try it – and they learned to use it effortlessly and very fast.
• Skype kept innovating and constantly listened to its customers. That’s how it outpaced its competition.

The rest, you know, is history – Skype not only has become the world’s lead chat service, but it has also survived the attacks of Google, Microsoft and Yahoo while also taking a big chunk of the multi-billion dollar international phone calls service.

To close off, here’s a bit of random points of the talk I also found very interesting:

1- Now it’s very cheap to start in the tech-entrepreneur world. Cloud computing, he said, changed the game. You don’t need your own servers anymore, and there are cheap, web-based tools that will do most of the work that took time and costed a lot of money before.

2- Mobile is key – it’s more intimate. People carry their mobiles everywhere. The smartphones are everyone’s alarm  clock – and they are never more than a meter away. You NEED to play mobile if you want to win.

3- When he started Kazaa, he turned the living room of his house into his office – while married and all. We’ll always hear about garage entrepreneurs, but having him telling the story in front of me made it sound much more real.

And last, there’s just one more point I have to make myself. Niklas didn’t start with Skype alone – nor did Larry Page start Google alone, or Bill Gates in Microsoft or even Mark Zuckerberg in Facebook. Instead of keep looking for the ‘next big idea’, start looking for WHO is the right person to help you pursue that said idea.

###

Photo Credit

Looking for the Inevitable Success Guide? Cool - just follow this link and it will be all yours!