Admittedly, the title of this blog only came to mind at the end of writing because that's when I realized how lucky I actually was to have experienced all of these problems. But let's start with the story.
As I write this blog, I'm again at a point where I'm questioning my thoughts a lot, i.e. what did you do wrong or why didn't it go the way I wanted it to? In moments like this, I turn to my audio books to find the right path again and get better thoughts. There is a question for me that helps me think differently about my current situation.
What obstacles or problems helped me to be here today and live the way you live?
I have to say that when my customers ask me about my life and I tell them that I take photos in Mallorca for 6 months in the summer and travel in Asia for the other 6 months, I always hear, “I did everything right”. But I see it that way too rarely and haven't been able to feel or love it that much in the last few years. But more on that later.
Let's first come to my question above. How did I get here and why were there a chain of problems.
In 2000 I started training with an insurance broker in Essen. I previously worked in structural sales in the insurance sector, where I earned a lot of money in a very short period of time. Unfortunately, what I didn't realize was that I spent a lot more money and suddenly had a notice of termination from my bank in the mail. So I was faced with a big problem and a door closed.
At that time, I was picked up by this brokerage office, who offered me training and gave me the opportunity to further expand my own customer base in order to earn money and thus pay off my debts. Thanks to her good contacts, I found a new bank that would take me in. Even before I had completed my training, my debts were paid off and I can say that since then I have never had a negative balance on my bank statement.
Money is only valuable to me - what experience and experiences I can buy with it.
My new goal after my training was clearly to open my own office in Moers with my office colleague, who also brought me there. And we were able to implement this goal very quickly. I was completely absorbed in my work and felt like I was working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But a new problem arose: if you spend so much time at work, you forget your girlfriend. And that's exactly how it was with me. To make matters worse, I made a professional mistake that allowed my colleague to kick me out of the office. A mistake that everyone else in the office made at least once, but I got the receipt for it. So there were 2 problems at once, head and heart affected, office and girlfriend gone.
But here too another door was supposed to open, but this time no one came to catch me, I had to do it myself. On the first night after I had vacated the office, I got all of my customer data online from the office server. My luck was that there was probably no one else apart from me who had this access in mind at the time. A day later my access was blocked, so I was lucky.
With all my customer data, I became truly self-employed for the first time. I had contacts with the insurance companies and transferred all of my customers to my first own agency. Within 4 years I managed to build my own office so that I could make a very good living from it and felt like I wasn't missing anything. Although I did, at that time I was unfortunately working far too much again without really living.
At exactly that time, a good friend of mine came up to me. She knew about my passion for photography and asked me to take a few pictures in the evening at the club where she was the marketing manager, which would then be shown on the website. For me it was the perfect distraction from the office and the opportunity to meet new people. I did this job every weekend for over 2 years and brought my work to the club with ideas and passion.
This time my next change of direction should not be driven by my problem. In the club itself, the owners changed and positions became vacant that had to be filled. The new sole managing director appreciated my work and asked me if I would be interested in taking on the marketing position, for a fee of course. I have to say that until then I didn't take any money for my work because I did everything out of my passion for photography and the club.
So I didn't think about the offer for long and agreed, provided I could continue to operate my office. It was to be my longest stint at a job to date. As time went on, less and less was made for my office and more for the club. In the end it would be my passion for 14 years. I was also able to further expand my photography through a studio in the club and, above all, through a Canon employee who supported me with the best technology. Thank you so much for that again today.
After such a long time without any major problems, something really happened. Putting all my focus on the club and letting the office run out, I was once again dependent on a source that wasn't mine. And so it happened as it had to happen, the operator had to file for bankruptcy and I was the first to find out because all the emails were now coming in from my workplace. There I was again, with a large, expensive apartment, a new Audi S7 and the likelihood of soon no longer having a client. Because in all this time, I was never an employee of the club, I was always self-employed and wrote my bills. If you don't know the insolvency law very well, the employees will continue to be paid by the insolvency administrator for at least 3 months, and all companies have to sue for their invoices. I can tell you straight away that it was unsuccessful because there was no bankruptcy estate and the landlord of the location had already used it all up. For the next three months, the business was continued by the insolvency administrator and I was able to swap my work for new bills for three months and think about what came next.
So a new door had to open again and it did. Option number one was to take over the club as managing director with an investor friend. I am excitedly waiting for the day the contract is signed. The contracts for this had already been written and ready to be signed, the newspaper had already reported on it, but the old managing director did not want to part with his club that easily. After a not so friendly conversation with him, I realized that this stuff was too hot for me. So the club was bought by another investor, but I couldn't find any more space there and had to look for a new path again.
Luckily for me, I had a girlfriend at the time and we were planning a new future together. Emigration to Mallorca was on the plan. What do you want to do? was the answer from my circle of friends and I said “holiday photos”. The question came up in Mallorca, there are 1000 photographers there, ok I said, then there are now 1001 photographers. Our plan was clear, it was going to be a finca with holiday rentals and photo shoots and workshops. I broke up my house in Germany and packed my things. I can tell you, you accumulate a lot of things that you don't need in life. In March 2016 we went to the finca in Mallorca with 8 Euro pallets full of things. Everything felt so great, our own pool with a huge garden and 2 houses.
But the next problem wasn't long in coming. After only 6 months, the finca owner informed us that he had sold the finca to his friend and that we should please look for something new. Anyone who knows the law in Spain now knows that it is not possible at all because as a tenant I always have a right of first refusal. But if you want to spend years arguing with the courts in a foreign country and always find yourself between two stools, I don't. In addition, my relationship broke up again and I found myself alone again.
But now I was back where I was before, only responsible for myself and my knowledge of the job I wanted to do. So after a long period of suffering over the separation from my girlfriend, I'm starting to set up my new business, Mallorca holiday shooting. 2019 was my first successful year on Mallorca, up to this point I had used up pretty much all of my savings.
I lived my life for myself in the summer on Mallorca, with a job that fulfilled me and never wanted to worry about relationship problems again. For the first time in Corona year 2020, I noticed that someone was missing and was looking for new challenges. In the winter of 2020/2021, traveling was impossible and so my plan to have my own camper van came to the table. That should be freedom. In just three months I built my new van in Germany so I could go on tour with it in March 2021. But unfortunately nothing came of it apart from tours in Mallorca. The photography jobs were more important, I had to make a living from something. For this reason I sold the van after less than 2 years. I was drawn more and more to Asia in the winter and you don't need a van there. I found what I needed there, now it's time to keep the focus on it and see problems as opportunities.
What many people don't understand is that I travel and don't go on vacation. Anyone who needs a vacation is doing something wrong.
Why I wrote this blog now, well I'm at that point again where I saw problems and I had to realize that these are there to find new ways and to grow. I took another look at my biggest problems to see what they helped me achieve. If you are currently experiencing major problems, think back to see whether your old problems have also made you grow. In any case, without all these problems, I probably wouldn't be able to sit here today and say that I take vacation pictures in Mallorca in the summer and travel in Asia the other 6 months of the year. I just need to learn to be grateful for it every day in order to enjoy it better.
Without these problems back then, I wouldn't have the people around me today who are so good to me now, thank you for that.
Thank you for being interested in my story and I hope you were able to take something positive away from it. To this day I am still grateful for every person who has given me the stones for my path.
Life can only be viewed looking back but must be lived forward, which means the moment we make a decision it is neither right nor wrong! That's why a suspected problem is always an opportunity for something better.
You can't win the game of life, you can only play it.
With this in mind, I would be happy if you stopped by again, because I will continue to write and I'm sure I'll have some great topics for you.
Stay healthy and enjoy what you do.
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