What drives you? What does ‘making a difference’ mean to you?
Progression and fun are the two things that drive me. Progression in society, for people I like (and don’t like), for my business and for myself. I’m looking for constant improvement but never at the expense of having fun. If you’re not having fun along the way you’re sort of missing the point I think.
‘Making a difference’ I define as the power of inspiring other’s to improve. You will rarely make a noticeable difference on your own.
Tell us a story from your past that has really shaped you. What did you learn?
When I was 18 I moved to Argentina on my own. That experience shaped both my personality to how I think about the world. I learned that communication is everything and the more different types of people you can vibe with the more you’ll get out of life.
If you could travel back in time… what piece of advice would to give to yourself ten years ago?
I would probably ask for advise instead. 29 y/o Erik has nothing on 19 y/o Erik haha. In all seriousness and apart from the usual stuff (health and finance) I would have probably told young Erik to read more. I think the only self-help book I read before the age of 20 was “The Game” - God knows it was necessary at that point - but I can sometimes think about the exponential learning curve and hunger that comes from reading and wish that I had started earlier.
What does your morning routine look like? How do you maintain balance in your life? What bio or life hack would you like to share with the world?
6:15: Wake up*
6:16: Big glass of water**
6:20: Obnoxiously long shower
6:45: Meditation & stretching
7:00: To-do list for the day
7:10: Go for a walk and listen to an audiobook***
08:10: Start working
*Hack #1: Put your phone on the other side of the room and say goodbye to snoozing forever.
**Hack #2: I’ve learned that one of the main reasons you’re tired when you wake up is that you are dehydrated. Starting the day with a big glass of water gets you on track fast.
***Hack #3: Audiobooks! Not really a “hack” I guess but life changing for me (I’m a pretty slow reader). I get through more books in a month than I used to in a year.
When are you most happy? Where is your happy place?
Evening-landing in a city I haven’t been to before with Fleetwood Mac - Dreams in my headphones and preferably a few good friends with a few good plans waiting.
What’s your favorite type of training? Why is training important for you and your career?
My favourite type of training is running. To me it’s meditative, relaxing and challenging all at once. Plus the runner’s high makes me think really big (when I stop running I’m usually at the point where Obama is just about to hand me some sort of medal).
What’s next? What are your ambitions for the future?
Next up for me is scaling our business and building out a team of humans that we can create impactful things with while inspiring each other to improve every day. I have never been more excited about anything in my entire life.