Day 9: Ignore those who try to discourage you.

I guess everyone has experienced a moment in their lives when you have a dream or idea but as soon as you tell about it to others, they start hating on it or just convincing you how bad idea it is and why it wouldn't work out. But you know what, ignore them! However, be polite and listen to their opinions but in the end stay true to your vision. These are your dream, not theirs. It's your life and as a grown up person you should be able to make decisions on your own. In the end you're responsible for your life and actions and if your dreams fail, you can only blame yourself.

With this topic it's also important to understand why are there those people who are trying to discourage you from pursuing your dreams?

I guess some are for sure jealous - they've failed or abandoned dreams and they don’t want to know that they’ve walked away from something that could’ve changed their lives. But more to the core, they don’t want you to succeed when they themselves have failed. Therefore, if it comes to the family members, I would translate it more as "protection" - protection you from making the same mistakes what your parents did in their early lives. You know, they put you into music school to learn to play the piano because they regret their past of quitting it?

Then there are people who just aren't well informed. Obviously you get the whole picture of your dream better than any other person so it's a lot of work to explain all the details to a person who just don't get it ...or don't want to get it. For example you're dreaming about having your own computer game company but your granny just can't get it because she has never played a computer game in her life. Hope you get what I mean! Just be picky with people you share your dreams in order to avoid negative emotions. Find the people who have similar views on the topic and I'm sure discussing your plans with those people help you to move forward instead of wasting time on unneeded conversations.

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Severin Van Der Meer

Caumasee

17/09/14

Severin is really talented Swiss wakeboarder but also killing it on snow! Good skills and great style. He happened to be in Laax last autumn so we had a spontaneous lifestyle shooting at Caumasee. Did a bit different colour grading this time. Kinda like this look. Gives a retro feeling.

Day 8: Hang on to your dreams.

A: "I have a dream."

B: "What is your dream?"

A: "To have a dream!"

...So I hope you all have some bigger dream than just dreaming about having one. Dreaming is something we all do, some more, some less. Honestly, I dream a lot. I like to visualise how things could be and what could happen. I don't think it's a bad thing. It's actually pretty entertaining when you're bored. I've done it since I was little because back then I couldn't fall asleep. Then I built a house in my head and started to live in it and "played" in this home until I fell asleep... And continued the next day. Pretty funny.

These days I don't live in illusional houses anymore. I'm more daydreaming about projects I wanna do or wonder how I could live my life better. However, I've noticed that there are a lot of dreams that I should keep to myself. People often misunderstand the difference between DREAMS and GOALS and may start thinking that you just give empty promises, just talk talk talk and in the end do nothing. Dreams are not goals. DREAMS can be anything. They don't have to have a timeline or even really be achievable. They're sometimes not realistic either, like a fantasy. GOALS are Specific, Measurable, Achievable , Realistic, Timely.

And lastly, I think once you have a dream, it means that unconsciously you're already working on it. It's because deep in your heart it's something you really wish for. So even if your dream seems to be unachievable now, don't kick it out of your head. Stick to it. The bigger the dream, the harder you work. So keep dreaming!

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Last summer I was shooting a skate tour. It took place in different skateparks across Switzerland and the aim was to coach little skaters and find the future talents. It was really awesome to work with kids! So much positivity and happy emotions. I got to shoot St. Gallen stop and the finals in Zürich...

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Hang on to your dreams.

Tour de Talent @freestyle.ch

Summer/Autumn 2014

St Gallen/Zürich

Domenic Hänni

Jonny Giger

Jimmy van Genabith

Kids

Day 7: Give more than you planned to.

Do you remember the time when your feet where killing you but there was still a long way to walk home? ...the time when you were almost sleeping but there were still 40 pages to study for the exam? ...the day when you were sick but still had to wake up and to go to work? ...or maybe a winter day when you were afraid to try a new trick but you still did and landed it?

Those are just some simple examples of giving more than you planned to. The moments of accomplishing something that felt impossible. The times when a little effort brought you the success.

Breaking limits and stepping out of your comfort zone make you progress as a person and also brings you the success in career. No one has ever been successful without working hard for it, giving 120% instead of 100%. It's not always easy but if you want to achieve your goals in life, there's really no way around. All in or nothing.

However, it's always easy to find excuses for NOT doing something. People like safety and sitting in the comfort zone. Can't blame them. Safety feels good! But in the end most of those people just end up whining about their life instead of changing something. So stop looking for excuses and start finding reasons to do something. Every time you feel uncomfortable with some kind of idea, task or dream, it means you got to do it. No matter if you're afraid of it or simply don't want to do it - in the end you feel great once it's done. Push the boundaries.

...For sure this all what i wrote doesn't mean that we all have to become workaholics now. It's more like a motivational post to those people who kinda feel stuck with their lives or are just hanging around and want to push themselves more. If you're happy what you're doing at the moment, then why should you even change something?

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Give more than you planned to.

Flavio Pfister

Flims. Laax. Zermatt

Winter 2013/14