JUMP! My decision of living one year in Paris, France!

I simply JUMP!

This is where my emotions go when I think about my decision of applying for President of AIESEC in France! After one year as a President of AIESEC in the Republic of Macedonia..

I stand on a 14 meters high rock and I see the raged sea ready to embrace me in its
undiscovered beauty! Blood is pumping in my heart, my adrenalin is reaching its MAX and I feel.. Scared, Excited, READY... me! ... and I JUMP!

Since my 23 I lived in Skopje with my parents. City that has around 650.000 inhabitans in a 2 million small, but beautiful country, Macedonia. At that time I was the national President of AIESEC Macedonia, going through the most intense experience in my life!
I felt I can do more! I felt that everything in what I believed in was denied and everything around me didn't make any sense.. Battle of EGO and my HIGHER need was swallowing my energy! My potential was not reaching its impact..
AIESEC France was an organization that was in a similar state..
Enourmous potential not seen from its local members guided by the lost belief of what the organization is all about!
I reflected on what I truly BELIEVE in, I envisioned the person I want to become and decided to go and just be MYSELF! I saw this OPPORTUNITY and I BELIEVED in me!
I went on the French National Conference and I won..
I became the President of AIESEC in France for the term 2007-2008!
I was about to live for one year in Paris, city with 10 mil people, world's cultural center! and lead a national organization with 14 local offices!

I felt scared, excited, READY! and I JUmPed...

My experience in Paris was wonderful in the end.. I achieved everything I envisioned and now I am walking on the path towards the person I want to become and the impact I believe I CAN have..

Fullfillment at work!

I believe that having a fullfilling job is one of the most important things in life, we all have to achieve..
I sometimes hear the concept "work-life" balance and I wonder: Isn't work part of your life? Are you a different person when you go to work?
Work consumes more then 60% of our time and I believe we all have to strive to be truly happy and enjoy that time with all the people that surrounds us. We can not park our personality in front of the building and enter with our fake smile and pretend to be happy.. And then at 17h be happy that you are going home, so you can be yourself again.. I believe that by doing so, the frustrations are pilling up, we are becoming more inpatient and one day we just explode at our dear ones! At the people that we expect them to understand..
I believe for having a fullfilling job, that makes us truly happy, there are 4 human needs that it needs to be satisfied
1. Phisycal. The money we receive should satisfy our basic and material needs. It should allow us to enjoy the sweet pleasures of life..
2. Intelectual. Our job needs to be challenging and responsible enough that will make us LEARN each day.
3. Emotional. Working within a TEAM and meeting new PEOPLE makes our ability to connect with people, even stronger! Your emotional intellegence is getting stronger and you are able to understand, respect and CONNECT with different people from different social groups.
4. Spiritual. One of our deepest needs is having the feeling that we are doing the RIGHT thing.. I believe our job should have MEANING.. We have to have a feeling that we are MAKING A DIFFERENCE in this world, that our "work" is not for nothing..

It is definitely difficult to always find fullfilling job, but that is why I like entrepreneurship. You are the creator of your dream job! Being an Entrepreneur is not an easy job to succeed, but it pays off.. Many people are satisfied with the feeling of receiving the salary in the end of the month, that gets the bills paid and lets us to enjoy the momentary pleasures in life.. But then again, we are deciding our own limits..
What is your limit? How far will you go?!

I want to be an entrepreneur.. I am striving for a fullfilling job that will make me truly happy..
And I am sure we are all doing the same..

So far..

Dear reader,

I would like to start off my blog with sharing couple of words for myself in order to get to know me better and take a look at my way of seeing the world..

1. Family
I have a younger brother (Frane) and we live with our parents Sime and Jadranka.
Me and my brother had an intense childhood going through some challenging experiences, but I believe that made us stronger and more connected as brothers..
I have a lovely family always supportive and together in difficult situations.. I can not be more grateful for them being a BIG part of myself..

2. AIESEC
Amazing organization that made me put different pair of glasses in seeing the world.. More brighter, more promising.. Made me believe that one can make a difference!
I was member for almost 5 years, 3 years in Skopje local office and 2 times president of National Teams (Macedonia and France).
It is an organization that provides you an experience of building a positive vision for yourself and makes you more self-aware if you are going into the right direction.. you can read more about AIESEC on www.aiesec.org

3. Future
The experience of living "alone" in Paris for one year (until July '08) was one of the most intense experiences in my life.. On many aspects.. personally, culturally, proffesionally, spiritually.. But in the end it showed me that I can be even more succesful! I had positive results with the organization, I maintained the relationship with my girlfriend and it increased my awareness of "what is most important for me"!

I spend my life into putting efforts in 3 elements: Career, Family and Friends. I believe, being successful in each area will get me closer to self-fullfilment and happiness..
Currently, I live and work in Groningen, The Netherlands and I feel very happy..
I have a great job in CanvasCompany (www.canvascompany.nl), Frane and my parents are doing good, I keep in touch with my friends..

4. Feel free..
I am not afraid to share who am I and where am I going..
Going through many different experiences I have created my opinion on many different subjects and in this blog I will be writing about my QUESTIONS, my LEARNING and MY DIFFERENCE in this world..
Feel free to share your questions, your learning and how you see this world..

All the best!

Warm regards from my room in Groningen,
Toni