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.

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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

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Just graduated? Only few years ago, with the world booming and most of the countries growing, it was easy to find your first job. One could find one real quick, even a good position, as companies were fighting each other to hire the new talents. But, to our great disgrace, those days are now long gone. Job openings are just a fraction of what they were before and, thus, we have to be really trained and prepared for once we have the opportunity to get one – that is, the interviews.

The fundamental thing here is to put yourself inside the mind of the interviewer. What is that they want for this job? You got to have that very clear, as not all positions will look for the same attributes, skills or personalities. You’ll have to adapt your best self for what they are looking for.

With that said, here are some points you should take much attention to:

Before the Interview

• Prepare yourself and investigate about the company thoroughly. Search which are the firm’s activities, main markets, products and so on. Mind, a five to ten minute Internet research won’t do – If you want the job you have to be serious about it, go beyond that!
• If you know the name of the person that will be interviewing you investigate about him or her too. Check if they have a LinkedIn Profile, make a Google Search and get to know, if it’s possible, what they like, their views, family, etc. The more you know about them, the better.
• Look your best for the interview. If you are a man, wear a suit (and a tie!), even if they don’t ask you to. It can make the difference and shows commitment and seriousness. If you are a woman, dress as professional as possible.
• If you are  feeling nervous before the interview, do the following (it’s better than doing nothing):

A)     Shout and clap with your hands to release tension.
B)      Call one or two friends, family or anyone who can cheer you up, give you good vive and help to take the tension away.

• Get there on time. Being late may kill of your chances from the very beginning. If you feel you might get there late because of one reason or the other, call the company in advance and let them know. The perfect timing to get there is 5 minutes before hand. Getting there before is not worth it and may even hinder your chances.
• Practice, practice, practice! Your CV pitch should be brilliant, well thought and you should practice it beforehand in front of a mirror or friends.
• Always take a couple of extra copies of your CV, cover letter, grades and references to the interviews in case they ask for them.

During the Interview

• Speak slow, loud and clear. Keep eye contact und use your body language to emphasize the main points.
• Answer what they ask and be concise! Talking more than you should may be even worse than talking little.
• Don’t talk about anything personal unless they directly ask you.
• Focus on your strengths and on what you can offer that other people can’t. That is, speak about the advantages of hiring you.
• Don’t sell yourself cheap. If you want your earnings to be a certain amount, say it. But always tell them that for that specific job you are willing to negotiate.
• Two great qualities you have (always) are that you adapt to changing environments, even if the changes are sudden, and that you excel in team work.
• Ask questions, always. Have them prepared beforehand and, when you ask, though, look as if you thought about them on the moment.

Group Interviews

• Always look open and as if you really cared about the other people’s stories and opinions.
• Don’t try to take the center of the attention all the time. Play cool. Stand out with one smart question or as the one promoting the unity of the group.
• Practice a 2-3 minutes CV pitch. You’ll have less time to speak about yourself than on an individual interview, so make sure you use it wisely!
• If you are applying for a job in administration, economics or into some big multinational company, practice GMAT-kind of exercises.

Photo credit: laverrue

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As I let you know last week, from now on I’ll be writing about my personal projects every Saturday. Some will be business and some will be cool lifestyle hacks. But, either way, I’m going to try my best to make you to enjoy what I do and the lessons I’m learning. Normal programming will be back on Monday.

So, this week I’m going to be starting a lifestyle experiment. Basically the deal is this one: I have just four months to complete a number of very demanding goals or my dreamed lifestyle living like a king in Denmark is doomed.

Denmark is really expensive, so a bit of the trick goes around generating more income than ever. The other part is equally important though: it’s all about personal development, social life and a few vital skills I need to master.

If you would see the list of stuff I have to do you would surely panic. I usually do every time I glance at it. It’s creepy – from that stupid GMAT to an insane income goal, the list has it all.

But, as hard as it is, to achieve what the list says would be huge. I would take the big leap forward to achieve my ideal lifestyle. It would really take me to the next level.

And that’s where this experiment comes in. I’m designing the ideal day – a meticulous and detailed plan of what exactly I should do on each moment of the day and week. Each activity I do is directly pointing to the highest and most important goals I need to achieve.

Basically it’s like an insane approach to time-boxing and goal-setting. But I’ll work out. I’ll be unfolding the details as time goes by and probably doing a post-series or an e-book about it. Once I succeed, you’ll get the thoroughly-tested information. Can’t be better for you!

One short insight though: it sucks that the day has only 24 hours. And it sucks even more that I need to sleep at least seven of them. (Yeah, some people do sleep just two hours – But that’s not for me, yet.)

I started this super-routine last week to a small success. The most important things worked out. Still, there is a lot to change and correct. I tweaked it enough and will give it one more shot from Monday on. Designing the perfect day is the first step to designing the perfect lifestyle.

Mind – All this might drive me a bit into insanity. Until I accustom all the new habits, time-blocks and all, I might be a bit out – but, either way, I’ll be sharing with you, no matter what, two great posts next week.

One is all about my two-month trip to Brazil. Lessons, ideas, tips for travelers and more. We had Romania, we had Greece and now we’ll be having sunny Brazil too. The other post will be a bit more controversial – It will be about high life goals. I believe that aiming really high (and you’ll see how high I aim) is one of the key features of those who really succeed. The post will go deep on why I believe that.

I’ll also be giving the finishing touches to the new Language Learning Guide. I mean – It’s still there, but I’m re-writing it from scratch. Key new lessons, cool new ideas and, I hope you will agree with me, much better prose.

Until Monday, have a great week and hope you are all doing great.

Photo credit: Sylvar.

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Welcome to the Inspiration Palace – A home for those working to make their dreams real. Our message simple: everyone can live the life they want. No matter where you are, what do you do, or where you come from.

Everything is possible. Here you’ll get the tools, tricks and all you’ll ever need to build the remarkable life you have always dreamed about. The sky is the limit – and it’s up to you to give it a try.

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