2017 was the most disastrous year of my 41 years. It was a year in which I was pushed to my limits, both financially and spiritually, and health-wise. It’s often said, citing Murphy’s law, that problems and difficulties pile up. For me, the problems pummeled me like rain, especially in the second half of 2017.
Since many of them were personal matters, I’ll leave the details to myself. However, looking back, I can say that amidst those hardships, people are forced to make more mistakes, even those closest to them don’t understand your situation ahead of time, and I found myself in an environment I’ve never experienced before in my professional life. And of course, in such an environment, you see people’s true colors. To give examples from the animal kingdom: vultures, snakes, lizards, chameleons, puffer fish, crocodiles, and jackals. I’ve seen them all in the people I’ve encountered during this time. Of course, I’m not referring to the animals themselves, but their symbolic meanings. Even the wildest forms of these animals seem innocent next to some of the people I’ve interacted with. Ultimately, I can say that the whole picture is complete from my perspective.
What hasn’t changed from the earliest times to the present
This picture illustrates this: Humanity today, just as it was 20,000 years ago, is where the strong survive. When they see weakness in your leadership, they test your strength, compete to take a piece, and when they see you truly weakened, they don’t hesitate to take the necessary steps to destroy you. In other words, man’s greatest enemy is still man. There are many in this world who feed on the dark side. I challenge them once again here: We will not allow people like you to pass!
No one should expect me to be Serhan, who always tries to see the good in people, wants to trust from the outset, and does good to everyone. Good people are my best friends, and I will always support them and do everything in my power to help them achieve success. However, if I see any ill will or behavior that bothers me from now on, I will take the necessary action without delay.
2018, however, was spent first stopping and then healing the wound that arose from the severe damage suffered in 2017. I made significant progress, especially in the last quarter, but there is still a lot of work to be done. I can say that I’ve completely resolved at least some of the problems and am close to solving others.
The Impact of Market Turmoil
Ultimately, a significant portion of the problems I’ve experienced in my business life stemmed from issues parallel to the Turkish economic climate. In a market where investors abandoned Türkiye, a serious cash flow crisis was experienced, and risks beyond our control, such as exchange rate risk, arose, we unfortunately found ourselves caught in that vortex. Now, we’re about to emerge from that vortex.
This visual, which illustrates the different headaches we feel in our minds, satirizes the overall mentality of doing business in Türkiye. There’s a grain of truth to it.
In this sense, I’d like to thank everyone who has been patient with us as we grappled with all these problems. Thank you, be with us. Your efforts during my good times will not go unrewarded.
I also leave those who reacted with me, which further deepened my difficulties, to God. I can even say that I referred some of them to the Turkish courts before leaving them to God. We will deal with some of them in this world.
My Goals for 2019
I’d like to share my goals for 2019:
- I will eliminate all debt,
- I will achieve a strong cash position (after this happens, I will never approach those bankers, businesspeople, or employees of relevant institutions and organizations who have caused me trouble during difficult times, become arrogant, and become aggressive. If they do come during this period, I will treat them appropriately).
- We will complete the financial closing for our solar panel production facility, including all relevant processes, and begin production in the last quarter of 2019.
- We will complete all unfinished projects. We will also take the necessary steps to accelerate new projects within financial discipline.
- It’s time to go international. This will be a year when I will expand beyond Türkiye’s borders. The steps I take next year will be the first steps towards becoming a global businessman.
- I will launch a strategy to focus on sustainability. I’m keeping the steps I take here to myself. You’ll see in the future. I can only say that they will be very beneficial for our country, our nation, and humanity.
- TİDER (Basic Needs Association) is in safe hands. With a strong board of directors, a volunteer group, and the support of all relevant stakeholders, we will accelerate the rollout of our ideal model nationwide and will take all necessary steps to achieve this. For example, we will organize a Food Banking Summit for the first time in Türkiye’s history.
- A reshuffle is imminent in my sustainability and NGO work. This change was necessary for various reasons.
- There are a lot of evil-eyed and pathologically jealous people around. There are also people who, despite me not showing any respect, are obsessed with helping others or mobbing me to the point of harassment. That’s why I keep my thoughts about my private life to myself.
- I hope this is a year where I minimize all health problems and leave most of them behind completely. I’d like to emphasize that I’ll not only hope for this, but that I’ll do everything necessary to make this happen.
- I will return to my active sports life. I’ll add serious Pilates or yoga to my running, fitness, and kickboxing routines. I’ve never been flexible for as long as I can remember. I’ll do my best to maintain muscle flexibility without pushing myself too hard.
- I will enjoy skiing. In addition to my favorite ski resort in Türkiye, Kars Sarıkamış, I plan to ski at Uludağ or Kartalkaya near Istanbul, ski resorts in Switzerland, and, depending on the country, Argentina in the summer.
- I unluckily broke my foot while kitesurfing in 2017. I’m usually one to push past these kinds of problems. I’ll be making significant progress in kitesurfing this summer. I plan to reach a good level, even if it’s not quite as good as my skiing level.
- I’ll be in closer contact with all the friends who value and cherish me. During difficult times, it’s hard to find the motivation to get out of my own head. However, in 2019, I’ll increase the pace of my life and do my best to spend more time with my friends.
15. However, I can say that I’ll be visiting places I’ve never seen, making new discoveries, and sharing all these experiences with you on this platform. In fact, I’m looking forward to the first days of 2019.
I can say I’ll be spending time in Peru.
I’d like to take this opportunity to share with you the first photo I took in Peru.
I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all my readers a wonderful, happy, prosperous, and healthy New Year.
See you in 2019, goodbye for now…
I’ve struggled to keep my motivation high despite everything during these challenging times.
(*) I use the term ‘wet signature brain’ to mean ‘backward-thinking, closed-minded, stuck in the past, unyielding, and unyielding.’ Those who frequently interact with banks or those in the business world use this terminology. Banks are obsessed with requiring wet signatures for everything. I understand this situation stems from the backwardness of the Turkish legal system in this era of entering the digital age. However, those like me, a mobile and technology-savvy individual who refuses to do anything without a wet signature, and who refuse to comply even after promising to complete the document, deserve the term ‘wet signature brain.’ This definition can be applied not only to bankers but to many other people in various sectors. Thus, we have added a new definition to the Turkish language…
Sunny, beautiful days are coming soon…
Tags: lifestyle
