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Today is one of the key dates of your life. You have just graduated from hotel management school and have f lown the nest to start

your own life.

I still remember the very emotional day when Dad and Mum took you to your very first day at school in Cannes. I am not sure who was the proudest, you or them?

I would like to share with you some of what I have learned, and thoughts gained over time through experience and events in life.

Always try in life to give back as much as you receive. The balance between giving and receiving is crucial. This applies to personal and professional life. The day you realise that you don’t receive or bring anything anymore means that it’s time to move on and to take a different direction.

Always try to make your own choices. You may seek advice, share your

The new CEO of Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts, Olivier Chavy, writes a letter to his younger self filled with sound advice on embracing life.

uncertainties and questions; challenge yourself and the people around you to weigh the pro and cons — but in the end your decisions should always be your own. You should live life by your own design.

Whatever you do or decide in life, just do it, move on and don’t allow any space for regrets. “I wish, I would” … you can rarely go backwards in life, so don’t try to slow down on the slide, unless you realise you took the wrong path.

You received three gifts from God: You don’t know when your life will end; you don’t know what tomorrow will bring; and, you will never know what would have happened if you had taken a different direction. This means that you should live your life at 100 per cent, look backwards only in order to learn

from past experiences, embrace life and do your best to achieve your dreams and your goals.

Discover the world; meet others; challenge yourself; open your heart, mind and soul; fight and overcome your fears; recognise and acknowledge love; share, express, communicate — and try to always have in mind: “faith, love, understanding and hope”.

Last but not least, my ultimate wish for you, Olivier — keep this forever engraved in your heart: When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would have not a single bit of talent left and could say, “I used everything my parents gave me.”

It is not the things you did that you regret on your death bed — it’s the things you didn’t do!

Yours, Olivier

Dear Olivier...

WITH HINDSIGHT

“You should live life by your own design.” - Olivier Chavy

BUSINESS BOOKS

All or Nothing

Mike McKinneyExisle Publishing

In this insightful book on behaviour, psychologist and author Mike McKinney explores in depth the ‘all or nothing’ personality type. This type of person typically focuses on one

core task, so much so that everything else is excluded. If this is you, how do you go about getting the best out of your personality? If this isn’t you, this book will help you to understand others better and get the best out of people of this nature. As McKinney points out, there are great rewards to being dedicated to specific areas of life; these people are often high achievers. However, it can cause burnout and to benefit mental and physical health, seeking a more balanced work–life approach is best.

The Four Mindsets: How to Influence, Motivate, and Lead High Performance Teams

Anna-Lucia MackayWiley

Anna-Lucia Mackay’s bestselling leadership and management book is packed with tools, tips, actionable points and useful take-away points to ensure readers learn how to increase team performance in an encouraging and inspiring way. Touted as the simplest and quickest (and most cost-effective!) way to increase business productivity, performance and revenue, The Four Mindsets offers up-to-date, modern strategies and techniques being used by management around the globe. It’s useful format features chapter summaries and approaches that will not only change your management style, but influence those around you.

Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business

Gino WickmanBenBella

Offering a new way to run your business, Traction details how the Entrepreneurial Operating System can be a method for

business success. EOS is designed to help business leaders and entrepreneurs overcome frustrations like personnel conflict, profit issues and stunted growth and is used by more than 10,000 companies. Author Gino Wickham maintains this book will help to strengthen businesses into solid, well-run organisations through his practical, thoughtful method — created from firsthand experience to eliminate common business frustrations around control, people, profit, growth, and of course, traction.

In the Company of Women

Grace BonneyHardie Grant

A visually stunning book by the renowned editor of the Design*Sponge website, Grace Bonney, In the Company of Women is a collation of inspiring women entrepreneurs from around the world. This hardcover book features interviews with more than 100 creative female forces coupled with pages of fantastic original photography of their work and studios. Beyond its aesthetic exterior In the Company of Women holds plenty of practical advice that all businesspeople can utilise in their everyday — from how to get started, to the importance of forging your own path. The interviews detail creative and business rituals, offering tips and inspiration via its diverse subjects, who are from all kinds of industries, backgrounds, ages and nations.

As featured in The CEO MagazineFor more info visit theceomagazine.com

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