In the last Blog Post I shared with you WHY this book will be very interesting for you. If you do not know much about Julian Hosp, you might be wondering who is the person who wrote this book, and why does he think he is entitled to write a book titled "25 Stories I would tell my Younger Self"? Fair question, so in this short blog update Julian Hosp will be introduced, and even those of you that think you know him well, may be surprised with some additional points & facts here:
I, Julian Hosp, was born on February 3rd 1986 in the early afternoon in a small Austrian town called Hall. My mom jokingly says I was already a problem child before even being born because I tricked her a couple of times that I was going to come out and then when I actually did, she didn’t believe me anymore and almost arrived late at the hospital. At the hospital the nurse made a mistake and didn’t clamp my naval cord properly. It made me lose a lot of blood, so during my first ten days in this world I lived in an incubator. I guess I loved challenges from day one already. My parents describe it as the toughest time during their parenthood – the second toughest one being when I entered puberty a bit over a decade later. My dad, Laurin, was - and still is - a self-employed architect, and my mom, Anneliese, is a full-time mom with all the demanding tasks attached to that. Had she been working outside of the home as well, she would not have had the time to care for me as much as she did. This life work balance was the best thing my parents could have done. My dad’s parents (my grand parents) are still alive and the reason I am pointing this out is that at the age of over 90 years old they are still cycling, windsurfing and climbing mountains. If you don’t believe it (which most people don’t), watch them being interviewed by our local TV station about their daily routines that most 60 year olds would be happy to be able to do. I must have a pretty good gene pool when it comes to longevity and energy. At least I hope so.
And here my parents:
I can’t remember much of my first couple of years, other than when I was around two years old, my parents “gave” me a younger sister, Simona. My parents’ focus shifted completely to her while up until that point I had received my parents’ sole attention. The resulting sibling rivalry instilled a drive of me constantly having to prove myself, which turned out to be quite important for some of my later achievements. Despite that my sister and I got along quite well - most probably because I had this hunger for constantly being better than her to “win back my parents” and her not really caring about all that. We grew up in an average house in an average town called Mils. My family had an average income and with four people we were an average size family. Why am I telling you this? You can be totally ordinary to have extra-ordinary results. It is all about the action you take based on the choices you make.
My sister and I went to the same Kindergarten; she was of course two years beneath me. Afterwards we went to the same Elementary School and Junior High School. In High School, I decided to spend time abroad in the US, while she stayed in Austria. I would not be the same person today had I stayed in Austria as well. Being in the US and away from my parents and my accustomed surroundings made me very open minded and gave me many other skills, which turned out to be crucial during my later years. I am not sure if becoming a professional basketball player or pro kite boarder would have happened the same way had I stayed in Austria. I might not have studied medicine or moved to Asia for business either. Many of the seeds were planted during this time with all the new experiences and impressions I received there. (Here is a picture with my host family from the US)
Many times people read success stories about success books where the focus is mostly on the final steps of the person’s achievements, but most people reading the book are still on their initial steps of a long journey. I know how hard it is to go against the odds and even more your family, friends or social media, who tell you that you won’t make it. You might have already taken the first step on a new venture, but you get stuck with the fear of what these other people think of you, which paralyses you and stops you from raising your voice or letting your light shine out of fear, of what others may think. Remember, it is not about what others think; people will think what they want, irrespective of what you do. Be a person of virtue, and others will buy into you no matter what. There is no other way to overcome that initial fear other than to accept that it exists and carry on, anyway; to refuse to be defined by the voices in other people’s heads. I know it is hard, but just like anything else that is hard, it's totally worth!
Today, my sister is a successful therapist, my mom is totally dedicated to sports, and my dad is still working on his architecture projects. I did get to spend more time with my mom when growing up, but the times I got to spend with my dad are as precious as they could be. Especially in kitesurfing or investing, my dad played an important role. My phone is full of productive podcasts, inspirational lessons, great audiobooks, and motivational pictures. I am based in Hong Kong, travelling most of the time for business and leisure. I consider planet earth my home, with my friends, business partners, and relations spread across the world. Looking back, our family still has hundreds of discussions on mistakes made… But this is exactly what this book is about. 25 stories that we all would have loved to have before growing up! I talked about that in the last Blog Post where I shared with you WHY this book is relevant.
So, I want to deeply thank my mom and dad for shaping me into the person I am today. You are the best parents possible! I also want to thank my sister Simona for living with all the “bullcrap” I gave her, and constantly challenging me to be the bigger brother. I also want to thank my best friend Daniel, for being the big brother to me that I never had. I will cherish the kiteboarding times and friendship forever. Last but not least,my girlfriend Bettina! I could have never gathered the energy and inspiration to write this book without her!
Bettina and I:
My Family:
Hope that gives you an idea who Julian Hosp is, and why I wanted to write this book. If you have any questions, let me know below!
Cheers,
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