My story

I was finishing my degree at TU Delft. The next step seemed obvious: get a job in property development and put my engineering degree to work. I had followed the path this far. Why stop now?

Because I knew I didn’t want the office job at the end of it. The problem was that I had no idea what I wanted instead.

It’s a strange place to be. You’ve spent years working towards something, and just as you’re about to get there, you start questioning the destination. I felt lost. I wanted more freedom to choose what to do with my time, but I didn’t have a plan for getting it.

So I started trying things. Making films. Building a business. Writing. Instead of waiting until I knew exactly what I wanted, I began finding out by doing.

That didn’t make everything easy. Building something yourself also means dealing with uncertainty. You put in the work before you know whether it will pay off. There isn’t someone handing you the next step.

But there’s something deeply satisfying about turning an idea into something real. A film you can watch. A product someone enjoys. A story you’ve finally put into words. I began to realise that working towards something I care about is one of the best parts of life.

Today, I’m building Thais Tafelen together with my future wife Mandy, making films and writing daily. I’m also a dad to Ollie. I’m still working towards financial independence, and there’s plenty I haven’t figured out. But I have more say over my days: what I work on, how I do it and when I make time for my family.

That’s the freedom I was looking for. I didn’t need to know what the rest of my life would look like. I needed to start making choices I could stand behind.

Live Like a FOCCER is my reminder to keep doing that: live free, be open, stay curious and get creative. To question the obvious next step, try things and make something of my ideas. And to enjoy the work along the way.

These daily notes are where I share that process, including the doubts, small discoveries and things that go wrong. If you know what you don’t want but haven’t figured out what comes next, I hope you’ll find a perspective here that helps you take your next step.