I don't remember when I heard this famous phrase from John Lennon for the first time. However, it was not even relatively little that I internalized it and I was really aware that my life was happening while I occupied my time organizing plans and more plans. If you are like me, I lived and worked planning, maybe you hadn't questioned it before. They repeat that "we have to be present", but our head lives in the future (or in the past). 

Both with my family, as with my groups of friends, I have always been the "organizer", which was responsible for planning trips, meals, meetings and activities (of whatever). I have also "this role many times in my jobs; Organizing events, AfterWorks, Networkings, Team Retreats and I have even been part of the Department's Event Organization Committee (which was called ¨ Access to Finance ¨ -a2f are its acronym in English - and we changed the name for ¨ Access to Fun ¨ )… The key question here is: Has I touched me or have I imposed it? 

The reality is that I like to do it, I love to organize, but when you have been doing a lifetime (and on top I got tired! 

Put limits is the first step

As I told you for these same dates last year in the blog I wrote: And you, do you live with purpose? , during the last days of the year I always take time to reflect. I compare what I had proposed the first days of the year, with what really happened and I take a balance of the learning that I take. That is, I have been planning for many years from the beginning of the year until it ends, and believe me, it is exhausting. The good news is that in this last year I have learned to put limits.

What does this mean? 

In my case, it means that I have learned to delegate no longer in most of the areas of my life. As much as I like to organize, if you do something too many times you end up hate it, just as it happens with food. Therefore, now when I go on a trip for pleasure for example, I organize the minimum essential and the rest I improvise it, I let myself be surprised, or I delight someone. Even many times I prefer to go on an organized trip so as not to have to think. 

Putting limits also means marking less objectives, less things I have to do, less events to go, less trips in general and less commitments, because "more is more" does it happen to you than as much as you do and for many tasks than Taches from the list always have more to do? It is never enough in the "productivity", and this is what we have to change. I really liked the following reflection I read recently in the letters section to the director of the newspaper El País:

All productive

The era of productivity has become the period in which citizens feel that time is wasting. It is not due to the absence of daily activities, but to the feeling of never reaching the expected goal. There is always one more training, one more work hour, one more desire than to cross out in the endless list of dreams, etc. The era of productivity has become that of dissatisfaction. It is never enough, but hours are always missing on the day - Lidia Ana Pérez Sánchez. Malaga

Objectives that we set vs reality

The case, and what was with this article (which I went through the branches), is that as much as we plan and put ourselves goals that we want to meet, life passes and we have to adapt, surf the wave and let us surprise. To those who love to plan, the objectives and the Deadlines are our best friends, but eye! Because sometimes they become our worst enemies. Flexibility and adaptation have become skills and are the skills that I value most in the people with whom I work.

How could it be otherwise, and more being Carlos and I in charge of pueblos remotos, we have short, medium and long term objectives, Smart objectives by category and by priority, kpi's for each objective and everything you can imagine. I think we make more strategy sessions than team meals a year, and it is not a joke. 

I make you a summary of some of the objectives that we set and how we had to adapt to what happened to us at that time making decisions that were sometimes difficult: 

1. Replicate experiences: Our idea was to be able to replicate during this year 2023 the 3 21 -day experiences that we had previously made in the Canary Islands (ICOD, ancient and Fuencaliente). It was impossible for us to find an ICOD accommodation that fit our budget, so we had to discard it. However, since January we launched that of Fuencaliente (for September) and that of Antigua (for October) with enough margin because we had learned that with little margin our potential clients cannot be organized.

The result was that with so much margin did not work, we do not know very well what failed, the fact is that in July the low number of confirmations and some last -minute casualties, we were forced to cancel both experiences. We tell you everything in detail in this article written by Carlos: "There is to know when to stop"

2. Tasting an experience for companies: We try everything to carry out a pilot of an experience for a company team that works remotely. We conducted surveys, we made financial projections, we kept interviews, and even sent several budgets, but we could not materialize anything. We realized that it is another world, we understood that it is a completely different market in which everything must be customized (a lot according to the needs of each company). So in September we decided to give up and let it go until we could stop to take a twist.

And you know the saying that says "when a door closes, another opens", because it happened with the last experience we organized this year for students from the University of La Laguna. The university proposed it directly, and we loved this type of format. In fact, it is something that we are going to do safely next year and hopefully it becomes something recurrent. I leave you here the blog that Carlos wrote about this experience that we organized in Garachico: "APPOINTMENT FOR THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOUNG TALENT AND RURALITY CONNECTED¨

3. Add hands to the team: We wanted to start the second half of the year incorporating two people with the administration and communication roles because we were going to increase our net benefit (another of our unfulfilled goals!). The reality was that until September 2023 we could not hire Anne for the part of social entrepreneurship and Martina to help us with impact communication. I tell you a little more about them:

•  Ane Kortaberria is finishing the Leinn degree of the Mondragon Unibertsitea . You are doing with us your PFG focusing on helping us develop a new business line focused on: How can young talent contribute to reactivating rural environments? If you want to learn more about Ane, I invite you to listen to the podcast chapter we recorded with her as a guest: " Episode 19 - Contexts "

• Martina Burtscher Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs program from Austria. It was Breaker of our first group in October 2022 and proposed to come to make this exchange. We are delighted with everything that has contributed to us in the redefinition of what remote peoples means (I tell you more detail a little later).

Both joined at the same time and we were afraid that it would not go well, not to be able to manage everything and that we were not going to have time for them, but it has been the opposite. They have managed to adapt and be flexible, just as we have been with them, they have congeniated and integrated into the island life perfectly. We are super happy with how teamwork has worked. 

Everything that happened without planning

When you let life surprise you and forget a little about your goals, wonderful things can come. You quickly summarize some of the ones that marked us the most during this year that is coming to an end.

• Acceleration formations and programs for the internal team: we did not even have this in mind but were appearing along the way and we were carried away. Carlos was part of the Village Hosts , and I of the Women Coca-Cola tour . The one that marked us most was perhaps that of the Ashoka Changemakers 2023 challenge implemented by Bridge for Billions in collaboration with Ikea that lasted 5 months. In this we both participated as a team and supposed a rethinking in all the senses of our business model, made us stop and reflect a lot. In addition, we were selected among the 10 finalists to present our project in an event that took place in Zaragoza, and it was an experience. I tell you all the details in this article that I wrote for our blog: ¨Desafío Ashoka: Building about what has been learned ”

• Local, national and international talks: We participate in numerous events such as speakers this year, also without planning any of them. They invited us and we were very grateful for it. Some of them were: Remote Fest Burgas , Nomad City Festival 2023 , Women in It Day 2023 , 2023 Galer Forum and Fairway Santiago 2023 . To me personally the one that marked me the most was the first because at another time in my life I would have said no, but it was undoubtedly my greatest surprise of the year for everything that brought me to my life and remote peoples as a project. I encourage you to read the article I wrote in my link as soon as I return (it is in English!) Where I include all my reflections and the improvised trip by Bulgaría and Romania that arose thanks to the event: ¨Embraction the excitement of first time Experiences ¨

• The Break Felowship 2023: we didn't put it in our goals either because we doubted until the last second if I re -introduced ourselves this year 2023. Finally we decided that if we introduced ourselves we had to do it otherwise. We proposed to Lara Hernández to accompany us on this trip being our facilitator at destination (after being a mentor the previous year). We wanted to test what an experience would be without living it. The other challenge was to have a group of 18 women in each cohort, the largest group we had so far. There were two editions (one in spring and one in autumn) and both groups were wonderful, they worked very well and Lara did a great job. For us it was a bit weird not to be present on a day -to -day basis, but that helped us to be able to get all the job because being more people multiply. In short, we are very happy to have gotten because we not only learned many things and generated more connections, but this project literally saved us the year. I share the reflections that Lara wrote about the experience she lived with the first group: "What I learned in a retirement with 18 entrepreneurial women 🌈✨¨

• Redefinition of our mission, vision and purpose: we had not considered that this was necessary. Being such a young project and when Carlos and I was so alienated, we thought we had it quite clear. After the work done during the Ashoka program, we realized that our vision went further. Just there, Martina arrived and began to ask us many questions and propose to make ¨deEp Dive Sessions¨ Weekly where we took a few steps back and started at the beginning: Why does remote villages arise? From there we were pulling the thread and we have redefined ours why, how and what. We will show you very little everything we have been working on.

• Pop-up Coliving Villarejo: It was perhaps the experience that we have least planned and dedicated time. It emerged as a last minute crazy idea with the hype of the weekend of the first annual remaining that we organized in early April for the community of remote villages, also in Villarejo de Salvanés. "Remotenses¨ participated from all the previous editions and we had a few pipe. Magda tells you better than me and with more creativity in this article that he wrote about that first meeting: " The fabulous case of the 'sect' of Villarejo de Salvanés " .

  Following there, we said: ¨And if we try to organize an experience of 1 week notifying only our friends and acquaintances? Let's see what comes out and without many expectations¨. It was great, we gathered 12 people in total and of course the magic of the "connected rurality" arose. With such good results, we have not doubted it and by 2024 we have already launched a new experience of this type open to everyone who wants to participate: Pop-up Coliving Almagro 2024 , in Ciudad Real. There are still some places, so you can live an experience with us!

Reflecting people are understood

What do we feel more proud? What have we learned? How have we felt? These are questions that we always ask ourselves in the closing session of the year in which we talk about the milestones achieved, we measure the objectives we set and reflect on what we could have done better. 

1. What do we feel more proud?

Perhaps one of the things that we are most proud of is to have taken the big step to formalize our little big project by signing the statutes of remote villages SL in mid -March. This has allowed us to present ourselves to different European and national projects as an entity, and to access other types of calls.

Another is undoubtedly the premiere of our documentary: "connected Rurality: for a sustainable future" produced by unpredictable films (Dany Ruz). The Premiere took place in the Chico Theater in Santa Cruz de La Palma surrounded by the true protagonists of the documentary, the rural entrepreneurs of Fuencaliente with whom we were working. In May we presented it again in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where we were accompanied by family, friends and many other people. They were two very special moments for us and the documentary was very well received.

2. What have we learned?

We have created a new section in our notion: "The piggy bank" , where we point out things that we have to take into account for the next few times we are in those same situations. Among them, pay more attention to details when we sign collaboration agreements and monitor at least each quarter to adjust them if necessary, without waiting at the end of the year to measure them.

Of each of the people who have passed through our 7 Webinars YouTube channel ) and 12 podcasts (you can listen to them on Spotify ), we get infinite knowledge, life stories, anecdotes and good moments shared ..

Personally, I have learned to trust others when planning, even if they do not do it as I would (that is another topic in which I also continue working). The important thing is to know that we are all expendable, we do not have to load with all the weight and responsibility of us alone, you always get further!

3. How have we felt? 

It has been an intense year and uncertainty, especially the first half, in which we were a little lost without knowing very well where to throw (despite having all the objectives set). In the second half, we have taken the helm and we have known how to find the course. We still have a lot of journey to reach the destination, but the desire does not take away from us. Even if we have days when the storm catches us, we know that then the calm and satisfaction arrive for continuing to contribute our grain of sand. 

Although we have not fulfilled all our objectives, the net benefits are not expected and we still can live exclusively from Pueblos Remotos , we already touched the lottery and I hope you too! 

As a final reflection, I am not saying that it is better not to put goals to meet, but that we are surprised a little more about what life brings us and, above all, that we learn to enjoy more of the present moment, because it is the only moment that we have with certainty; There is only the here and now.  

A for a 2024 with fewer objectives and more experiences!