Don’t you love celebrations!? Birthdays, especially, are a great reminder of the cycles of life and the blessings we have in being alive. This year, I celebrated my birthday with a small party of close friends and family AND with a rowdy get together with the Fetola team – recharging my batteries with the kind of deep interpersonal connections that fill my soul.

If I reflect on the one big lesson that the past year brought me, it would be that, underlying all the crazy personal challenges I have tackled in my life, the primary motivation for them has been personal connection. People are the reason I started Fetola, the reason I love employing great people and the motivation for helping entrepreneurs succeed.

Community is also a motivation for my personal hobbies and sports – be they flying, paragliding, long distance swimming, running, triathlon, art, ceramics, travel… (the list is long!)

And yet, when I ask entrepreneurs how much they nurture their friend relationships, the answer is more often than not that they don’t. In this increasingly online, AI world, it’s important to remind ourselves that when the chips are down, it’s our human connections that sustain us and bring meaning to our lives.

Have a fabulous week – and if you are celebrating your birthday, I wish you the blessings of good health and wonderful human connection.