I wasn’t sure I’d ever share this.
It felt too raw. Too messy. Maybe even a little shameful.

But then I caught myself—this is exactly why I must share it.
Because growth doesn’t happen in the glossy highlights.
It happens when we face the moments we’d rather hide.

As Eleanor Roosevelt said:

“Do one thing every day that scares you.”

This is mine.

After our summer holiday, I felt like I had been ambushed.

I had planned it all out—how I would protect my habits, keep my routines, hold on to the systems that usually keep me grounded.

It worked beautifully.
For three days.

Then the heat kicked in. Long, exhausting days blurred into bad sleep. Tension rose between generations. Emotions drifted.

And my habits?
Gone.
Like a perfect computer program suddenly hit by a virus.

By the end of the first week, I felt like I had lost myself.
From confident, purposeful steps… to stumbling like a beginner.

It left me wondering:

“How can habits built carefully over years fall apart in a week?”

At first, I couldn’t process it. I just drifted. Survived.
Only after returning home could I finally hit reset and reflect.

Here’s what I realized:

• When a generation gap meets a mindset gap, tension is inevitable. I had to learn to shift gears—or even step aside—otherwise there was no intersection. Just opinions clash and frustration builds.

• Presence with the kids works wonders. Real, shared moments increased joy instantly. But the second technology and scrolling entered, it triggered FOMO in me. I wanted to do more, be more, catch up—and joy disappeared.

• The hardest lesson: “The biggest challenge in life is having enough in a world designed to make you always want more.”

In the end, only pure human connection cut through the noise. Not routines. Not screens. Not even habits.

Leaders often face the same trap.
We build strong systems to protect us. But under pressure—whether holidays, crises or uncertainty—those systems get stress-tested.

And when they fail, we’re forced to confront the truth:

“Habits don’t define us.
Our presence does.”

A few questions to sit with:

• Where do you over-rely on habits or systems—forgetting the deeper presence behind them?

• When life throws you off track, do you resist, or do you use the “reset” as a mirror for growth?

Love,
Laszlo