Welcome Everybody,

Man, that was a big one!

Apologies for the radio silence, but times have been incredibly busy going through this Fall Equinox portal. But I'm back with a much needed assessment of my yearly goals and intentions for ending things up this year.

Enjoy!

✍🏻 Week 39, 2025 - Stepping Through the Fall Equinox Portal

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What a whirlwind these past few weeks have been. I’ve been so swamped since the week before our wedding that I haven’t been able to journal properly. Between arriving back in the Netherlands, focusing all my energy on the IAM event last week, and preparing for tomorrow’s ISO27001 audit, time simply disappeared.

I was so busy that I didn’t even consciously register I was moving through the Fall Equinox. But looking back at everything that unfolded in the weeks surrounding it, this truly was a powerful portal moment. On the other side, I’ve emerged as a married man with Askara having openly shown its face to the public for the first time.

The Threshold

The intensity building up to this portal was unlike anything I’d experienced. For about two years, we’d been talking about this wedding day. It became the source of many heated discussions and relationship tests that surfaced challenges we hadn’t encountered together before. This process taught us tremendous amounts about ourselves and each other.

I gained enormous respect for Chiara’s eye for detail during the preparations. The level of attention I usually gloss over became essential to creating something truly special. While sometimes challenging during the planning phase, our different approaches really complemented each other in the final result.

The peak intensity came in that final week of preparation. We had a lovely apartment booked in Conegliano where we could coordinate everything—planning welcome dinners for arriving guests, sourcing last-minute items, and meeting with suppliers like the photographer. We’d done our best to incorporate lessons from all the incredible weddings we’d attended over recent years, weaving them into our own authentic experience.

The Crossing

The wedding itself unfolded like a dream. Perfect weather, seamless flow, delicious food. The only minor hiccup was the party starting slightly later than planned, making it feel a bit short—but that’s infinitely better than wanting it to end early.

What made this day particularly meaningful for me was how it honoured everything my parents meant to me. Having been raised in the restaurant and catering business, I was exposed to countless events and culinary experiences from a young age. Seizing the opportunity to host a wedding in the vineyards of the Prosecco hills felt like realising a childhood dream. By connecting to those childhood energies, I felt an incredibly strong presence of my parents throughout the entire day.

The week that followed brought us to a traditional alpine chalet in a small Dolomite village where we could completely decompress. Despite disappointing weather, we found consolation knowing at least our wedding day had been perfect. These past few days, I’ve been basking in a wonderful glow—both the renewed sensation of commitment and the relief that two years of planning are finally behind us.

I must acknowledge how profoundly my coaching sessions with Lorin Krenn contributed to this crossing. The inner work taught me which subconscious voices to heed and which to ignore. I cleared uncertainties I held about myself and my relationship, enabling me to step through this threshold with a clear heart, clear intention, and deeper knowing that this path is right for me.

But this portal wasn’t just personal transformation. The same inner work that prepared me for marriage also enabled me to stand in my full power as an entrepreneur. Stepping through this Fall Equinox meant Askara presented its first product to the world.

Thanks to the amazing team we’ve assembled this year, we developed our first AI solution and demonstrated it at Thursday’s major event. A chatbot trained on workshop transcripts from the annual Institute of Asset Management congress. This solution allows participants to interact with all the knowledge shared during the event, making it possible to understand sessions they couldn’t attend.

The core technology we developed can easily be repurposed for countless use cases. My presentation explained to participants how this approach can salvage institutional knowledge that would otherwise be lost as baby boomers leave the workforce.

Representing our own company at a professional event like this after just nine months of building feels genuinely incredible. The pride I felt speaking with attendees and presenting our work was unlike anything I’d experienced before.

The Landing

As if the successful product launch wasn’t validation enough, we also received amazing news during these weeks: we’ve been selected for a startup accelerator in Estonia. This seven-month programme provides guidance and a €60,000 development budget to further advance our core technology.

Having validated a product at the IAM event and secured accelerator support, I can wholeheartedly say we’ve successfully launched a startup this year.

Looking at the goals I set at the beginning of 2025, I can proudly confirm I’ve fulfilled every single one. This realisation sparked an interesting question: what’s left for the final three months of this cycle? Do I need additional goals, or should I simply let things unfold naturally?

After this intense period, I’m leaning heavily toward the latter. The profound relaxation that washed over me this weekend—knowing I don’t need to achieve anything more right now—felt absolutely sublime. That seems like all the confirmation I need to release pressure and simply enjoy the transformative results this year has brought.

The plan moving forward feels beautifully simple: take the lessons from our product launch, pivot our activities accordingly, and focus on technological development without the immediate pressure of client acquisition (since accelerator funding covers our expenses). We can glide through the remainder of this year on the wave that just peaked, enjoying the freedom these achievements have created while evaluating lessons learned and tuning into what 2026’s growth cycle requires.

With care,

Ben

P.S. If you’ve ever wanted to live more in sync with the flow of life, my Start Tapping Into Source email course might be just what you need. It’s a simple system for aligning your inner and outer worlds through intentional practices. Ready to dive in? Check it out here.​

P.S.S Have you ever wondered how aligning your journaling practice with the seasons of the year could amplify your growth? My Tuning into the Seasons course dives deep into this practice, showing you how to ride the natural ebb and flow of life for clarity, growth, and balance. Curious? Learn more here.​
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