Everyone should find their inspiration

Introduce yourself in a few sentences..

My name is Dimitar Ivanov.

For more than 10 years, I have been engaged in consulting services in the field of Human Resources, with the last few years entirely dedicated to flexible benefits. Otherwise, in practice, my entire 30-year professional path has been devoted to sales.

What did you dream of becoming in your childhood years?

Literature and history were my strongest subjects in school, and I desperately wanted to be very good at music as well. The latter turned out to be impossible, and as you can see, I am not professionally engaged in any of the mentioned fields.

At what age did you earn your first money? Tell us an interesting story?

At 16, I wished to go to the sea alone. The condition my parents set was to earn the necessary money. After a month during which I first touched the intricacies of construction, I found myself with a substantial sum of 150 BGN in my pocket, which I didn't even manage to spend during 2 weeks of a wild teenage life in Shkorpilovtsi. But I was extremely proud to be independent in this endeavor.

What are the main factors and examples that shape us as individuals at an early age and form our interests? What is your recipe for curiosity, sources, and wells of information and inspiration at this stage of our human development?

Family environment – I strongly believe in the concept of the importance of the first 7 years and subsequently in the creation of basic life habits during the teenage years.

First job – sometimes decisive for our further professional development.

The sources of information and inspiration in my time were books, magazines, the hard-to-access recordings of Western bands, and my first trip to Hungary in the 8th grade.

Now it is very different – young people are citizens of the world, they have instant access to any needed information, their lives and consciousness operate at immeasurably faster rates. Everyone needs to find their inspiration.

Has there been any significant change in your perceptions in more mature age regarding what motivates you to do or not do something?

Yes, it has changed based on accumulated experience, and not so much – based on the fundamental habits acquired in childhood. Rather, for me, the differences came with the fundamental change in the socio-economic environment surrounding me, to which I had to adapt quickly.

Whose decision was it where to pursue higher education and what to study? Was this decision correct, viewed from today's perspective?

Entirely mine. I prepared with my favorite subjects Bulgarian language and history to apply for law at Sofia University back in 1989. I was of the same age as Todor Zhivkov's grandson, and thanks to this fact, I got the opportunity to serve in the army after I graduated from higher education. To be doubly secure, I also applied to Veliko Tarnovo University for a mixed specialty in Bulgarian language and history. I was accepted before the exams for Sofia University, did not show up, and went to celebrate the postponed army service at the sea.

To this day, my life could have been radically different and much more connected to law, but I do not regret anything that happened – I had the opportunity for the choice to be entirely mine, and I am grateful for that.  

Share with us more about your interests, knowledge, skills, and hobbies?

To travel to new countries and get to know different cultures. To attend rock concerts of my favorite bands that I missed for objective reasons in my childhood. Recently, I enjoy the vegetables and flowers grown in our garden in the village. To bake meat in the specially built oven in my yard. To light a fire in the fireplace and watch it all evening. To play a favorite song from my rich collection of vinyl records very loudly on the gramophone. To meet friends for a beer. Simple things.

Would you change your profession today and which fields of activity capture your interest?

I would be happy to be a bass guitarist in a big rock band, but for understandable reasons, this is unachievable 😊

They say that personal branding is everything that people say about you when you are not in the same room with them. What would you like to hear today?

That they were happy to work with me some time ago. From time to time I hear it, and it brings me real pleasure and satisfaction.

Emotional intelligence, adaptability, and flexibility, as well as our soft skills, are key conditions for success in recent years. How do you cope with the daily challenges of life to be in good shape and mood?

I try not to take myself too seriously. To maintain positive relationships with all colleagues so that we can be genuinely useful to each other. To do my job with maximum pleasure, even when I face challenges. It is always nice to sit down for a drink with colleagues after work; this is always a guarantee that we have done well with our soft skills 😊

What are the most important conclusions you have made so far about maintaining proper communication considering the different characters of the people you meet daily – colleagues, friends, close ones?

You need to be open, but at the same time think carefully about every word you say. Be sure that what you say to others is what you would like them to say about you.

What do you think about money? What is their influence on your life? What is your advice to people who often ask themselves questions related to money and how sufficient they are?

As long as money is a means and not an end in itself, everything is fine in purely psychological and career terms.

What is the most valuable career advice you would give to people?

To strive to like as much as possible what they do, for it to challenge them and push them towards development. If this is not happening, then it is time for a change.