Thoughts on International Labor Day 2025
10,000 people marched by my window yesterday and I posted an article on how we can fix leadership and work.
The red and black clad passers by were demonstrating against capitalism, pro Palestine, anti-fascism, and other related agenda items. Fortunately, the event turned out overall peacefully — unlike in former years.
I am glad this is happening.
The right of assembly and expression are important for any society, and it’s a positive sign that civil ways of relating resulted in it ending without too much damage.
Keeping the focus forward to manage uncertainty
I generally choose not to take any idea as right or wrong per se. I am more interested in “beginner’s mind”, into allowing every idea it’s space to be explored, empathizing with it, without necessarily adopting it.
To arrive at a creative solution, you have to be willing to hold the tension of the unknown, tolerate the ambiguity.
You have to acknowledge and address what is not working in the present, even if uncomfortable. Conflict arises naturally if you want to create a future that works for more people.
It is important to resist injustices in the present. And in order to ensure that we are responding consciously to the moment, I focus in my work on what can be done today to create a desirable future.
Our current operating systems are in transition on all levels: from individual ways of being all the way to the metaphorical and actual climate on our planet.
In order to navigate this transformation, we get to explore new ways of relating to ourselves, each other and the world.
You get what “jugaad” — playful pragmatism
I consequently spent my international labor day exploring how I best work, and what old systems I need to adapt — and what new systems I can adopt.
The result was that I started building myself a custom GPT as my new AI lifeOS coach.
I built it by sharing with it the frameworks I use and teach on how I structure my days, weeks and months. I taught it the key domains of my life, and gave it instructions on how to coach and support me in each.
Its mission is to ensure that I continue to push my boundaries of an enriched experience of life.
In order to feel the intrinsic motivation I require a sense of autonomy, of mastery and belonging. So I instructed it to support me in owning up to what I am given in life and in any given moment, and to continuously learn new ways to add value to others and the world.
It’s just at the beginning and it will probably become a labor of love. And labor in all its meanings is rarely easy — ask any mother.
Resilience and Results
Labor has negative connotations, beyond “to work” and “to endeavor”, it means “to take pains” and “exert oneself”.
Creating anything, especially something new, to innovate, has rarely been easy in my experience (and the experience of most artists, entrepreneurs, activists, corporate intrapreneurs, and change makers I have worked with).
Creating something does require a hefty amount of resilience, otherwise you eventually don’t get up from the punches.
But orienting on life itself, on knowing that I feel most alive when I contribute to life, when I create results of value for others, that is what keeps getting me up in the morning.
How you do anything is how you do everything
Beginning my mornings with selfcare is key.
To be as present as possible throughout the day I start with rituals to activate my whole Operating System:
- body and emotions and mind as the foundation that carries me,
- consciously planning my day and the agreements I am committed to,
- all the way to grounding myself in my vision for the future and my capacity to create here.
Extreme performance requires extreme selfcare as we teach at LUMAN.
And to remember to play.
“I seem to be here right now” is the only thing I know for sure after all.
I might as well have fun while doing it.
Who knows, it could just be a simulation and illusion (maya), and we are here to play (lila).
So I made sure to also spend some time simply being and taking breaks, while basking in the sunshine on my balcony.
Aware of my privilege and the resulting responsibility, I watched as the 10,000 demonstrators passed by below…
Let’s turn on all your human intelligences so you can thrive in an age of AI, disruption and uncertainty.
Connect with me at https://philiphorvath.com or through LUMAN at https://luman.io
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