CHRISTIAN POHLER.

That would be nice … Most of the time, when I am doing one of these things and come across a subject that occupies me, I start thinking about how it could be solved. Then I notice things that could be improved or things that simply do not exist yet. Sometimes I wonder why something was not solved more simply, or what might still be missing.

On the one hand it is a blessing, but quite often it feels like a curse too.

That really depends on the situation. It comes as it comes … I do not have a preference.

What makes me restless is having an idea and, at that moment, no way to write it down or put it into practice straight away.

Sometimes the ideas stay. But because so many ideas can virtually explode in my head at once, some of them do disappear. Maybe they return later, maybe they vanish completely. If they do, they probably were not that important.

Dogs are fully present when they are with you, and they show openly what they want. When there is conflict, they calm the situation quickly and do not keep holding it against each other afterwards. We humans can learn a lot from that: make more time for one another, be more honest and find our way back to each other after an argument.

Xela-Wie would say: Where he is, that is my place. And where I am, he is at home.

Stan would say: Do not always be so strict with me. I cannot do it better because I never learned it, but I really am trying!

Music. I can put my thoughts on paper and express and process things that I sometimes struggle to deal with in everyday life.

The dog usually knows exactly what it is doing. My job is to explain to the person what their dog is actually trying to tell them. When the knot finally comes undone for both of them, that is a little highlight for me every time.

Definitely: Now we are really working as a team.

Whenever I notice how deeply fulfilled I am by what I am doing.

It can definitely happen that I lose track of time and suddenly the alarm clock goes off in the morning. laughs

But quite often there is also that feeling afterwards: That was really good exactly as it was.

Ideally, a little of all of that. I do not want someone to finish an article and simply think, Okay, now I know that. I want something to remain. Maybe an “aha” moment, maybe a new question, or the thought: I have never looked at it that way before.

It matters to me that ZEITKANTE does not tell people what to think. People should be able to form their own view. But to do that, they need information, context and sometimes perspectives that a quick headline simply cannot provide.

If someone keeps thinking about an article for a few minutes, talks about it with somebody or even starts researching further, then the article has achieved exactly what I wanted it to.

Usually with subjects I know something about or have researched before. But sometimes I simply cannot imagine that something really is the way it is being presented, and then I start digging deeper.

Yes. The coronavirus pandemic, for example, the war in Ukraine, or political developments and decisions. With subjects like these I have learned how quickly simple answers reach their limits once you start looking more closely.

It has to grab me immediately. Not because effects are flying everywhere or everything is trying to be loud, but because I can tell that somebody really thought it through. Idea, design, function and details have to belong together.

I like things where the first look already makes you think, Wow, and on the second, third or fourth look you still discover little details. Those details make the difference for me.

On a website I do not want to just click on information. I want to experience something. But usability must never suffer because of that. If I first have to work out how something functions only because it wants to look special, then for me it is already badly solved.

Film and design are similar: they have to create a mood, tell a story or trigger something in me. If I am left thinking, Damn, why did I not think of that myself?, then it was really good.

Unfortunately, I am a perfectionist. There is always something to improve, extend or “perfect”. But I have learned to simply let something be good enough sometimes.

In the past I would probably have changed another ten little things because I noticed one more detail. Today I know that at some point something has to go out into the world. Otherwise perfecting it eventually becomes nothing more than never finishing it.

That does not mean I never touch it again. Quite the opposite. If I notice something later or have a better idea, I keep developing it. For me, many things are never finally finished – they simply reach a point where they are good enough to take the next step.

Yes. I want to buy a camper van and head out into the world – working from anywhere in the world for anywhere in the world. Thankfully, my work makes that possible.

I also want to take my approach to dog training out into the world, especially to places where training methods may not yet be as progressive as the ones we use here.

I became self-employed very early because I had ideas and wanted to bring them into the world. I often chose paths that were not advantageous for me. But all of that had to be part of the journey because I had things to learn – and I am still learning. Everything on your path is your responsibility, your created reality. Everyone is the architect of their reality.

I finally understood that last year. Since then, I consciously decide how I shape my path, take responsibility for it and live what I want to be. Because the architect of his reality does not try – he builds.