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Christian Klinner (50) is co-founder of Ron Orp, the largest urban online network.
Jonas DreyfusEditor society
He knows how to draw attention to himself. Two months ago, Christian Klinner (50) launched an appeal entitled “Put pressure on me” on a platform that he had launched himself. The internet entrepreneur asked his community to buy his first book before he finished writing it.
It is called “The way of the two ways”. What may sound esoteric at first is actually a collection of relatively down-to-earth tips, so-called life hacks, that Klinner has collected and uses himself.
He’s sitting at the desk of his family home in Zurich’s district 6, where he wrote the book on his laptop, and talks about how he’s been thinking about ways to be more content since puberty. At the age of 30, he already processed his first ideas into a book manuscript, which nobody ever saw.
He has ninja tricks up his sleeve
The spectrum of his tips ranges from breathing exercises and diet to techniques that make it easy to remember names. For decades he has dealt with meditation philosophies and the like. “Most of it was too time-consuming and complicated for me. So I developed techniques that can be easily integrated into everyday life.»
Being grateful for everyday things, for example, is a good way to deal with stress, says Klinner. He has further developed this simple technique. It’s his ninja trick, as he calls it: he tries to be thankful for things he hopes will come in the future. “For example, for being a successful author, even though I haven’t even published my first book yet. It sounds abstract, but it takes a lot of pressure off me.”
111 copies already sold
Self-optimizers like Klinner don’t have a good reputation everywhere. They are seen as stubborn perfectionists with a bad work-life balance. For him, self-optimization has nothing to do with striving for more money and success, he says. «It goes without saying that I want to be a better person and it has something to do with self-love. In addition, balanced people bring less unrest into the world.”
Klinner has already sold 111 copies of his book with a total value of 5,500 francs thanks to his online appeal. The self-imposed pressure paid off: He got up at 5 a.m. every morning and wrote until 6:30 a.m., or until his wife and two children got up. “Suddenly it all happened by itself. I had the best time of my life.” The 130-page work is now finished and can be pre-ordered on leben2.ch. Klinner self-publishes it. It will be delivered from January 31st. Two decades passed before the life project was completed.
A severe course of corona intervened
Klinner is co-founder of Ron Orp, the largest urban online network in Switzerland with around 50 employees. His latest project is We Talents, a job platform for the creative scene. It’s a lot to do and was one of the reasons he put off his book project for years. At some point, Klinner started blogging things he wanted to share with the world in small chunks. The response was so great that he finally decided to put his project into practice. Before that, however, life intervened once more.
He fell ill with Corona and had a very severe course. It was a time when his ninja trick helped him before. “I thanked you for recovering, even though I was very bad. That made the time more bearable for me. And maybe made me fully healthy again more quickly.”
Happy end!
The past year was overshadowed by the consequences of the pandemic and the Ukraine war – but many of us experienced happy moments. In a three-part series, we talk to people who have completed major projects in 2022.
The past year was overshadowed by the consequences of the pandemic and the Ukraine war – but many of us experienced happy moments. In a three-part series, we talk to people who have completed major projects in 2022.