Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
Our dreamer today is Jovan Stojanović, Managing Director, Direct Media Beograd
My favourite childhood dream?
Now that I think about it, it seems to me that I used to dream a lot more often as a kid, and that this somehow wanes over the years. Or it might be that the dreams back then used to be much more important and impressive, so I remember them better.
In one period of my life, basketball was very important, and I, like most of us, dreamed of scoring the decisive points, in the last moments of an immensely important match. Unfortunately, that did not happen at the time I dreamed it. Now, it may sound absurd, but a couple of months ago, at a humanitarian tournament where I played for Direct Media, in the literally last second I hit the three pointer which brought us the victory. And believe me, we all jumped and rejoiced as if we were 15 years old.
I dreamed of writing a novel that would be a lot like the Lord of the Rings, although at the time I had no idea that this novel already existed. Before Tolkien, I read The Shannara Chronicles, and I was probably the biggest fan of the original Star Wars. And then I made up a mix of those two stories, which ultimately incredibly resembled something that I read later. And I wondered how it was possible that somebody had came up with it before me. While in fact, probably Terry Brooks and George Lucas “stole” some of their stories from Tolkien…
What I dreamt of when I was entering the world of advertising?
Since I was still fresh out of university at that time, I often dreamed of receiving calls from the faculty, telling me that there are some more exams I need to pass, which I missed due to some administrative mistake I guess. Also, I dreamt not having a grade in high school, in history (don’t know why history of all things), and I still have that dream today, although not that often.
When I started, I, logically, dreamed that this will be a job that will allow me to afford some of the things that are important to a guy at that age – a better car, a motorcycle … Then, very quickly, these dreams became financially a bit more demanding. But after a short time dreams simply cease to be materialistic, and become much more oriented toward some other things. Probably a person becomes more aware of things that are really valuable through years, and then dreams are move in that direction. You start dreaming about what you can do to raise your work for a bar or two.
Which dream led me to where I am today?
I probably mention that I’m an engineer by profession too often. And as such, I’m quite a perfectionist. And I also demand that from my associates and close people, but above all and more than anyone else, I demand it from myself. It was probably the dream that I most do everything perfectly, or better than others, that pushed me forward.
Most of the dreams I dreamed together with my colleagues, and which we turned into business goals, we realized over time. These goals were in a way always a combination of rational and thoughtful development plans, but also something that at a given moment seems to be a non-achievable half-dream.
What I dream of today?
I dream of being less burdened by obligations and decisions I have to participate in or make them. But, on the other hand, I know that if that dream would come true, I would then dream about the dynamic fast pace that business today demands, and without which I could not function. It’s damnation, but that’s how it is.
I dream that my two girls will be smarter, more beautiful, more talented, more successful and better people than my wife and I are. We provided them with quality genetic material, and now we just have to work together on the two latter things.
I dream that Direct Media – the company in which I was fortunate to work for the last 17 years – continues to be something that other companies dream of becoming. I dreamed that we be the ones who would pass on the knowledge and experience, and be those who are recognized in the industry as someone who realized their dreams.
We also dreamed together to create the Academy where we will continue to dream together. That’s why the theme of this year’s Direct Media Academy is I Have A Dream!
I was given the privilege to take this column as an opportunity and reveal that actually this series of columns titled I Have a Dream is a part of the message that we want to send through this year’s Direct Media Academy. And that message is that the marketing profession must never stop dreaming! I would like to thank my colleagues from the whole region who answer these question in Media Marketing’s series of columns, and I would like to thank your portal, for recognizing this idea since its beginning, and for being such a great support in its implementation.
Do I dream more awake or asleep?
I have most of my dreams in the morning, and that’s the time when most of the good ideas to my mind. I don’t know why. Perhaps that’s the time when I’m still somewhere in between the dream and the reality, so both the rational and the dreamer part of me (which my practical side stifles) are working together. That seems to be a good combination.
While dreaming at night, I often come to solutions to problems that tortured me during the day. Really. I wake up and everything is suddenly clear to me. Over time, I learned to write down or record on my mobile phone my genius thought, but I actually forget the solution itself.
Are there any dreams I gave up on?
I generally gave up on all the dreams of material things. Maybe I still dream of a boat and the sea, but more as a way of escaping from the everyday madness.
I realized that most of my professional dreams thrive if I turn on the engineering part of myself in their design and later implementation. Over years, you learn to even dream in a controlled manner – you dream more important and more realistic things.
And I’m always waiting for another great challenge to appear. I still have so much energy, and would love to try to dream at least one more real, great dream.