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Ogan Cihan Öcal

@ogancihan

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Never been good at staying in one box.
5 countries. Architecture > sales. I start, learn, build. Then usually start again.
Your next move? ⬇️

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I've made quite a few decisions in my life without feeling completely ready for them.

Moving countries. Leaving architecture behind. Ending up in sales. Taking fitness seriously at 31. Starting to build something of my own.

Some worked out better than I expected. Some didn't.

Some led somewhere completely different from where I thought they would.

But looking back, I don't think I needed certainty for any of them.

I only needed enough.

Enough information to understand the risk.

Enough evidence to know when something wasn't right anymore.

Enough of a plan to take the first step.

And enough trust in myself to know that if I got it wrong, I could decide again.

That's probably one of the biggest things starting over so many times has taught me.

You don't need to have your whole life figured out before you're allowed to move.

Sometimes the next move is just taking the call. Sending the message. Going to the interview. Visiting the place. Starting with three workouts a week.

Then you see what reality gives you back.

We'll see 😉

I've been thinking about this a lot recently, so I turned the questions I keep coming back to myself into a workbook called THE NEXT MOVE.

It's for that point where you know something needs to change, but you don't have the whole thing figured out yet.

If that's where you are right now too, check it out through the link in my bio.

If any part makes you say "That exactly sounds like what I've been doing", I am very curious to hear from you 😊 by @ogancihan

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4 days ago

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6 days ago

Spent days creating a workbook about figuring out your next move.

Then the leg curl machine broke.

After years of personal development and self-reflection, I adapted.

The next move was leg extensions 😅 by @ogancihan

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5 hours ago

I LOVE building things.

That's what makes this difficult.

When I have an idea and the energy to act on it, doing nothing almost feels like wasting it.

What if the idea disappears tomorrow?

What if the motivation isn't there anymore?

So I build, plan, create and act on things immediately.

Most of the time, I enjoy it a lot!

I'm just not sure where enjoying being productive ends and not knowing how to switch off begins.

Still figuring this one out.

Do you struggle with this? by @ogancihan

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2 days ago

I still remember this and it happened like 15 years ago 😂

I was around 18 and at the Turkish embassy with my brother-in-law.

There was an acquaintance of his with us.

While I was speaking Turkish, he said something like:
"Ah, but his Turkish doesn't sound right."

I remember thinking, what the hell do you mean?

That's literally my mother tongue 😅

But I had already been living in Jordan for 6 years at that point.

I was constantly switching between Turkish, Arabic and English, and apparently it had started affecting the way I spoke Turkish too.

I still sometimes forget the most basic Turkish words and remember them in my other languages.

Living abroad does weird things to your brain 🫣

If you've lived abroad for a while, what's the weirdest thing that's happened to you with your own language? by @ogancihan

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3 days ago

In 2017, I graduated from architecture and thought I knew exactly what was going to happen next.

Go back to Germany. Do my master's there. Figure out the rest once I'm there.

I had already lived in Germany, spoke German and had worked there before, so in my head it was pretty straightforward.

I just needed to apply enough and eventually something would work out.

It didn't.

I suddenly had no idea what I was going to do for the next year, and I really didn't want to stay in Jordan.

Around that time I had to go to Turkey for a family matter.

It was supposed to be 1-2 weeks.

My brother basically told me: why don't you just stay here until you figure out your master's?

So I did.

1-2 weeks somehow became 8 months.

And from the outside, it probably looked like I wasn't doing much with my life.

I had my architecture degree and instead of working, I was living with my brother and learning how to play guitar at 24 😂

I definitely heard enough comments about "wasting my time."

In reality, that period gave me something I probably wouldn't have made space for otherwise.

I learned guitar. I started writing my own songs. And when university applications opened again, I started applying everywhere.

Germany again, but this time I also thought: why not keep my options open?

One of those random applications was to a university in Maastricht.

They were the first to get back to me.

I got accepted, applied for scholarships and ended up receiving two.

A few months later, I moved to the Netherlands instead of Germany.

Looking back, I'm really glad the original plan didn't work.

Not because I somehow knew everything would turn out fine. I didn't.

But because those 8 months that looked like I was standing still actually gave me things I still carry with me today.

Sometimes not moving forward according to someone else's timeline doesn't mean you're wasting your time.

Have you ever had a period in your life that felt like you were standing still, but looking back, it actually changed everything? by @ogancihan

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6 days ago

5 years in leadership, 3 companies and 41 people managed.

Some of them became top performers, some got promoted and with others I had to go through PIPs, difficult conversations and eventually let them go.

I think for a long time I believed that if someone was struggling, there must still be something else I could do from my side.

Maybe another coaching session, more structure, more time together, or just finding a different way to explain it.

Sometimes that actually worked.

But I've also reached the point with people where I had done live calls with them, researched accounts together, given them the leads and basically handed them the exact playbook of what was working.

And still, the behavior didn't change.

At the same time, some of the people I wasn't completely sure about in the beginning ended up surprising me the most.

They were curious, took the feedback, acted on it and just figured things out along the way.

I think that's probably one of the biggest things these 5+ years have taught me about managing people.

You can give someone a lot as a manager, but at some point they also have to choose what they do with it.

I can coach someone, but I can't want it for them.

Have you ever completely misjudged someone, either someone you really believed in who disappointed you, or someone you underestimated who completely surprised you?

#leadership
#management
#sales
#learning by @ogancihan

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7 days ago

I started questioning whether architecture was really for me already in my second year in 2012.

The first year was fun. We had so much freedom to be creative and experiment with crazy ideas.

Then things got more serious.

More constraints, technical work, endless projects and a lot of all-nighters 😅

And I remember thinking:
"Do I actually want to do this for the rest of my life?"

Still, I kept going.

Partly because I wanted to see if it would get better and partly because I had already invested so much into it.

I graduated in 2017.

And suddenly I had an architecture degree, but wasn't sure I actually wanted to be an architect.

At the same time, I had no clue what else I could do.

Looking back today, I wouldn't change any of it.

Because those years gave me much more than a degree.

I improved my English, learned German, went to Germany for an exchange and internship, and got exposed to different cultures and ways of working.

And funny enough, German eventually helped open the door to my career in B2B SaaS sales in 2019.

I haven't worked in architecture for 10 years now.

But I don't consider those years wasted at all.

I think sometimes we focus too much on the immediate outcome.

You study architecture, so you should become an architect.

But your degree is only one part of the package.

Your languages, experiences, qualifications, human skills and everything else you've picked up along the way are part of it too.

Sometimes you just need to zoom out and look at the whole package.

You might end up somewhere completely different than you planned.

And still realize that none of it was wasted.

Are you currently considering a career switch too?

What's stopping you from making the move? by @ogancihan

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8 days ago

I've noticed something interesting since I started posting here more actively.

I've gained a lot of new followers.

I've also lost quite a few 😅

Of course, that's completely fine.

The more I show my personality, share my opinions and talk about things that actually matter to me, the more obvious it becomes that I'm not going to be everyone's cup of tea.

Some people will like my content and some won't.

That's part of putting yourself out there.

I only have one small request:

If you decide to unfollow me, please remove me from your followers too.

I don't want to accidentally remain your fan 😂

No hard feelings ❤️

Just keeping the unfollowing mutual 🙌 by @ogancihan

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8 days ago

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9 days ago

"Where are you from?"

I always struggle with this question.

Because, what do you exactly mean?

Do you mean where I was born?

Where I feel the happiest?

Where my personality fits the most?

Or where I actually feel at home?

Because those answers aren't the same for me.

I'm from Turkey. That's where I was born.

But when it comes to my mindset, I feel very German.

I'm structured, organized, systematic, overly punctual and always trying to make things make sense.

And then there's Spain.

I wasn't born here. I don't speak the language perfectly.

And there are definitely parts of the culture that don't match my personality at all 😅

But this is where I've set my roots.

Where I bought my home. Where I've built a life that makes me happy.

So where do I actually belong?

I think the answer is, partially everywhere.

I've left pieces of myself in every place I've lived.

But I've also taken pieces from those places with me.

The countries I've lived in, the people I've met and the experiences I've collected have all shaped the person I am today.

Maybe that's why I can't give one simple answer anymore.

I've become the accumulation of everywhere I've lived.

If you've lived in different countries or cultures too, where do you call home today?

What makes that place feel like home to you?

#relocation
#storytelling
#lifeabroad
#livingabroad
#lifeinspain by @ogancihan

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10 days ago

Living abroad gave me freedom and independence.

But I think it also taught me to be a little too comfortable with distance.

I wish I was one of those people who calls their family every day, even if it's just to share the stupid, small updates.

But I'm not.

Most of the time, I'm completely fine with that.

Until I open our family WhatsApp group and see the photos.

The older ones are getting older.

The children are growing up so fast.

I am watching it happen from a distance.

I don't regret choosing my own life.

But sometimes I wonder if one day I'll look back and wish I had called more, shared more, or simply been more present.

I don't know.

Maybe that's just part of the price of choosing freedom.

And that's a part of living abroad I don't talk about very often.

#relocation
#freedom
#independence
#lifeabroad
#livingabroad by @ogancihan

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