Time is running out…

“This race is happening now! Tomorrow will be tomorrow. This race can only be won today…” said the organiser of an international 800km ultra running race to Gábor Rakonczay, who was mentally and physically exhausted and about to give up, but who ultimately won the race ahead of many other excellent ultra runners. “I realised that if I put my right foot in front of my left and then my left in front of my right, I could do this endlessly. I might collapse after 150km, but then I will get up and I will be able to do another 150km, and then again and again”. … “If you are aware of the fact that a person has about 700,000 hours on Earth, which is running out hour by hour, then you know there is no time to waste. Everything you do, you have to do 100% every day, because that is the only way that makes sense!”

It still rings in my ears now, listening to these stories and powerful sentences from Gábor for the umpteenth time. And how true they are?! They are true for everyone, because our time is finite and constantly running out…

The end of the year is here and we are no longer concerned with closing the books, but rather with the tasks for 2026. Of course, it isn’t just us but our partners too, the entire FMCG market – in fact, some people already had next year’s Santa Claus coming in their plans this summer, and many were already thinking and planning for next year’s Easter at the beginning of this year… But there is nothing surprising about this.

What is perhaps a little surprising is that time is somehow disappearing from the systems. The days pass so quickly, there is never a break and it is frightening that anything not completed by Wednesday has no chance of being done that week, because it is as if the week consisted of just three days, with Thursday and Friday passing in a flash and then it is Sunday evening again, we are getting ready for the next week or even weeks, because we aren’t looking at one week, but at least 2-4 weeks at a time… And then Christmas is upon us again! At times like this, it is nice to take a little break and reflect on the projects that have been completed this year… but who has the time for that, and where and when? Yet sometimes it is necessary, because everywhere we keep hearing about not a work-life balance, but a life-work balance…

So shall we invest 100% energy into everyday life or have a life-work balance? I probably won’t be the one to figure this out, but what is certain is that there are “events” happening on the market, which don’t take into account the other side of the balance. The margin freeze has a ripple effect, just like the special taxes, one of which is the advertising tax – which happens to affect our magazine directly (the others only indirectly, through our partners). We can also see that the level of consumption is below the inflation rate, that investments aren’t helping the national economy in terms of numbers, and that something will have to be found to cover the wage increase that is going to take effect in January (which we already know will be considered too small by employees and too big by employers). In any case, all this will still be there under the Christmas tree, because the holiday is too short for solving the problems.

So, Gábor, all I can say for now is that we will continue to give 100% every day in 2026 too, but we will only see one year from now whether we can cross the finish line.

Regardless, I would like to thank you for your cooperation and partnership throughout the year, and I wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and a truly successful new year in which we will all finish the race! //

Best regards,

Zsuzsanna Hermann, Editor in Chief