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Bernhard Rannegger
Building a high-performing, spectacular, & meaningful life
Hi!
Welcome to the first story of Citizen of the World.
This newsletter is all about stories of cool people from around the world, doing cool shit. Citizens of the World leaving their mark.
The first story we’d like to share with you is of Bernhard Rannegger. An entrepreneur, writer, and extreme sports athlete.
From Graz to St.Gallen
Bernhard was born and raised in Graz, Austria. He was athletic from a young age, spending most of his childhood training at a Football Academy. Even though he was talented and good at the sport, becoming a professional football player wasn’t his dream.
Bernhard (standing in the back, 3rd from the left side) with his football team
Bernhard wasn't too keen about school either. But he was ambitious from an early age. He wanted to do something big. Prove to himself and the world. After high school, he decided to apply to all the elite business schools across Europe. He got into the University of St.Gallen.
He couldn’t afford the tuition fees so he worked part-time jobs delivering pizza, working at carnivals, anything it took to make ends meet. After he graduated from university, he had the opportunity to go into consulting. It was a prestigious and well-paying job. But, he decided against it and chose to do an internship at Swiss Re instead. There, he focused on data science and machine learning.
He sprinted through the ranks and was promoted every 10-11 months. As the Head of Sustainability Solutions at Swiss Re, Bernhard led the innovation of a SaaS platform for climate tech ventures. The software helps companies measure their climate risk. It also helps them protect their assets, employees, and the environment. Bernhard was successful in the corporate world. He had a promising career path laid out ahead of him. But, he chose not to go down the common path. Instead, he chose to be an entrepreneur.
Beyond Comfort Zones
Bernhard knew that learning new skills was crucial. He searched for mentors he could learn from. Masters in their field. He learned about writing online from Dan Koe, graphic design from Vizi Andrei, YouTube from Matt D’Avella, and Ed Lawrence (Film Booth), etc.
“Unique combinations and skills are everything. That can be in business and life. For example, a person who is good with strategy and financial models gets a new job profile and outperforms the competition. It’s skill stacking, that’s what I did”
For Bernhard, skill stacking doesn’t stop at monetary skills - he believes in combining the physical and intellectual to be the best version of yourself. When Bernhard first moved to Switzerland, he started exploring different sports and hobbies like rock climbing. He saw YouTube videos of people jumping out of planes and was inspired to try skydiving. He saved up for months so he could take skydiving lessons. Eventually, he became a wingsuit pilot!
“Extreme sports helps me chase flow. Being fully immersed in something gave me power”
Bernhard didn’t stop there. He usually travels around the world and sometimes is in countries that aren’t as safe. He wanted to be able to protect his loved ones. He felt he was missing that skill set. So he decided to do a private military contractor education course from the European Security Academy in Poland.
He learned how to train with firearms - how to manage them, run with them, keep them safe, and how to shoot while moving. Over there he trained with the French Foreign Legion and other special forces from around the globe.
Training at the European Security Academy
“When you do things that are out of your comfort zone but you think you can do them, and you actually do it, you get this beautiful feeling of fulfillment, unlocking an additional part of your soul that was meant to be. That was the feeling I had after that experience, and I’m definitely going to go back again and train”
Bernhard also got his yacht license and became a skipper, sailing a 14m yacht with six of his friends through the Mediterranean. Bernhard believes in living a spectacular and meaningful life, like a true citizen of the world.
Dive deeper into Bernhard’s world by following him on X. Share his story with your friends and invite them to join us as we discover more remarkable citizens of the world.
Keep an eye out for the upcoming newsletter next week, where we will be sharing Bernhard’s action plan designed to inspire you to push your limits and live a more purposeful life!