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Chapter 1 – The First Questions
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Before I learned to speak eloquently, I was already asking too many questions.
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The answers came in silence. Or laughter. Or irritation.
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But how can you silence a heart born with ears?
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I saw the world like a symphony out of tune. Felt other people’s pain as if it were mine. Sketched futures in notebook margins. Imagined fair countries, gentle cities, people who listened, touched without hurting.
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While other kids dreamed of becoming astronauts or football players, I dreamed of becoming… change.
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I didn’t even know what that meant. But I knew it was possible.
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At school, I learned to divide. In the street, to toughen up. At home, to observe.
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That’s when doubt turned into restlessness. And restlessness became a compass.
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I didn’t want to grow up to repeat. I wanted to grow up to discover — and if possible, to transform.
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But one memory, from age seven or eight, etched itself into my soul.
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Returning to school after summer break, I looked at the blackboard, the uniform, the new notebooks — and a strange question pierced through me:
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“Why must I start everything again, if I’ve already lived many lives and done this before?”
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The world around me continued, undisturbed. But inside, time froze.
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And then, a calm voice — not mine — answered in silence: “Don’t worry. One day… you will understand.”
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I wasn’t afraid. I felt peace.
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A warm certainty hugged me from within. I knew — without knowing how — that it had something to do with Jesus.
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Not the religious figure. But an archetype of love so simple and immense, it made everything — even the unknown — make sense.
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That day I realized: my path hadn’t just begun. It was merely resuming.
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Chapter 2 – Invisible Portals
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Between ages 15 and 17, something opened in me — and it wasn’t just physical growth.
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It felt like the veil of the world trembled for a second, and I glimpsed what was behind it.
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I entered my first mystery school. There were no exams. There were symbols. Silence. And a constant invitation:
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“Dive within. Return to what you already know, but forgot.”
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I began meditating. Realized thoughts weren’t just clouds — they were magnets.
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The mind, if not directed, is dragged.
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And sometimes reality bends when the desire is clean.
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I practiced martial arts — kung-fu, judo, jiu-jitsu. Not as combat, but as a path.
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Each movement was a mantra in motion. The discipline of the body sharpened the spirit.
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I tried to share it with others. Few understood. My essays puzzled teachers.
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I learned to stay quiet — without giving up. And to trust those who felt the same way.
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Chapter 3 – Acts of Love
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It all began with a simple dinner at a humble restaurant called Néctar, with my friend Carlos.
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There, an idea lit up the dark: What if we used our school recesses to help those with less?
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The following week, we acted. With the school’s approval, we launched a lunch-sharing campaign in our private school in Morumbi.
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Each week, one class brought extra food to share with children from the scholarship program — those who couldn’t afford a proper lunch.
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Every recess, we collected the items, sorted them, and distributed them quietly.
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No noise. No pictures. Just respect. And smiles.
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Soon, friends joined in: Gabi, the Paulos, Ciça, Mariana. Our recesses became rituals of kindness.
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For years, those moments were our real lessons.
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That’s where I learned: to serve is to pray with your hands. And sometimes, the invisible reveals itself through the tangible.
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Chapter 4 – Initiations
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Between ages 18 and 21, the world seemed to open its doors — and test my resolve.
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I had passed the college entrance exam with one of the top scores in the country. A coaching school even featured me in a TV campaign: “Objetivo: the best minds.” I chose engineering — rigorous, logical, respected.
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I also became a monitor in Kung-Fu. Complemented it with Jiu-Jitsu and Boxing. Balance of strength and discipline.
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But life humbled me early. In my first semester, I got a 0.5 in Linear Algebra. It was a shock. The boy who always got straight A’s had finally fallen. And it was the best thing that could have happened.
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Because I learned: Excellence is not a trophy — it’s a path. And it starts with accepting failure without fear.
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At the same time, something new called to me. Entrepreneurship. Technology. Creation.
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My friend Ricardo had a brand-new Apple II. We turned his room into a startup. I stayed at his house for weeks, sleeping little, dreaming big.
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We launched a consulting business for a law firm. Built an inventory system for an early grocery delivery pioneer called Suprebem. And designed a talking robot for a children’s science fair.
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No money. No certainty. Just the thrill of creating something that didn’t exist.
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That’s when I realized: I loved building bridges between the invisible and the practical. Between imagination and execution. Between the dream and the spreadsheet.
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Chapter 5 – Thresholds of the Soul
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Between 21 and 24, the world became real — and mythical.
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I traveled. Not for luxury. But for awe.
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First, with family and close friends, I visited Egypt. The pyramids stunned us. Two friends managed to spend a night inside the Great Pyramid of Khufu. I didn’t — but felt something ancient stir within.
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We crossed temples, markets, deserts. It felt like walking through echoes.
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Later, I went to France. Visited the home of Joan of Arc. Attended a Latin Mass at Notre-Dame. Listened to the sacred thunder of silence in stone.
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And then, Peru. With my friends Marcos and Pedro, we hiked to Machu Picchu. We climbed Huayna Picchu — and saw a coral snake slide between the rocks. That night, we tried to sleep secretly inside the ancient complex. But fear spoke louder than courage.
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We descended in the dark, down the sacred mountain. And in Aguas Calientes, we met people who spoke of San Pedro cactus — visions of elves, openings between worlds.
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I didn’t need the cactus. I had already seen enough to know: reality is porous. Time is layered. And the soul… remembers.
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Chapter 6 – A World to Conquer
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After these sacred glimpses, I returned to the “real” world. The world of deadlines. Of businesses. Of airports and meetings.
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I dove into the corporate universe. Thirsty to learn. Eager to transform. Not for money — but for mastery.
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I studied languages. Explored cultures. Worked in strategy and business transformation. Moved to Italy. Did my MBA in France. Got married. Moved to Japan.
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In Tokyo, I joined the global transformation of major multinational companies. And soon, I was flying around the world every 15 days: Japan → Australia → Argentina → Brazil → Mexico → USA → back to Tokyo.
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A cycle of luxury, power, and loneliness.
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At one point, my wife — tired of the rhythm — chose to stay temporarily in Florianópolis, with her father. I continued traveling. And every 15 days, I’d stop in Florianópolis just to see her — and sleep on her father’s couch.
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Until one day, he said: “We need to talk to this boy’s boss. This isn’t a life.”
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And he was right. It was time to land.
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Chapter 7 – A Company is Born
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I needed to land. To change. To ground myself in something real — and still meaningful.
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Returning to Brazil felt like the right next step. An opportunity appeared: a startup inside a telecom giant, based in Rio de Janeiro. I accepted.
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It wasn’t just a job. It was a mission. To help design — from scratch — a nationwide mobile operation.
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We began with nothing. Just a blank sheet of strategy. And ambition.
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I led the construction of the brand, the network, the commercial model. Over 3,000 cell towers built. 1,000 retail partners developed. 1,000 people hired. A new emotional brand was born.
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And on day one of operations, we had 800,000 customers.
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It became a global case study. One of the most successful telecom launches in the world.
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And in the midst of all that — my son was born.
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Chapter 8 – The Child That Changed Everything
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My son was born in Rio de Janeiro. And suddenly, life shifted.
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There was a depth I hadn’t known before. A softness. A sense of purpose no project had ever given me.
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One day, I had to travel to Spain for a week. When I returned, exhausted from a 12-hour flight, I walked in the door. He threw himself onto my neck. Wouldn’t let go.
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I took a shower holding him — still clinging to me, as if I had been gone for years.
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That moment broke something in me. The spell of career, speed, performance.
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I had traveled the world. Managed teams. Moved millions.
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But this one embrace — this tiny child’s need — revealed how much I had missed. And how deeply I, too, needed him. And his mother. And myself.
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I had to change again.
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Chapter 9 – The Power of Pause
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After that, something shifted inside.
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I didn’t leave the corporate world immediately. But I began questioning its cost.
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I took on one more challenge — a major transformation project in São Paulo for one of the most respected media groups in Brazil.
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We reimagined their digital strategy: newspapers, radio, mobile, web TV, local search, a national news agency — even a social network that, at the time, had more active users than Facebook in Brazil.
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It was exhilarating. And draining.
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I had the apartment with the park view. The weekend house by the lake. The car I had dreamed of. I played golf on Wednesdays. I dined at Michelin-starred restaurants. I dove in Tahiti, Fiji, the Maldives, Bonaire.
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From the outside — perfection.
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But the inside was fading. I had forgotten my roots. Confused myself with the character I was playing.
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I gained weight. Drank too much. My blood pressure soared. My body said stop. My family felt it too.
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And I heard it clearly: CHANGE. Again.
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Chapter 10 – The Inner Collapse
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I had insisted a little longer in the world of startups and corporate life. Now in São Paulo, I took the helm of digital transformation in one of Brazil’s most iconic media and journalism companies.
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On the outside, I was thriving. A leader. Respected. Successful.
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But inside, something began to collapse.
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Between meetings and metrics, I felt the silence growing louder.
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I had reached the peak of what that world could offer. And it wasn’t enough.
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I looked around — the apartment, the lake house, the car, the travel, the status… and realized none of it was truly mine.
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They were trophies of a character I no longer recognized.
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The deeper truth? I was tired. Of pretending. Of performing. Of chasing.
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And most of all: I was tired of being disconnected from myself.
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I had everything I thought I wanted. And yet, I felt empty.
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That was when the inner collapse happened. Not dramatic. But deep.
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The kind that whispers: “You’re not who you’re supposed to be anymore.”
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And that whisper became a call. To stop. To strip away the excess. To begin again — from within.
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Chapter 11 – The Illusion of the Third Dimension
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Chapter 12 – The Return to the Essential
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Afterword – The End That Is a Beginning
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About the Author
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