Someone in my network on LinkedIn shared this image back in 2020. I don't know who it was, but I want to thank you. Like the image intended, it helped me make an active choice about my mindset and attitude during the pandemic, and I am forever grateful.
My husband and I have a different living situation. He is a helicopter pilot flying offshore in Norway. So he has been traveling back and forth for as long as we have been together. But with the pandemic and the different approaches Sweden and Norway had towards handling the virus, the situation became difficult for us.
I was home alone with our two girls while trying to get back on my feet work-wise. Due to travel restrictions, like testings and quarantine, my husband was under a lot of pressure and ended up at home for no more than nine days a month. As a result, we missed each other a lot, he was missing out on the girls, and we were both exhausted. The situation was unbearable.
In November 2020, we decided to move temporarily.
We moved the family to Stavanger, and I entered a different mindset. We moved from our beautiful penthouse in the middle of Stockholm to 40sqm in the worst socio-economic part of Stavanger. Stavanger east is a mix of students, addicts, immigrants, and ex-pats. We experienced death threats and heard domestic violence in the apartment next door. Yes, we called the cops on a few occasions, and we had to apply for a restraining order, but that is a different blog post I might write in the future.
For this blog post, I want to say that we co-create the world we live in, big or small, for better or worse. Maybe this image passed you by, but for me, it had a massive impact for the better in an overall challenging situation.
I had to accept that my time-out from work would go on another year even though I was so eager to get started again. So I shifted my focus and energy and chose a self-directed-education mindset, finding myself feeling grateful for the fantastic opportunity to continue my journey of self-enlightenment, self-discovery, and self-improvement.
I have read close to 20 books, written a lot, and completed more than ten online courses. Without this image's positive impact on my mindset, this would not have been possible.
I am glad to say that I haven't practiced much of what the fear zone represents. Instead, I have been practicing everything suggested in the learning zone daily, and I have even practiced a few of the things mentioned in the growth zone.
I am pleased about that.
Thank you so much, whoever you are.