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“Don’t hate the year that opened your eyes”

Yep. The hate comes from the discomfort we have had to go through when adjusting to Covid and the new norms. The constant changes and maybe also fear and worry about what this is and what is going to happen. All this opened our eyes. Plans didn’t happen as I hoped. But I found something else and I am sure you found too.

This year has been “special” on this end of the screen as well… Let’s take a look at the lessons this 2020 quake offered to us? The lessons in this blog post include the power of purpose and vision, attributing meaning to the 2020 vision, money mindset and thank you’s 🙂 

vision 2020 meaning

1 The uncertainty punches start smashing the vision 2020 and question its meaning…

 

The changes started hitting my reality in February when practices at CU started to get canceled. It just felt absurd. What do you mean? No traveling to the gym and getting better with the team anymore? So, what do we do?

I tried to do more work for Extended DISC and Sports Capacity Assessment but it was also swallowed in the pandemic cloud.

And just like that, I was on my own again.

Ok. But this is not the first time.

Let’s get back to my strengths.

I can figure this one out too.

At least now I am standing on two legs compared to one year ago;)

Learning. Studying. Creating. = those give me meaningfulness and ground me when I feel lost. So that’s what I did.

I got a personal analysis training from Extended DISC and started thinking about the option of being an entrepreneur. I applied for jobs at the same time but none of them got me nearly as excited as the work I did with athletes through Sports Capacity Assessment.

Summer passed and I took the leap in August and made my business official after my entrepreneurial idea got accepted for the start-up funding from Finland. Woohoo! I mapped out the business goals and started running down the road to a successful business!

But the road.

The road has been… Rich.

Rich in adversities and setbacks.

Rich in dreams and goals.

Rich in disappointments.

Rich in excitement.

Kinda like sports, right..?

I had days where I think that can I really do this? Why the heck did I think that starting a business in the middle of a pandemic was a great idea? Especially the numbers and tech side make me consider that raising dragons would be an easier occupation than figuring this out.

But then there is the feedback loop.. When I hear good feedback, when someone has found the material useful and helpful to their situation. When I hear encouraging words from the people I have worked with… I bounce back from the difficulty and push the dragons aside for a while. At least what I do matters for the people, the volume might take time but at least I am not hallucinating that my services are useful. 🙂 

And you know what, it is so true that the more difficulties we have, the more important the vision and purpose is. It keeps us still and focused on what matters the most, and sometimes it isn’t moving forward. Sometimes most important is just the refusal to give up.

Vision 2020 meaning

2 The meaning of our vision 

 

The purpose and vision… It was tested more than ever now when I have not been able to travel home for an entire year. I am in the process of getting a Green Card and I need a travel permit before I leave the U.S. or it will take about two years before I can return (this is another topic to discuss, how getting a work permit can still be so hard in 2020 – Covid or not Covid…).

The biggest disappointment with all this came about last week when I finally heard back from the USCIS and there was officially no way I could make it home for Christmas. You might think that it’s just one Christmas. For me, the family time during Christmas is the highlight of my year. I don’t need to justify this any further, the people who feel the same know how much it sucks not to be able to go home for Christmas. It sucks. A lot for me.

I got angry. I got frustrated. I got sad. I cried a fair amount. I hid under blankets and stayed there for the rest of the day. I miss home. I want to go home. Why… Why on earth did I do this? Why am I here in this country?

It was time to ponder again why indeed.

Thank goodness I knew the answer.

I did this for the future. I have a dream. A vision with a meaning.

A dream that allows me to combine the best of two worlds.

I want Finland. I want my home, my family and my friends.

But I also want Denver,

I want my dearest boyfriend, and my new friends and extended family.

I love living in Denver. I also feel home here.

So, the business I am building. The work permit I am waiting for in this country. The travel permit I am going to get some day. These are all going to happen some day and come together in a beautiful way.

And that is the reason for the sacrifices I make now and have made this year

  • financially (hiring a lawyer to help me get the Green Card as well as working on my own instead of applying for other jobs in Finland),
  • emotionally (chose to apply for the Green Card and not travel to Finland for a few months – to be honest, I and no one expected that the waiting of that process is that long)
  • and also physically (have worked instead of worked out)

 

are for the future I am building for us. For me and my loved ones.

It is an inspiring, empowering dream and vision with a meaning: I get to live in both countries, work in both countries but mostly I am location-free and having an online business is the key to that. I get to see my family and friends e.g. 1-2 months at a time if I arrange it that way but I can still live with Bryce.

The meaningful vision is not only that dream.. The online business is the center piece of everything I stand for and is a big part of this all.

It is for the combination of authenticity + excellence.

It is about understanding ourselves better.

It is meant to be empowering for both sides.

Authentic leadership and vision meaning

The more I can guide people to know more about themselves, and how they will get more out of themselves authentically to create excellent levels of performance as a side product, the happier both of us are. The impact and possibility of our personalities in sport has not been utilized well enough at all. I know that is the future. We acknowledge now that we are all different.. But miss the ways to use that information in a meaningful way. If you want to read more about personality in sports, check this post and this one about extroverts in sports and this about introverts in sports

The more this kind of authentic leadership is created within themselves, the more they are expressing it and impacting the sports world one person at a time. Ah, and then these ripples are changing the sports scene and the authoritarian leaders will either learn new ways to care and treat athletes (& people in sport) as valuable individuals or the new wave of authentic leaders will be stepping in… 🙂 

For this dream and vision, I am willing to endure being homesick, financially stretched, and physically weaker now that the bigger picture is in place.

The purpose of why I am doing this is greater than my pain now.

All of this is leading towards my dream. No one ever said it’s gonna be easy like eating ice cream everyday.

It would have been easier to have gone home once Covid started and I lost my two jobs. I could have traveled to Finland, lived with mom and dad for a while and applied for unemployment money from the government. Not saying that there is anything wrong with that option. I could have also found my way back on my feet through that option, and I know many have.

But instead of doing that, I decided to take a moment to think about what I actually want from future.. (Feel free to use these questions for planning your 2021 😉 )

What kind of human being do I want to be and become..?

What kind of change would I like to create before I pass away?

What is the most important to me now and in ten years..?

And what does it mean, what needs to happen before those could come true?

 

Then I mapped a plan and took another couple of weeks to ponder (while sipping coffee of course) it. I started to make me more and more excited so I decided to go for it and committed. This is what I want. Once I made that decision, I felt it was the right one. I felt empowered. I am making this happen for us. It’s bigger than me. My vision involves other people. This vision has a meaning and why.

Purposeful action and authenticity

3 Also vision with a meaning requires energy and time to come true…

 

So here we are, 7 months later from that decision. Traveling to Mobile, Alabama to spend the Christmas with my boyfriend’s family. (My new family addition. I love them btw <3)

We woke up real early today because of the flight and I feel tired. Ok exhausted. I just want to sleep. This constant tiredness has been ever-present for the last two months. I know I need to rest but I also stress about what I need to do so it is hard to rest… 

One thing about having a strong vision, meaning and purpose is that you want to work so much for it, you want it to come true as fast as possible so you bust your butt. It is hard to take days off for me. I know there is so much to do… But I know my dream won’t come true if I run out of gas before the finish line. The highway doesn’t help if I crash before my destination. It is just easy to have the foot on the accelerator all the time and try to forget how much gas this way of driving takes…

So, it is time to take some time off and refill the gas tank. The dream awaits.

There are many similarities with sport. There are limits. Overworking isn’t smart. Hustle only takes you so far. I am definitely still learning a lot about how to do this entrepreneurship. 

Everything takes a lot of energy because it is all new. Learning new and implementing new consumes. My brain is simply fried some days. 

4 Money mindset and vision

It has been very interesting to explore the concept of money mindset. How I think about money and how other people respond to money too.

Why is it so hard for me to ask for money for my services even though I know what I do and am good at what I do? Why do I just wish to give everything for free if I could? 🙂 Why is it overall so awkward for us to negotiate about raises or better contracts with people? Why is it so hard to ask something for ourselves especially when it comes to money?

One part of money mindset is spending. Why people are or are not investing in themselves? Why are we asking for discounts and don’t think that investing financially in your inner work is worth the money? But spending money on shoes or PlayStation is ok? Is it because we always need something so concrete as return?

One thing I realized is that I am more willing to invest in something when I have a problem to solve. Then it feels justified. But when it is something else, something that would proactively improve my wellbeing, then I have a hard time with it. As if I would not deserve to invest in something unless I have a real issue to solve… Anyone else?? 🙂 

One example. We say we want to start running for example. We will go to the store to buy new shoes, we might put some significant amount of money towards those shoes. Not the best pair in the shop but something decent, not the cheapest shoes for this. But we don’t invest in service or a trainer that would help us find our natural technique in running or a service that would be done for us and our individual situation. So, we might get sore and tired after a few weeks. But still don’t feel like we could go and pay for a physiotherapist because we are not runners after all. Jogging once a week doesn’t count.. Then we give up little by little and think our motivation wasn’t there and damn, we failed and feel like losers. 

Self-worth people! We are worthy of those services. We can also get so much more out of ourselves when there is help and expertise to help us get started, keep us going and someone to go through with the harder phases. Right? Don’t underestimate your value and please don’t measure it in money either. 

This actually gives me a nice bridge to the Calm Excellence Workshop that I developed for athletes (unfortunately I only have room for 4 athletes so hurry if this sounds good to you:) ) It is designed for athletes who are tired of that uncertainty that this year has brought along but who are ambitious and want to succeed in the spring season. I know so well what finding peace and purpose means in the middle of uncertainty and now I want to share those lessons with 4 athletes with a discounted price! Read more from here (or gift or share to someone who could be interested)

I want to write another blog post about the money mindset in the future but now I will wrap this 2020 post up and want to thank you all..

 

Money mindset Saana Koljonen blog

5 Wrapping it up like a burrito!

 

The lessons here, if this post was more like unclear babbling, is that we have to choose what we are willing to endure. Oftentimes, when the vision, its meaning and purpose is bigger than you, when you can do something that benefits or serves other people too – you are willing to endure different things and that “suffering” gets a meaning.

Secondly, the uncertainty that this year has brought along has been huge. But it probably has also opened the eyes of many by showing what is truly important. What we actually enjoy, what we miss, when we are ripped off of our normal daily routines. They were so shaken. 

How well can we stay present when the overwhelming worry tries to carry us away from the moment? It is hard! But possible. Always possible. Possibility possesses hope.

(Ps. This is exactly the point we discuss and process in the Calm Excellence workshop with athletes who are tired of being bothered by the uncertainty and wish to bring more calm and confident performance on the surface in the spring season.)

Thirdly, if this year has been mentally tough, invest in yourself. Get over the beliefs that investing needs to bring you something physical or that you are not worthy of investing. You totally are. It has been a year.

So let’s take some time off, enjoy the current moment by being present and reflect on the past year. Let go of what needs to be let go, let go of the matters that don’t serve you anymore moving forward so you can start off 2021 with a calm and confident mindset.

Very lastly, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart who have believed in me, shared my message or services, bought something from me, sent me kind words, responded to my questions, etc… This online business exists because of you, people. The dream is alive because of you. The words, shares, support, have been incredibly meaningful for me in this journey. I know I am sneaking in the right direction. Your words and actions have proven it.

Thank you!

Love, peace and light to everyone as well as

Merry Christmas  ❤️

Thank you for reading, 

Saana 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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