Metamorphosis of a Swede

For most of my career, I lived and worked outside my home country, Sweden.

Fast-paced environments. High expectations. Clear targets. Constant motion. Drive was currency. Results were identity.

So when I moved back to the Nordics seven years ago, I struggled more than I expected.

Everything felt… slow.

Where was the urgency? The hunger? The ambition?

Instead, people could easily leave the business crisis at 4pm to pick up their kids. Personal well-being was prioritized over work. I remember feeling frustrated—almost resentful. As if something essential was missing.

For a long time, I thought this was the problem.

But with time, I’ve come to realize something uncomfortable: I might have been the one who had it wrong.

The non-Nordic way I had embraced for years was efficient, ambitious, and results-driven—but it often ignored the human behind the performance. It rewarded speed, not sustainability. Achievement, not alignment.

The Swedish way still feels slow to me. That hasn’t magically changed.

But it has taught me something far more valuable.

I’ve learned to act from my own inner compass, not from external pressure. To move based on who I am—not what is expected of me. To listen to my heart as much as my mind.

I still struggle with the balance. The mind wants speed. The heart wants presence. And I live somewhere in between.

But I can no longer ignore the wisdom embedded in this Nordic pace.

There is a reason Sweden consistently ranks among the countries with the highest life expectancy in the world. There is intelligence in designing a life—not just a career.

I’m learning to embrace the environment I’m in. To remind myself that life is not waiting at the finish line.

Life is not what happens when we’re 65. The journey itself is the destination.

Life is happening now.

And now matters.