Listen to your intuition and recognise the signs
My intuition has always whispered to me “get out of that Hamster Wheel”, and actually I should never have participated in it. Nevertheless I did like a majority would do, a kind of society norm tells us after the university, that if you are offered a job that matches your skills, you say yes. So I did, and today I’m grateful that I did, because I met so many lovely people. I worked in the education system for many years, and I have had so many exciting experiences with my students. At the same time as a researcher I tried to change the system from the inside, because I sensed that the system was extremely dysfunctional, but as in everything dysfunctional there is a lot of denial going on in the system. When I started to notice that students and colleagues paid the price and went down with stress, and an ignorant leadership did nothing, I resigned.
Now I know for sure it was the most healthy thing I did, and I haven’t looked back since. Therefore I recommend you to do the same; get out of that Hamster Wheel and into your life!. The miraculous thing happened – when I closed one door a new door opened, and it did the very same day I quit my job, an independent educational movement reached out to me and asked if I could do a take-over on Instagram. I chose to see it as a sign, and soon after the take-over on Instagram, some freelance assignments landed on my desk. Now I work remote as a Digital Nomad coaching students at various universities in scientific projects, and at the same time travels around the world with my job. It was not only about travelling as a Digital nomad, but also about having more time with my family.
…and now back to the signs. If there is anything you should pay your attention to it is that there is always signs around you giving you hints about your path. Outer signs and inner calling is correlated and if you wants to know more about this I have created some videos and worksheets to get you on your path – you can get them here https://janniansel.com/follow-your-bliss/
If it makes you happy – then why are you so sad?
On a side note I have always been a Free Spirit, and I’ve got used to people thinking I was weird, because I questioned every authority I came across; in my school, at work etc. I was not the one who blended in with the crowd, quite the opposite, but when I entered the Hamster Wheel a kind of toxicity in the work concept also sneaked into my mind. Suddenly I found myself in a kind of survival mode all the time and I constantly complained about this and that. Back in my head a song from Sheryl Crow started on replay every day I woke up; “If it makes you happy. It can’t be that bad. If it makes you happy. Then why the hell are you so sad?”. Writing this now gives me the chills, because my intuition tried to tell me back then to get out that Hamster Wheel and into my life. I didn’t listen to it and the song silenced… Now when I look back at that time I spend all my energy on someone else’s dream than my own, so if there’s one thing I regret in life, it’s that I should have started as a Digital Nomad and entrepreneur sooner. Anyway I’m so happy that I am here now being a solo entrepreneur. The funny thing is – people around me starts to do the same, sometime it just takes a decision and courage to change on an individual level that makes a huge change on the collective level.
Today I’m so grateful that I am Following my Bliss daily and living as a Free Spirit aware of my Soul Journey, and that’s why I want to share my journey with you. It is not just my journey but all of us is meant to be aware of our uniqueness and path. When I connect the dots in my life that made me take a decision to be solo entrepreneur, I can see that experiences before my decision was necessary to create and make sense to why I must Follow my Bliss. So my decision to quit and make some changes in my life was inevitable. It’s not that the change in my life happened out of the blue, come to think about it experiencing the social control and dysfunctional behaviour in the Hamster Wheel etc was a part of my Soul Journey, as I see it now.
Letting go of social control is the future key value
The conditioned and conform life have never been my cup of coffee. Although I know that some kind of conditioning is necessary, I’m still convinced that, when social norms destroys the uniqueness and creativity in humans, society must be out of balance. That is why I share an alternative to the Hamster Wheel. You don’t have to be a Digital Nomad as I am – you might choose something completely different that you associate with being a Free Spirit. My Digital Nomad life gives me more time to concentrate on my Soul Journey and my family e.g.if I need time to dive deep into my research, I can travel to Spain rent a house or an apartment stay there for month, my family can come and visit me, and we can enjoy hiking, surfing, diving etc of course when I’m not doing work. The work-life balance is something I still need to be aware of, and I’m getting there, because I’m more conscious about my inner calling and thereby my priorities. I choose to do my digital work in places where I sense a joyful and calm energy, it could be at home on our homestead in Denmark, but it could also be on an art museum, a café etc that depends on what kind of work I’m doing at the time.
Looking at the work concept from a futurist point of view, the chaotic and dysfunctional crisis so many people experience today, is because we as human collective is changing. In the future people will be working less and on their own term. The same goes with education, but that’s another story. So you might have heard your own intuition calling you to do something else in your life, and come to think about it – your life is so precious don’t wait too long to listen to your inner calling. Let go of fear and trust the process – I promise you the journey will be so much worth it. Don’t waste your time trying fitting into a box you did not create, step out of the social control and conditioning, that exhaust your energy, and into your life. This decision living your life to the fullest is actually not just about me and you but generations to come. Can you imagine your children, grandchildren etc living in the Hamster Wheel 365 days about 80 year and call it a life? Speaking of children – our son, when he was about 11 years old, came home from school one day and said. “Mum is life only about going to school 12 years, on high school for 3 years, university for 7 years and afterwards having a job working 5 days a week from 8-16 years to come – is this what people call life?”. My answer was “It depends on what YOU want to use your life for – it’s your decision and I suggest you do what makes you happy”. Needless to say, now he is a young man travelling around the world enjoying life, working with what he finds interesting….
If you don’t know where to start I highly recommend my E-Book https://janniansel.com/e-book/
