I stood on the Uetliberg (the house mountain of Zurich) when I noticed that sometimes we walk up a mountain without knowing where the top is. We want clarity on how far the top is and what the top will look like. We are still determining what we will find there. For example, if I expected a restaurant, but expected to be less full, then I would walk out again immediately without even considering a bio-break. Or I did not expect a water fountain up there where I could fill my water bottle, which was helpful. Hiking a mountain, and changing to a self-employed career as a writer or blogger are similar.

You start with regular writing practice and move on to more elaborate content afterward. One of the challenges of the writing process is that we are only sometimes in the mood. Well, I’d like to compare it to hiking. Maybe you are not always in the mood for hiking either, but when you have been outside, even for just half an hour, and you moved your body and breathed fresh air, you will enjoy the feeling of accomplishment after your hike; your muscles are warm, your brain works better, and you can handle more stress. I would even go as far as saying that hiking is my superpower as it gives me clarity and enables my creative process better than anything else I do (Gardening also works miracles for me, will talk about that some other time.)

Writing is similar. Once I complete my early morning writing, I feel much more accomplished and ready to tackle the day. This is what we call “journaling” or “writing for therapy”. We could consider this practice as a warm-up for the productive writing, we would like to do that day. Mostly those pages are random. They are not worth reading again. They sometimes just associate ideas and connect the associations in my head. Often I express a wish or two for the next day.

If you feel like you are walking on an uphill hike that takes your breath away and makes your heart pound faster than a “Geigerzaehler,” then you probably cannot wait to reach the top. You expect a view from the top, and your pace will be more leisurely afterward. You wish to walk along the top plain, or you could just hike down. During my last hike, I noted a few concepts that helped when I hiked up. I would like to share them with you for your support.

Your current challenge could be that you don’t have a job in the market, you don’t understand, have started a new role, or need to know what this year will bring to your current position. Maybe you are starting out on your own as well or you transition into a semi-retirement or you just become a working mum. 

Take the same approach to your career as you would take when hiking a mountain.

1 – The Perspective Retreat

We tend to forget what we have managed, been through and survived when we only focus on the mountaintop. Once in a while, allow yourself a break and look back at how far you have come already. What helps here is the weekly reflection exercise in the #RockMeApp. However, I recommend an annual retreat as well to gain perspective and recharge your batteries. If you want to write that book now, you could allow yourself to retreat as well. A retreat does not always have to be expensive it can also happen in your home. Like me, you might need structure to be creative. I’m working with a “Week Planner” now, that would help me with the structure during the retreat. Think about what you need to have in your day to be productive and when your brain is at its best. Block out the writing or productive time.

2 – The Paradise Illusion

Even when you are at the mountain’s highest point and would like to walk along the plains, you still need to keep moving. As a leader, you will still need to deal with people’s issues, as you will still manage politics and distinguish fires daily. You must still care for your partner and children as an Expat Spouse. When I was a Global Mobility Manager, I always thought that one day I would not need to deal with the administration of this role anymore. Many years later, I still have dealt with many administrative chores, and you probably know that filling out forms is about as sexy as going to the dentist. You might be in a paradise illusion where you think that once you are a senior leader, you can influence the organization by changing the course of the strategy, mission, and purpose. Or can you work on small, incremental changes, such as using fewer flights or switching to a healthier way of working with humans? I call this a “paradise illusion.” 

3 – The Reality Check

Disappointments are a normal part of human nature. If you want to avoid other people’s expectations and pressure, write down and express your wishes instead. You never know if it will be granted to you. And it’s okay to make a wish related to another person, but it’s not okay that you expect anything from another person. Expecting another person to change for you is intrusive and unethical. However, we often want our bosses to change or our CEOs to be different. The only person you can change is yourself. In the past, I realized that only deep disappointment made me want to change. If I had always been happy at the last company I worked with, I would never have changed anything or started my own business because it is “gemutlich” (cozy) if you belong somewhere where people know and dislike you. It gives you the stability to know that someone will bitch about what you are wearing today and, even better, that you will never get the resources you asked for. I encourage you to move forward with the change that you wish to achieve and give space to the inner artist.

4 – Expect Muscle Cramps

If you are not a fitness freak, you might have muscle cramps for a few days after you hike the mountain. It is the same when we have achieved an important goal. We often feel the aftereffects a few months later in our body. Sometimes it is necessary that you remind yourself what you have achieved and you could allow yourself a small celebration too. Celebrating wins and team success is only occasionally a priority in the corporate world. Hence, if you have nothing to be happy about at work now, you could plan a team party and thank your team for working hard. You could also invite your partner for dinner. Look back at what you have achieved and allow yourself to kick back and relax a bit. When you move into a new area of possibilities you might not always see the path clearly and you will also encounter roadblocks. Brace yourself for them and celebrate the small victories. I celebrate hiking with a Bratwurst and non-alcoholic wheat beer at the top or down in the valley. And looking at the writing over the last 10 years I feel is worth celebrating. 

I’m an accidental “expat.” I didn’t think of myself as an expat since I’ve lived the closest to home for the last 11 years. Coronavirus “expatriated” me. I’ve worked in Global Mobility most of my professional life, lived abroad, and been on international assignments. I’m an expert in Global Mobility, but a virus made it hard to return to my passport country. 

I feel your pain and your stress. We are all experiencing varying levels of emotional and mental turmoil. There is no solution to the root causes of that anxiety, but we need to maintain our mental health like we do our physical. The World Health Organization, correctly anticipating that the longer the pandemic lasts, the more it would impact mental health, has spent the last couple of years publishing support and guides for people to follow. I have been following them, and they have proven helpful in centering me and giving me better control of my mental health.

1 – Take a Security Stop

Take some slow breaths, inhaling through your nose, then slowly exhaling through your mouth. Slow breathing is one of the best ways to lower stress because it signals your brain to relax your body. You can plan a whole weekend offline or go to a retreat where you can be offline for 48 hours. See what comes up without constant input.

2 – Build a Support Group

Please keep in regular contact with people close to you and talk to them. Talking to people you think can help. Please let them know how you feel and share concerns or discuss everyday things. Especially if you live alone, create a schedule where you connect with people outside your work at least once a week. If you are new in the city, a starting point can be expat groups. Another option is to join an online group around a topic of interest.

3 – Develop a Health Routine

The emphasis here is on both health and routine. That means not using alcohol and drugs to deal with fear, anxiety, boredom, and social isolation. Instead, focus on establishing consistent sleeping patterns, maintaining personal hygiene, eating regularly, having healthy food, and improving time management, including exercise, work, and personal time.  We need to get dressed in nice clothes, commute to work, and have a distance between “work” and “leisure.” Otherwise, we lose our fire and inspiration and lose touch with our inner creator. Try to get out of the home more often.

4 – Practice Self-Care

We are human and, thus, not immune to doubt and anxiety. Don’t expect too much of yourself on more challenging days. Instead, accept that you may be more productive some days than others. One way to practice self-kindness is to reduce how much you watch, read, or listen to news that makes you feel anxious or distressed, especially information from your home country. You can limit intake to fixed times in the day and listen only to trusted sources. One good way to practice self-care is to start a hobby or creative activity that you can fully immerse yourself in.

5 – Grow your Kindness Empathy

If you can help yourself and have the capacity for it, helping others can do you good. If you have that capacity, offer support to people who may need it in the expat community. We have learned to be resilient, survived previous crises, and turned our lives around in the oddest situations. 

Back to School – Seven Virtues for Purpose, Performance, and Productivity

Video Interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv1ju5gxMLs

Guest post by Lucie Koch

I have been in Zürich for a few weeks now and I am starting to adjust to Swiss city life. I am amazed every day by how cosmopolitan Zürich is with all the languages heard in the tram. It’s wonderful.

In my last blog post, I wrote about how entry into professional life was one kind of culture shock. I have started to adapt to the professional and Swiss cultural frame. Working for Global People Transitions is a very interesting experience, especially since I get to be involved in very diverse tasks, from administrative paperwork to exciting business development projects. I am discovering how many gearwheels must be activated and maintained for the business machine to work properly.

While I expected to have to adjust to the professional culture, I wasn’t quite prepared for the general culture shock that I experienced in Switzerland. As a child who grew up in France with parents from the cantons of Zurich and Luzern, and many family ties in Switzerland, I have been exposed to Swiss culture throughout my upbringing. I spent a few holidays in Switzerland when I was younger and identified quite strongly as Swiss. But then this month, I found myself suddenly confronted with cultural and structural enigmas: What is the deal with these expensive trash bags? Why do people eat so early? I also found myself confused about how to greet new people properly – do I offer a handshake? Should I do the ‘bise’ (kiss)? – which resulted in some awkward moments of hesitation and embarrassed smiles. It turns out, I might be more French than I thought.

These experiences made me think about the topic of mixed cultural identities, especially in the case of expatriation and specifically about the children of expatriates who grow up abroad.

Indeed, when you grow up in a country as a foreigner, especially in an area of low cultural diversity as it is the case for the French countryside where I grew up, the Swiss identity makes one stand out, especially for children. You don’t understand the other kids’ popular culture references and you speak another language with your family. The scarcity of Swiss items like cervela, landjäger, and swiss chips or mayonnaise turn them into ‘precious’ objects for the expat parents and to expat children, they appear as relics of Swiss-ness that you get to share once every other month in a kind of family tradition.

In the end, as a ‘born-expat’, one gets a reflected image of the parent’s culture. Indeed, a born-expat’s understanding of the ‘culture-of-origin’ is imagined (through the information absorbed from the media, short stays in the country or from the family’s opinions and stories) and not experienced. Therefore, young expats born abroad have an incomplete picture of a culture with which they strongly identify. The resulting culture shock, when the born-expat realizes how different reality is, can be very difficult, especially since it touches the perception of one’s own identity.

Children of expatriates are a very interesting focus of study when it comes to intercultural competence and how culture affects one’s identity and life. We are quite aware of how being an expatriate family is complicated logistically, emotionally and mentally on all members during the first years of immigration or how tricky it can be to raise children in a country in which we are not completely familiar with the education system. It is, however, important to consider that expat-children may face identity struggles when they grow up and to actively address the issues of identity and nationality during the upbringing.

Have you experienced any issues related to identity as an expat? Do you know a good way to address the question of identity with expat children?

I hope you enjoyed the read, I’ll write again next month.

Until then, have a great day!

Lucie

Lucie Koch was an intern at Global People Transitions GmbH in Zurich, Switzerland. She graduated with an Intercultural Management Master study, which led her to study in Dijon, France, a city she was already familiar with and in unfamiliar Finland (for one semester). Previously, she studied one year at Durham University (UK) as part of a Bachelor Erasmus Mobility program. She was born in 1994 to a Swiss expat couple in France. She grew up in the French countryside, around horses. She’s a self-confessed introvert, fascinated by different languages, cultures, science (especially astronomy and biology) and philosophy. She also likes to spend time drawing, painting or in cinemas.

Have you returned from your Christmas holiday full of new spirit and New Year’s resolutions and do you already feel a shift in energy as days are getting a bit longer and there is more sunlight. My plants outside thought it was spring already and I did not dare to tell them yet that winter is coming back. I remember the slight optimism of last January when I was hoping for a “back to normal” and only six weeks later the world was in turmoil again. 

This year I made a change and started the New Year in South India at 30 degrees Celsius and with an amazing vacation that feels like a trip to paradise. And while it’s cold and snowing now in Switzerland the warmth and happiness I took with me lightened up my heart for most of the last two weeks. I hope you understand that I also have moments of self-doubt and fear and that I’m not always the calm and relaxed coach that you might know. I can also get stressed and deal with similar issues you might experience. This year though I have not (yet) felt the “post-holiday” blues. I even feel elated as I write this, in a rather festive spirit as I complete the second work week of this new year.

My desire and ambition is to be fresh, energetic, focused and emotionally stable. I want to create and find the atmosphere for creativity whether I’m in an office or in a fancy hotel room. I want to be up for networking with prospects and clients all the time. I want to get up in the morning with a big smile and fulfill my purpose whether we have a pandemic, a war, or a snowstorm. And this is why I’m practicing how to manage my energy better constantly. And in India I was even more motivated to learn more about meditating and yoga.

The Magic of Rituals 

6 January marks the last day of the holiday season in Germany and Switzerland. In some parts of Europe, it is the most important day of the holiday season. For us, it means that the next day we really need to throw out the Christmas tree and all the decorations. It’s a nice ritual and the cleaning-up exercise means that I can get back into full steam. As often rituals help me with transitions and change I thought I’d share mine to get back into my creative mode again. I also think someone needs to tell my neighbor that it is definitely high time to take down the Christmas decorations especially as we are approaching New Year this weekend (again). I asked my colleagues in Singapore if it was okay to wish them Happy New Year (ahead of time) as in the German culture wishing ahead is often considered bad luck but they loved it. So from one Happy New Year to another Happy New Year I believe we should all take vacation, work-from-anywhere and really re-energize before getting back into the hustle and bustle of our self-imposed modern lifestyles. Yesterday, I even managed to close the books for 2023 and discard old case files. 

1 – Decoration Boxing

Allow yourself one last look at your Christmas cards and decorations. Then box all of them into the Christmas box where you keep them until after Thanksgiving or the first advent weekend. Say goodbye to Christmas movies too..

2 – Calendar Planning

Get an annual calendar for your wall and mark all the important dates such as holidays, vacation or downtime, birthdays, weddings, launch dates, workshop days, lectures and other important events that you already committed to. Plan one long weekend every month for either self-care, your partnership or a strategic offsite. Book all your travel ahead with enough cancellation options and dive into the feeling of pre-travel excitement way before it is happening. Did you book your summer holiday yet?

3 – Routine Prepping

Prepare everything that you usually need to have ready to get into your weekly routines such as lunches, dinners, grocery shopping, and other regular Sunday activities to start into a good week ahead. Get your hair, nails, shoes, suits back in work look. (I know those bra’s are starting to feel uncomfortable.).

4 – Workspace Enhancing

Clean your workspace at home and consider at least one enhancement such as upgrading your software, buying colorful pens, post-it notes or a new journal. Buy a few colorful physical folders for your creative ideas and pimp up your filing system. Get yourself an orchid or a beautiful flower that you can add to your “home office.”. 

5 – Purpose Reminiscing

Remember why you are where you are today in your professional life and as an entrepreneur, digital nomad or expat and connect with your mission statement. Read it out to yourself. Does it still fit? Check your resume and other brand messages. Is there anything you feel needs an upgrade? Visualize your life in 2023, add photos to your vision board and pick your word for 2023 if you haven’t done so yet.

I wish you all a wonderful start in the New Year.

Angie

PS: If you haven’t received a Global People Club Sandwich from us yet this year please make sure that you subscribe as we will continue to deliver these blog posts to your inbox.

https://globalpeopletransitions.com/become-a-reader-of-the-global-people-club-sandwich/

Recently I went to the ballet. They showed Nutcracker and Mouseking. If you know the story of the nutcracker you might be able to relate to his feeling. He is a prince trapped in a wooden statue. Maybe you feel more like “Aschenbroedel”? A princess trapped in a gray suit who sorts out the beans or the dollars on a spreadsheet.

You are well-traveled and fascinated by traveling outside the shores of your country. You are presumed to have the same bubbly experience as an expat sent on an international assignment to another country. You thought your experience would be like the adventure that you had on your previous vacation trips. Your first day in the foreign land was laden with a lot of exuberance and effervescence. But you had barely spent one month before all your hopes disappeared into the thin air.  Now, the only rhetorical question you keep asking yourself is “Can I get relief from being trapped in this figure, please?” or “Where is that prince in shiny armor that will find a shoe that only fits me? When will I be invited to dance at the ball?”.

There are many moments when you feel overwhelmed and frustrated that you can’t do it all.  And you don’t want to add to the stress of your spouse who’s busy searching job boards and tweaking their resume every time.

Your days are busy. Sometimes you leave work at the end of the week feeling unfulfilled, longing for a sense of purpose.

Sometimes you lie in bed missing your parents, friends, and loved ones so much that you often wonder if this was all a big mistake. In the middle of all these, you receive your line manager’s email that the presentation you made was a wreck.

The longer this goes on you notice that feelings of resentment creep up, toward your partner, your job, your young kids, or even your host country.

This does not have to be your story or case. I want to help you gain control of your life and live with a sense of purpose again. If you are feeling frustrated, crave a sense of purpose, or wish you are doing more to make the most of your life abroad, we have the answer you have been looking for.

Our program addresses, head-on, the biggest challenges that globally mobile individuals face, it is based on methods tested for over a decade with individuals just like you.

We teach you powerful strategies to give you immediate relief to your immediate challenges and help you take over the driver’s seat of your life’s vehicle. All of this, in short, easy-to-apply lessons – right when you need it. It has everything you need to:

● Develop and keep the right mindset to cherish your experience abroad

● Identify your purpose abroad (beyond work or the family)

● Stop letting stress get between you and the ones you care for

● Feel close to loved ones, even if they are thousands of miles (or kilometers) away

Imagine a life where you feel in control and spend your time and energy on things that resonate with your higher self.

● You are taking real steps to reduce the strains of your life abroad

● You have your confidence back

● You feel competent in your intercultural interactions

● You are fueled by a sense of purpose

● You have a community of people who understood you, and whom you could rely on for support

 You can start today and then rise from the physical and mental exhaustion in which circumstances have kept you. Yes, you can rise to a new life of purpose and relevance.

I am not just going to propose some hypothetical ideas, but time-tested, hands-on ideas that would immediately get you back on track. Having lived abroad and moved several times in my life, I had to deal with adapting to a different intercultural climate myself. I have been able to weather even the most complex challenges and it would be my pleasure to take you by the hand and help you navigate this new terrain.

If you want to make some important changes, anywhere from feeling less overwhelmed, finding purpose, or creating better connections with your loved ones from afar, book a meeting with me here. I want to learn more about you and the challenges you are currently facing.

Kind regards,

Angie Weinberger