When I was 15, my dad told me I should be playing for the girl’s national team. “You are definitely good enough.” I objected fiercely: “Are you kidding? Those girls are awesome. I don’t belong in that league!” Just playing my beloved football was enough for me, so I thought. We debated back and forth,... Continue Reading →
As a coach and trainer, it’s great to be able to help people out. So nice, in fact, that sometimes it acts as a perfect distraction for myself not to put those same tools to use in my own life which I so frequently share with my clients. Like building new habits. One of the... Continue Reading →
There are days when I feel like a champion – it can be on whatever arena. Closing a long-desired business deal, scoring a goal in football (yes, even at my age), helping someone to help themselves over a challenge, or finishing a long-due blog post. And I LOVE that feeling! I don’t know about you,... Continue Reading →
A few years ago, I was asked to share my thoughts about the then upcoming World Cup in Football on a morning program on TV. The TV crew had chosen a nice, wooden pavilion as the setting, and for once the Finnish June morning sun was providing some warmth in the early hours of the... Continue Reading →
For ages, we Finns have prided ourselves in having low self-esteem. It’s been one of the rock-sound beliefs that is the foundation of a nation’s identity and backbone. Not easily toyed with, I might add. However, during the last few decades, we‘ve had to deal with many incidents which have tried to put holes into... Continue Reading →
Picking up on where I left off in my last blog about Mastering mistakes - Part 1, there is a bit more to explore about this subject. To be honest, you could write a whole book about this topic, but for the purpose of keeping it a bit shorter, I’ve selected six points to further... Continue Reading →
I once made a mistake which cost Nokia many, many thousands of euros. Ok, they were at their peak at that time, so maybe that wasn’t what brought them down. However, my face still turns bright red, my chest feels like someone parked a bulldozer on it, and my heart starts pounding like a raged... Continue Reading →
I have a confession to make: I’ve never cared very much about women quotas or found representing the minority as a woman in any kind of team or group, whether at work or on the football pitch, anything odd. I guess it has to do with the attitudes I have been brought up with, such... Continue Reading →
This morning I caught myself walking down the snow-covered streets of Helsinki exuding a gloomy state. Sunk in my thoughts, with my head bent slightly, eyes staring unseeingly, frowning, teeth clenched, my facial expression all but inviting. Yes, zombie-like. Basically, like every other Finn you see on the street any given winter morning when the... Continue Reading →
