Once again, I'm a beginner

After 25 years of building businesses and leading teams, I am a beginner again.

Four weeks into our new life in Valencia, almost everything is unfamiliar. A new language, a new culture, new people, new routines and different ways of doing things. Even the simplest tasks can become interesting challenges.

It's exciting, sometimes frustrating, often exhausting and incredibly rewarding.

But what surprises me most isn't how much our circumstances have changed. It's how much I'm discovering about myself.

Rediscovering yourself

When you've spent years building a life, a career and a business, you develop ways of thinking and doing things. You know what works, understand your environment and become comfortable with the familiar.

Then suddenly, so much of that familiarity disappears.

You don't know all the answers. Your fears get bigger, but so does your excitement. You have to ask for help, question your assumptions and take action without knowing whether you're getting it right.

And there's something else. When your surroundings, routines and the people around you change, you also start questioning who you are without all those familiar reference points.

It's a strange feeling, finding your feet in a new place while rediscovering parts of yourself at the same time.

It's not so much about reinventing yourself as discovering more about who you already are. And that's been one of the nicest surprises of this whole experience.

Even our plans for Valencia have challenged our assumptions. We thought we'd live in a small, furnished penthouse near the sea. Instead, we fell in love with a large, completely unfurnished, old-world Valencian apartment in the heart of the city.

So much for our original plan! But that's what happens when you remain open to something you hadn't considered.

The best of different worlds

I've spent much of my life crossing worlds, and one of the things I love most is discovering what each has to offer.

Growing up in the Netherlands gave me an appreciation for open-mindedness, directness and critical thinking. It also taught me to work hard, perhaps a little too hard at times!

Australia introduced a different perspective. A more relaxed approach to life and a healthy dose of "no worries, mate". Over 23 years, I learned to take life a little less seriously and enjoy the journey as much as the destination.

And now Spain is adding something new to the mix.

What strikes me is how much people seem to enjoy everyday life. The streets and terraces are full of people of all ages, families spending time together, friends catching up and people simply enjoying being out and about.

We've only been here four weeks, and there's so much more to discover, experience and learn.

That's what I love about living in different places and experiencing different cultures. You get to combine the best of these different worlds and create your own way of living, thinking and doing things.

A different perspective changes everything

Looking back, I can see how much of my professional life has followed the same pattern.

I've worked across different countries, industries and organisations, from large corporates to family businesses, start-ups and everything in between. Each environment has introduced me to different people, ways of thinking and approaches to business.

Over time, I've discovered that what clients value isn't simply my experience in marketing, strategy or leadership. It's my ability to look at their businesses from different angles, question established thinking, connect ideas and help them see possibilities they hadn't considered.

When I told one of my long-standing Australian clients about our plans to travel and move to Europe, their response stayed with me.

Rather than seeing the distance as a disadvantage, they saw an opportunity. Everything I was about to experience, the people I'd meet, the different cultures and ways of thinking I'd encounter would add something new to our partnership.

And that's exactly what's happened. Our conversations are richer than ever, with new ideas, different perspectives and fresh thinking finding their way into our work together.

I've consciously chosen change many times, not because I was unhappy with where I was, but because I wanted to keep exploring, learning and growing.

Of course, change isn't always something we choose. Sometimes life makes the decision for us.

And experience, valuable as it is, can sometimes make us comfortable with what we already know. We develop habits, assumptions and ways of doing things that have served us well, and without realising it, we stop questioning them.

Stepping into unfamiliar territory challenges that comfort. It forces us to listen, ask different questions, explore new possibilities and sometimes admit we simply don't know.

That's often where the most interesting discoveries begin.

Every new experience changes what we see, how we think and what we bring to the people around us.

That's why I keep choosing change, even when it's uncomfortable.

And it's why I value having people around me who challenge my thinking, bring different perspectives and help me see what I might otherwise miss.

It's also what I love bringing to the business owners and leaders I partner with.

Four weeks into Valencia, I have more questions than answers. And I think that's a wonderful place to be.

Sonja 💛

Your partner in Strategy, Leadership & Growth.
I help business owners, leaders & teams navigate growth and change, think differently and turn strategy into action.