Week 2022#45: Crossroads

Finding clarity in uncertainty

Looking back, this week's topic was questions, changes, and decisions.

What I’ve learned

Decisions don’t need to be made immediately. It pays off to do your research, as new information can inform your feelings. So far trusting my gut feeling mostly worked out really well in life, so feeding that feeling becomes important.

What happened…

I attended a networking event on Tuesday, hosted by the Tallinn Creative Incubator, and at that event, one person challenged and questioned a lot of my views about the coming years.

Long story short, I want to own a house in Sweden to insure myself against future turmoil in and around Europe. I picked Sweden because I believe it is one of the better-positioned countries to handle the effects of climate change, collapsing supply chains, and social upheaval.

The conversation on Tuesday stirred all kinds of questions in me, but most importantly it instilled a sense of urgency: if I really believe that everything will become gradually more expensive, or even unavailable in the next 2 to 5 years, then I need to act soon.

After a search on Hemnet, I found a property that I’ve been monitoring was still available and meeting most of my criteria.

I picked up the phone, call the real estate agent, and left with a whole bunch of questions:

• Is now the right time to buy?

• Is buying a house with a leaky roof a good idea?

• How will I finance this?

• Will I buy it as a private individual or through my company?

• How will the maintenance cost not eat me alive?

• Can I actually handle a project like this?

A good chunk of my energy went into finding out the answers to these questions, and by the end of the week, I had them.

Crossroads

The answers to these questions led me to a realization: I am at a crossroads now.

Do I want to stay employed (in one form or another), or become a full-time entrepreneur?

Ultimately it doesn’t even matter so much whether I earn income as a private individual: being employed somewhere means most of my energy goes into the job and in exchange, I get a more or less stable, guaranteed income.

Entrepreneurship means a lot of pressure, no guaranteed income, but the potential to earn well, doing something that fulfills me deeply.

I don’t have an answer to this question yet.