Meet the Viking Part 4: The Lisbon Chapter – Finishing What I Started
In Part 3 of my story, I shared how divorce after chronic illness forced me to rebuild everything from scratch. Now comes a crucial chapter about persistence, family relationships, and the unexpected path that led me to my true calling. This is about career change after chronic pain and learning when to pivot toward your authentic purpose.
The Unfinished Business That Haunted Me
After my divorce was finalized in April 2023, something bothered me deeply. In 2022, I’d gone to Lisbon to work alongside my son Justin, but I’d abandoned that plan when the living situation became unbearable. This unfinished business weighed on my mind.
I’d always taught my children to finish what they start. How could I preach persistence while leaving my own commitment incomplete? The fact that I hadn’t finished what I started in 2022 gnawed at me.
So I applied for a job in customer service with the same company. After a couple of interviews, I wasn’t chosen for that position. But they had another project – the exact same project my son had been working on since 2022, where he’d met his girlfriend.
This felt like the universe giving me a second chance.
Preparing for Return: A Different Mindset
By 2024, I was in a completely different headspace than during my first Lisbon attempt. The divorce was behind me, I’d established my Viking identity, and I’d met Birgit in Germany through the Viking lifestyle Facebook group.
I finished my factory work in Medemblik – where I’d been working as machine operator, line manager, and assembler. During that year, I kept thinking I needed a job I could do from anywhere. Online coaching was in my head, but my mind needed more time.
In July 2024, I attended Esther and Martijn’s wedding – a beautiful weekend with people in costumes of their choice. After the wedding, I said goodbye to my children Lukas and Tristan, and goodbye to my ex-wife. This was the day I officially left home.
On July 29th, Birgit and I arrived in Germany. On July 31st, 2024, I flew to Lisbon.
A Completely Different Experience
When I arrived in Lisbon this time, Justin was waiting with his girlfriend. After talking with them, I was picked up by someone who smiled and said, “Wow, you are lucky.”
The address was Avenida Estados Unidos Da América 142 – fifteen minutes’ walk from the office, twenty minutes by metro from training location. I had air conditioning in my room, parking around the corner, and a supermarket nearby. The location was perfect, just really noisy – but that’s city life.
When training started, I was genuinely interested in the topic: diabetes. The group of people was really nice, and on Friday afternoons we’d go out for drinks together. Living was pleasant, but still, my girlfriend was in Germany, my belongings were in the Netherlands, and my future was in Sweden.
Working Alongside My Son
The experience of working in the same office as Justin was profound. Here was my son, who’d been living independently in Lisbon since 2022, showing me around his adopted city. The role reversal was striking – the father learning from the son about resilience, adaptation, and building a life in a foreign country.
Justin had found his path despite all the chaos our family had endured. Watching him thrive professionally and personally while maintaining his relationship with his girlfriend showed me what authentic success looked like.
Career change after chronic pain often means redefining success entirely. For years, I’d measured achievement through physical capability, then through business metrics. But seeing Justin’s contentment in his choices helped me understand that true success means alignment between your values, relationships, and daily work.
The Marketing Company Disappointment
I was working with a UK/Algarve marketing company that had promised me twenty client appointments per month. I was hopeful – my schedule would be full with training from 9 AM to 6 PM, then client meetings from 7 PM to 9:30 PM.
Unfortunately, reality was different. I got two clients in three months.
I had scheduled meetings with potential clients who didn’t show up. I had meetings with the company owner who didn’t show up. This made me sad because coaching is my passion – I’m here to help people.
My core value is being completely open with people. In my way of working, I need one important thing from clients: you have to be willing to grow yourself. You are the result of some of the choices you’ve made. If you’re unhappy with the result, make different choices.
So I made the decision to stop working with that marketing company and continue my journey with a different approach.
The Lessons of Persistence vs. Flexibility
This Lisbon experience taught me crucial lessons about career change after chronic pain:
Finishing What You Start vs. Knowing When to Pivot: Sometimes persistence means completing what you committed to, but other times it means recognizing when a situation doesn’t serve your authentic purpose.
Family Relationships During Career Transitions: Working alongside Justin showed me that parent-child relationships can evolve into mutual respect and support during major life changes.
Geographic Solutions Don’t Fix Purpose Problems: Moving to Lisbon couldn’t solve my deeper question about how to serve people authentically. That answer had to come from within.
Marketing Promises vs. Authentic Connection: The marketing company’s approach felt inauthentic compared to the genuine coaching conversations I craved.
Understanding My True Calling
During those three months in Lisbon, between client calls that didn’t happen and training sessions about diabetes, I had time to reflect deeply on what I really wanted to do.
I’d spent years helping people through massage therapy, teaching students, and informal coaching conversations. But I’d never fully committed to coaching as my primary career path.
The failed marketing partnership actually clarified my vision. I didn’t want to be dependent on someone else’s lead generation or bound by their approach to client relationships. I wanted to build something authentic – The Viking Coaching.
The Decision to Go Independent
The realization that I needed to build my own coaching practice came gradually, then suddenly. I was in Lisbon, supposedly building someone else’s business model, while my real passion was helping people transform their relationship with stress, chronic conditions, and life transitions.
I thought about my own journey:
- From wheelchair to walking through breathwork and cold exposure
- From employee to business owner despite fibromyalgia
- From broken marriage to authentic relationships
- From patient to coach
Each transition had taught me something valuable about human resilience and adaptation. These weren’t just personal experiences – they were professional qualifications for helping others navigate similar challenges.
The Father-Son Dynamic Reversed
One of the most meaningful aspects of the Lisbon chapter was witnessing Justin’s maturity and independence. He’d built a life in a foreign country, maintained a healthy relationship, and found work that suited him.
For a father who’d spent years being the “sick one” in the family, seeing my son thrive independently was both proud and humbling. It showed me that despite all the chaos – the fibromyalgia years, the wheelchair period, the divorce, the multiple moves – I’d somehow raised a resilient, adaptable young man.
This gave me confidence that I could model the same resilience in building my coaching practice.
Preparing for the Next Chapter
By the end of my Lisbon experience, several things were clear:
My future was in coaching, not customer service or anyone else’s business model.
My relationship with Birgit represented the authentic partnership I’d never had during my marriage.
My children were thriving independently, freeing me to focus on my own purpose.
The Viking identity wasn’t just a costume or metaphor – it was a business philosophy based on strength, authenticity, and helping others find their own resilience.
The Courage to Leap
Leaving Lisbon this time felt different than my first departure. I wasn’t running from discomfort – I was moving toward purpose.
Career change after chronic pain requires a different kind of courage than healthy people need. When you’ve lost everything once (health, mobility, independence), starting over feels both terrifying and familiar.
But I’d learned that survival skills from chronic illness translate beautifully to entrepreneurship:
- Patience with slow progress
- Adaptability when plans change
- Persistence through setbacks
- Deep empathy for others’ struggles
- Appreciation for small victories
Looking Forward
The Lisbon chapter closed with clarity about my path forward. I was ready to commit fully to The Viking Coaching – not as a side business or backup plan, but as my primary mission.
In Part 5, I’ll share how meeting Birgit transformed my understanding of authentic love, how the Viking identity evolved from costume to business philosophy, and how everything finally came together to launch the coaching practice I was meant to build.
Sometimes you have to go backward to move forward. My return to Lisbon wasn’t about finishing the original plan – it was about gaining the clarity and confidence to create something entirely new.
Career change after chronic pain presents unique challenges and opportunities. Your experience with illness, recovery, and resilience often points toward your true calling in ways that traditional career paths cannot.
If you’re considering a career transition after health challenges, book a consultation to explore how your experiences can become your professional strengths.
Next month: Part 5 – “Finding Love and Purpose: The Viking Identity Becomes a Mission”
