“Dear little fool. Did you really think this was going to be easy?” This is how Hanna opened the letter. The handwritten lines on the yellow-brown paper were included in the bag when she moved onto the decommissioned, dilapidated oil platform Albuskjell in Trondheim to take part in Norway’s toughest. A reality series where 10 young people are put to hard physical and mental tests. “You were fully aware that you would be hurt both mentally and physically. But isn’t that how you like it?” Hanna Martinsson from Oslo is the ballet girl who became a wrestler. The anxious, cautious child who became a gunner on an armored personnel carrier. She used to be terrified of making mistakes and screwing up. So scared that she didn’t dare raise her hand in the classroom. Nevertheless, she later – confidently – joined the Telemark battalion. – My parents would never have guessed that. Or, nobody would have guessed it, laughs Hanna today. She has great ambitions to rise through the ranks of the Armed Forces. And she has sweated, froze and bled her way to the final weekend in Norway’s toughest. But soon after she secured the place, the enemy came creeping up. Then Hanna had to take out the letter. The bitter victory Hanna was the sender of the letter – but also the recipient. The letter was supposed to help her when insecure Hanna told her that she is not good enough if she fails and does not deserve it if she succeeds. The letter should remind Hanna of what she really wants and what she is actually good at. “You have been given an opportunity many people can only dream of. So for everyone who would like to switch places with you, but also for your own part: Get yourself together!” The last competition before the final weekend required her to have fast legs and be quick in the top lid. Eline and Hanna each secured their place first. Sondre and Brage had to fight for the last one. During her stay on the platform, Hanna had developed a close friendship with Brage. When he lost the competition and had to give up, the uncertainty hit Hanna with full force. – I felt it on my body. I was afraid of how it would look on the outside. That others should think Brage deserved to be there more than me. And then I had also hoped to stand in the final with him – not thank him, she says. A pep talk from someone she trusted in the crew, and her own stern sentences in the letter, helped her understand that she deserved to stay. “Now is your chance. You only get this experience once, so make sure now that you can look back on it with pride.” People give the fuck When Hanna was selected as one of the 10 participants in this year’s season of Norway’s toughest, she panicked. Was she not good enough? What would others think? Of course, she had not submitted the application herself. A colleague in the Telemark battalion had done it. If he hadn’t pushed her, we wouldn’t have gotten to know the gentle, small, strong 22-year-old via the TV screen this autumn. But luckily, Hanna knows it deep down, after many years of teasing: Most people care about themselves, not about her. “Remember that you’re just a little girl weighing 50 kilos, and that everyone really gives a damn about what you do. Remember that you are part of a big world, and that you will be forgotten in 100 years”. – It makes me happy to think about how little I really mean in the big world. The mindset has made me relax and lower my expectations of myself. In the letter, she also reminds herself that it is not dangerous to be in pain. “Make sure you deserve the hot food, the long shower and the good summer days, when the time comes. Because in just a short time, that’s what you have in front of you. And to understand the value of this, it is good to have a little pain. It is not dangerous”. At the bottom of the case, you will find Hanna’s 3 pieces of advice for those who struggle with the pressure of too high expectations. New view of performance in the Armed Forces How to remove the painful, all-consuming pressure of expectations from life? An alternative is of course to avoid all arenas with competition and performance. It is a very bad strategy, Hanna believes. Perhaps some will think that it is self-torture that someone who struggles with an occasional unhealthy pressure of expectation seeks out situations that can increase the pressure. Like Hanna choosing a career in the Armed Forces, of all things. But there was something about the performance culture there. Something that triggered. Hanna explains that in the Armed Forces you must be in good physical shape – but not because you want to look good or be liked by others. – One must perform a useful function. In the worst case, it could be a matter of you and your partner surviving or not. It puts things into perspective and creates a healthy performance culture. Everything you do has a deeper purpose than what others think and think about you as a person, says Hanna. It took a short time before she began to enjoy herself with the boys in the Telemark battalion. Before she got a job there, she fought to get into the hunting troop. She was going through a fierce recording out in the forest with hunger, terror and pain. It was the packing run that knocked her out. Seven kilometers. 54 minutes. 22 kilos in the bag. Hanna did not meet the time requirement. – I was too small for the bag, says Hanna, before she quickly chimes in: – I mean: The bag was too big for my back. Was it dangerous to fail? No. Did she do her best? Yes. “Remember you are raw. Remember that life is now. Remember that no matter what happens, you will come back to people who love you❤️”. During the recording of Norway’s toughest, presenter Jørgine Massa Vasstrand needed to help Hanna understand what she actually deserves. – Seen from the outside, you really deserve a place in the final, said Jørgine. – You have proven through the last competitions that you are perhaps much more to be feared than others have assumed. You have to prove to yourself that you want this the most. Because Hanna wants to. She wants to win the whole thing: – If I win, it’s mostly for myself. But of course also for anyone who doesn’t have faith in themselves. It would have been cool to inspire others to take chances and throw themselves into challenges they are afraid of. Here are Hanna’s 3 pieces of advice for you who struggle with the pressure of expectations: Realize how insignificant you really are ? For some, it may sound sad and scary. But for Hanna, it gives strength. Do things you fear ? Before Hanna stayed in her comfort zone. Then she learned what matters: Exposure, exposure, exposure. If you are afraid that you will not perform well enough on the football team, you must by all means put on your football boots and run out onto the pitch. Force yourself to think as little as possible. Just do. The euphoria of carrying out will be enhanced by the fact that you were initially afraid. Finally, of course: Write letters to yourself ? Deep down you know that you are your worst enemy. So when you start working against yourself, read what you’ve got down on paper. From you. To you.
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How to cope with the pressure of expectations – Long reading from news Trøndelag
