Who is the decision-making consultant

Hello

Matias Högnabba here, and I'm the decision-making consultant. Kaustinen is my hometown, a small Finnish rural municipality in Central Ostrobothnia. I grew up surrounded by fields and forests, and working on a farm. It is the earthiness, the understanding of the cycle of nature, that makes me a down to earth person.

I grew up in a bilingual family where Finnish and Swedish alternated in harmony. In addition to these two languages, I am fluent in English, and my language skills have come in handy when travelling, which I have done quite a lot. I have also lived and studied in Sweden.

I am very moderate and calm by nature. First impression of me may be shy, but I have grown out of my childhood shyness a long time ago and get on very well with almost everyone. I am a listener and I am interested in people's stories and how they are doing.

I have been an avid hobbyist since I was a little. My first hobby was folk dancing, which is highly valued in Kaustinen. With dance I have been able to go on several trips abroad to perform, and touring Finland here and there.

I have also enjoyed music from a very early age, which is why I took the drums at the college of music in Kaustinen as my main instrument. My hobbies didn't stop there, but soon after I started dancing, I started playing ice hockey for a team in a neighbouring municipality. I played it actively until the end of my C-junior years. Alongside hockey in the summer, football served as summer training for the winter.

Since primary school, I have been practising sports for fitness, alone and in groups. I took on a new role in sports when I started at Jatkoaika ice hockey editorial team. Although writing for Jatkoaika is a hobby, it has given me a lot of new information about the sport, for example, the extensive study I did on the state of women's ice hockey in Finland and Sweden gave me a lot of new information and opened my eyes.

My educational background consist of a bachelor`s degree in chemical engineering, I have also studied anthropology and sociology. I am a big fan of the LEAN philosophy, one of my big goals is to reduce wastefulness in the world.

The challenge of reducing waste made me really think about how to do it. The realisation did not come overnight, but took a long time to sink in. In the end I came to the question: Why do we waste, or do things the way we do? Then it hit me: there is a decision behind every action. Inspired by this, I started to find out what makes us make certain decisions.

I didn't leave this exploration halfway or to just Googling. I have so far read way over 1000 pages of scientific research on the subject and I am not done yet.

My big dream is to help people to live the life on their own terms, one that suits their personality and characteristics. For me, the greatest satisfaction comes from seeing someone flourish in his or her life and live the life the person has chosen to live.