This is 5TimesFromZero

What shapes us before we are old enough to understand who we are? Series 01 begins with my birth in Denmark and follows the events that led my family to Japan as part of my father's decision to become a missionary.

As a young child, I was transported into a world that would become my home. After a brief period at the Norwegian School, life continued in Fukui, where the first seven years of my upbringing took place in a Japanese school alongside Japanese classmates.

Language, culture, customs, and ways of thinking were absorbed naturally, not through study, but through everyday life. Without realizing it, I learned to see the world through Japanese eyes while carrying a Danish background and growing up within a christian family.
Will a person raised as a Dane, or Japanese or any other nationality, ever be able to leave that nationality? What if you are raised christian or muslim, is that something which will be part of you? Something you can never escape from or can you?

Before we decide what we believe, what values we hold, or who we want to become, others make countless decisions on our behalf. Which of those decisions continue to shape us long after childhood has ended?

And if identity is built layer by layer from the day we are born, which parts are truly ours?

What is it like to return to a country where you were born, yet never truly came to know? Series 02 follows the transition from Japan to Denmark and the challenges of adapting to a society that felt both familiar and foreign at the same time.

Living between two cultures that often seem to view the world from opposite directions raises questions that go far beyond geography and culture. What defines who we are? Is identity determined by where we are born, where we grow up, or by the values we choose for ourselves?

As expectations collide with reality, assumptions are challenged and new perspectives emerge. The series explores belonging, culture, and the struggle to reconcile different ways of thinking, living, and understanding the world.

At the same time, life is shaped by a deep commitment to christianity, while much of the surrounding society appears to be guided by very different values. How do we respond when our own convictions seem increasingly disconnected from the world around us? Is it better to adapt, resist, or continue searching?

When you no longer fully belong to one world, yet do not completely fit into another, where do you find your place?

What happens when a belief becomes the center of your identity? Series 03 follows a period of absolute conviction, where faith was not simply part of life, but the foundation upon which every decision was built.

At a time when doubt seemed impossible, the world appeared simple. There was truth, purpose, right and wrong, and a clear direction for how life should be lived. Questions were answered before they were asked, and certainty left little room for reflection.

But what is the difference between commitment and surrender? When does dedication become dependence? Can values truly be your own if they are accepted without question?

The series explores the mindset of living through an inherited framework, where beliefs shape identity, relationships, ambitions, and the understanding of reality itself. It examines the attraction of certainty, the comfort of belonging, and the consequences of building a life on foundations that are rarely challenged.

What happens when your observations no longer match what you have been taught to believe? Series 04 follows a period of growing doubt, difficult questions, and an increasing need to understand what is true and what only appears to be true.

Beneath the surface, questions continued to grow. Why did claims and reality not match? Why were some questions welcomed while others were avoided? At what point does loyalty to a belief become more important than the search for the truth and true values?

Looking from the inside of a pentecostal church, the series explores faith, conviction, influence, and the human desire to belong. It examines what people see, what they choose not to see, and how easily certainty can shape our interpretation of events.

More importantly, it asks broader questions. Should values be based on tradition, authority, personal experience, evidence, or something else entirely? How do you know when you are following the truth rather than simply defending what you already believe? Do you dare ask the question at all? Or is that too frightening?

Over a period of reflection, observation, and testing long-held assumptions, familiar answers began to unravel. What followed was not simply a change of belief, but a reconsideration of which values were worth building a life upon.

What do you do, when belief and reality seem to point in different directions? Do you dare recognize it? Do you are follow what you find?

What happens when the beliefs that have guided your life no longer provide the answers? Series 05 follows a period of change, uncertainty, and self-discovery after leaving christianity.

For years, life had been viewed through a framework that seemed unquestionable. Then, almost overnight, old certainties gave way to new questions.

Which values are truly your own? Which have been inherited from family, culture, tradition, or faith? How much of your identity is the result of choices you have made yourself, and how much was chosen long before you were born?

During years as a taxi driver and later as a university student, familiar answers disappear and new questions emerge. Is it possible to stop living according to someone else's ideal and begin discovering your own? Can meaning exist without certainty? Can purpose exist without belief?

When the foundations of life are removed, what remains? And where do you begin when you have to build your own values from zero?

What does it mean to return to a country you once called home, this time as a diplomat? Series 06 follows the years at the Danish Embassy in Tokyo, a period marked by responsibility, influence, and a unique position between cultures.

It is a story about identity, ambition, and the values we carry with us through life. What happens when society suddenly views you differently? Does a title change who you are, or only how others see you? When respect, recognition, and status become part of everyday life, it becomes harder to know where the role ends and the person begins.

The series explores how success influences our perception of ourselves, the choices we make, and the values we hold. Which values remain unchanged regardless of position or status? Which are challenged? And when the title is taken away, who are you really?

Leaving the embassy was not easy. The job offered everything most people look for: security, respect, a good salary, and a privileged, high status position in society. For many, it would have been the destination.

But I realized something was missing.

No matter how good the conditions were, I was still working within a system that belonged to somebody else. Success and failure were not truly mine. 

Joining a Japanese company as Director, became the next step in a different journey. It was not my company, but it was closer to entrepreneurship than anything I had done before.

Series 07 follows the years in Japanese business, the first serious attempt to test my own abilities, create value, and move toward a future where success or failure would depend on my own decisions.

What matters most in life: security, status, or freedom?

Sometimes you have to leave a comfortable position behind to find the what you are truly looking for.

Series 08

Series 09

Series 10

Series 11

Series 12

Series 13

Series 14

Series 15

A bit about the series