“The awakened self” 2023. What comes next?

2022 has been another tough year forRomanians, as well as for the entire population of the globe. As the pandemic was approaching its end and people were trying to recover and get back to normal, they found themselves shocked by these series of other unexpected events, like the the Ukrainian war, inflation or energy crisis. These put a lot of pressure on the inner mental balance of the people, who were simply reacting like there is nothing else left to surprise them,  "except for the invasion of the aliens, that's the only one left unhappened". 

The beginning of the year was marked by the tension of rebuilding the social functioning of our life, but also by the internal conflicts generated by the feeling of not fitting in the same life picture as before. Some people decided to make some dramatic changes, such as moving to a different country, along with the entire family. What was particular about this exod was the fact that people moving were not leaving out of financial reasons, but rather security and educational motifs. They finally said "I struggled enough to make a life here, I deserve to live in peace and to allow my kids to have access to better educational systems". The difference is that people who decided to leave the country at the beginning of 2022 were not in a negative relation toRomania, but rather in a more positive progressive relationship with themselves and their future (symbolised by kids, in this case).

Another interesting reaction was the way people responded to the price increases happening in the summer. Many went on a very unique mode we name conscious carpe diem. What does it mean? It means that people got convinced that the unexpected is a constant, while planning anything in advance is just idealisation and decided not to postpone whatever they enjoy doing the most, as tomorrow is totally uncertain. Therefore the summer was full of holidays and escapes following the principle "if not now, that later might never come"

If the first half of the year was marked by worries and disappointment, the last half was rather balanced and calm. People decided to re-create their way of living by staying focused in finding the best coping solutions for themselves and stay away from negativity or toxicity of other people or media, in general. That created a sort of positive vibe that we will go through this as well, that we know how to handle lack of heat or high invoices, that there is nothing to get desperate about. 

Moreover, the pandemic seemed to have helped the Romanian families collect their strength from bonding when facing hard times. The external threat built internal cohesion. people learned how to collaborate and respect each other, learnt how to enjoy life just by staying together and doing simple things together, and that contributes a lot to the positive energy and calmness they are loaded with right now 

Another important aspect, since we were naming the times as new maturity era, is the fact that people decided to be much more solution oriented, focused in making decisions that will optimise their costs. The interesting part is that this optimisation does not come with a downgrade, but rather with the motivation to maintain current standard of living. People are rather interested in reducing quantities of the products they buy, look for promotions or discount offers for premium / good quality service, reduce waste, look for regenerable energy sources, save money rather than lower their life standard. We call these smart living, make the most of your personal resources and reduce waste.

There are a lot of interesting stories in Hunters 2023, The Awakened Self, which we kindly invite you to read. 2023 is the year of positive energy, prosumers, authenticity, smart decisions and, not at the least, power to the people. This qualitative insights booklet will therefore contain stories of real people manifesting a trend, so it is even more data to enjoy. 

There is so much richness out there in listening to people, that we are definitely inviting you to cultivate these connections.

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