At the age of 29, and the peak of her corporate career and deep unhappiness, Dr. Natalia Wiechowski quit her job and started from scratch. She took a nine-month sabbatical, during which she changed the way she thinks, speaks, and acts. From that moment, she committed to designing her purposeful dream life and founded Think Natalia.
Her obsession is “coachsulting” people who have left the corporate rat race to do their own thing. These people all have one thing in common; they want to build an international, sustainable, and purposeful thought leadership personal brand on LinkedIn. They want to use that brand to become the voice of their niche, get more clients, and positively impact the world.
She started as a Social Scientist, turned into a Dr. of Philosophy, a “LinkedIn Marketing Unicorn” (Inc. magazine), a Forbes Coaches Council Member, a LinkedIn Learning author, and the Middle East’s leading Edutainer.
“If you don’t take calculated risks, then you’re going to live a boring, mediocre life. That’s my biggest nightmare.”
Natalia Wiechowski
Worst investment ever
Natalia invested a lot of time, energy, and resources into becoming the model successful woman. She finished her studies, made her parents proud, worked her way up the career ladder, and even was a competitive athlete with tons of awards. All her peers admired her.
All looking good from the outside but not from the inside
This kind of life that Natalia had built for herself looked phenomenal from the outside. Everyone thought that she was very happy. This is precisely the kind of life she imagined having when she was a teenager. But deep down, Natalia was unhappy. She didn’t think of herself as successful. She felt like a complete mess.
Yearning for more from life
Natalia went through a phase of confusion. She had a seemingly successful career, but inside she felt like a mess. She wanted more from life. The confusion left Natalia in a lot of physical pain that nobody could figure out the cause. She slowly realized that the pain was self-created.
Getting herself out of a rut
When it dawned on Natalia that she was causing herself physical and emotional pain, she committed to finding healing. Natalia talked about what she was going through with her friends, mentor, and parents. They all advised her to quit her job and go on a sabbatical. During that sabbatical, she went on a journey to define what happiness, success, money, time, and work meant to her. Natalia also tried to figure out how she wanted to live and whom she wants to work with.
Natalia’s sabbatical leads her to her dream life and a career of purpose. She understood that your dream job only exists when you create it, and if you believe that you have what it takes, just go for it.
Lessons learned
Follow your heart and live your true purpose
When that inner voice asks you to follow your heart, listen to it and go on that journey that leads you to your true purpose.
Invest in yourself and live the life you’ve always wanted
Design a lifestyle around your dreams and passions. Go out there, sharpen that skill that fuels your dreams, master it, and share it with the world. That’s the way to live a healthy balanced life without any regrets.
Don’t fear changing direction just because you have invested time in something
Most people refuse to change because they have invested so much invest time, love, energy, and money into something. So they keep holding onto it even long after it has stopped serving them. The truth is that you will always invest and lose but learn in the process.
Andrew’s takeaways
Don’t listen to the naysayers
If you want to do something, forget what other people say. Just go on and do it. Ultimately, it’s about your own satisfaction and pursuing your dreams.
Learn how to quit the things that don’t work
When you realize that a relationship, a job, or whatever, is not working for you, you better quit it. Hurry up and quit before you get trapped in it.
Actionable advice
Design space and time to reflect on your life, your goals, and your dream career. Doing this will help you figure out who you are meant to be and take control of your destiny.
No. 1 goal for the next 12 months
Natalia’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to be more entertaining. She wants to learn more about the art of stand up comedy, humor, satire, cracking jokes, and what is entertainment. Natalia wants to find out how she can incorporate entertainment into her business, life, stage character, and personal brand to help even more people while having fun along the way.
Parting words
“Stop waiting for the perfect moment because perfection is an illusion. Start now.”
Natalia Wiechowski
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