Do you remember when you dreamed of being where you are today?
Katia Verresen regularly explores this question with her clients.
A revered executive coach, advising leaders at the likes of Airbnb, WhatsApp, and Stanford, the question has a specific purpose: The answer is unanimous.
Once her clients say ‘Yes,’ she asks them to make two columns.
Column one is a snapshot of your life. Where are you living? Who do you spend time with? What is your profession?
Column two is for remembering when you wished for that.
“It's a direct line every time,” she says. “When they notice it, their first reaction is: Gosh, I really could wish for more.”
“When we finally understand that our wishes actually happen, we get much more grounded in the reality of creating art and designing our life.”
“What’s the next layer you’d like to experience?” she asks next. “Do it just for fun. This is not a discipline. This is child’s play of noticing, gratitude, and being present.”
Thankfully, we have an exercise from a four-year-old to guide us.
Katia shares a story about sitting next to a young girl on a flight who was making a list of her favorite things for her mom. I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if we made our own list and oriented our lives around it.
Cultivating an awareness around what brings us joy is central to Katia’s philosophy of inner power. She affirms that achievement and fulfillment aren’t mutually exclusive and shares tools to integrate our favorite activities into our daily life. Whereas society may cause us to lose our sense of imagination, she urges us to reclaim it.
“Inner power is this self-cultivation, self-respect, and dignity to say that you have a right to feel the way you want to feel. If you want to acknowledge the beauty of the world that you live in, then you have that right.”
What is one wish that would deepen your sense of fulfillment? How might you take a step towards realizing it?
Wishing you joy,
Jenna