“What would you do, if you would win the lottery?”

This question frequently entertained the lunch time discussions in my team when I was still working as a management consultant in a big IT firm.  And to my surprise, everyone would immediately do something else than what they were doing at that moment, also working in this IT firm. They would start their own business, travel the world and/or become an artist.

One afternoon, it struck me that no-one was actually going to make this (career) change even when they actually wanted to. What would I do?

This though lingered in my head for a while before I could admit to myself that also I would rather do something else than the work I was doing at that moment. Although, I had nice and professional colleagues, lots of training and coaching, interesting projects and a good salary, the work itself did not fulfill me. I wasn’t truly satisfied with what I did.

Why do we not learn this in school?

To realize this was one thing. But to actually start doing something that was “the right thing” was quite another. How to find out what this was in the first place. Luckily, I was part of a trainee program where finding “the right thing” for you was one of the focal points, so called Personal Leadership. And during this program I slowly discovered what matters to me, what I am good at and what I would love to do in my life. I love teaching and the surprise in people’s faces when they get a new insight. I am good in setting up learning programs and transmitting knowledge and experiences. And I truly loved the coaching program that I was going through.   More and more, I was wondering; “why do we not learn this in school?” or “Why is such a program not readily available for all young people who start working?” So there it was!

Forget about winning the lottery

The right thing for me is to do what I do today; amongst other to teach and coach in my own program; The Personal Leadership Experience. The goal of the company that I founded, DiscoverU, is to enable students and young professionals to experience their own personal leadership and to be their own best by doing what they love and are good at. Therefore we created a fun and effective personal development program that focusses on finding your own answers to the lottery-question and creating them in your life without the need to actually win the lottery first.

Changing, not only from being an employee to an entrepreneur, but also from dependency on the lottery to my own decisions, made a huge impact in my life. Not only do I experience it to be much more exciting and rewarding, I simply love what I do and that is truly wonderful.

What about you? What would you do if you’d win the lottery? And if that is something else than what you are doing now, then consider to just get started! So that if you win some millions then, you can invest them in the amazing life that you already live.

If you want to talk your plans over or wonder how to find your “right thing”; just let me know (Esther@discoveru.nl)!