Ep295: Natalia Wiechowski – Your Dream Job Only Exists When You Create It

Andrew Stotz 00:03
Hello fellow risk takers and welcome to my worst investment ever stories of loss to keep you winning. In our community we know that the winning investing you must take risk but to win big, you've got to reduce it. This episode is sponsored by Ace dots Academy which offers online courses that help investors, aspiring professionals, business leaders and even beginners to improve the finances of their lives. And their businesses. Go to my worst investment ever.com right now to claim your discount on the course that suits you most fellow risk takers This is your worst podcast host Andrew Stotz. And I'm here with featured guests. The Tanya bychowski. And Tanya, are you ready to rock?

00:48
I'm ready when you are.

Andrew Stotz 00:49
Alright. So let me introduce you to the audience at the age of 29, and at the peak of her corporate career, and deep on happiness, Dr. Natalia bychowski, 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 design her purposeful dream life and founded think Natalia. Her obsession is coach salting, 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 have a positive impact on the world. She started as a social scientist turned into a Doctor of Philosophy, a LinkedIn marketing unicorn, a Forbes coaches council member, a LinkedIn learning offer and the Middle East leading edutainment, Narnia. Take a minute and fill in any further tidbits about your life. Any further

Natalia Wiechowski 02:09
tidbits I'm originally from Germany, I live in the United Arab Emirates in Dubai, I'm here since 2008. For a very long time, I enjoy the expert life. And I absolutely love great food, a long walks and everything that glitters

Andrew Stotz 02:29
fantastic. And I wanted to ask you a couple questions, because I know a lot of our listeners are on LinkedIn. And they're thinking about, you know, how do I get more out of LinkedIn? And you know, is this all I can get out of LinkedIn? And is it too late to, you know, put more effort into LinkedIn, I'm just curious if you could kind of give a big picture perspective on the opportunities on LinkedIn.

Natalia Wiechowski 02:54
Absolutely. So LinkedIn at the moment is a phenomenal business tool, I see it as an opportunity to generate leads to spread your message to network to learn new things to meet like minded people, to grow your brand, grow your personal brand to learn new things to see what's trending. So LinkedIn is full of opportunities. And especially nowadays, as we're going through this, let's call it global current situation. It is the number one online networking tool or platform, we don't have real life events or get together so see it as the place where you go if you want to do business. And if you don't have an optimized profile yet, that tells your story that looks like a landing page. If you don't create content at least twice or three times per week, if you don't expand your network almost on a daily basis. If you don't engage with other people's content, then of course, you don't get the results that you can have. But as always start with one thing, and then invest a little bit of love and time and energy, and eventually you're going to get there.

Andrew Stotz 04:08
Fantastic. And you know, one of the things that you know, kind of knocked me back when I read your about section was this sentence. If you don't get leads, profile visits, contact requests, a lot of engagement on your posts speaking and queries, podcast interviews, and business opportunities on LinkedIn on a daily basis, you must be doing something wrong.

04:31
Yeah, it's true. Oh,

04:32
no. statement.

Natalia Wiechowski 04:36
Yeah, that's what that these are the results my clients get, these are the results that I get. And again, if you don't receive that, then there must be something deeply wrong with your LinkedIn profile, and most probably also with your mindsets. Maybe you're still living in this scarcity thing.

Andrew Stotz 04:54
Okay. And so let's ask one last question before we get into the big question of the day, and that is if somebody works with you, and they say, Gosh, I need that I want that, generally, what are they? What are they going to learn from you? What is it about you that you will bring to them so that they get an idea. And then after that, ladies and gentlemen, go to her LinkedIn profile.

Natalia Wiechowski 05:19
So as you mentioned, any introduction, people who come to me, they don't have a clear message, their voice is not sharp enough, maybe there are seen as the go to expert in their niche yet. And because they are not showing the true color, because they don't position themselves in a clear way. They don't know what the great ads, who their target audiences, etc. So the whole marketing communication on LinkedIn is all over the place. And that's the reason why they don't get the results that they want. And the results are different. Some people want more visibility, some people want more engagement, some people want to double the amount of leads, some people want to reach a certain specific monthly revenue, some people just want to make a difference. And they want to share all of their wisdom that they've gained over the last 2030 years with the world. So that's what I help them with, depending on what their goal is. We take them as a brand, their content, their communication, and basically set it on fire and then turn them into unicorns as well, so that they fly on LinkedIn,

Andrew Stotz 06:25
on fire. All right, well, I love that. Ladies and gentlemen, you can go to the show notes. If you can't find her on LinkedIn, go to the show notes. And I'll have a link to her LinkedIn. And now it's time to show your worst investment ever. And since no one ever goes into their worst investment thinking it will be tell us a bit about the circumstances leading up to it and then tell us your story.

Natalia Wiechowski 06:51
So I invested tons of time, energy, nerves, life force resources into being a playing a role that was not mine. I used to be an ex people pleaser, everybody's darling. And until the age of 29. That worked out fine. It was amazing. I finished my studies, I made my parents proud. I used to be a competitive athlete. So I got a lot of awards. And I worked myself up the it'd be success and career letter. And people always say, Wow, you're so successful, you must be so happy. I wish I could be a little bit like you. So on the outside, everything looked phenomenal and fantastic. And I, when you looked at my CV phenomenal, I was literally living for my CV, I think that's the best way to put it. And, again, that made sense until the age of 29, a bird's eye sort of 30 appearing on the horizon. And for some reason, I really started panicking, I didn't feel good. I was worrying because when I was a teenager, I kind of made a commitment to myself, I knew how I want to feel I knew who I want to be at the age of 30. And when I looked at that persona on the outside, and how people saw me fine, but when I look deep down inside, I thought I am literally a waste of everything and thought myself stupid, hedonistic, I didn't perceive myself as successful. I wasn't happy. I was consuming too much. I was eating crap. Food, I was, I don't know, I was really a mess. And I realized that this goes literally nowhere. So I was a bit scared. I don't know, should I change? What should I change? Is this just life is just a way? How am I supposed to live? Is this what I deserve all of these big questions, and life or karma or the universe or God or whatever you call that entity, in the end realized that little one doesn't get it. So we need to hit her extra hard. So what happens is I went through severe pain and it, you know, appeared every month, and then it appeared twice per month, and I ended up in hospital. And the doctors tested everything. They said we don't know what it is. But if you continue like that it's going to get chronic. And you know what happens after that you're very young. Hmm, maybe you're creating this on your own. And I thought seriously what we created on my own how's that even possible? And at a certain stage, it must have been again, a Thursday evening or a Friday evening and people would be going out and partying and I ended up in the hospital with severe pain and this is when I literally just it's just realized I can't I can't do it anymore. And although I'm not a religious person, I looked up and I said, God universe, Allah, whoever's up there helped me, I just can't do it anymore. I don't think that I deserve to live such a terrible way. I don't want to go through this emotional pain through this physical pain. I'm literally surviving, I'm crawling on the floor. I'm sorry that I didn't believe in you. But just or I kind of broke up with you when I was 18. But maybe you give me a sign or something. And I got a sign I, a few days later, I learned about the idea of Gandhi Be the change you wish to see in the world? And yes, the pain that you're going through is self created. So this is when I had a lot of conversations with my friends, with my mentors with our parents. And they all said, You know what? Do it quit your job? Go on a sabbatical. And during that sabbatical, please start doing your homework, figure out? What is happiness for you? what is success for you? What does money mean? What does time mean? How do you want to work? How do you want to live? With whom do you want to work? What if everything you ever thought was an illusion or a lie? And that's exactly what I did. And then I created a long list of all the things I wanted to do. And I stumbled myself up a field myself up to my dream life, and career of purpose and understood that your dream job only exists when you create it, at least in my reality and my perception, and if you believe that you have what it takes, just go for it.

Andrew Stotz 11:34
So tell us what lessons did you learn from this? I'm going to call it a journey. A journey kind of crashing, you know, you were doing everything right. You know, you're a good kid, you did what's expected of you, you know, you tried to achieve your sexual goals, and then it started crashing, it hit bottom. And let's just look at that, you know, from that experience, and the recovery from it, what did you learn,

Natalia Wiechowski 12:00
I believe that we are born and no way that we are very innocent, and we curious, and we want to explore and we want to spend time with our loved one. So we want to have fun, and we want to sing and dance and we want to be naked. Yes. We get socialized. And then life kicks in and all of that, and you can't do that stuff did exactly why a

12:23
Series B grow up, mature.

Natalia Wiechowski 12:27
And some people understand it to certain stage, but they don't follow their heart or their soul. or however you want to call that instance, or that entity within yourself. Some people never get it, some people understand it, and it's never too late. But I do believe that if you realize that this part of you is communicating with you learn to listen to it, and go on that journey. Because I believe that life in the end is a journey where you go back to, to who you truly are, it is a journey to understand why you're here, how you can contribute to the world, because everybody is good at something. And if you can design a lifestyle and a career and a business model around that reason why you're here, and some people are here to paint to sink to be great parents, to help people with their finances, as you do to help people with their art with their whatever it is. Be honest to yourself, even though you don't like it, and other people say oh, you can't make a living from that you can. And then go out there, sharpen that skill, master it and share it with the world. And that's how you're going to live a healthy life, a balanced life. And that's how you're going to live a beautiful life without any regrets, especially on the last day when you're here on this planet. You'll realize you know what? I made a lot of mistakes. But all in all, it was a fantastic journey. now ready to go, whatever the next step is exactly.

Andrew Stotz 14:01
Well, let me share a couple of things that I think about when I was listening to your story. I was in Hong Kong a couple of years ago giving a speech about careers in finance. So I had a lot of young people. And I basically got off the stage and I went to the back of the room. And a lot of young people came to ask me questions, but I remember one in particular. And she said, You know, I'm I studied accounting. I want to do finance. But you know, I heard that, you know, it's hard to make that transition. And you know, what do you think? And I said, Who told you that? And she said I mean I just heard that? From whom? Who told you that? Yeah, I just heard it. I said Well, then, you know, I said, I said for my advice here is don't listen to that. If what you want to do is to do finance, it isn't going to be easy. You know you're going to transition from being an engineer or being an accountant. Whatever it is that you're doing, so that it's not gonna be easy. But if you want to do it, forget what other people say. And I think that, that's one big, you know, thing that you reminded me of is the ideas. Ultimately, it's about your own satisfaction in your life, and pursuing, you know, the dreams that you have. And there's a lot of people that just flippantly say something like, Oh, yeah, but it's kind of hard to make that. And they don't realize like how damaging that can be to a young person. So the first lesson is the idea of, you know, really just saying, if I want to do it, I'm going to do it, you got to set out your plan, you got to follow it. The second thing is people ask me, you know, how is it that you're so happy with the work that you do and the life that you've lived? And I said, Well, I guess they said, If you give me any advice, what one piece of advice I say, quit, quit a lot. And they're like, What do you mean? I said, Look, the fact is, is that in life, we understand the things that don't work much better than the things that might work, the things that might work or unknowns out there. But the things that don't work are very real today. And so the point is, when you identify something that's not working for you a relationship, a job or whatever, quit, you know, hurry up and quit before you get trapped in it. And of course, I'm not saying just to, you know, not think about, you know, other people around you and your circumstances, but the point is, is that, if you want to have a better life, you have to leave some things behind. And that's the reason why a lot of people don't have a better life is because they don't have the ability, the guts, the determination, whatever it is, to leave things behind and quit. And so those are two things that you really reminded me of which I just love, because it just gets me charged up about how much potential there is in life. And I'll tell you one last story is that when my father, my father called me, and he told me, he asked me if I could come help him take care of my mother. And my mother had had a stroke, and she was in pretty bad shape in a rehab hospital. So I flew back from Thailand to North Carolina, and I basically, my dad, and I went to see my mother. And then after that, my dad, I said, like, Dad, just Just relax. Let me take care mom a bit here. So every day, you know, in the afternoon, I'd go see mom at the rehab place, and then get her to bed. And she was in very, pretty bad shape. And it was getting worse, you know, I could see all the medicines and you know, a lack of much activity. And I just kind of fighting with the nurses and the doctors and all that. And then after one week, I came home from seeing my mom one night, and my dad had had a massive hemorrhage. And basically, I got him to the emergency room. And, you know, I don't that was a great in some ways. You could say it was a great day, he was 82. We had been on the golf course in the morning, we'd had a coffee at Starbucks at, you know, a breakfast break. And then we had lunch together. And he told me how much he loved my mom. And we had a beautiful day. And then he had the hemorrhage and within about two weeks, he was gone. And, and, you know, I don't feel sad because I got so much from my dad and we were together at the last days. But what I wanted to say out of this story was that when I decided and my mom had asked me at one point, could you take care of me in Thailand? And I said absolutely. So my sister and I and my mom worked on it together and then I brought mom to through through Munich airport from Charlotte. Yeah. Okay. And it's funny because on Lufthansa there was a beautiful German stewardess and I was wearing a suit, as I often do, and I travel. And I was taking care of my mom. She was I got her in the first class, luckily, and she had like a bed. But I told the lady look, every time that my mom and she asked for anything, just call me. And I would get my mom would have she was having urinary tract problems and stuff. So I would get her up out of her out of her chair, go to the bathroom, you know, this tiny little bathroom? Yeah, I would go and she'd sit down on the commode and I kneel down in front of her with a little cup and she had a catheter. So you know, it was like, can empty that and then I get her back up and get her back in about six or eight times. And that's funny because I just finished my PhD in the area of finance, which is where I studied. And then the stewardess said to me, she said, at the end towards the end of the flight, she looked at me said, Are you a doctor? And I thought to myself, Oh, yeah, I am. In fact, I just got my PhD. I just not a medical doctor. Yeah, point is when I brought my mom to Thailand. Her condition was very difficult, but through concerted It effort, through better nutrition through me, particularly studying about nutrition, I was able to get her off of medicines, get her to have great night's sleep, not interrupt those things like happens at all these places and start getting to heal. And now she's laughing and smiling and we're having fun in our lives together. But it makes you what the message of this is, the potential is massive. If my 78 year old mother can get to 82 and improve in so many ways, and you listen are 2530 and going on, it's so hard to get out there and make it happen. And today's you know, story will really inspire that anything you'd add to the comments that I made about your story. I

Natalia Wiechowski 20:46
mean, I think it's, and you know that better than I do, I think probably people have a fear or they don't like to change because they have in vested so much they have invested time, they have invested love, they have invested energy, they have invested money, they have invested, whatever it is, and just stopping making this radical cartons starting from scratch, they, they see that as a too big oven, I don't know as a challenge, or whatever it is. But if you think about it, you will always invest and lose and learn. And it's all interconnected. And if you don't risk things, if you don't take calculated risks, then you're going to live a boring, mediocre life. And for me, that's my biggest nightmare.

Andrew Stotz 21:41
I was just talking with some of my interns that I have in Thailand. And I was saying, you know, there's nothing wrong with kind of an average life. Not everybody is going to swing for the fences and be a star and all that, you know, but you've got to make your decision.

21:57
Exactly. You're gonna make your decision, and then stick to it.

Andrew Stotz 22:01
Yep. And you remind me of what's called the sunk cost fallacy in the world of finance. And as you were explaining, you know, you invest time invested energy and all that, I'm sure there's plenty of listeners that have invested time and energy in relationships, and they're thinking, ah, but I put so much time and we've got so much together. But we can always break the sunk cost fallacy by asking this question, knowing what you know about this person, or this situation now, what you didn't know when you first got into it, knowing what you know, now, if this situation appeared before you, would you jump into it? If the answer is yes, then double down and make it great. But if the answer is no, it's time to quit.

Natalia Wiechowski 22:45
Beautifully said, Great. So everybody will listen to that. Get your stuff sorted out.

Andrew Stotz 22:52
So let's go back in time, to the time that you were kind of crashing, you know, before you made your recovery, and think about this question, based on what you learn from your story, and what you continue to learn what one action would you recommend our listeners take to avoid suffering the same fate just continuing to crash down?

Natalia Wiechowski 23:13
designing the time every day, to have space and time for yourself? And you use that time to reflect and ask yourself what was great about today? What was terrible, terrible about today? Where can I improve? What have I learned? What do I need to do to become one step better tomorrow, and literally get a journal and a pen or a piece of paper and write it down? design this space and time to reflect and that will make a big difference. Because if you don't, then you will, or the likeliness that you will turn into a zombie or as you said somebody who's rushing through red rays and, and become a ping pong ball of what other people want. And a passive victim of circumstances very high. So if you want to be on top of the game, understand that it's your game. And that when you don't steer it, when you don't reflect on it, you're not going to win, you will very likely end up supporting somebody in his or her dream, getting them closer, but you own goals and targets. Well, there will be there somewhere on Item Number 395 on your to do list. And that's very said, as you said there's so much potential. And if you decided to be somebody who's striving for greatness, and who wants to be more than just just everage nice person next door. Then get your stuff done. Beautiful. Ladies and gentlemen, get your time. Find your time and invest in yourself. Last question. What's your number one goal for the next 12 months being more efficient retaining. So I have studied keynotes and storytelling and copywriting and all of that. So I think in this area, I'm pretty good. But I think that social media is where the audience is demanding more humor and more entertainment. And I think that this kind of content is very, very, it's different than it is an art form. And it's also powerful when you work with other people. So I literally made it my number one things over the next year, I want to learn more about the art of stand up comedy about humor about satire about cracking jokes about what is entertainment, I will also go back into dancing, I used to be a dancer. So I would play with all of these different art forms and pieces and want to find a way how I can incorporate that into my business, my life and my stage character, my personal brand, to help even more people, and to have more fun along the way. Because I realized that this part of me is really screaming, saying, I want this give me an outlet. So I'm like, Okay, fine. Let me create it for you. Whatever that crazy voice inside of me is, well, I

Andrew Stotz 26:17
can't wait to follow up in 12 months to hear where you are. That's exciting. Well, listeners, there you have it another story of laws to keep you winning, to remember to go to my worst investment ever.com to claim your discount on the course that excites you the most. Now, as we conclude, Natalia, I want to thank you again for coming on the show. And on behalf of a Stotz Academy, I hereby award you alumni status for turning your worst investment ever into your best teaching moment. Do you have any parting words for the audience?

Natalia Wiechowski 26:52
Thank you so much for this opportunity. And one thing one way to sum it up is to stop waiting for the perfect moment because perfection is an illusion. Start now and I believe that floors awesomeness being frozen, which is a mix between full of floors and awesome. That's the gold.

Andrew Stotz 27:17
Beautiful start now be flossing. Well that's a wrap on another great story to help us create grow, and most importantly, protect our well fellow risk takers. This is your worst podcast host Andrew Stotz saying. I'll see you on the upside.