Take The First Baby Steps

Are you feeling stuck, off-track, or disrupted by the pandemic year we’ve all experienced? Are you struggling to cope with uncertainty and ambiguity in your present and future? 

If so, the research is clear that one of the best things we can do for ourselves and others is to share our stories openly, offer our learnings generously, and build communities of mutual concern and support. I would like to take this opportunity to invite you into mine.

BACKGROUND

Four years ago, I quit a fancy corporate job in Germany and decided to move to the US to pursue my MBA - to find my soul and figure out how to make the world a better place. The two years of experience in Ann Arbor, Michigan, were truly amazing and transformative, making me a better leader who is always critically questioning the status quo and aspiring to make a social impact beyond myself.

After graduation in 2019, I took a big risk and moved to San Francisco without a job, money, and any friends. Looking back, it was very scary at that moment, but it has also been one of the best decisions I have ever made: I found my heart in the Bay Area, and a truly beautiful soul with a clear value system of openness, kindness, and love. I started my first post-MBA job at a legal tech startup in Silicon Valley and got a group of close friends and chosen family members who are going to stay in my life. 

Beautiful, isn’t it? It was until I was told that I did not receive the H1B lottery visa. It did not make any sense to me: I have three degrees from four countries, speak multiple languages, went to one of the best business schools, worked hard and smart, and got a job that sponsored me….

I left San Francisco with a broken heart and so many tears and moved to Berlin, Germany. It took me a while to find an apartment and eventually my second post-MBA job at an early-stage startup. I was very excited about making an impact there by leveraging my analytical and people skills. 3 months later, it did not work out. I took the hard lessons that it is important to align my personal values such as integrity, transparency, and kindness with the organization’s and how critical it is to have direct and trusted communication culture. 

I am feeling confused and stuck. At the same time, I let it go and am moving forward while taking away life-changing lessons. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I will get to where I belong: joining a mission-driven organization, doing meaningful work, making a positive impact, helping others, and adding value by utilizing my diverse global experience, passion for people, and strong equity mindset. While continuing to work on getting there with patience, I want to share my valuable experience and learnings here. 

TAKE THE FIRST BABY STEPS

The first important learning is to take baby steps, and more importantly, take the first ones, now - such as my writings on LinkedIn, which I have planned for so long, back when I was in San Francisco. 

This is a very valuable approach as I recognized that many good habits I am having were started small. During the lockdown time, while the gym is closed, I realized the importance of doing regular exercise. I started to run outside, only 10 minutes in the beginning. The first day was extremely difficult as I felt that I always tried to find some excuses: it was windy outside; it would be nice to have one running partner; do I need some professional shoes? The key to winning this first batch was to just do it without overthinking. After the first running, I felt energetic and as a result very motivated to continue to run. I increased the running time day by day. At the moment, as long as it is not raining, I get up in the morning and go out to run for at least 45 minutes. Meditation is another area that I started small - 3 years ago, inspired by my roommate Novis in Ann Arbor, Michigan, I tried for only 3 minutes for the first time. As soon as I got started, I was able to continue and motivate myself to do more. In the beginning, even 3 minutes seemed to be so long for me, but now I am meditating for 2 sessions every single day with 20 minutes per session. 

There is much scientific research on this topic. My personal experience is to break big things into small chunks. For example, I was aiming to complete 300 pushups a day. In the beginning, I was able to do 15 push-ups per session, 5 sessions in the morning, and another 5 sessions during the day. Day by day, and week by week, I increased the number of pushups and sessions until now I am doing 20 push-ups per session, 10 sessions in the morning, and another 6 during the rest of the day. 

So in order to get things done and achieve the goals that I defined for myself, I chose to show up, start with baby steps, and consistently improve with time. The most important lesson is to take the first step, and that is what I am doing now with writing.

WHAT’S NEXT?

This is my first LinkedIn article. I am looking forward to receiving your comments, feedback, and stories. I will be excited if dialogue can be started from here, and a community can be formed. Let me know which experience you would like to discuss, and I will try my best to write it in my next posts. 

Here are some topics that are currently in my mind:

• What have I learned from business school?
• Strong Body, Strong Mind, Strong Heart - find the balance
• Mindfulness - personal experience about meditation 
• What are fears and anxiety? 
• How to follow intuition and heart?
• What does Diversity & Inclusion mean to me?