Dagmara Asbreuk (00:00.128)
I used to handle emotions with logic. in, okay, if there is a kid crying, there must be a reason for the kid crying. Let's figure out what the reason is, solve that reason and the crying will stop. So the part where you want to show care and you want to show emotion, that was out of the equation. The human aspect. Distruption. So yeah, I mean, that part obviously, it did affect...
my relation with the other humans, I close or far. And that was another area of shift, which now I totally appreciate it because of how much I was hyper rational and logical for almost 50 years. So shifting that will take some time, but it's already felt. I'm already getting feedback from my kids, from other members, from family that you are more.
compassionate, are more different, you are closer, more caring. Welcome Paul to this episode of Extraordinary Leadership. Thank you. Thank you, Dagmaro. Excited to be here. Let us start with you. And I want to ask you this kind of different question so that, know, public and people that listening to us can get to know you. What are the key couple of words that best describe Paul? Interesting question. I'll tell you a story.
Approximately a month, month and a half ago, I was in that networking event. It was in the morning and you know, it was a group of 10, 15 people just getting to know each other and meeting each other. And then I get to a guy to say hi and I was like, hi, I'm Paul. And we shake hands and he's like, who are you? And the immediate answer that came to my mind was.
I'm a management consultant and I do this and that and this and that, which is the typical thing of presenting yourself in a networking event. Instead, I was like, think about more, no, he asked me, who am I? Not what I do. And then my answer was, I'm an explorer. Interesting. Yeah. And his immediate response at the time was that, I wasn't expecting this kind of answer. You know what? I'm a wanderer.
Dagmara Asbreuk (02:23.158)
I just go with the flow. And that actually drove the conversation in a very different way. And actually, yes, Explorer, I would say, describes me very well because I always try to discover new things, to try new things and in all aspects of life. Cool. And it's great to, you know, wander through life with this Explorer lenses and glasses and curiosity that brings it all in discovering new things.
Including, I know that you do scuba diving, right? So that's also exploring in a different way. yes, yes. Yeah. No, mean, again, I mean, another question I got asked recently as in what are your hobbies? What do you do? And that was last week. And the guy asked me if I go clubbing in Dubai because it's a big clubbing scene. And I was like, no, anytime I have free time, I'm out in nature. I mean, in winter, yes, I spend time off-roading, camping, barbecues in the desert, exploring mountains. Or...
scuba diving, I mean, which goes the whole year. That's cool. That's cool. So also liking the nature, think exploring goes everywhere. That's cool. Paul, we're going to talk about transitioning from corporate life to running your own business. And well, we both know what that means. You did that transition very recently too. Why did you jump off? Why did you decide to do that move? Why has multiple reasons. Obviously there were...
corporate reasons behind it. So the company I was in, I was working with GE, I mean, one of the largest companies in the world. And I got to a level where I was on the corporate band and the company had, I mean, the strategy of the company was to split into three different divisions, totally independent companies. And obviously the corporate band had to disintegrate and people had the option of either joining one of the companies or going on their own. And
That's the stage where I felt that there is more to life than just sticking into a company, into the corporate world. I had started my, let's say entrepreneurship at a very limited scale, very low scale three, four years earlier when like everyone else, I was at the risk of losing my job. So I had to have something as a backup. And, but obviously it wasn't my main focus because
Dagmara Asbreuk (04:46.326)
I was still in the corporate world getting your salary at the end of the month. So life was happy and comfortable. But when that time came and I had to make the decision, I felt that I'm going to either get stuck in a scenario like people who lose their jobs, sit at home and be upset about it and keep applying to companies here and there and left and right. And the job market today, we all know it's very difficult or build on
that little tiny entrepreneurship model I had and expanded and grow it. And actually one exercise I did when I started listing my skills, what I know from a skillset perspective to update my CV and update everything, I started realizing that no, I know way more than I think. So all of these can really be put together to build
is solid consultancy business. And that's how the idea started. And I started building it, I would say in around October, November timeline, 2023. And by January, I had everything ready, everything set. We spent January, February, March, putting the structure of the business, added a couple of partners. And then as of April, we're up and running. Cool. So this was really like since like, okay, that's
That's something that I really am calling to, right? It was from one side, a calling from another side. I saw myself, if I say in the corporate world, it's stagnation. I'm going to stay where I am. Nothing's going to move in my life. I started becoming eager to do something more, to grow. That's where your explorer was woken up. And you have been for how many years in corporate world? You spent a very long time, right? Around 30. And which part of the business you were mostly in?
Or were there different parts of the business or the functions that you have been? So, I'm an engineer by education. I'm an electrical engineer. But career-wise, I spent most of it in sales, commercial, business development. And then the last phase was more on the corporate structures, corporate services, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, performance improvement of companies. And that's actually what I do today in my consulting business.
Dagmara Asbreuk (07:11.756)
So it was like a gearing up for also launching on your own and bringing all of the skills and knowledge and experiences right from that phases too. was gearing, you know, I do believe in everything happens for a reason. back in when I moved into the corporate mergers and acquisitions in GE, it was supposed to be a temporary job for a year.
But I stayed there for five years. I learned a lot. And I would say if, if I didn't take that job back in 2019, probably I wouldn't be where I am today. Wow. Amazing. And I do agree with you. Everything happens for us. Even the difficult times. And you know what? mean, eventually we're going to talk about this, but one thing that helped me if, if you recall in January, we had that.
retreat for defining your vision. And I think that session in itself gave me confidence and comfort to keep pushing and moving with that path. Yeah, that's a good one that you bring actually. Why not to explore it now? So what was the start? How did you start this entrepreneurship journey? So I'm hearing of course one thing is it was a structural way, right? So basically setting up your business, getting your partners structured, it was pretty easy in flow for very...
Am I, January you mentioned? Yes. So let me, let me take it back. You asked me the question or you made the comment, when did we meet? Yeah, it was almost a year ago, but the first time we interacted, I would say more closely was when you had the dinner, leaders dinner in December, beginning of December in 2023. And that's where I started noticing that, okay, I have an interest. It's like, it's like.
I felt like there is something attracting me to learning more and understanding more. So when you posted that retreat in January about building your vision and looking at your vision, I said, you know what, anyway, I'm jobless right now. I'm trying to think what I want to do. And obviously the biggest thought was starting my entrepreneurship journey. I registered for that.
Dagmara Asbreuk (09:39.552)
retreat and I'd say I was lucky enough to be the only one registered. So I had like one and a half days of one-on-one coaching. The thing that really clicked during that, I, if you recall, I came to you asking that I have two areas where I know I need support. need to be better at one of them was focus and clarity.
The other one was the emotional understanding of humans in general. And I think the focus and clarity part really clicked during that session where the impact of it is that since I have clarity for the path I'm going to go through and I'm focused on it, automatically it built more self-confidence. It built...
the fact that I believe in what I'm doing and I'm pushing towards it. So it became more and more, I would say, structure, a more solid path where I know where I'm heading, I know what I'm doing. And that's why in February I was like, you know what, Dagmara, let's go for a full fledged coaching sessions. And that's where we've been moving here we are, right? Talking about this journey too.
Yeah. And you know, I can, I can remember of course very vividly that, that, that January. And I remember that it was like activating a drive and as well as his confidence, because that's what this process is designed for. this beautiful tangibility. And I can agree with you that, you know, when you're stepping into the, you're being a driver of your own business, so jumping on and starting your business and being a hundred percent committed to that.
Then that clarity is so important because this is the between clarity and the belief. think that's what you also mentioned, believe that that's the right path and that's what you want and you can make it. Yes. And I think that opens the conversation to a much wider scope because going from corporate into entrepreneurship and having that drive and that clarity. mean, today, what I can say.
Dagmara Asbreuk (12:04.67)
is that when you go on your own in an entrepreneurship journey from corporate, no matter what you would have done previously in the corporate world, you can talk about empathy, can talk about human relations, you can talk about knowing yourself, discovering yourself, you're still living in that corporate bubble. It's like a closed room where, yes, you can move around.
but you're still in that closed room. As soon as you step into entrepreneurship, two things change.
The corporate restrictions, but also the responsibilities. Now, when I say responsibilities, it's not the technical responsibilities. No, it's responsibilities towards yourself. Because as an entrepreneur, how will I approach the world? If I approach the world with the mentality of the corporate world or the mentality about, or the understanding of myself when I was in the corporate world.
Yeah, I might be a amazing leader in corporate, but then how is amazing measured in corporate? It could be measured based on performance. It could be measured based on the numbers you're bringing to the company. So is it a real measurement of you as a person? No, it's not. And that's, I would say that was the big eye opener for me because when, when you move out and I think I was
lucky with the timing between meeting you and doing that vision session and everything. Synchronicity? No, absolutely. Because it made me realize that there are several things I need to know about myself. I need to understand about myself, which eventually helped in becoming who I am today. And obviously it's still work in progress, but I'm definitely a different person compared to one year ago. Yeah.
Dagmara Asbreuk (14:09.014)
And a lot of things shifted is true and I can witness those shifts too. And you know, when you were sharing, it's like, what came to my mind is like wanting to be more purpose driven, wanting, it's a moment of reflection, right? When you jump off and, mean, maybe we should not use the word jump off all the time, but when you start to create our own businesses, you mentioned this word responsibility. And I also hear in between the lines about it's about purpose and alignment with, with who I am.
Because when we are in a corporate structure, we do need to adapt to quite a lot of stuff as well, which is not, not bad. It serves us in many, many different ways. But I think for a lot of entrepreneurs when they lean into entrepreneurship, at least that was for me too, it was this willingness to expand my potential and also live the life in fullness and realize myself. So basically there is a place where you grow and there is a place of purpose that you are discovering along that journey too. and I'd say when.
When you want to talk about entrepreneurship and I really feel people who are still very young who are entrepreneurs, because part of what I do as a consultant is support them from a technical perspective, like in management. However, when I look at the path I went through and how I understood myself, I invested in myself to, better understand myself and then reflect on the outside world.
These people at that young age, I really think that it's something they need to think about because today when you're young and you're building, it might be a very successful company. Don't get me wrong, as an entrepreneur, you might be extremely successful, which is great, but your potential can be doubled. your potential can be much bigger once you start really understanding yourself.
And aligning yourself, your behavior, your emotions to what you are doing as a business. Yeah. So it's not only, only we see numbers driven, but also the purpose of an impact driven, right? Purpose impact. mean, that's, that's the one thing that I think helped me a lot today when I talk to people, when I meet people, I go to a lot of networking events. The energy of interaction is different.
Dagmara Asbreuk (16:30.476)
I can compare myself to three, four, five, 10 years ago where I was in the corporate world. And then it's a matter of following the rules and making sure that you're not upsetting anyone. you know, everything is falling into the right place. When I look at myself today and entrepreneurship,
There are so many ways you can influence a conversation. can influence the discussion. can approach people. I had the comment a couple of months back. was in again, another networking event. And then that guy who I haven't met yet came to me during the break and he was like, hi, introduced himself. I introduced myself and he said, I just wanted to meet you because it's amazing how
you're bringing so much positive energy to the room. And I was like, what's this guy talking about? And he's like, yeah, the way you're always smiling and talking with confidence, with energy and talking to everyone, moving around. It's like you feel the positive energy. I'm like, okay. That's when I started realizing how much shift is happening.
So let's talk about these shifts because a couple of times you mentioned, I mean, it was different than I'm now. So what do you notice has shifted for you? So one thing I'm hearing, like you're a magnet of positive, shining with positive energy, right? And people notice that, which is fantastic. What has shifted for you? One of the biggest shifts to me, I mean, yes, positivity is there, but one of the biggest shifts when I went for that coaching sessions or the retreat we spoke about, my requirement was
I want to be, find focus and drive. And today, when I look at myself, is focus and drive are there? Yes, there are a few things you need to remind you on a daily, remind yourself on a daily basis and work them out and making sure that you don't lose track. But a couple of minutes in the morning to think to yourself that I'm driven, I'm focused, I'm going to do this today. It's.
Dagmara Asbreuk (18:46.838)
It's more than enough to keep the drive for the whole day. And the other thing is when, when you know your target, when you know where you're heading, then that focus and that drive definitely happens. So if you put these three elements together, clarity, clarity of purpose, and then the focusing on the path and the drive to go through the paths. I mean, that's.
these three elements are really what shifted for me. Yeah, amazing. And it gives like this ignition and yeah, that's where you start to channel their they complete each other. Yeah, they complete each other. Beautiful. So yeah, I know your essense as a driven person. I can confirm that. I can see that as well, which is great because, because going back to, you know, being an entrepreneur, this is about self.
motivation and self-discipline here, right? That we talk about because there's nobody that's coming to you and setting a goal. So maybe inviting you in setting a goal and all of that, the structure is out. Now you are the structure. And this is, this is what we mentioned earlier about discovering yourself because yes, can put targets, you can put structure, but again, it needs to be aligned with you. It needs to be aligned with yourself as in it's driven from inside, not.
just a target on paper. Yeah. So it's something coming from a deeper, deeper space here. What else did you discover about yourself? I know that I'm hearing that you mentioned this word discover yourself. So what else did you discover about yourself in this journey? No, one of the other aspects is, as I mentioned, my purpose for coaching was being emotionally more aware of my environment and the people around me. So I did a couple of tests, obviously, and the result came out.
as something I knew since probably I was a kid that I'm a hyper-rational person. mean, being an engineer and then, I used to- kind of works together. Exactly. I used to handle emotions with logic as in, okay, if there is a kid crying, there must be a reason for the kid crying. Let's figure out what the reason is, solve that reason and the crying will stop. Really perfect, right? The solution, the problem. Exactly. And-
Dagmara Asbreuk (21:06.24)
So the part where you want to show care and you want to show emotion, that was out of the equation. The human aspect. Distruption. So yeah, I mean that part obviously it did affect my relation with the other humans, I mean, close or far. And that was another area of shift, which now I
I totally appreciate it. again, this part because of how much I was hyper rational and logical for almost 50 years. So shifting that will take some time, but it's already felt. I'm already getting feedback from my kids, from other members, from family that yes, you are more compassionate, you are more different, you are closer.
Hmm. More caring. Beautiful. you know, it's wonderful that they share it because quite a lot of, mean, first of all, let's be very honest, each of us has those mind saboteurs and they have different, right? Hyper-rational is one of them, right? And it's, say, first of all, getting to that awareness is already a first stepping stone because we kind of think that that's who we are. So we don't distinguish that that's maybe just the mind sabotage. We just think we are like that and that's it. The second, think.
important is what you mentioned, okay, for 50 years, a long time, I've been, you know, in that paradigm, actually that, and now I'm shifting. And of course it's not a shift overnight, but, and I'm seeing those shifts too. I'm also very happy to hear obviously others' feedbacks because they are amazingly fast in comparison to how many years that we've, you know, been attached to something else. So no, it will not take another 50 years. It will be much shorter. It's already shorter. And, and this, this, as you mentioned, work with Progress, we all are, right?
But that's beautiful to recognize that you recognize for yourself that, that's something that I really want to strengthen. it's already, you know, give fruits as well for my relationship building and talking about relationship building, how important is that for entrepreneurs? It's massively important. That's why, I mean, I go back to what we said in the beginning about discovering yourself. Because today as an entrepreneur, there is no...
Dagmara Asbreuk (23:35.102)
Let's call it a person I don't need to connect with. Everybody is important. No matter how small or big the position of that person is, they might be a door opener. They might be a support. They might play a role in your entrepreneurship journey. I mean, an example of that, a few weeks back, I was to meet an ex-colleague of mine.
He's in IT and now he's in real estate. I'm like, okay, it's his own company. It's a family company. So from a business perspective, the thought was that nothing will come out from that meeting, but he's an ex-colleague. So I'll meet him out of courtesy. Well, guess what? During that meeting, I found out that yes, that's what he's doing as a main job, but he's also collaborating with.
another consultant on some consulting jobs and they might require my support with it. So it did open up a business possibility without even having thought about it myself when I went for that meeting. And that's why, that's why I say that there is no wrong connection. Everything can work. And as an entrepreneur, is, I'd say it is.
my duty to myself to explore each and every possibility. Yeah. And I can see in all of this, this explorer spirit that you are transpiring. I use explore again. Yeah. You see it in all of these examples. Amazing. And it's true. And this is this ability to manage also emotional intelligence, right? Here, of course, a great example that you gave is like, just be open and nurture.
different relationships and be open to different opportunities, which is definitely one of the important things. And the second is also, you know, how, how we build connection, right? Cause that's where the emotions and emotional intelligence, the mastery of emotion comes into place, right? And more than just thinking about problems and solutions. Exactly. What are the challenges that you are seeing now that you have not experienced maybe before in a corporate world that you see entrepreneurs and not only yourself, but others might also?
Dagmara Asbreuk (25:59.402)
Well, obviously the biggest one is that in the corporate world, the environment is set for you and you just have to follow. Here you're setting your own environment. And one mistake that could happen for someone moving from corporate to entrepreneurship is replicate what you know from the corporate world in your entrepreneurship journey.
And that will make it extremely complex for the startup. You want easy processes, simple processes. You want to use what you learned in the corporate world and restructure it, redefine it to suit your entrepreneurship process. And in some cases, it might not be useful. You might not need to use it. And that's where having some...
coaches, advisors, people around you who can help in building the right structure or giving you the right advice from experience can be crucial. Yes, I can only agree to that. And actually we talked about that just before starting, This conversation, how important it is to people.
surround yourself with this great actually ecosystem because there's so much new things that you need to learn. So many new skills at the beginning, you might find yourself like a chameleon, right? I came from procurement and I needed to learn quite a lot of sales. All of these different things, right? Exactly. I again, it's something I went through because as I said, I mean, I was still in the corporate world and I had my company on a very limited level. the amount of effort.
I was giving to that company was extremely limited. You know what? The income is coming from somewhere else. It's just there. I'll keep it alive, but not really focusing on it. When January came and I started thinking about how can we really add energy to that company? Because now it's going to become the main focus. And that's why I opened the door to a of
Dagmara Asbreuk (28:15.122)
additional partners to come on board. So we became four partners. And then I'd say the magic happened because having four partners working with the same purpose, with the same focus, it created some kind of a support snowball within the four of us. So one support the others then.
the flow of energy, mean, somebody can be down one day or not having the energy to do work when the other one is like energetic and pushing, then automatically everybody comes energetic and pushing. It's like helping each other to drive this forward. And this is why I said that if somebody is starting a journey on their own, one person startup or one person entrepreneurship journey,
definitely have somebody on the side who is supporting, who is giving you that energy and that drive. Yes, I can only agree to that. Well, my entrepreneurship journey starts a bit different than yours. So I do more in a solo with some support. I don't have partners in a business. However, I totally agree with the creating ecosystem and ecosystem, you need different roles in this ecosystem. And a lot of the dimension also about this aspect of energy, because at the end,
There are so many moments that can be challenged and feeling down to it, right? So who is lifting you up as well, but also those that are bringing, you know, they've been already in a couple of steps ahead of you. So I also do, and I think every entrepreneur, when we step into that, we do invest even more into ourselves, into all those things that we need, because we basically, it helps us to pivot and navigate. So yes, mentors, coaches, partners.
All of those certain peers that can bring different skills and different supports. is also great. And you know, when you were sharing, also what came to me as a question is how important is the game of the mind? And what is that game on the mind when you are an entrepreneur that you are maybe observing, noticing and managing? Look, the biggest, let's call it game of the mind for me is keep the belief.
Dagmara Asbreuk (30:33.842)
in yourself and what you're doing. Because as an entrepreneur, you will face ups and downs. There will be good days. There will be very bad days. And losing hope is really the worst thing you could face. That's why as long as inside, inside your mind, inside your heart, you're focused on the target and you're focused on reaching that target, then
No matter what happens in between, you need to be able to overcome it and keep going. And this is a mind game and mindset and all of our sabotage, right? So when things do not happen as we want, I've been many times in the slopes, right? Or the results do not come. And it can be actually equally in a journey when you are in corporate, but the pressure of course, or the circumstances when you're running your business is a different. So yeah, that mind gate is even more elevated and more important. You add to that, obviously the financial side.
I mean, today as an entrepreneur, if your only source of income is that entrepreneurship journey that you're on, there are two things that could happen. Either you're going to start generating money, start generating income, and then it keeps going and you're good. Or it's going to take you time to generate income. And today, if you look at statistics across the globe, any startup, it's one to two years to start generating.
Money. Yeah, you might generate a little bit in the beginning, but it's minimal. The thing is, you need to be very aware of those facts. You need to look at those projections and be realistic about it. One of the biggest mistakes that startups do or entrepreneurs do, and I'm saying this because I've done a lot of research, is that you overshoot your expectations. So you say that.
during the first year, I'm going to make $100,000. The reality is you've done your calculation and you're going to make $20,000. But you believe in your product so much and you're proud of your product that automatically your heart, your brain will tell you, no, I'm going to make more. I'm able to make more. Be realistic about your expectations. Be realistic about your projections. And that's once you look at those calculations and those paperwork,
Dagmara Asbreuk (33:00.606)
before you jump into full-fledged into that entrepreneurship journey. Can I sustain myself during that period? If yes, great. If not, and you still want to do it, then try to figure out another source of income. It might be an investor. It might be a night job. might, it might be anything, whatever it is, but make sure that you're going to go through these one, one and a half, two years. There will be times where you're not generating money.
You cannot let go. cannot just drop it. You need to keep pushing because drive and consistency is what's going to get you there. Yeah, definitely. It's wiser to, you know, have some ecosystem, financial ecosystem, let's call it this way, is helping you to navigate, especially the beginning, because the speed of
you know, rising of every business, statistically around two years, can be sooner, it can be later. And I believe this unlocks a little bit the pressure and allows us, of course, to be more creative and stay into this, how to building up on this belief that we can and having big visions and staying into, you mentioned the word hoping, I would say, in the believing as well, right? Absolutely. That we can make it end.
It's totally fine to make this, you know, high goals, high aspirations and high visions for ourselves. The more important is what you mentioned before, when they don't come at the expected time that we thought they are expected, then we navigate that dialogue within ourselves because that's exactly where we have a challenge. This is not about the numbers we put, but how we come about when the numbers do not show up the way we want them to show up.
Yes. And definitely it helps to have more ease in this first year, especially when we have some, I can recollect with that. So yeah, that's a good one as well. So Paul, what is like the key message that you would like to pass today to the listeners and maybe those that are in a corporate thinking about the way, start my own business, I know what's the right time? What would you like to tell them? Look, starting your own business is...
Dagmara Asbreuk (35:12.636)
It has many drivers. You can be bored where you are. You might have a toxic environment or a toxic manager. And just when I get out of there, you might be laid off. I mean, today's environment, a lot of people are simply being made redundant and they go out in the world. We all know that the job environment is very tough today. So they try for a few months and if nothing works, you know what?
I'll start my entrepreneurship journey. I'll do something on my own. The key message here is be ready. Be ready from perspective that don't do it just because everything else failed. Do it because you want to do it. You have a plan. You have the right product in your mind. have a target. You have a clear, sharp, clear, crystal clear target.
Otherwise it's another adventure that's going to end in a negative place. Okay. You might be in the middle, in the peak of your corporate life, but then you might have that drive, that thirst to do something on your own. You might resign and do it. As long as you have the clarity, the right target and the structure of the, or the understanding of what you want to do, then. Yeah.
Go ahead and do it. Yeah, that's a good one. And I think for me, when you mentioned this plan, was thinking how much plan did I have in the first year? Not much when I was jumping over corporate world, but I think what is more important is that it's this drive because for you, there has been a moment of, know what, this drives me, this interests me to explore this entrepreneurship world or actually realize myself there. Drives me more than staying longer in a world that I've been swimming for a long time.
So I think at some moment, this drive is so big that we cannot ignore it. And I think you of course knew in which area you want to contribute. So it was not starting out of a blow. Me, I also knew which area I want to contribute. And I think then it's plan and the strategies come along the way as we walk the path, right? So we don't need to have everything figured out. Agreed. So one thing that happened with me, and I'll give the example just to explain exactly how things could be. As I mentioned,
Dagmara Asbreuk (37:34.654)
The company was established four years before I left the corporate world. yes, there was very limited scope, very limited focus on it, the idea was already building in my mind. What I did different to other people is that I did my first step four years before I left corporate. Even though nothing was happening there, but establishing the company, having the company
legally in place, it's the first step. Then it's easy to build on it. What I would say to anyone who is thinking on moving from corporate into entrepreneurship, it could be in two years and three years and four years or any time during their career is start thinking about what you want to do, where you identify yourself in the entrepreneurship world.
You might go out and you know what, I'm going to create a new way of selling fruits. Fine. But as long as you have that idea, give it time to mature in your head, give it time to build so that when you do the step, you have clarity. Yeah. I do reckon that. Yes. I also had this month of conceptualizing all, entertaining the thoughts of, you know, stepping out of a corporate world and doing something else. And sometimes it's a time to mature to overcome the fear.
I have battled with a few of ego for sure before I jumped off like, okay, now I'm not going to be leader in corporate world. So how is that going to be, know? So sometimes it's about that battle. Sometimes it's about the idea of what we want because we don't have the clarity yet of what we want to do for which the retreats that you mentioned like that or the vision creation is a perfect solution. Talking about solutions. And you know, when you mentioned that something, some other questions, maybe you want to elaborate on a dropped.
How much important is you think the vision and visioning important in this whole process? Look, I'd say the vision was the biggest drive for me to start from. Biggest drive because that's where I started realizing that I need to explore within me, that I need to understand myself better to be able to reflect on the outside and have the outside drive. I think the vision part
Dagmara Asbreuk (40:00.522)
is a very underrated experiment because not everybody is aware of it or experienced it. And to be honest, I mean, I don't know who's going to be listening, but I think there should be some kind of vision education for people just coming out of school, in uni, for students. could be a very,
reduced, I would say exercise, just this sample. But when you start realizing of the fact that you have your vision and you want to drive yourself towards your vision day by day, year by year, that makes a big, massive difference. And it's also after the vision, what you do with it, right? This is also this aspect of connecting and kind of bring this vision to now, which
You are doing as well, right? By not letting it in the future, but leaving it now. And also by connecting also the picture of what is it and which path to take is exploring. So that has been always a fascination of what the impact is, say, of the vision is. And yes, I agree with you. There is not enough, I think in our educational systems and pretty late we figured out or learn the power of mind, right? I mean, take my example. I I started coaching over 50. So the first 50 years of my life, I
Yes, you hear about energies, you look at things now. Okay. I mean, people are more aware now because of social media and everything. But if I was able to align myself with a vision, with better knowing myself when I was still in uni in my early twenties, I think my path would have been much more successful and very different. And actually that's something I'm trying to work with my son right now. I love it. Yeah.
You know, this is always amazing how much we can bring to our generations, our first of our own children. I do the same with mine, right? So bring them already in a young age because that's when you are clicking and we are seeing that there is a different way. And also how important is all of that what we discussed for their own success, for their own happiness, and also choosing the aligned path, the authentic path. It's an important thing. So thank you very much, Paul, for, you know, sharing your journey, sharing also your
Dagmara Asbreuk (42:26.184)
breakthroughs during what's changed, what's shifted. And also thank you for, you know, allowing me to be part of your story and part of your journey. And I really enjoy it and I'm looking forward to the next discussions we're having. And is there anything else that you would like to finish today, this conversation about? Well, one last thing is actually it's message to anyone who is on the entrepreneurship journey, but even people who are in the corporate world, it's just...
Believe in yourself. Really believe in yourself and push through. And again, I say thank you for having me Dagmara and thank you for all the support over the past few months. Thank you very much. My pleasure. And thank you. And believe in yourself is a very, very strong message. Thank you very much, for that.
And for all the listeners, thank you very much for staying with us, watching us, listening to us. I hope you enjoyed this episode and enthusiasm of the Explorer poll that has been explored today. If you like this conversation and follow this channel, subscribe, share it with others and remember with the change that you want to see and choose to be extraordinary.
Dagmara Asbreuk (43:38.986)
you
