How 1 Simple Step Can Help Change Your Life

How 1 simple step can help change your life. A journey of a 1000 miles, begins with a single step. This quote, attributed to Laozi (Chinese Philosopher), sounds simple enough. Because a single step does not sound too difficult, does it? So how can one simple step help change your life? And how easy is it really, to take that step?

I am living my life following the principle:

You always meet at least twice in life. Do all you can, to have both look forward to that second encounter. At the very least, make sure it’s not going to be awkward.

Thanks to this principle, I am having great relationships with many colleagues I have worked with throughout the years and often times call them friends. Many of them joined in my celebration of my 15 years work anniversary – check it out here, if you are interested

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nannette-coerlin-07036a2b_today-during-our-team-meeting-today-my-activity-6694306717984972800-yqs3

Last week, I met with one of my previous team members. It had been too long since our last catch-up. We had a great chat for over an hour. During this time, we talked about his personal and professional future. It became very clear, that he was not sure, what should come next for him. He even said, he would continue doing what he was doing and “hopefully everything else will fall into place”.

Maybe. I personally made the experience, you need to at least take said first step, to start your journey. Against all odds even. But don’t be mistaken, while the journey you are starting might be less or more than 1000 miles, it’s usually not a straight and plain road. There will be rough and rocky patches. And to get to your destination, you might have to understand, that the journey is actually a part of the destination. And do your best to enjoy the ride.

I grew up in a very small village in the North of Germany. Less than 1,000 residents. Quite conservative also. I always felt like I had landed in the wrong place. I wanted to see the world and I definitely did not want to live the life, my family was living. That attitude always made me a “foreigner” in my “home”. It also fueled me and gave me the energy to take many “first steps” that ultimately led to me ending up in the United States with my husband, our dog and a job at American Express.

I went to secondary school first. That had been the recommendation after elementary school. Germany school system has 3 types of schools after elementary school. Learn more about the German school system here: https://www.studying-in-germany.org/german-education-system/

The school I went to was good, but it would end after 10 years and not make me eligible to go to University. So I worked hard in that school to get grades that would allow me to go on for another 3 years (at a different school) and become eligible to go to University.

Don’t get me wrong, when I did this and even drove 40 minutes one way to get to that advanced school, I did not have a master plan for my entire life. I definitely did not think about a career in the US with American Express. All I wanted was to leave the village I grew up in. And I “simply” took the first steps, to make that happen.

My road after that was not straight forward at all. Did I mention bumps and rocky patches? Check-out more about the rocky parts of my journey here. https://mykindofsuccess.net/hero-heroine-or-victim-to-me-its-a-choice/

But my journey ultimately led me to work in Customer Service. The best thing that could have happened for myself and my career. Having taken those first steps definitely paid off.

And so over the years I have been working with some BPOs in different roles and also worked as a consultant for customer service outsourcing. My husband got a job in Munich and I was self-employed at that time. I realized being new in town and working in the home office might not be the best thing.

I applied for a job to manage the Servicing partner of a well-known company in Munich. They were looking for someone with a University degree.

I do not have a University degree as life happened and I followed my passion. Applied anyways and got the job. I stepped out of my comfort zone. This was the first job posting I applied to, that required a University degree. The job sounded too good. And my well rounded experience made me a great candidate. In my opinion, anyways.

This is how yet 1 next simple step helped change my life once again, as it put me in exactly the right place.

The right place to be able to, years later, help my husband’s and my dream of living in the US come to life. But that would require many more first steps on the way. When American Express acquired the company I was working for I knew, I had a chance of finding a way to getting a job in the US. Which would be the step, to be able to get a Visa or Greencard and move here.

As soon as the company started doing international launches together with American Express, I made sure I was a part of that work. I felt I had to take that step out of my comfort zone – I do not like traveling or being away from home for longer periods at all – to be front and center, should anything in the US come up. I launched programs in Poland, Mexico and Italy before a chance of a US project would come up.

But I was not actively sought out to be part of that project. My direct leader and his boss had us actually stay mostly out of that interesting US project. Company politics, not much you can do.

But I knew, this would probably be our one and only chance to get to the US. My husband had a great job at FC Bayern Munich, but that was not an international role and there was not really potential for a move.

And again, I did not have a master plan at all. I just thought, they do need someone to lead their Customer Service once they launched the program. Why should that not be me? And yes, I knew I needed a promotion to Director so that my husband and I could have a good life as we did not know how things would go with a job for him. But how should I get all of that? Waiting for things to fall in place, was clearly not going to cut it.

At the end of 2013 there was a Senior Leadership congress at our company. It was happening in a hotel. Thanks to the role I was holding at that point in time, even though not a people leader, I was considered part of the “leadership team” and invited to participate. One of our Vice Presidents from the Munich office was leading the US program launch and responsible for Operations. He was in the US on assignment and traveling back and forth. To my luck, he attended the congress.

So while everyone was sitting in the room paying attention (more or less) to the congress, I was sitting in the room trying to muster the courage to approach him. We weren’t exactly acquainted. In fact we had not spoken much at all during my tenure in the company so far. Boy, I was so nervous. And so excited too. It was a realistic chance after all.

In a coffee break I got in line behind him for a coffee and some snacks. While we were waiting, I started a conversation. He was definitely surprised. I asked him how his project was going. Then I went on and told him, that I thought they needed a Customer Service Director. And that with my background of all the previous launches I had done, I was the right person to take on that role. I would definitely be willing to help them out, if they would consider supporting me with my permanent relocation to the US. Bold! Very bold move.

It was one of the toughest steps I have taken in my life. And one of the most rewarding too. Because he did indeed need someone and was not aware, I would be willing to take on that role. My reputation from the previous launches helped of course and so I was ultimately awarded that role. American Express paid for my relocation and sponsored my Greencard, too.

Imagine I had not taken that really simple step of starting a conversation during that coffee break? I definitely thought about not doing it. But ultimately it was just a conversation and the worst thing that could have happened, would have been him saying no. I am glad, I took the step. In July 2014 we moved to Jersey City and I started my job in August.

After we moved to the US, Henning and I enjoyed ourselves maybe just a little bit too much. New food, living close to NYC and in Jersey City with all these great restaurants. We packed some weight. Unfortunately I had not necessarily been at a healthy weight to begin with. In fact my entire life I had been struggling with my weight.

In 2015 we decided to get a dog. Well, we had talked about getting a Labrador Retriever or a Golden Retriever. Henning found a breeder online and we were going back and forth about it. So I was sitting at my desk in the office and I really, really wanted one of these puppies. And so I did it. I took that step and just send them the down payment for their next litter. Henning was shocked. But he survived.

And this small step led to another bigger step in our lives. Especially in my life. Check-out what I have to thank Sam for here: https://mykindofsuccess.net/where-to-start/

After having to walk with him so much and realizing, that less weight would make things so much easier. I took that first step of enrolling to WW (Weight Watchers at that point in time) and took my weight and my health in my own hands. Of course I did not have a master plan here either. Defined a goal weight as you have to, but then took it as I had taken my school, my customer service jobs, the move to the US etc. – one step at a time.

I celebrated every single pound lost on the way. And I stopped comparing myself (because comparison is the thief of joy) to others and started to just focus on my own progress. In doing this, step by step and one day at a time, I lost 60 lb and have kept them off for over 2 years now. Why did I decide to take a stab at my weight with over 40 years old? What made me think, I could do it this time?

Well, I reminded myself, how taking a leap of faith and just doing this damn difficult, but actually simple first step has brought so many great things into my life.

I moved out of the village that suffocated me, found a career and purpose and then found my husband (I will tell the details of that story in my next check-in post, stay tuned). Learned a lot about my line of work and about myself and ultimately we got to live in the US with our precious puppy.

I am a fit and active person now. My activeness is a lifesaver, in the time of the pandemic when you could easily spend your days on the couch, eating comfort food. If it were not for all the first steps I have taken, I would probably not know what I am capable off.

And I can’t wait to take many, many more first steps. Some might take some more willpower and overcoming than others. They might require me to have a lot of willpower, be super bold or just overcome some laziness. Some might even lead in the wrong direction first, before they lead me, where I should be going.

None of that matters. I have enough proof in my own life, that taking that damn first step is the right thing to do. And I’d rather take that step than wait for things to happen. I am just not a very patient person.

This is how 1 simple step can help change your life – several times throughout the years. Nannette edition.

How about you? What life changing first steps have you taken? How did you do it and how do you feel about it today?