“What do you want?”
That was the simple question I asked my French teacher in Montpellier, France, after class one day.
For the past fortnight, I have been in the beautiful Mediterranean city of Montpellier, immersed in the French language and culture. I spoke so much French that when I spoke in English, it sounded weird!
After class one day, my teacher came up to me and asked, “How do you do it, Bobbi?”
“How do I do what?” I replied.
“How do you show up as you do, look like you do ?” she asked me. “What’s your secret, Bobbi?” (I get this a lot).
For context, we had just had a lesson discussing the different generations and their stereotypical behaviours and attitudes. As a Baby Boomer, I was well and truly the oldest, but it meant that she also knew my age.
Her question to me led us to an hour-long conversation. She described how, as a young woman, she had been so much more adventurous and creative. But over the years, she had lost that sense of fun. She had pushed her creativity to one side, now doing little more than shuttling between work and home, with dreams passed over. She liked her work, but it wasn’t her passion.
So I asked her that one simple question, “What do you want?”
This is what coaches do: ask quality questions to facilitate self-discovery and personal insight, not to give answers or solve problems for people.
We went home, but first having arranged to meet for a drink after school the following week.
When we did meet, she told me that following our conversation, she had thought about it, & she had taken action to re-embrace what she truly loved—which was writing. In the days between our conversations, she had signed up for a creative writing course AND ordered four books !
Her face was glowing with excitement when she told me.
I was so proud of her, and proud of me too. It was like I’d sprinkled water on a seed in the ground that was just waiting to germinate.
I reminded her that if she didn’t pursue her talent, her joy, it would have died with her, wasted.
(She made me write that down for her.)
All it took was one conversation, and the world has become a different place. Who knows how far this ripple will travel?
This is why I do what I do—change lives. I love it, & there is nothing better.
Love, Bobbi ❤️ Inspirational Speaker | Transformation Coach | Trans Woman | Model
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