Q3 · 2016Live Your Dream

Like so many kids in the world, when I was young, my dream was to become a professional athlete. I had a huge passion for soccer, and developed a skill that differentiated me from many other kids: I scored a lot of goals. I was selected to play for my country at junior level and was scouted to play professionally for the best club in Switzerland (FC Basel). I was doing what I loved the most, and got a salary for doing so – I was living my dream.

It all seemed to good to be true, which in my case it was.

After 5 years as a professional, serious knee injuries instantly stopped my career. Living the athletic dream was not possible any more – I had to change my game plan.

After a period of self-reflection, I realized that following my passion had probably been the best life-experience I could have had. Based on what I went through at a relatively young age of my life, I fell in love with the idea of helping others to live their dreams. I became an enthusiastic performance psychologist for high performing individuals and teams, leaders, executives and athletes. I committed myself to this path at a time when there were very few individuals globally who dared to specialize in this area as a career.

I fell in love with the idea of helping others to live their dreams.

I am now in my 15th year with the company I founded and still head up today. I am very blessed to have a great team with me. I have been writing books, giving many key note speeches and collaborating with inspiring people all around the world. But, most importantly, I have been able to coach and support several hundred top executives, leaders, corporate performers and athletes to achieve their dreams.

So, although my first passion for professional soccer was tragically ended, it led me to the perfect place – living a new dream by helping others to achieve their dreams.

For those of you who are at a point in the career and life where you would like to create clarity about achieving your dreams, here is a structured process that you can use for yourself to define your deeper purpose and inspirational vision:

  • Write up your story so far, from a professional and personal point of view. Be explicit about the turning points in your career and life so far. What had an impact on who you are today? What really resonated with you? If a movie was made of your story so far, what would the title be?
  • Based on that, you will be able to identify the functional parts of your story that you would like to carry on and build upon, and also the dysfunctional parts that you would like to replace.
  • Then, create clarity for yourself about what your core values are. What do you stand for? This could be, for example, core values such as passion, commitment, integrity and loyalty.
  • Now, write up your fundamental purpose (personal and professional) as the basis for creating an inspiring vision that you can use as your guiding star for important fundamental decisions, such as why you would like to pursue a particular career path.

Helping others to achieve their dreams has been very rewarding for me. Some years ago, this passion triggered another thought: I also wanted to do something for the greater good, to enable underprivileged individuals to achieve their dreams. My friend and former coaching client, Olympic Champion Dominique Gisin, approached me about a new charity she has co-created: The “Live Your Dream Foundation”. It helps people to live their dreams by providing vital knowledge, coaching and guidance, free of charge.

The “Live Your Dream Foundation” helps people to live their dreams by providing vital knowledge, coaching and guidance, free of charge.

Providing my skills and expertise to the Foundation makes my involvement personally rewarding. I can combine my passion with the greater purpose of helping others achieve their dreams – people who might never get the opportunity otherwise because they cannot afford to hire the expert help they need.

If you find that you need some specific help on how to follow your dream, but you are in a situation where you cannot afford to get optimal support, remember the opportunity to reach out to the “Live Your Dream Foundation.”

Or if you have specific expertise (as I know many of you do) and would like to offer it in the context of “Live Your Dream”, please let us know.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Best,