The Magic Question.

When our convo focuses on the core of the individual, that is where the magic of transformation happens.

I had a magical conversation recently with a young Nigerian girl who was navigating the early stages of her career in a small town in Germany. Let's call her G.

Our convo was about G.'s career options, opportunities and the professional path ahead.

As we talked, G. shared about the adjustments she had to make when she first moved to Germany. She spoke of learning to navigate a different culture, where she learned to tone down the bubbly, lively nature she once thrived on in Nigeria.

She was 'proper' and professional in our convo. Every response seemed carefully measured.

I sensed that there was something deeper I could uncover.

So, I gently asked with a smile 😊 : "Tell me about the G. in Nigeria."

That’s when the shift happened right before my eyes.

The wall came down. Her body language softened, hands dancing in the air as she ran down memory lane of her life back in the hometown. Her face lit up with a big beautiful smile. Her eyes sparkled with life. I saw a very open, carefree G., so different from the one I first met just merely 20 mins ago. The difference was night and day, like flipping a switch.

I asked her if she realised that shift in herself. She smiled, a tad awkwardly and shy, but yes, she spotted the difference in herself.

Before we wrapped up, I urged her to always remember, that whatever decisions she has to make in life, see them through the eyes of the G. in Nigeria, because that’s where her true strengths and authenticity lie.

𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆’𝒔 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒈𝒐𝒂𝒍𝒔 - 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝑾𝑯𝑶 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒔.

𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.