What Will The World Look Like Once You've Finished Changing It?
When we feel void of answers, maybe it's time to ask different questions.
It’s a question that gives me goosebumps every time I ask it:
What will the world look like once you’ve finished changing it?
Whether I’m posing the question to a small coaching group or while keynoting a large event, I feel it every time. I got goosebumps the first time I asked it years (decades) ago and I got them when I asked it in a workshop last week. The potential, the possibility, the vision - it stirs something deep within me.
And here’s the thing: I’m not asking rhetorically. This isn’t an ‘Oh, wouldn’t that be nice’ type of thought experiment. I’m seriously wondering - of my groups, workshop participants, and now, today, of you:
How do you answer this question?
What immediately comes to mind for you?
What vision rises to the surface?
What makes your heart beat a little faster, makes your curiosity expand, maybe even makes your eyes water up a bit?
This week my coaching firm celebrates 23 years in business. Nearly every day of those 23 years, I have asked myself this question or some version thereof:
What will the world look like once I’ve finished changing it?
Followed by another question:
What will I do today to help make that vision a reality?
Friends, there is a lot going on in our world. We might look at the many challenges before us and feel stuck, uncertain, or void of any answers.
Maybe it’s time to try changing the questions.
Here are some to consider:
What will the world look like once you’ve finished changing it?
What will you do today to help make this vision a reality?
What are your core values and how can they help guide your difference-making?
What strengths do you bring to the table - things that you do well (don’t be humble here!) and that energize you?
What are you truly passionate about?
What lights you up?
What breaks your heart?
What big goal, difficult project, or challenging task have you taken on at some point in your life, wondering whether or not you would actually achieve it - and then you did?
Who has made a difference in your life? Who has inspired you?
Who would you love to inspire?
If you could improve one thing - in your neighborhood, your community, your world - what would it be?
What is one tiny action you could take in the direction of your dream world today?
I mentioned that I’ve been running my coaching business for 23 years now. It hasn’t been all sunshine and lollipops, and - as with so much in life - it hasn’t been all thunderstorms and sharp edges, either.
Above all, it’s been filled with, and fueled by, meaning and purpose. And I remain committed to asking myself,
What will the world look like once I’ve finished changing it?
Then consulting my values, reviewing my Purpose Statement, and taking actions - imperfect though they may be - to keep moving closer to that vision.
We might not see change immediately. As you probably know from your own gardening experience or childhood science class, we don’t plant a seed Thursday morning and expect to see growth by Thursday afternoon. But we can plant the seeds, nurture them daily, and trust that growth will come. We have seen evidence of this enough times to make this a legitimate mode of operating.
Just like we can do with our vision, our purposeful questions, our meaningful actions. And we don’t have to go it alone.
If you find yourself feeling a bit stuck or like you don’t have all the answers, consider asking some fresh, new, different questions - perhaps a few of those listed above - and seeing what arises for you. Maybe take yourself on a walk or open a page in your journal and start with this one:
What will the world look like once I’ve finished changing it?
You can follow it up with:
What can I do today to help make that vision a reality?
Then take a purposeful action, no matter how small, to begin making that beautiful vision real.
We thank you for it!
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Additional articles you may find helpful:
3 Ways To Bring Purpose To Your Days
The 3 Layers Of Your Core Values
Purposeful Lessons Learned In 2025
The 2026 Reading And Purpose Nonfiction Book Club!
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Dr. Christi Hegstad is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and self-proclaimed book nerd, here to help you work with meaning, live with purpose, and reach bold + difference-making goals! Peruse coaching opportunities at ChristiHegstad.com, email questions to ReadingAndPurpose(at)gmail(dot)com, and check out book recommendations at the Reading And Purpose bookshop.org store (your book purchases through the links provided may earn me a small commission, at no extra cost to you).
Thank you for being here!