traversing twenties: with Dyana Valentine

If could reach back through time and have a heart-to-heart with your twentysomething self, what would you say to her? 

She’s in her twenties, that glorified period of life when she’s supposed to be discovering herself, deep in exploration, living her most defining decade. And yet.....she may feel like the exact opposite. Or exactly that. Or somewhere in between. She probably doesn't even know.

Maybe you pour her a cup of tea, look into her eyes, wrap her in a hug.

What do you tell her?

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Today's piece comes from the ever-lovely Dyana Valentine. Dyana is one of those women who I fell in love with immediately and I have absolutely no recollection of how I ever found her. (Isn't that how the best things happen?) But I'm really glad I did. One of the very first things of hers that I connected with was a 2 1/2-minute video that she woke up in the middle of the night to record. I replayed it over and over and then proceeded to watch it every day for weeks on end, when I needed it most. Now it's like a gem I carry around in my pocket, suddenly remembering that it's there and feeling grateful that I still have it. I take a deep breath, I feel a little more centered, and I thank my lucky stars that Dyana woke up at 4am to record this.

When I emailed Dyana about this project and spewed my gratitude for this video, she suggested using it as her submission. Twentysomething or not, I think you will love it. Thank you, Dyana:

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Dyana Valentine is not for the faint of heart. She’s spent 13+ years teaching leaders to listen to themselves and complete seemingly impossible projects—we’re talking major brand overhauls, six-figure product launches, full-fledged manuscripts. She serves up straight-from-the-hip advice in online magazines and columns all over the ‘net. In a past life, she was an idiot-savant microsurgery tech, worked for the Olympic Games organizing committee, and was personally approached by the FBI with a recruitment invitation—for classified reasons – on two separate occasions. See more at: http://dyanavalentine.com

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