'Wishes rarely come true - I'd rather set goals'

Corporate trainer and business coach Laura Schlimm on pursuing big ambitions and her love for superheroes

The number one item on your wish list.
As a trainer, I know that wishes rarely come true, so instead I'd rather have a 'goal map' including personal and professional objectives. It matters to me that I'm in control, and setting goals requires me to take ownership. My current number one objective is to make my business, Ameliorate, take off.
One life lesson you'd want to share.
Everything is possible, and three things help: a positive mindset, personal ownership and commitment. Throughout my education, I was constantly failing and learnt early on to stay positive and believe in myself. The "can do" attitude became crucial and I believed the next test would be successful. When everyone went out to party, I went home to study, because I wanted to be better. My parents taught me that I'm responsible for my failures and only I can do something about them. So, today, I believe that everything is possible if you want it and will do something about it.
Your most challenging project to date?
Working full-time and doing my NLP Education in parallel. I went to evening and weekend class, but also completed the assigned projects and coaching required to complete the NLP practitioner course, then NLP master's course and eventually, get the NLP trainer's license. Nowadays, I benefit from this experience as I'm splitting my work life with being a mum - the most important role in my life.
The biggest learning point in your life.
Setting up my business! In my corporate roles, I had sparring partners, subject matter experts or a boss who provided me with feedback and guidance. Today, I'm the one creating my tagline, I'm the one developing my website and I'm the one deciding whether it is right to do interviews with the media. Ameliorate provides sales and soft skills training, focusing on "on-the-job" coaching. Having delivered an extensive amount of training programmes, my foundation is solid. But being a first-time entrepreneur, I have a lot to learn.
What advice would you give your younger self, if you could?
Think outside the box. If people don't believe in you and your 'out-of-the-box thinking', keep doing it because following known paths is not going to make you successful. Doing things differently will.
If you could move to any place in the world, what place would that be?
Dubai! Coming here was my first choice because of the city's entrepreneurial environment and because it is one of the most exciting places on earth. My husband also has his own company and we could have gone anywhere but chose Dubai as the place to grow our businesses and raise our children. New York was the second choice, but for that, I need my kids to be older.
Favourite fictional character of all time.
Superman! My sister and I watched this TV series back in the early 90s, which ran once a week and I used to wear necklaces and key chains with its logo. I was fascinated by this superhero doing these incredible things while still living a normal life. Don't we all want to be a bit like Superman in our profession?
The best thing you've ever bought yourself?
I still haven't bought the Breitling that I have always promised myself I would have once I 'made it big'. I was close to rewarding myself when I was promoted to the head of the Learning & Development team and gave birth to my first child Samira in the same year. Maybe I should get the Breitling when Ameliorate hits my target profit?
A superpower you wish you had?
The power of speed! I wish to be everywhere and do everything, but the limitation of time and space makes it difficult. I wish to be able to see my family back home and still have dinner with my kids on the same day. I wish to be able to bring to life all these nice ideas I have in my head and play cards with my kids in the afternoon. If I were super fast, I could do everything without limiting myself.

If you were head of your country, what is the first thing you'd do?
Reinforce the values of my home country and ensure that Germany fosters corporate growth and innovation. Germany has become lazy over the decades and still dwells on past achievements. We basically missed the age of digitalisation and are falling behind when it comes to new technologies. We're still good in engineering and mechanics but look at all the successful new technology ventures of the past 10 years. They all come from the US, China, Russia and the likes. Where are the new German multinationals?
- Staff Reporter