What is the best thing that I love about my work?

The best thing I love about my work (creativity & productivity coaching for changemakers & creatives) is that it enables me to make a positive impact in the world using my strengths and talents. For me, work is my overarching purpose and drive in life – it is a tangible way I make a difference to the world and others. Being self-employed, I really also enjoy the creative freedom and autonomy I have to arrange my own time, and the opportunities I have to continuously grow and challenge myself by creating new workshops, programs and courses. I also love being able to quickly make creative pivots when the situation calls for it. That wouldn’t be possible if I were employed by someone else.

What is my idea of happiness?

Happiness is a life well-lived, one full of growth, transformation. I recall reading research that shows that we’re the happiest not when we’ve achieved our goals, but when we’re in the process of working towards them. For me, happiness is being immersed in the joy of becoming.

What is my greatest fear?

To live an inauthentic life, a safe, conservative one.

What is the trait that I most deplore in myself?

It isn’t something I deplore, but since I was young I’ve had a great capacity and desire to explore many different things: creative endeavours such as writing, making art; psychology, behavioural health and mindfulness tools, more logical things like qualitative and quantitative market research as well as different kinds of moving meditation – Qigong, Yoga Somatics. I’ve always considered myself a jack of trades. In the same way, I often found myself at the intersection of many communities – Art / creative, design & technology, spiritual and personal growth and well-being. It was hard for me to identify who exactly I was and what it is I was committed to doing. My dad used to say I was frivolous because it seemed like I had ‘shiny object syndrome’ – unlike him, I was constantly exploring something new and didn’t seem committed to a single field or discipline.

For a time I inherited that judgement of myself and believed it to be true. Later on I realised a different side to this truth- that this curiosity and breath is actually my strength, because having explored many seemingly unrelated disciplines I am able to draw connections between them – in this same way I conceptualised my Creative Cycle coaching method, which draws inspiration from Chinese medicine philosophy, the Five Element Theory, psychology and behaviour health coaching. I think it’s valuable to remember that every weakness is also a strength. There is really no terrible trait to have or deplore within oneself.

Which living persons in my profession do I most admire?

Within the field of Yoga and women’ s well-being, my teacher Dr. Uma Dinsmore Tuli, who authored the precious and powerful book, Yoni Shakti. Within the field of Creativity, my friend Jake Kahana, co-founder of CaveDay, and designer Tina Roth-Eisenberg, founder of CreativeMornings Within the field of startups, tech and entrepreneurship, Solopreneur and Digital Nomad Pieter Levels

What is my greatest extravagance?

An hour long water massage (AquaSoma) session in a heated pool (38-40 degrees) during winter to melt all my defences and release overthinking and return to the state of complete surrender and safety, like an embryo in the watery womb space of the great Mother. Discovering water massage transformed my life (no exaggeration) and also deepened my understanding of the Five Elements, the Creative cycle and our connection with inspiration and ideation. I was so transformed I took the certification and became an AquaSoma therapist myself.

On what occasion would I lie?

I don’t tend to lie, but on occasions where I feel like the other person / group of person(s) are not ready to receive the truth, I may withhold information or delay sharing it until I feel they are ready. When I was younger I used to be so honest to the point of being blunt, and learnt the hard way that when and how you say something is often more important than what you say.

What is the thing that I dislike the most in my work?

Being self-employed it’s mostly the administrative things that I dislike. Like paperwork, taxes…

When and where was I the happiest, in my work?

When my work becomes more well-known than myself, the message that I am a vessel for what resonates with the world. One of the ways I share my work is through audio courses on the meditation app InsightTimer. My audio course, The Power of the Creative Cycle (4.8/5 rating, 4,800+ students)

If I could, what would I change about myself?

I don’t think I would change anything about myself, but I’m a firm believer that we each have different creative potentials waiting to be fulfilled. In this lifetime and in this version, this is the person I am becoming. If there is the possibility, I’d like to see other versions of me and how I might explore fulfilling my creative potentials through different means – like different projects, careers, relationships for example.

What is my greatest achievement in work?

Learning how to co-create with life, or as modern gurus call it, ‘manifesting’. I was a hard worker by nature. In the early stages of my career and life, I manifested my opportunities through my sheer hard work and resourcefulness. In recent years however, through co-creating with life, I’ve been manifesting spectacular opportunities and projects. Whenever I connect with a heartfelt intention and put in the work to acquire the skills necessary to become the person worthy of the intention, life offers me a relevant opportunity. For example, when I set the intention to learn and get better at writing, a well-paid opportunity to write regularly for a website, without any fixed deadlines dropped in my lap. As I set the intention to learn and embody the qualities of the Water Element, despite having a modest number of followers on social media and being relatively unknown, a five star resort in the Maldives invited me to teach for them as a visiting expert practitioner. When I connected with my heartfelt intention to share the Power of the Creative Cycle, I was invited to be featured as an expert and teach at a world renowned Qigong summit with other veteran Qigong healers, teachers, doctors and experts, despite having been practising and teaching Qigong for a short time. I could not have created any of these magical opportunities myself, they were beyond my imagination. They only arose because I had done the internal and external work, and declared my intention to the world – that I would be in service to the Five Elements, the Creative cycle. By surrendering to the flow of Dao, life itself, I allowed these to unfold and life began to co-create with me.

Where would I most like to live?

I have fallen in love with the river Po, and my rowing club Cerea, and see myself living here, in Turin, Italy for a good number of years to come.

What is my most treasured possession?

For now, the rectangular plate with my registered number, 427, from the first time I participated in the 11km endurance regatta Silverskiff in 2024 as a novice masters rower of barely two years experience. I learnt so much about self-discipline and unconditional self-love from the process of training for and racing during Silverskiff and everything that followed in the year after. That was a powerful catalyst that helped me undergo metamorphosis to become someone who remains calm, content and unshaken amidst life’s ups and downs.

What is my most marked characteristic?

My ability to make people feel at ease, welcome and to see the potential in them that they might not even see in themselves.

What is my most inspirational location, in my city?

Turin’s oldest rowing club, Canottieri Cerea. full of interesting characters and wonderful opportunities to learn about the art of rowing and flow.

What is my favourite place to eat and drink in my city?

My favourite place to eat is Plin e Tajarin (get the tasting menu, you won’t regret it). For coffee, I love the flat white from Orso-Laboratorio Caffè, or an espresso / cappuccino from either Imbarchino (for the view over the river Po) or Pasticceria Beatrice (for the timeless decor and old-style service)

What books influenced my life and how?

The Alchemist – this is my bible for life, such a simple yet profound book, full of golden nuggets. I love almost all of Ted Chiang’s short stories, particularly Hell is the absence of god. His stories always leave me with much food for thought and make me more sensitive to the human connections I have. Between Heaven and Earth: A guide to Chinese Medicine has also deeply influenced my life – it was my first proper introduction to the five elements and the creative cycle, which has become central to both my work and coaching approach as well as my personal way of life.

You Only Die Once. What music would I listen to on my last day?

Just Piano by FKJ. This music has accompanied me through heartbreak, loss, rediscovering myself and becoming intimate with life and the Divine.

Who is my hero or heroine in fiction?

My heroine is the Greek goddess of the hunt, wild animals, the wilderness, and the moon, Artemis.

Who are my heroes and heroines in real life?

My heroine in real life is my mother, as well as my dear friend Barbara. Other people I respect include my friend Jake Kahana, founder of caveday

Which movie would I recommend to see once in a lifetime?

Eternal sunshine in the spotless mind for love, loss and being with what is, and Waking Life

What role play stories in my life and work?

With my clients through coaching we work on unpacking the stories they tell themselves about who they are, what they can or cannot do, and so on. We uncover the roots of these stories – where, when and who we might have inherited them from. The stories we tell ourselves about ourselves deeply influence our perceived limits and boundaries, as well as our actions and responses to others. We identify old stories and limiting beliefs, outdated values that no longer serve them. And we make space and cultivate permission to dream, and bravely choose new narratives, beliefs and values that move them towards the life of their dreams.

What do the words ‘You are the storyteller of your own life’ mean to me?

It means every single one of us has the power and agency to co-create (with life itself) our own destiny. We can’t change the facts about what happens, but we can choose how to perceive it and respond to it in a powerful and aligned way.

Who is my greatest fan, sponsor, partner in crime?

The Divine, the pulsation of life itself. We co-create everything together, we are inseparable.

Which people or companies would I like to work with ?

I’m a big fan of these creatives / changemakers and their work:
● Tina Roth-Eisenberg | CreativeMornings
● Pieter Levels | NomadList & RemoteOk
● Matt Gray | Founder OS

What project am I looking forward to working on?

Completing my upcoming book, WuWei on Water: Rowing to Source, a philosophical memoir that weaves together personal transformation, Eastern philosophy applied to Western sport, and a love letter to the Po and Italian rowing culture.

Where can you see me or my work? https://wenlintan.com/

What do the words “Passion Never Retires” mean to me?

Passion is the flame that drives everything

Which creative professionals should Peter invite to tell their story?

MariaChiara Tirinzoni, Eda Sutunc, Jasna Jelisić

How can you contact me?

Via email wenlin@wenlintan.com, my website https://wenlintan.com/ and Instagram
@flowwithwenli