Celebrating my leap of faith into full-time self-employment – ‘ditching the boss’.

And, whilst reflecting on that journey, I stumbled across this article that I wrote way back in 2012.

I’ve had many several pivotal moments over the years, and this obviously was one of them… when I decided that if I did nothing to change the circumstances in which I found myself, then nothing would change! I hope it provides inspiration to anyone else who finds themselves in a similar situation.

THE BEGINNING OF MY NEW JOURNEY – AN ARTICLE WRITTEN IN JANUARY 2012

I’ve always had a fascination with clouds. I recall spending time cloud watching, discovering the shapes of animals and faces in their infinite variety. That was a time when ‘me’ time was not an issue. A time when an hour or two spent reading, or playing out in the fields with friends until dusk (rounders, fox and hound, hide and seek, riding our bikes), or playing cards with my sister if the weather was too bad to go out, didn’t feel like time wasted. And nor was it! Those were the days eh?

Today I noticed the clouds properly for the first time in a long time. But this time, it was not the shapes that struck me….. it was the speed at which they were moving. And it struck me that they were just like time. Each cloud flying by. Each cloud never to return. Just as each minute of my time will never return.

Now this may all have come about as a reaction to a goal setting exercise I did earlier in the week. “Think back 5 years” we were told. What were you doing then? Where were you living? Who were you living with? How old were your children, if you had them? Did you have any pets? What job were you doing? What interests and hobbies did you have? How much of that is the same today? How much has changed?
“Now, how fast did that time go?” we were asked to consider. Probably all feels like yesterday? The next five years will go just as fast. Where do you think you will be in 5 years’ time? Where do you want to be in 5 years’ time? Questions, questions!

I have to say this exercise really focused my mind and made me just want to get on with it…… put into action things that I need to do to get where I want to be. So much to do. Time for a plan of action. Start at the result and work back to what I need to do now. So from today, it’s a little action every day which should, ahem …., WILL (positivity please!) bring me to the result I want.

The first thing is planning my departure from my day job. A job I’ve held for 13 years and where my heart no longer lies. I am a very loyal worker. I am a very loyal friend. I was a very loyal wife. Exceedingly loyal on all counts! In fact, if I were a stick of rock, ‘loyal’ would be the word that runs right through me! But there comes a time when change is needed for ME! I need to be loyal to myself, true to my beliefs and dreams.

My day job is a very responsible job. It WAS a fantastic job. Note the past tense there. I’ve had the best working years of my life here. My role changed dramatically over the years, and I developed both professionally and personally over those years. I used to love my job with a passion. You see, I love working for like-minded people. I love putting in 100%. But things change. Over the last 6 years, there have been so many big changes that my job is no longer what it used to be. I don’t work for the people I used to work for. I don’t have the roles I used to have. It’s time for a change. Draw a line and make the changes I need to make, not what other people are making for me, to achieve what I want to achieve (which isn’t incidentally the world!… more on that some other time).

So I turn up to my office this morning – it’s a fab office – big enough to accommodate 4 people – all to myself. I have fantastic views. I have lovely colleagues. I have made some lovely friends in the tenant companies we have here on site and who I look after (but not as well as I want to due to the many changes referred to above). And it’s like groundhog day… same morning greetings, same routine, even the same music on the stereo in reception. Don’t get me wrong, my day can be turned upside down and we do have the most incredible challenges to contend with at times and those are the best times! But today in particular I find the music from the stereo the most annoying of all the above. I find myself humming to a tune I don’t even like. I find myself humming along to a song I don’t even know – and getting it right (well almost) due to the predictability of the pop song. A bit like my life … predictable. And I want – no need – it to be different.

So my action for today?….. Pick up the phone and speak to a couple of strong prospective clients. Pick up the phone and make an appointment to see my Manager. And finally, by committing to paper, follow up on my action plan.
Feel free to follow my journey…. it should get interesting!