Isn’t it funny where life might take you?

First Published 16 June 2022

On this day 10 years ago was my last day.  I had taken a 9 month contract that turned in to almost 11 years.  The last 6 months of my employment were a bit of an emotional rollercoaster with a lot of time spent in limbo.  Finally a decision was made and I was offered redundancy.

I was ecstatic.  Which was a really strange thing to explain to others.  I had one person so concerned for me and my future – she almost had me convinced my life was over and I was going to end up destitute by the end of the conversation – talk about a downer!

I wasn’t sure what the future would hold but I was excited for the opportunities.  I went on to work for 2 more financial institutions and proved to my self that I was good at my job – even though I hadn’t felt that way leading up to that redundancy day.

I might be about 6 weeks early to be talking about #noWrongPath (it’s usually around exam result time that this hashtag comes back), but, as it’s my 10 year anniversary I’m going to talk about it now!

When I left school I had no real idea what I wanted to do.  I then felt like I fell into all the opportunities that followed. 

Six years at University (yes, 6), initially I enrolled in the only course that I got an offer for – my exam results weren’t great – I then dropped out and ‘fell’ into another course.  After I graduated I ‘fell’ in to a masters degree.  When the end date for this course was looming I registered with a bunch of agencies, and took the first job offered – that was the 9 month contract.

I then applied to everything I fancied and turned a contract in to a permanent role (and by anything – I think it was in the region of 40 internal roles!).  A few years later, I wanted to move back to Scotland so again, I applied for any internal transfer that would get me back here.

As the 16th of June 2012 approached, I registered with another agency and after hoping for a month off, I started my next job 2 weeks later – yep – it was the first job offer I was given.  Even though I was determined not to work in Edinburgh again, there I was, commuting the M8 EVERY DAY!  I was then messaged by a recruiter of another company and moved out of Edinburgh to Stirling, where I remained for 5 years before redundancy came knocking again.

This time, I decided I was going to make a choice.  I chose that I would work for myself.

If you had told me 10 years ago today that I would be working with energy based therapies, running my own business with clients across the globe, I am not sure I would have believed you.  I was right to be happy about that first redundancy and, whilst at the time I was a bit disappointed the 2nd time around, I know that I am in the right place – even if I do wobble occasionally.

That old phrase that ‘life is what happens when you are busy making plans’ amuses me, predominantly because I don’t think I ever really made plans – perhaps I should give that a try next 🤣

So, in my usually rambly way – I think my point is that life will throw obstacles in our way, and that’s ok, cos that’s how we learn and grow.  Wouldn’t it be dull if everyday was the same?

If these obstacles feel too big or perhaps maybe even too small, I would love to have a chat – and maybe keep you company for this part of your journey.  And if you have those goldilocks obstacles, come have a chat too and we can compare techniques for dodging them 😊