1000 word Wednesday – it’s just the next piece of life’s big jigsaw puzzle
When I look back at the jobs that I have done in the past it’s amazing how each has knitted together with the next, giving me more of a rounded toolkit of skills and the ability to be more adaptable and flexible. Despite being told many-a-time that I needed to stick to one thing, I’m glad that I followed my own path and gained experience in a variety of industries. To me, looking back at them all now, they were all part of my particular jigsaw puzzle of life which is only half finished and this is just another piece of that puzzle.
Who knew, when I was a shy 19-year-old having just landed in New Zealand to work for a family during the horse showing season that the Father of said family would be put into prison for 6 months for tax fraud. I could have flown straight home but decided to stay on and with that, get my HGV licence (for a sparkling new Mercedes 6 berth horse box!) that it would benefit me in the long term for when I started as crew for challenges company Discover Adventure and was then asked to drive the 7.5 tonne trucks on bike challenges, or that driving a variety of different vans of all shapes and sizes around the country lanes of Europe would benefit me in the current times with driving the Tesco delivery vans around the tiny country lanes and narrow streets of Wiltshire.
I have worked in a few different industries over the last 30 years of my working life from horses to retail, electronics to newspapers and business advice to expedition leading and instructing. Each one has offered me the ability to learn new skills which has in turn served me well for whatever has come next.
When I started at Business Link in 2003, I was still fairly shy and less than confident in front of a crowd. I’d worked for an electronics company for the last 5 years beforehand and although I’d been in management within that company and as a retail manager previously, I was quite happy not to stand up and give presentations. I was still the one sat at the back of the meeting room hoping that no-one would pick me. My interviewers for the role of Business Advisor within Milton Keynes, Ox and Bucks Business Link failed to mention the networking events and seminars that I would be expected to attend and organise. Had they told me that I would be standing up in front of local businesses giving elevator pitches at networking events or introducing industry experts at seminars I would have probably said ‘Thanks but this is not for me’.
On reflection, I’m actually glad they omitted this rather large part of the role as 3 weeks into the job I went to my first networking meeting with my bosses’ boss who said, ‘I’m sure you’ve been told about the 60 second pitches you have to give?’ ‘Ummmm….errrrr….crikey…..nope. No-one mentioned that at all’ I replied with a lump in my throat as my legs turned to jelly and my heart jumped out of my body.
Being faced with that particular fear and having to do it anyway was the best way for me to deal with it. If I had known beforehand, I would definitely have overthought it and good old Negative Nelly would have had waaayyyy too much of a say. I would probably have done a runner. I was at Business Link for 5 years and in that time did hundreds of networking events and seminars so I had a lot of practice standing up in front of strangers and hoping to look like I knew what I was doing, so when I moved into the adventure industry and started to give expedition briefings and trip slide shows, that training and the confidence it afforded me was a huge benefit. Now I also give talks online and in front of rooms full of hopefully eager attendees, my past has again been great training. Talking about your own life is so much easier than doing a business seminar about a useful but often bland subject.
All in all, having had my eclectic mix of jobs within 3 separate careers, from equine to business and now adventure, I’ve learnt so much about transferrable skills, adaptability and flexibility. Customer service is key in any industry, no matter what that industry may be. Dealing with clients on expeditions who are generally in a state of anxiety for the entirety of their time away from home, even though they have chosen to be there, has in a small way been good practice for now delivering groceries for Tesco in this uncertain time where our customers are generally in a state of anxiety but this time, not out of choice. People are pushing their comfort zones and learning new ways of living every day. Solitary living used to be a choice for some, including me at times, but now is mandatory for all and that’s a big shift in life.
I had a great chat with a schoolteacher a few months ago. Amy mentioned that she taught about me in a class or two, about how I had gone from a socially classic life with a good wage, own house, nice car and hopefully children at some point to a change of lifestyle with a drastic reduction in wage but a richness of life that I never knew existed. One of her students then said that they couldn’t comprehend that you would leave a well-paid job for something with less money. Apparently, money brings you happiness.
Yes, money helps but it’s what you do with the life you lead that counts. There will always be people with more money than others and there will always be people who are happier than others but the 2 are not mutually exclusive or inextricably linked. You can have one without the other but for me it’s what I’ve learnt in my past that will help shape my happiness in the future.
Here’s to embracing change, developing resilience and using skills that may have been stuck in a box for a while to benefit this all-be-it temporary new way of living. What does this particular piece of the jigsaw puzzle of life look like for you?
Footnote – Amy Sayer also mentioned at the time that she had gone part time as a teacher to become a trainer for an autism charity. She sent me this flyer which is now being taught online at http://tiny.cc/0l82mz. Please take a look and share if it is appropriate to you or someone you know.
Stay safe one and all, we're in it together 🙏 #stayhomesavelives
