About me

My life was pretty set; I wanted to be an engineer growing up.

I used to build things in my garage and loved the process of building and tinkering. I came up with ways to make money in the ‘90s before the dotcom era, but when I hit my teenage years, family and society told me to buckle down and concentrate on education.

I went through the education factory and studied hard. I was nurtured to believe that as long as I had a good education and landed a stable job, I’d be secure and happy.

I did everything I could to get a good start, working after school at the local supermarket's fish counter, at weekends, and during university holidays. (I could never get rid of the fish smell!)

I chased an internship in another city to give myself a better chance of commuting long distances every day. It paid off, I managed to land a job in engineering, my dream career, and so the story should end.

I entered the workforce at an exciting time in 2007.

I quickly realised I was using nothing from my university education in my new day job, but it didn’t matter. My colleagues had plenty of time to help me and show me the ropes.

There was little concern about ensuring company revenue and profits; the company was doing well….

This was the peak of the financial bubble… and I had no idea what was about to hit. The next few years were trying times.

My time had come as my uselessness was realised, and I desperately tried to make my way as a dependent in the workforce with little practical skill.

The paradigm had shifted from a “take your time to learn” approach to a “we need to cut all learning and development to survive” attitude.

I would wake up fearing my job every day.

Our rival companies were folding daily, and as we were called into board rooms each week, one or more of my colleagues were being told to leave.

I didn’t understand; I was told years earlier that this wouldn’t happen. I did everything I was told to do and was secure.

Back to the story…

Colleagues were upset as they could no longer support their families and pay their mortgages.

I remember working 38 days straight one year without any overtime simply out of fear.

It was a dark period.

I eventually came out the other side, hardened from the experience.

I thought this was it, and I was good.

I made good progress and enjoyed my role as a low-carbon engineering consultant playing an advisory role in the environmental design for the education authority for schools. I thought I had finally made it.

But then a problem started to emerge. The job wasn’t what I’d signed up for.

The salary was good, and the work was okay, but it wasn’t the creation, design, and problem-solving I was led to believe.

It was filled with bureaucracy, politics and protecting yourself more than creative design.

Many days, I dreaded going to work, project after project; they were all the same; it felt.. grey. I got little fulfilment from it and even less thanks from anyone.

I was working the weekend during some overtime, and it dawned on me. I sat in my boss’s chair and thought, this is what I’ve got to look forward to in 20 years.

At that moment, I realised I would be doing this routine for the next 20 years. More extensive projects, higher status, and a bit more money, but fundamentally, nothing will change.

I reflected for a moment….wait… With reasonably high certainty, I could predict exactly what I’d be doing 20 years from now on a miserable Tuesday morning: Waking up at 7 am, getting ready to come here and sit in this chair doing the same work, which would be the best case!

Maybe I’d have had some lovely holidays, but my life would be similar to now. I asked myself,

Am I ok with this?

I wasn’t.

Something had to change.

Meanwhile, experiencing the financial crisis piqued my interest in other areas outside my linear and grey career bubble.

I was scared; I had got so used to the steady income and always carried the fear from what I saw during the financial crisis. I couldn’t’ do anything that would rock the boat.

but… I had ideas and knew if I didn’t change anything, I’d be trapped, stuck in this life, with motivation and lust for life fading every day.

I would watch my courageous friends start businesses, change jobs and, try new things, live life.

Meanwhile, I couldn’t move, I was stuck.

One day, I reached breaking point.

I decided I would plan a way out.

I made exploits into side projects, jobs, and other sources of income and even started my own food business (I love all things tasty!)

I did all this (many projects in stealth mode, so no one knew) while maintaining a steady income.

I carefully designed my approach so I wouldn’t rock the “steady job” boat.

I used my engineering mindset to build frameworks that would allow me to efficiently design the life I wanted and test my ideas without the risk and the overwhelming feeling.

Over time, each step started to feel exciting rather than overwhelming, allowing me to explore these new areas with a positive feeling.

Some things worked, others didn’t, but I was finally trying and exploring; I felt free.

I learnt the delicate and subtle shifts in mindset required to make these changes without going into the panic and overwhelm zone where you can easily suffer paralysis, as I witnessed some of my peers do.

Jumping too far made me freeze; there was a sweet spot.

No one else seemed to understand this.

I was relentless with my processes and methods, testing framework after framework until it yielded what I wanted.

I battled the fear and anxiety of changing my life and not knowing how to approach it.

I read piles of self-help books, took courses and contacted mentors and coaches.

All of which were useful.

But one pattern that slowly emerged was they rarely dug deep into the HOW

what to do at each stage

and what to do if you didn’t have the courage….

I found many methods needed to fit my specific character traits better.

I was risk-averse, generally shy and introverted. I was also highly sensitive, so being bold and putting myself out there was more challenging than they made out.

I’d get exhausted from trying the very exercises I chose to buy. They failed to work over some time as I struggled to keep motivated.

I eventually found my way and realised there was an approach I could use to get you the progress I wanted without risking everything or quitting your job.

I discovered ways you could explore new avenues without the fear of losing what you have and the anxiety that goes along with it.

After years of developing my methods, systems and tools, I realised I could help others do the same. As I slowly grew my own methods to help me, others around me wanted the same.

I started helping the first few people at this point, and the approach was working. I realised I could expand this and help more like-minded people navigate their way from a feeling of stagnation to finding their way… and to do this while minimising risk, keeping the risk-averse part of their character within reach at all times.

It has since been my mission to enable people to take action in the way they are comfortable with and find what they were meant to do.

If you want to learn from me, read on….

Alternatively, you can dive into your self-help rabbit hole and see how far it goes. Maybe this has been enough to light your fire.

It took me over ten years to build all the frameworks I use now, including all the refinements I’ve made with my clients.