Walking along the streets of East London, hopping on to a bus and then slipping on to a tube I can't help but suddenly jolt at the realisation that I'm in London. So many of my mistakes and subsequent regrets have been borne out of careful planning and thought. Meticulous counter measures to off-set any negative outcome that may arise in my plan. The plan normally goes ahead with little a hitch to talk of but my regret is never enjoying the moment as I had hoped. Getting lost in thought and process and not absorbing the real-time personal education or development that is to be had by just letting go and having fun.
Let's entertain retrospect for now: As I grew up I began to steer my focus away from detail and not make a decision always on logic. If I wanted to do something I knew that I shouldn't think about it as much. I know from experience (and recent events) that it turns out I can be resourceful and launch into the unexpected and not be hospitalised by fear. So many decisions or missed opportunities occurred as a result of fearing and over-analysing. I always took decisions on my own and never thought through the result with someone else - never really sitting down and going through the thought-process with another, older and wiser individual. Anyway, I'm digressing as usual but the reason I emphasise on my previous experiences is because two and half years ago I decided to work on secondment in the largest city in the UK. I would embark on an attempt to secure a position in one of London's more volatile mortgage packagers. The decisions was on a whim and I wasn't sure how I would do it, but very quickly I discovered my ability for building relationships.
At first I started my London adventure staying in a hotel for one week and then a different hotel another week because one was full and the other over my expenses allowance per night. I spoke to the manager of the latter and asked if I could arrange to keep residence there for 12weeks on a reduced rate of £100per night. He agreed as I'd explained that it was guaranteed business for the 12wks. This was pretty good for a 50% discount in a rather lovely hotel. Pleased with myself I was already feeling more relaxed about working in this large, unknown city. 12wks went by of relentless relationship building with my account and positive comments seeped through the professional channels. However, despite feedback from the account and businesses attached it was working out too expensive and a professional betrayal meant that I wasn't going to be kept on in the London branch and would have to go back to Wolverhampton. Deflated, upset, angry and lost I boarded my train back to my home town. I mulled over it for some time, how could I have changed it? How could I have been better, but I quickly discovered that it's now in the past and what I do now is going to be the changing point.
The work I had done in London, though short-lived, was now recognisable in the industry and put me in my prime-view of potential employers. I interviewed and got my preferred employment. It was higher paid, more intuitive and I got to be responsible for a huge account, even more volatile than the previous. 'Woohoo, a challenge', I thought. It was short lived however as the mortgage industry had begun to crack and I could tell you stories about the industry that would make you cringe... Another time perhaps! The lender had a restricted tranche of £5m per month, which was the amount of business my account was bringing in alone, so cuts had to be made and I prefer to tell the story that it was because I had sustained business growth and was too good! For now, I'm content and have evidence to justify this.
From being redundant from this job I supported an IT testing system for a few months until I landed the job that I wanted in recruitment – determined to bring something new to the industry. Again, another redundancy after six months due to quiet recruitment periods over Christmas left me with the need to find another job. However, this time I aimed to do something creative. With friends and a network of people built and sustained during the two years I'd worked in London I managed to get two jobs working in a bar and restaurant to pay off some debts that accumulated during my turbulent period in 2008, yet when I look back through this rather emotionally testing and confidence challenging period in my life I can safely say there are few regrets I have. I've lost good friends and established better friends, fallen in and out of love with different people and found something more special than anything I've ever met and am now building my own identity within the Social Media world and learning new things about branding and social networking. I'm happier than I've been in a long while and I'm pushing myself to mark my own stamp in London.
At 25 I'm still young and I have much to learn about myself and this world, but I couldn't be any more pleased to be learning such values in my favourite city. London I love you.
Let's entertain retrospect for now: As I grew up I began to steer my focus away from detail and not make a decision always on logic. If I wanted to do something I knew that I shouldn't think about it as much. I know from experience (and recent events) that it turns out I can be resourceful and launch into the unexpected and not be hospitalised by fear. So many decisions or missed opportunities occurred as a result of fearing and over-analysing. I always took decisions on my own and never thought through the result with someone else - never really sitting down and going through the thought-process with another, older and wiser individual. Anyway, I'm digressing as usual but the reason I emphasise on my previous experiences is because two and half years ago I decided to work on secondment in the largest city in the UK. I would embark on an attempt to secure a position in one of London's more volatile mortgage packagers. The decisions was on a whim and I wasn't sure how I would do it, but very quickly I discovered my ability for building relationships.
At first I started my London adventure staying in a hotel for one week and then a different hotel another week because one was full and the other over my expenses allowance per night. I spoke to the manager of the latter and asked if I could arrange to keep residence there for 12weeks on a reduced rate of £100per night. He agreed as I'd explained that it was guaranteed business for the 12wks. This was pretty good for a 50% discount in a rather lovely hotel. Pleased with myself I was already feeling more relaxed about working in this large, unknown city. 12wks went by of relentless relationship building with my account and positive comments seeped through the professional channels. However, despite feedback from the account and businesses attached it was working out too expensive and a professional betrayal meant that I wasn't going to be kept on in the London branch and would have to go back to Wolverhampton. Deflated, upset, angry and lost I boarded my train back to my home town. I mulled over it for some time, how could I have changed it? How could I have been better, but I quickly discovered that it's now in the past and what I do now is going to be the changing point.
The work I had done in London, though short-lived, was now recognisable in the industry and put me in my prime-view of potential employers. I interviewed and got my preferred employment. It was higher paid, more intuitive and I got to be responsible for a huge account, even more volatile than the previous. 'Woohoo, a challenge', I thought. It was short lived however as the mortgage industry had begun to crack and I could tell you stories about the industry that would make you cringe... Another time perhaps! The lender had a restricted tranche of £5m per month, which was the amount of business my account was bringing in alone, so cuts had to be made and I prefer to tell the story that it was because I had sustained business growth and was too good! For now, I'm content and have evidence to justify this.
From being redundant from this job I supported an IT testing system for a few months until I landed the job that I wanted in recruitment – determined to bring something new to the industry. Again, another redundancy after six months due to quiet recruitment periods over Christmas left me with the need to find another job. However, this time I aimed to do something creative. With friends and a network of people built and sustained during the two years I'd worked in London I managed to get two jobs working in a bar and restaurant to pay off some debts that accumulated during my turbulent period in 2008, yet when I look back through this rather emotionally testing and confidence challenging period in my life I can safely say there are few regrets I have. I've lost good friends and established better friends, fallen in and out of love with different people and found something more special than anything I've ever met and am now building my own identity within the Social Media world and learning new things about branding and social networking. I'm happier than I've been in a long while and I'm pushing myself to mark my own stamp in London.
At 25 I'm still young and I have much to learn about myself and this world, but I couldn't be any more pleased to be learning such values in my favourite city. London I love you.
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