Monday 15 February 2016

Growth and Confidence

At the beginning of October I was made redundant ... not that unusual in the construction industry ... never good timing!

Financially it is a set back  and was stressful ... there was plenty of difficult dicisions to be made. Some plans had to be put on hold, some postponed, some cancelled altogether!

It has given me time out from working which has been a good thing ... to take time out and reasses where I am at, what do I want to do, where I want to live, what my skill set is, what gaps are in my skill set, what does really interest me, what sort of risk am I comfortable with.

Along the way I learnt that there was no access to help through Government agencies ... to many assetts, to skilled ... etc. I wasn't able to access my Kiwisaver funds ... not in financial difficulty enough!

Well, all that did was force me to put my family home on the market and cash up ... the outcome was and is quite freeing ... it has opened up more options for me.

For the last fourteen years I have struggled with self belief and the confidence to back myself. I know where this started ... with the drowning of a student, on a kayak course which I was running ... The subsequent costs ... losses ... closing the business, investigations, inquirees, dreams, family and confidence. Having to go back into a job or industry which I didn't have a passion for ... really put me on the back foot, always doubting what I was doing,and I had become risk averse.

During that time I had often taking on roles (not always by choice) that meant I was working out on a limb on the edge of my comfort zone ... this in the long run builds on skills, confidence ... if there is the right support in place you get to grow. Looking back over the last five years I have had that support. It has come in many forms, role models, counselling, mentors and friends.

They say success breeds success, the need to build in small successful steps, to reflect on what you have learnt along the way ... confidence grows.

The redundancy has been a catalyst ... sure you go through the classic frustration, anger, blame phases ... but popping out the other side of that is what you can turn that situation around and into.

Well, I am looking forward to new challenges, once I have finished riding the Length of New Zealand I will be heading to live in one of my favourite parts of the country, setting up a new business and getting on with life!

#bringiton2016
#2016yearofpositivechange

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