STOP FOR NOTHING

July 9, 2019 Kate Halewood

When I met Jason Wilcock to talk about career change, I knew he had changed careers at least once. I was keen to share his experience with other people. Hoping to inspire them to follow their own dreams and find a job they love. During our ninety-minute conversation, a fascinating story emerged.

I discovered that when it comes to fulfilling his dreams, this very friendly and unassuming man 'stops for nothing'.

Image of Blackburn in the 1970’s, courtesy of the New Statesman

A Lancashire Lad's Dream

Jason Wilcock was born in Blackburn in the 1970’s when the once thriving cotton industry was in decline. From humble beginnings, his Dad worked many jobs to provide for his family. This inspired a similar work ethic in Jason.

He grew up in an era of economic uncertainty with hundreds of cotton mills closures and high unemployment. Jason wondered what life prospects his hometown could offer - he began dreaming of adventure and world exploration.

By the age of fourteen, Jason had developed an appetite for testing his own endurance. He also had an enthusiasm for adventure, and this led him to make his first career choice. He decided he wanted to become a Royal Marine Commando and earn the coveted Green Beret, so he ran down to the local Royal Naval Office to apply.

At fourteen years old, he was too young to join. This news did not deter Jason. On the day after his sixteenth birthday, he returned to the local Royal Naval Office and signed up.

Just before he started his training, he got a job so he could pay food and board to his parents. He worked in a shoe factory that heeled ladies’ shoes. His main job was to move pairs of shoes from one rack to another and Jason remembers how unfulfilled he felt at the time. This experience made him even more determined to follow his dreams. He wanted to get the most out of life - A year later Jason was awarded the Green Beret.

A World of Adventure

Five action-packed years went by. Jason loved working with his Royal Marine Commandos unit. He enjoyed travelling and being part of a brotherhood and elite fighting force. Some of his operational duties included Northern Ireland and Arctic warfare in Norway.

At the age of twenty-two, having successfully pushed his body and mind to new limits, he began to imagine his next dream. One where he could explore the world under his own steam, at his own pace. Hanging up his Green Beret for the last time, he left the Royal Marines in search of his next adventure - Canada.

Jason returned to the UK for a short spell to earn money to finance his world exploration. He worked in security and managed an amusement arcade until he raised the funds. Then he spent a couple of years exploring the continents of North America and South Asia.

To cover living expenses, he worked as a tutor for the Canadian Western Arctic Leadership Program. Later he became a white-water rafting river guide on the Ottawa River and then in Nepal. He led river expeditions on some of the best white-water rivers in the world.

Jason returned to work in the UK to finance another world trip to Australia. He worked as a child-care worker in Staffordshire for twelve months. Once in Australia, he did a short stint as a security guard at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in downtown Sydney.

An example of Jason's work

A New Direction

At the age of twenty-nine, Jason returned to the UK and started to work with young offenders in Wales. Shortly afterwards the company shutdown. Jason saw this as an opportunity to decide what he wanted to do next.

He decided to stay in Wales and go back to education, completing an A level in Fine Art and a Diploma in Art and Design. At the same time, he discovered an appetite for entrepreneurialism. During the second year of his diploma, Jason would sell his own paintings from his local market stand.

He went on to complete a degree in Design and Multi-Media at Glyndwr University. Half way through it, he and a few of his university mates also set up a commercial creative design company. They successfully ran the business for a further four years until 2006.

Dream Catching

Earlier in 2005, Jason had received a phone call from his dad. This call would persuade him to change the direction of his career again.

Jason’s dad was a keen amateur photographer. He had always dream't of turning professional one day and Jason shared his passion. During the call, his dad shared a vision of father and son starting up a company and working together. One where they could follow their passions and spend quality time with one another.

Within 3 weeks of the initial conversation, they started a wedding photography business. Their dream partnership was a great success and he and his Dad would go on to photograph over forty weddings a year.

Several years later, business was booming, and Jason became a Dad. With his new status as a father, he started to think about how he wanted to spend the next chapter of his life. He had already travelled and worked in over seventy countries. His next adventure was to be with his family -this led him to make another decision.

Family and Freedom

Jason wanted to be a great dad and be more present in his daughter’s life. At the time, his own Dad was also approaching retirement age. With some sadness they decided to dissolve their business partnership. This allowed Jason to continue to grow and run his own photography business. Running it in a way that allowed him to spend more quality time with his daughter, Lily.

Eight year have passed since Lily was born. Jason still runs a successful photography business, spending precious time with his daughter. They share a passion for adventure and often explore nature in search of new experiences. He continues to travel the world, ticking off adventures on his bucket list and promising plenty more adventures yet to come.

Bringing Life into Careers

What’s interesting about Jason’s career choices, is that he has shaped his career around what he wants out of life. His story reveals how it is possible to follow and realize your dreams. There are three things we need. Flexible thinking, a willingness to try and an unwavering determination to make it happen. His journey blazes a trail of significant events. Ones that have motivated and inspired him to get the lifestyle he wants. This is not a person who gives up – it is a person who sees life as an adventure. Someone who always wants to explore what’s round the ‘unknown corner’. He is a dream catcher. A person who does not let obstacles get in his way and never settles for a life he would consider to be second best. He understands and embraces the change in his expectations, dreams and aspirations. Always trusting that following them to fruition, will bring him ultimate happiness and fulfilment.

When I asked Jason what advice he would give to someone thinking about making a career change, he replied;

‘Always try to have a financial plan before you make a career transition. This removes some of the fear of going into the unknown. Also, make sure you are in love with your dream - it will keep you going when obstacles try and stand in your way’.

I wanted to know more about what obstacles he faced and overcame during his journey. He told me;

‘deciding what you truly want to do next - once you have decided though, it’s simple, you just crack on and get on with it’.

Jason is living proof that nothing can stop us from achieving our dreams. All we need to do is decide what we want to do, really want it and have an unconditional commitment to making it happen.

Before we said our goodbyes, I asked him what he has gained from the whole experience. Self-belief is his answer. I expected him to say happiness, but it does makes sense when you think about it. Jason has successfully re-designed and re- built his career many times. Above everything else, he trusts in his ability to achieve anything he puts his mind to. Without his growth in self-confidence, he may not have followed his dreams and earned the success, happiness and fulfilment he now enjoys. When you consider this, it is not surprising that he says self-belief is ultimate pay off.

Acknowledgements

Huge thanks to Jason Wilcock for sharing his fascinating story with me and for also giving me permission to share it with you.

Click here to find out more about Jason and the great photography services he provides.

Get in touch

If you would like help to find your happiness, success and fulfilment like Jason, contact me at kate@rootball.co.uk or call me on 07759 652357.

Jason Howard Photography owns the copyright for the images used in this article, where supplied by Jason Howard Photography.

To Move On, Or Not To Move On- This Is The Question: Part 2

June 17, 2019 Kate Halewood

Still waking up with a feeling of anxiety or dread about going into work? Having ongoing uncertainty around returning to work, after taking some time off? If the answer is yes, grab yourself a cuppa, find a comfortable spot and read on - this article should be right up your street.

In my last blog we discovered that almost half of all workers in the UK (47%) would like to change career. Not all make the switch because they are apprehensive about making it. The main reasons are due to a lack of financial security, uncertainty on what to switch to and fear of failure.

If you are undecided about a career change and share some of these worries, here’s some advice to help you make your mind up.

First understand the initial strength and nature of your motivation for career change. Moving to another profession can be hard work. It can involve significant time and effort to learn new skills and gain the required knowledge to make the move. There are also financial implications that need considering. Reflect on your motivations and identify the potential benefits from making the switch. This will reduce the possibility of making an impetuous job move. Exercise 1 can help you identify and understand your motivations.

When considering a career change, one of the hardest things is knowing what work to do instead - career confusion sets in. Many of us find ourselves in a state of limbo between our current work and the promise of a dream job. Often this level of uncertainty leads to a lack of motivation to act. The idea goes on the metaphorical back burner and we make remarks like ‘better the devil you know’ or ‘I’m probably better off staying put’. The difficulty comes when our unconscious minds are telling us something different.

When our conscious and unconscious minds are in conflict, we can threaten our mental health and well-being. Persistent conflict can cause serious health conditions like depression, long-term stress and anxiety.

If you are regularly thinking about career change, have been for a while and are yet to reach a decision, you are in conflict. Get clarity on your career purpose to help you decide what you want to do.

Our individual motivations and career purpose often differ. The right career for you may not be right one for someone else. We all have our own unique set of values, beliefs, knowledge, abilities and desires. Spend some time thinking about what's important to you in your work. Get to know yourself better and explore potential career alternatives. Explore fears and uncertainty without risk. Identify your true work purpose before taking the plunge and then plan what you need to do to make a successful career transition. Exercise 2 can help you get clarity on your career purpose

There is only one way to get financial certainty and that is to plan for it. Having enough savings to finance a career move means you can take more immediate risks. Yet one in four Brits have no savings. The average consumer debt per household in 2019, has also reached over fifteen thousand pounds. This means an uncalculated risk is most definitely not an option for most people. To achieve our dreams and aspirations we all need financial stability. Often, we think we need to sacrifice one for the other and this can stop us from exploring our options further. There is no getting away from the fact that sometimes we do not have the immediate means to finance a career move.

This should not stop us from fulfilling our dreams. Think about taking a more gradual approach.

Whether you are on minimum wage or earning more, you can find ways to reduce the money that goes out. If you are thinking of going into business yourself and personal savings is not an option, get help. You could get a small business loan, find a business angel or even consider crowd funding. If you feel out of your depth, consider getting independent professional financial advice. You can also seek further guidance from your local Citizens Advice Bureau. Certainty around financial security can be achieved within several months. Prepare to plan for a longer period though if you need to re-train and want to maintain earning status. When the commitment is greater, belief in your dream is fundamental. Sometimes we need to cut back, stop doing or change the way we live for a while, to get what we really, really want. Exercise 3 can help you plan for financial certainty

We all have an inbuilt fear response to a threat of physical or emotional danger. At one time our ancestors experienced many threats to human life which often led to life or death consequences. Today, the stakes are much lower. Yet our minds still treat the threat as significant and the response is fear. In the context of career change, we also assess threats and if we see danger, we become fearful. Often fear of failure, loss of status or not being good enough stop us. Fear of regretting the decision, starting again and even success can also hold us back. An ongoing internal dialogue of self-doubt ensues and we talk ourselves out of trying something new. Our ‘fight, flight or freeze’ response kicks in. We decide either to make an impulsive career move, stay put or have a prolonged state of indecision. None of which may end up being resourceful to us in the long run. Obstacles get in our way and we are the ones responsible for putting them there.

Most of the people I have talked to, who have made a forced or unforced career change, have done so, with a degree of fear. I can also attest to this from my own experiences. To completely eradicate fear is unrealistic. Mitigating the perceived threats or risks that create fear is a more pragmatic approach. When we plan and set ourselves goals, we are more in control of and confident about the decisions we make. When we identify and mitigate risks, we remove potential obstacles that stand in our way. Fear and uncertainty start to fade, and we become more willing to try something new. Planning well for a career change can help you find the courage to make the transition.

To become more fearless, plan for it as if it has happened. This takes you beyond theoretical planning to somewhere between your current job and your dream job. The idea is to get experience in your chosen career before making a permanent move. It can involve a temporary work placement, secondment, day-release or doing other work in your own time. This way you can get ‘on the job’ experience at the same time as protecting your existing employment. Although the full transition has not yet happened, you will get a better feel for the job you are interested in. Whether you are employed or run your own business make time to explore new possibilities. It can reduce fears associated with a career move.

Even though planning is a great way to help us develop confidence about making a career change, some fears are more deep-rooted. They can relate to a significant event that has happened in our past. We can do something about this too. By getting in touch with our unconscious mind, we can re-programme our thinking. All our learning and behaviour change occurs in the unconscious mind. This means almost every human being on the planet has the capacity to re-programme the way they think about things. One way to do this is to visualise a detailed image having already made the successful career change. One where you have conquered the fear. By keeping it fresh in your mind, your subconscious accepts your image as reality. It then works to make sure you achieve it. Successful people like Oprah Winfrey, Arnold Swarzenegger and Lindsey Vonn all practice visualisation.Exercise 4 can help you become more fearless.

Positive affirmations, mantras or auto-suggestions, designed to overcome a fear, can also be useful. Try to see the journey as an adventure, something you want to explore to see what will happen. There are no certainties in life so prepare yourself to approach change in a more flexible way. One that keeps you open to adapt to new possibilities along the way - that’s what Paula did.

Paula Ellis grew up in Old Swan, an inner-city area of Liverpool. After a successful work placement at Liverpool Housing Trust, she went on to work in social housing and customer services management for over 30 years. Eventually, the reduction of social value related services led to an organisational restructure. Her role, along with some other posts, were made redundant. In her mid-forties, she was forced to re-consider her employment options.

Instead of being defeated by the situation, she chose to think of the event as an opportunity. She explored different ways she could help improve public services for the people of the Liverpool City Region. In 2012, she set up and still runs a local community interest company with her business partner. They have since been successful in bidding for and securing local funding to help young people from complex backgrounds to improve their personal skills in areas such as self-esteem, confidence, resilience and decision making. Since being made redundant, her company has provided freelance opportunities with the Liverpool City Council, local Parish Councils and the Homes and Communities Agency. She has also been a School Governor at St Alberts School in Knowsley and The Belvedere Academy in Liverpool.

Paula now works in public transport for the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, as the Corporate Engagement Manager. Whilst some of her career moves were triggered by events out with her control, she has gone on to have a more diverse work experience and gain greater personal benefits like flexible and agile working, higher salary and significant personal development across several public sectors. She told me, ‘if you are willing to try and put the effort in, you can succeed at most things.’

Career change is ultimately about getting more of what you want out of life.

What's the absolute worst than can happen if you change your career? You may not like your new job and want to change careers again or even go back to your old career. Well you will already have experience at doing the former. In the latter case you are no worse off than you were before. In fact, you will have gained more valuable knowledge, experience and skills to help you with all your future adventures.

What’s the absolute best that can happen if you change your career? You find the job of your dreams and go to work, for the most part, feeling truly fulfilled.

Acknowledgements

Massive thanks to Paula Ellis for sharing her story with me and giving me permission to share it with you.

Contact

I would love to hear from you if you have an interesting career change story or want to find out more about my Growth Plans.

Email kate@rootball.co.uk or call 07759 652357. Hope you found this article useful.

References:

To Move On, Or Not To Move On- This Is The Question: Part 1

May 9, 2019 Kate Halewood

47% of people in the UK would like to change career

If you are waking up with a regular feeling of dread and anxiety about going into work or are filled with uncertainty about returning to work after taking some time off, this article should help you decide whether to start thinking more seriously about making a career change.

A scientific study undertaken by the [University of Manchester] suggests that having a bad or stressful job can be worse for our mental health and well -being than being unemployed. Yet having a strong sense of purpose in life, promotes good health and longevity. According to a recent survey by the [Independent], British people on average spend nearly a third of their lives in work and getting to and from work, so having a job that gives us a strong sense of purpose is more important than ever, to provide us with sustained mental and physical health benefits.

The results of a study undertaken by the [London School of Business and Finance]suggest that nearly half of all workers in the UK (47%) would like to change career. Whilst a proportion of people (23%) seem to regret their current career choice, they are still apprehensive about making a change owing to three key factors; lack of financial security, uncertainty on what to switch to and fear of failure.

So, if you are one of those people who no longer feel satisfied with your current job, the good news is you are not alone – there are literally millions of other people in the UK in the same boat.

What to do next?

Your reason for considering a career change may result from a recent redundancy, career break, or you simply want a better work-life balance, increased salary and benefit prospects or improved job satisfaction -or it may even be a combination of these factors.

Whatever, the driving force, finding a fulfilling career for most can feel like a massive challenge and often believed to be out of reach. If you are feeling stuck, disengaged with your chosen career and are confused on what to do next, it really does mean it is time for you to reflect on what you want for the future and start doing something about it.

A limiting concept

Lots of us may be unconsciously working towards retirement and see it as the end game to our ultimate happiness - this is a pretty limiting concept when you think about it. For some this means potentially being in a job, they no longer enjoy, until the age of 66 years - possibly older, as more UK state pension age reviews take place. To put this into context, according to the Office of National Statistics, the average life expectancy in the UK, depending on your sex, is currently between 79 and 83 years. If you do the sums, this means some people are planning to find fulfilment in life for less than a quarter of their entire existence (16-20%) and sadly some may not even make it that far to enjoy this disproportionate level of happiness– it’s quite a disturbing fact when you think about it, isn’t it.

Understand your motivation

Career change is not always the answer for everyone and those who decide to give it a go, will need to find the motivation, courage, belief and faith to take the plunge despite their fears and uncertainties. So, before deciding to change your career path, it is vital that you make sure you first understand your motivation behind wanting the change. This way you will have more confidence, faith and belief that a career change is right for you.

Letting go and finding answers

Over the course of my career, many people have switched from the idea of having ‘a job for life’ to having and wanting ‘life in their job’. The search for fulfilment at work has led to more people thinking about and making a career change. Yet there are still many people in a job that no longer satisfies them. By letting go of limiting beliefs and by finding answers for some of the uncertainty that surrounds a career change, more people may be able to find a job that they truly love, really excel at and find inner lasting happiness, success and fulfilment at work, instead of aiming to eventually secure it during retirement.

A bit about me and my Granny

My Granny was my inspiration. She had the courage to change careers and trained to become a registered nurse in her forties, at a time when women having careers was a new concept rather than the norm.

I successfully changed career in my early 30’s and have recently again decided to make a change and run my own business in my forties. I can honestly say my experiences to date have enhanced my life and the choices I made have been pivotal in giving me the life I want. My career change journey has given me personal growth, helping me understand so much about myself, what I do best and most importantly what I enjoy doing. It has also led me to want to help other people successfully do the same thing.

Part 2 - ‘Moving on - the Journey’ coming soon

Interested in learning how to identify and understand your career change motivations and want to get some tips on how to remove some of the uncertainty before taking the next step?

If your answer is 'Yes' then keep your eyes peeled for Part 2 – ‘To move or not to move - this is the question’ coming soon.

If you found this article helpful, please like or comment on it and share it if you think someone you know may find it useful. You can also get in touch if you are interested in finding out more about my career change coaching growth plans.

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Source: https://www.lsbf.org.uk/media/2760986/fina...