What advice would you give to your 2007 self?

About three years ago I was desperate to leave the 9-5 office environment where I worked, and I started to do exercises to help me figure out my ideal future work life. One exercise was ‘imagine your typical day; where would you be and what would you be doing?’ At that time, all I wanted was to not be in an office, to be able to dress however I wanted (‘in my jeans and converse trainers’, I recall no suits!), working in my own creative den with the stereo cranked up, being a writer and artist.

Well that’s what my life is like right now.

If I could now sit with my three-years-younger office worker self, I would give them this advice:

Be careful of following the dreams you dream when you’re in a bad situation

These dreams and needs can be specific to how you’re feeling in that bad place. For example, if you’re in a job where the clients / co-workers/customers/students etc are driving you crazy, you might start to dream of working away from people (because they are a source of stress at that moment). And you might think ‘ok, so actually I don’t like working with people, maybe I should go work with machines instead’. When the reality is that you probably are a people-person, you just need to be with the right people. Likewise if you’re in a job you hate and the only thing that makes you feel comforted is to bake cakes. It doesn’t necessarily mean you should start your own cake shop. It could be a crutch that’s getting you by your blah job, rather than something you would LOVE to do or are suited to doing as a career. Make sure you’re in a good place when you make your dreams and plans.

Dream clearly and widely

Get every detail down. Know how everything will interlink in your ‘dream life’. The kind of place you want to live (what country, city countryside or beach), what you want to do outside of work, who you want to be with at work and play, how you want to handle your money, ideal breakfast…

Know where the money will come from in your dream career/life

This doesn’t mean having to compromise, it just means saying ‘from me doing this service or this product or this freelance work or this kind of employment or from property investment etc’. You have to be specific about the kind of people who would want to pay for it. I’ve always rolled my eyes at the term ‘market research’ (I had to do street surveys for projects at school, not cool) but it’s just thinking ‘ok, who are the people who are passionate about the stuff I’m passionate about’. If you love yoga and decide to be a yoga teacher, for example, then the people you’ll be ‘selling to’ will be other yoga lovers. So your market will be people who are like you. It’s probably easier to ‘sell’ to people who are like you, as you understand their wants, feelings, where they’re coming from. You can relate to them. Start thinking about yourself as the market or your primary customer. What would you be enticed to do or buy? What would have you signing up, waving your debit card in the air?

What advice would you give your younger self? Share with us in the comments section!

(A longer version of this article can be read here)