I am currently in Poland delivering a programme for a large global retailer and, I love it! I really do love my job. Sure, there are challenges, some tasks I don’t particularly like, but overall, it’s a great career choice. I didn’t plan to be a coach and facilitator, after all my heart was set on being a pro-footballer when I was a kid. (I didn’t make it ☹️). I left school with minimal qualifications but I was good at sport.
I joined the RAF, as a PTI (Physical training instructor) I found myself playing loads of football, refereeing games, leading expeditions, organising competitions and taking control of events, but, I wouldn’t have offered to stand up in front of groups of people trying to keep them engaged for 3 days at a time, no chance!
Events in life take you along certain pathways and, as you all know, you have to make choices as to which path to follow. After leaving the RAF and becoming a personal trainer and fitness professional, in civvi street, I set up my own business and started to develop my offering. I didn’t have a plan to build and grow the business, get offices and employ people, I just needed to pay the bills.
I had some bad luck and lost some work, and started to dislike being with some of the people I trained. People moaning about life and how they hated their jobs – I had slowly become a therapist! At this point I looked for other options and approached the company, that I got my qualifications with, and asked if they needed a lecturer. The next 6 months were spent learning new topics, skills and building confidence to deliver various programmes, then I helped grow their business.
The next change in direction, that lead me to do what I do now, was through a chance meeting with an old RAF acquaintance. I got a call from him, asking me to join his training consultancy, but in the corporate world. Another 6 months learning new stuff, watching videos, reading specific books, observing others and feeling nervous, I began delivering programmes on my own. That was in 2000 and I’ve been doing it ever since.
The things that stand out for me, and were important for progression in my careers, were:
- Always be willing to learn new information and skills
- I had no formal qualifications but was willing to put the hours into ‘adult study time’
- Be versatile and change to explore new opportunities
- I took measured risks but committed 100% once I’d made a decision
- Say “Yes” and then work out the how
- Teaching new classes in an evening, after visiting Woolworths, buying a video, and practising all afternoon
- The comfort zone needs to be ignored in times of growth
- I had moments of doubt, more often than not, but kept my eye on the end result to get me there
If you are at a crossroad in your career, be confident that something will turn up, it always does! It’s then down to the choices you make, the effort you put in and, with being comfortable, being uncomfortable!