Our lives are formed by the choices we make – the daring leaps, the quiet compromises, and people moments when now we have to belief our instincts. Some choices change every little thing, others go unnoticed.
Trying again, three pivotal choices stand out as turning factors which have formed the course of my life. They weren’t all straightforward; they positively weren’t protected bets, however they paid off in methods I by no means might have predicted.
Right here’s what these decisions taught me about danger, resilience, and taking management of your life.
1. Leaving residence at 16
Sixteen. That’s how previous I used to be after I packed a bag and moved from Leeds to London. I had no plan B and no security web, however I used to be decided to carve out my very own path. What I didn’t totally grasp again then however perceive now’s simply how a lot that call formed me. It wasn’t solely about shifting cities- it was about gaining freedom and a way of management in my life. It was about saying, “I get to determine.”
Twenty years later, I can see that leaving residence at 16 was a radical act of self-belief and a choice that taught me to belief my instincts.
Even after I was learning in school while working two jobs to pay the hire, I by no means had any regrets. Certain, there have been moments after I felt overwhelmed, however I’d all the time remind myself why I left. I didn’t go away as a result of I needed a straightforward life. I left as a result of I needed extra – extra alternative, extra experiences, extra life. That alternative got here with uncertainty, however it additionally gave me a present most individuals don’t get till they’re a lot older – a way of company. If I needed one thing, it was as much as me to make it occur.
Sixteen-year-old me didn’t have all of the solutions, however she had one thing extra essential: conviction. She simply went for it. And I’ll all the time be grateful she did.
2. Beginning the Energy Hour podcast
Six years in the past, I made the choice to launch my very own podcast. On the time, podcasting was nonetheless a comparatively new platform within the UK. I had no broadcasting expertise, no technical know-how, and no model or sponsor to fund my thought. However I did have a imaginative and prescient. I needed to “encourage unusual individuals to attain extraordinary issues”.