Work Life Balance?

[One life live it!]

This is a fantastic thread. To keep you all updated....I've handed my notice in. I already feel like a huge weight has been lifted of my shoulders, I feel invigourated, so much so that I'm back to pounding the fells again. I've had more fresh air this week than the past 2 months. Change is great, I'm excited about what lies around the corner. I've told my family and missus how I feel and they're all 100% behind me. Money may be tight over the next 12 months, but who cares!!

To everyone on this thread, and the wider fell running community....follow your dreams!!

Let someone else worry about making money and pleasing the man! Us lot can worry about what flavour isotonic we consume legging around the Old County Topps this weekend

[Derby Tup]

I'd rather got the feeling that you'd already made you mind up to move One life! Thanks again for starting a real interesting thread and have a good run at the OCT. I'll be flying to the Far East for work when you're in Lakeland having fun

[One life live it!]

Yeah, I had already made my mind up, it was just a case of dotting the I's and crossing the T's.

[MikeH]

Well I doth my cap to you onelife for going for it so quickly, it sound as though you'd virtually made your mind up anyhow!

I sincerely hope that you manage to make the changes you need and everything works out, providing you've got the support of your family you can't really ask for much more.

[Barty]

Hi OLLI (interesting choice of acronym/mnemonic?)

Glad to hear you're making changes...it would be interesting to hear how things go.

I made a small change this morning and instead of cycling the four miles to catch the train, I strapped on my pack and ran the journey instead...very invigorating on a lovely May morning...

Still reckon this is a great thread and look forward to reading/posting as changes happen to us all.

All the best and power to our elbows (and other essential joints, course)

Barty

[mr brightside]

Yeah, best of luck onelife. I'm trying to get out of my current job as it's a source of too much stress, boredom and just depressing really, problem is there's nothing around for me unless i go to shifts...which i won't. So i'm stuck unfortunately.

[Flopsy]

A thread and subject that is very close to me at the moment.

I have hated my career for about 5 years now. I ended up doing a job to pay the bills 10 years ago and then as the money got better and better it became harder to give it up, what with 2 kids to feed etc. So you understand where I am coming from, I am a health and safety consultant and have serious issues about where health and safety has been heading. I am not a risk averse person but the industry is nowadays, so I have to more and more often give advice I don't actually believe in.

For me it's not simply a case of I hate my job and so I can find another one it's a case of hate the career full stop and want to start again. But I'm 40.

I looked at all the 'give it up and do a job I want to do' (working in the outdoors or with animals) options but increasingly found that those types of jobs are very very competitive and very badly paid and frequently require years and years of expensive re-training too.

I know money isn't the be all and end all but a certain amount of money is important to me. House prices are horrendous (especially here), mountian bikes and road bikes and trainers and kit and event fees and fuel travelling to do stuff are expensive when added together. I do quite like to go skiing too. I didn't holiday for 15 years when I was a broke single mum and so I don't really want to go back to that point.

So I am in a sort of in no-mans land at the moment. I gave up my full time, well paid job last September and became self employed as a consultant, technically, just so I could justify on my CV the time out, but I'm not actually doing any work right now. I've just been trying to de-stress and figure things out. I have been lucky my husband could afford to support us all over the last months. But we can't sustain this and I need to be bringing in some money.

I've been offered a job back in the same profession I've done for the last 10 years. But I don't know what to do. I feel guilty about the thought of giving up a well paid career. Not fair to my hard working husband and a sense of failure in myself. Perhaps feeling selfish that I want to be happy in a career when most people just put up with their careers for the money (so my family keep telling me).

Yet the thought of returning to the job fills me with real dread. I don't know if I can do it.

Unless i can think of something else to do with my life I will end up back in that career. But I don't know what else to do and I feel guilty about the thought of giving up a well paid career.

Sorry, just had to get all that off my chest, so to speak.

Well done onelife.

[Clive]

Yeah, I had already made my mind up, it was just a case of dotting the I's and crossing the T's.

fantastic news, and you won't need my luck as you've already made your own and chosen your own destiny, chapeau!
thanks again for starting this fantastic thread, I'm so looking fwd to everyone's wonderful life changes b they massive or tiny, they all go towards the big plan.
C'mon everyone, do it!

[andy k]

A thread and subject that is very close to me at the moment.

so I have to more and more often give advice I don't actually believe in.

Flopsy
If you are set up as a consultant then surely there must be an opportunity for you to give advice you do believe in, for someone to start giving out sane advice.
Make it your mission to help people through and round the risk averse crap that we all hate so much.
could be a real USP

[Manhar]

This is a most stimulating thread. I have this debate re work / life balance in my head at least once a day. I was at a retirement party last week where 1 of the speakers quoted her ex boss who said “don’t let your hobbies get in the way of work” – did get the impression he was being deadly serious – thought to myself what a total tosser he must be.

When I took redundancy in Dec 08 many of my friends said I should travel the world or retrain in a new field. Prior to then I did wonder that there has to be more to life than number crunching (finance) & working to deadlines / a timetable every month. Now having spent the last 17 months temping I’m coming round to the plan of paying of the mortgage (& thereby lifting that financial burden of my shoulders) & securing a permanent position which may be at a lower level with less responsibility – in other words allow me to have the opportunity to live life.

As Barty mentioned earlier let us all support & inspire each other to follow our hearts.