I’ve never been a fan of those motivational posters that you see on office walls (usually in sales or marketing departments) that attempt to depict a word like “Opportunity” or “Teamwork” with a single image, usual of some nature scene or a lone individual rising above the odds to achieve a difficult goal. To my mind they always look a bit facile, glib and superficial. “Destiny” equates to a holiday villa on the Maldives? “Integrity” is a Lion? “Success” appears to involve hang-gliding off towards the ocean in an action which brings to mind Reginald Perrin?! I demand more thought and more words from my motivational office decorations!
For many many years, blu-tacked to my monitor at home has been an inspirational “wallet stuffer” by Bruce B. Wilmer which was given to me by my mum. It’s a short poem entitled “Go For It!” which begins:
“Shake off your doubts and then go for it.
Check out your options and act.
Find an approach to the future,
And turn today’s dreams into fact.”
I’ve seen those words on a daily basis for far too long. Today is the day that I stop simply reading them, and start acting upon them.
After much deliberation, I’ve handed in my notice at Marshalls and begun setting myself up as a contractor. I have been mulling over the idea of going freelance for a long time, but have always had other distractions to worry about. Now that I’m married, settled in a new house, have obtained UK residency for Jocelyn, and baby Ben is settling down nicely, I figure that my life is finally getting to be stable and prosaic, and I should take this opportunity to stir things up a bit by handing in my notice with no certainty of regular (or indeed any) future income!
I am filled with a heady mixture of trepidation and excitement. More details will, undoubtedly, appear on this blog in due course. Wish me luck!