You Can Always Get What You Want

Another year older and another year wiser... or so they say. It was my birthday yesterday when I reached the forever young figure of 34.

Now, at this point of the year I like to look back at what I was doing a year ago, to see if things have moved in the right direction, or not. This isn't something that I tend to do too much, as I don't believe that there is ever much to be gained from picking over the remains of what has happened. But, once a year it is useful to calibrate where I am.

A year ago, I was desperately trying to leave my job. I had just been moved from one position on the project to another hopeless role, and I was under a huge amount of stress, working late most nights. There didn't seem to be any end in sight, and I was beginning to consider resigning.

Obviously, in the mean time the project had stalled so much that it actually was able to de-scope half of its remit, by the world around it changing at a quicker pace. This then provided me with the opportunity to get out of dodge. I've now received the redundancy that I craved and engineered over the last two years, and this has really set up our new life.

The house was on the market a year ago, and we were just beginning to consider putting it in the auction. It's funny how things happen for a reason. If we'd sold it last year then we would certainly have had to rent for a year up north, and this would have eaten into the bunce. We also would have been very uncertain about how I was going to leave work, and this would have led to a very bumpy ride.

So, it all turns out right again. Don't you find that it always does.

I'm on a roll at the moment, and the events that I've been working towards have all arrived in the timeframe they needed to.

I have no doubt that this is down to knowing what it is that you want and concentrating on them regularly. I never used to know what I wanted. That was the biggest problem that I ever had. They don't give that advice enough when you're growing up. You're allowed to breeze through qualifications aimlessly hoping that something will turn up. There's too much wasted effort going on.

For years I wanted to be in a band, but I wanted money. For years I wanted money, but I didn't want to be an accountant. I followed the Beige Army who would advise you to get your head down and stay in a good company because they'll look after you.

That good company then started making people redundant that didn't want to go. They started changing peoples pension agreements. They started changing things everywhere. This is their right, this is what they must do to exist in the marketplace. But don't tell me that a good company will look after you.

That may sound bitter and unfair given where I am at the moment after just being looked after, but I don't believe that they would have looked after me if I'd not played the system. You have to play the game to get what you can from these people. If I'd have been honest about my intentions two years ago, then they wouldn't have looked after me then.

It's so important to clarify in your own mind what it is that you want. If you don't know where you're going, how on earth are you going to get there. This is the thing that I've learnt this year more than anything else. It affects all aspects of my life, and has made me happier than I've been for years.

I am now so happy that I'm in a position where I can back myself to achieving what I want to achieve. I'm 34 and I'm retiring. I'm now in control of my own ship, and I know exactly where we're heading.

Location:The Ave,Alderley Edge,United Kingdom

Holes

It feels at the moment like everything is getting very real. The redundancy is sorted now, and I'll be leaving at the end of July. Such a massive focus in my life for the past two years, and now a kind of emptiness before I fill the gap with the next thing.

The survey on the house happened yesterday so we now have to wait for this hurdle to clear out of the way. I guess we'll find out at the beginning of next week about this.

So, now I have to concentrate on what we are moving towards, given that the things that we are moving away from are wrapping up.

We are going down to the Isle of Wight in three weeks time to sort out a rental place to live, and the schools that we are going to enroll the kids in. We already have appointments with the two potential schools for Dylan and Sophie's school, as well. I think we'll end up putting Dylan in Gurnard Primary School, as this will be the area we will live in initially. It's a good school, and it has a swimming pool, which sounds brilliant to me. He'd hate to be out done by Sophie's pool.

We then have to put feelers out to the letting agents in the area, to give us an early indication if any properties are going to come on the market in our time frame. Something will turn up, but I said to Claire the other night that I don't want to live in any old house. The big move would be a big anti-climax if we move in to some hovel. It's got to be semi-decent, at least.

There's a fair bit to think about and arrange over the next month, but the good thing is at work I'm doing next to nothing now. I want to use this time to start writing another book. It's called The Grind, and is going to be a kind of memoir about my eleven years of working in the corporate world. A lot of funny things have happened in my time there and I want to get them down so I don't forget.

Location:Alderley Edge,United Kingdom