Lots of chat at the moment about recessions and redundancies.

And it reminds me of a phrase I heard a lot during my 9 to 5 days:

“I hate working here.  And what’s worse, I might be laid off”.

I thought this myself a few times.

I mostly hated my job.  Call it a "3 out of 10".

But getting laid off?  Losing my salary, trying to find a new job and battling with the uncertainty…

That would be a 0 out of 10.

No wonder life felt so drab.  

My only options were 3 out of 10 and 0 out of 10.  Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place!

And it makes me wonder…

Why was I content to live at a 3 for so long?  With a 0 hot potato on the horizon?

I don’t think there’s a simple answer to this.  There’s lots of things at play.

My daily emails and my book delve deeper into these.

But I’ll offer the thought that seems most relevant today:

I didn’t think it was even possible for work to be an 8, 9 or 10.  

I thought 0 or 3 were the only options.  So I put up with it and plodded on.

But this is plainly untrue.

Sure, it might not be easy to define “10 out of 10”.

And it might be tricky to reach.  There may be toil and trouble along the way.

But the option is there.  Life – and work – doesn’t have to be a 3 out 10.  It can be an 8, 9 or 10.

And it starts with focussing on what you do want.  Not what you don't want.

So my takeaway for today is this:

There are always more options than you think. 

Getting clearer on what you want can open these options up.

And once options open up, you can start to go after them.

That’s it for today.

Catch you tomorrow.

- Tom