A couple of weeks ago, Lauren and I took a trip to the sleepy Thai island of Koh Lanta.

One day we hired motorbikes.  We wanted to check out a local beach at the exotic sounding Buddha Bay.

As we set off, the road was smooth as chocolate.

But 30 minutes later, after a few left & right turns, the road looked completely different.

For one, it had become much dustier.  The wheels of my moped propelled grit into the air and into my eyes.

It had also became less even.  Every few seconds I had to swerve to avoid a pothole or bump.

And at one point I had to quickly change course to avoid a brown cow which had wandered into the middle of the road.

The path was bumpy, in every sense of the word. 

I began to wonder: was this bumpy path right?  Were we heading towards Buddha Bay or had we taken a wrong turn somewhere?

I needn’t have worried.

After ten more minutes, we turned a corner and found ourselves by crystal clear water and a golden, sandy beach.  We’d arrived at Buddha Bay.

Here’s why I bring this up:

It’s easy to think that bumps along the way mean we’re heading in the wrong direction.

I’m not talking about dirt tracks in Thailand anymore.

I’m talking about our work, our careers and even about life more generally.

A few weeks ago I wrote an email called “Separating the raisins from the rice pudding”. In the email, I talked about how easy it can be to conflate two unrelated ideas. 

I gave some examples.  For instance, not worrying doesn’t mean you don’t care.  Prioritising yourself doesn’t mean you’re selfish.  And something being broken doesn’t mean you need to fix it.

Well, bumps on our journeys through work & life are no different. 

If you’re experiencing some challenges at work and you’re starting to wonder if it’s time to switch course, you might be mixing the raisins with the rice pudding here too.

And that’s because bumps are a feature.  They’re not a bug.

Maybe you don’t get on with your boss.  Maybe you’ve been working longer hours than you’d like.  Or maybe you’re in the midst of a tricky situation or project.

And perhaps, as a result, you’re wondering if it’s worth it any more.  You’re considering a big change like switching career or quitting your job.

But to my mind making changes like these could be missing the wood for the trees.

That’s not to say you need to learn to live with the bumps.  Often you can smooth them out as you go.

But you’ll never find a bump-less path.  That’s just how it works.

And instead of focussing on the bumps, it might be time to switch focus and ask yourself a different question.

Namely: regardless of the bumps, are you on the right path?

It’s a question only you can answer.  But, to my mind, it’s the question you want to be asking.

All right, speaking of career paths...

This is one of the topics Mark Crossfield and I talk about on the latest episode of Mark’s podcast Your Bravo Career.

We also talk about my decision to quit my banking job, my journeying around various corners of personal development and what I learnt while I did.

Plus we speak about my decision to go back to my old job and how my experience of the 9 to 5 has shifted from apathy & cynicism to ease & flow.

Here’s the link:

https://www.bravocoaching.co.uk/podcast

Or hop on over to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and search for “Your Bravo Career”.

That’s all for today.

 - Tom

p.s. here are some of the other topics Mark and I chew the fat about:

*** How my experience of the 9 to 5 has shifted from anguish & torture to ease & flow.  4 years ago I was mentally & physically exhausted and tearing my hair out about my workload, the bureaucracy and the stress of my job.  If someone had told me that 4 years later I’d be working in the same job and looking forward to going into the office each day, I would’ve stared at them as if they’d come straight from the loony bin

*** My “battle-tested” tips to anyone feeling trapped or unfulfilled in their careers

*** What led to me quitting my banking job (I mention some personal stuff I’ve never talked about publicly before)

*** One thing I wish I’d known at the start of my career which undoubtedly would’ve stopped me experiencing the job-related turmoil I did.  I strongly believe that anyone who sees this for themselves will have a more relaxed, easy-going relationship with work, whatever that relationship is like today. That might sound like a big claim, but I stand by it

*** The changes my colleagues have noticed in me since I've come back to the office

*** The single biggest a-ha moment I had during my 7 month certification training with “supercoach” Michael Neill and the game-changing impact this a-ha moment has had on my life

*** How I’m sharing what I’ve learnt with my colleagues in the office

*** The one sentence I read in countless books and heard on multiple podcasts which made no sense to me for pretty much 20 years. Yet which I now not only understand, but which has completely changed my perspective on how to be happy at work (and in life, for that matter)

*** Feeling burnt out or on the road to burn out?  I talk to Mark about one thing you can do right here, right now, to release some of that pressure

*** My daily routine, my writing, my newsletter and my love of magic