A dream becomes a reality...

'What am I so afraid of?'

I can’t begin to tell you how many times I have asked myself this question whilst dreaming about starting my own financial services business. And to be fair, having spent the last decade working for corporates in the Banking and Financial Services sector, it has purely been just that – a dream.

Sure, there were other thoughts like; 'what if I fail’, ‘why change, I have a great wage and am comfortable’, and of course, ‘maybe next year’. These rationale thoughts were simply something I relied on to reinforce my fears of failure. It was a procrastination technique…and it worked.

Not for one second do I regret my journey to date, if anything I am eternally grateful to the organisations I have worked for as it has allowed me to build a knowledge base, develop new skills and learn about who I am as a person. I have met wonderful colleagues and made friends for life. I have travelled the world, gained cultural experiences and worked with brilliant minds. I have met a variety of inspiring business owners and rode the turbulence of their business challenges. I have learned their stories of success and felt their failures whilst managing their banking affairs. What a ride!

However, whilst I have been exposed to all of this, there was always an itch to break free and take the leap.

When my first son was born in 2016, my views on the world changed…significantly. I realised that I was no longer the centre of the universe and nor was my wife. We now had to care for this little human being, teach him values and start to be more accountable, not only to him but to ourselves and those around us. I realised that my window, my opportunity, my dream to start a financial services business had potentially got a lot smaller…or had it?

Now, with this added responsibility combined with the thought that this dream may never come to fruition it was time to start making some decisions and start to become more accountable to myself. The more I started to reflect and question where I was placed in my career, the more obvious it became that I could finally answer that burning question, ‘what am I so afraid of’.

I wasn’t afraid of failure, I wasn’t even fearful of changing roles or industry. What I was afraid of is not being able to chase a dream, have a crack and turn it into reality.

So, in January 2018, Chatham House Financial was born. A mortgage broking firm that is focussed on helping indviduals and business succeed in life.

Even if this does fail I have already won. I have a beautiful family, I have experienced so much in my working life to date, I have great friends, good health and grown as an individual and most importantly, I have now faced into my fears and taken control.

This reality is one of the most confronting, exhilarating, challenging and fulfilling experiences I could have dreamed of and I can’t imagine life to be any other way.

Let's do this!