Finding Your Purpose

I have zero idea who Bishop T.D. Jakes is, but I like the above quote very much.

On average we spend about 85,000 hours at work over our lifetime and so it is pretty important we are doing something we like at least a little bit!!

I grasped this concept from a very young age and I am not really sure why. I certainly wasn't reading self help books @ 15 and although my parents were great, I don't think it came from them either. I did have a bit of a rough ride towards the end of high school, so maybe that played a part in wanting to enter the workplace as early as possible, but whatever the reason, I knew exactly what I wanted and I couldn't wait to get started in the world of work.

The other thing to note about purpose is that it is very likely that it will change as you do. I am certainly not the same person I was when I was 16 or even 30 and the chances are that you are not either. I won't go into vast detail about all my changes in purpose, because that dear reader would be really boring, but the list below should give you the headlines:

1. Age 16 - Earn as much money and climb the corporate ladder as quickly as possible (Initially plan was sales or marketing and then I saw my first trading floor)
2. Age 20-23 - Become a trader (it is the most exciting and best career in the world in my opinion)
3. Age 23-32 - Be the best trader I could be, enjoy the trappings and save for retirement
4. Age 32-35 - Prove I can be successful trading in a different commodity
5. Age 35-38 - Prove I can make P and L @ a company that wasn't called RWE
6. Age 38-40 - Enjoy mid-life crisis travelling the world
7. Age 40 - Retire
8. Age 40.5 - Realise retiring is really boring and learn something new (coaching and mentoring)
9. Age 41 - Start lust for life coaching and begin helping traders, other energy professionals and autistic children to fulfil their own careers and dreams

In no way am I ever going to claim the last 28 years was a blissful picture of never ending rainbows and Unicorns, but it was pretty damn amazing overall and continues to be so as I type this article.

There was death, divorce, too much indulgence at times and of course the many moments when the P and L was heading South rather than North, but these are the moments that make us. They build our resilience, they help us see what is really important and they encourage us to be present and to enjoy the good times while they are here. I naively thought that when I retired all problems would be gone, but life isn't like that and all that happens is you start to worry about much more trivial nonsense instead (whether to have Oat milk or Soya for instance). As stated above, retirement at 38 was also really, really boring, I had completely lost my purpose.

In those final months as a trader I really struggled to work out why I was not in love with trading anymore and it was a time of uncertainty and confusion. I knew it was unlikely that I would magically rediscover my trading mojo and and so eventually decided something else needed to change.

But change isn't easy and often involves difficult choices, giving up stability and heading out into the unknown to scary new places. Then when we get to these new places they are often unforgiving, we make mistakes, suffer knock backs and find ourselves lonely, with only "Imposter Syndrome" for company.

I suffered all of the above at times, but it made me feel alive again, I loved learning something new and the end result had been very much worth it. The achievement of running my own coaching business feels different (and definitely pays a lot less), but is equally rewarding as my career in trading.

There is stacks of scientific evidence that all the best ideas come from trial and error, failure and learning from our mistakes. When we stop running and hiding from failure and embrace it, it just becomes part and parcel of the process and is nothing to be feared or avoided.

The choices we face as we automatically change as a person are undoubtedly difficult. There are three main options to choose from and they are somewhat embellished here to help make the point.

Option A

Stick with the stable and safe option, but accept a downward sloping happiness and purpose curve.

Option B

Go with your gut feel and chuck yourself of a cliff edge into the unknown. The only guarantee being that things will not be easy, but the end result could be a return to peak Mojism.

Option C

You still love your job and are as happy as you were when you first started out. You are still excited to get up every morning and you can't see this ever changing. (I actually believe this is the case for a quite a few traders I know, but certainly not all)

As with all things, no two people are same and you have to work out what works for you. My approach coupled with bits of luck here and there has worked out a treat for me so far and long may it continue. I expect there will be one or two more career twists and turns before I retire again for good, but for the moment I am going to just enjoy what I'm doing and live life to my current full.