It was the 1st of September, 2020.

 

Mid-COVID.

 

I had this date pencilled in my calendar for months.

 

It was the day I planned to hand in my letter of resignation from work.

 

 

I’d been working at the Steelworks in Whyalla for 11 years.

 

It was all I knew in my adult life.

 

I had no idea what I wanted to do when I finished high school. So my parents encouraged me to apply for an engineering cadetship offered at the Steelworks.

 

It was like an apprenticeship, but for engineers.

 

The company employed you full-time and you went to University part-time. The company even paid for my University fees and I received a full-time income of around $30,000 per year.

 

For an 18 year old who was fresh out of highschool this was a pretty sweet deal!

 

Earning while you’re learning.

 

No HECS debt.

 

Most people would kill for this kind of opportunity.

 

 

It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to do in life.

 

My early to mid twenties were spent hitting the gym, playing footy, travelling, attending music festivals and drinking wayyy too much alcohol.

 

When I was 24, my Mum gave me the book ‘The Barefoot Investor’. Up until this point in my life I’d never read a book cover to cover. But something about this book grabbed me.

 

This book sparked my interest in personal finance and stock market investing.

 

I started to read everything I could get my hands on in the personal finance and investing space. My love for reading books on money soon led me down the path of personal development books.

 

By the time I was 26 I started working with my first personal development coach, Mike Campbell.

 

Working with Mike opened my eyes up to the the power of coaching.

 

After working with Mike I thought to myself, “maybe this coaching thing could be for me?”

 

One afternoon while sitting at work, I opened up Google. I typed in the search bar ‘coaching schools’. One school immediately grabbed my attention. They were called ‘The Coaching Institute’ and were based in Melbourne. 

 

I made an inquiry with the school, and next thing you know I signed up to join on of their programs.

 

June 2019. 

I hopped in a plane and flew to Melbourne to attend the three-day training at The Coaching Institute to kick-off my coaching journey.

 

At The Coaching Institute, they have these Matrix doors you walk through to enter one of the training rooms. Little did I know at the time, but my life would forever be changed the moment I walked through those Matrix doors.

 

For the first time in a long time, I felt like I belonged.

 

I knew I was in the right place for me.

 

What I was learning was blowing my mind!

 

The head trainer that weekend was a brilliant man called Joe Pane. His ability to command the attention of the room inspired me.

 

I thought to myself, “I’d love to be able to do what he does one day.”

 

Joe taught me something valuable that weekend that I’ve lived by ever since.

 

 

Which means if you really want to do something, don’t worry about all the details.

 

Just say YES and trust that the details will take care of themselves.

 

I entered back into my old life after that weekend as a changed man.

 

What I had experienced could not be unexperienced.

 

For the next 15 months I worked on my coaching studies and started building my coaching business. All while juggling my engineering career, football commitments, gym commitments, trying to have some kind of social life and planning for our wedding.

 

I was spinning a lot of plates.

 

My focus was spread too thin.

 

I felt like I was half-assing my engineering career and half-assing my coaching business.

 

I knew something had to give…

 

So I marked the 1st of September, 2020 onto my calendar as the day I would hand in my resignation from the Steelworks.

 

A couple of weeks before the big day we were at Kaci’s aunty and uncles farm at Elbow Hill, 10 minutes south of Cowell, South Australia.

 

We were talking to Kaci’s uncle Greg about the big decision I had coming up.

 

Greg told me how the Universe likes to dangle carrots in front of you to test your commitment to your dreams.

 

And funnily enough, this is exactly what was about to happen to me…

 

The 1st of September, 2020.

 

The big day finally arrived.

 

I walked into work with my letter of resignation tucked in my pocket.

 

First thing that morning my boss called me and some of my colleagues into a meeting to discuss a new plant project.

 

He enthusiastically painted the vision of the new project and what our roles would be in the implementation of the project.

 

For me this meant a new role. I was being promoted into a leadership position.

 

I couldn’t believe it.

 

Here I was with my letter of resignation sitting in my pocket, and there’s my boss telling me about the new role and promotion I was getting.

 

Talk about the Universe dangling a big carrot right in front of you! 

 

I sat through the rest of the meeting feeling dazed and confused.

 

 

The old me would have accepted my fate and taken the promotion. Because that would have been the safe option. I was never one to rock the boat.

 

But deep down I knew that’s not what I wanted.

 

I had fallen in love with the idea of leaving my engineering career and doing something I truly love.

 

After the meeting finished, we all left the room.

 

Then I snuck back in.

 

What followed was one of the hardest conversations I’ve ever had in my life.

 

The words struggled to come out of my mouth.

 

I felt like I was about to burst into tears.

 

 

I dropped my letter of resignation on his desk.

 

I could see the disappointment written all over his face.

 

It sucked.

 

I hate letting people down.

 

But if I didn’t do it I would have been letting myself down.

 

As disappointed as my boss was, he supported my decision. This meant the world to me. 

 

I walked out of his office with mixed emotions.

 

It was bitter-sweet.

 

But I felt LIBERATED.

 

In that moment I made a decision that changed the trajectory of my life forever!

 

And I’ve never looked back since.

If you feel lost in life or you’re not sure what you want to do, that’s OK.

 

Try new things.

 

Meet new people.

 

And if something interests you, LEAN into it.

 

Because you never know where that interest may lead you.

 

And when your opportunity comes to do something that scares you but you know will move you towards what you really want.

 

 

And then work out how.