Wearing my career transition expert hat I often hear my candidates exclaiming ‘I always freeze in interviews’, ‘I always get rejected’, I always…(insert any number of negative job search fears) and no matter how much encouragement I invest in helping them reframe such statements, there are times when I realise they are simply mired in what Jonathan describes as ‘false negative absolutes’.

As he says, “Yes, it may take a long time. Yes, we may get knocked to the ground a hundred times first. Yes, we may still struggle. Yes, other people may nail it on the first try, while we continue to get taken down. Yes, not getting what we want out of the gate sucks. Yes, we may still fail, no matter how many paths to success we try.”

But, then again, we may not…

If you find yourself succumbing to the ‘tyranny of always’ too often to care to mention, this fabulous blog message is for you. Find it here….The Tyranny of Always

Thanks Jonathan, another brilliant article.

PS: If you’re keen to see more from Jonathan here’s another piece of inspiration I gleaned from him: Life Moves Pretty Fast

Life moves pretty fast…if you don’t stop and look around for a while, you could miss it.

Thanks Ferris Bueller for reminding us! So too a Facebook friend and childhood buddy who reminded fellow class mates that this is the year we celebrate a major milestone birthday. A biggie. Oh yes indeed! Realising our whole class were about to hit that same milestone made me feel a tad less overwhelmed, so too the responding commentary from those fellow classmates –‘I am struggling with the sixty thing…remove all mirrors and items of self reflection for seriously mate, I struggle with the constant reminder that you are fast approaching time to get off the ride and I have so much still to do’, ’60 is the new 40 apparently so have a blast!’… I had a suitable response…

‘Whooohooo! here’s to the next exciting chapter of our lives!’ Yep! I’m the consummate ‘fake it ’till you make it’ gal. I paused to reflect…

FB panic person was right – there IS still so much to do. And so little time…or opportunity to secure a sugar daddy to fund my planned hedonistic future (Geoffery Eddelsten, James Packer and Mark Bouris already taken – also fall a tad short on the boob, botox, blond, patent leather stiletto prerequisite); or explore every corner of the world, or write that third novel (first still in pipeline). Conclusion? Life IS short and it’s there to be lived, to the max, but what about the amazing things we’ve already done, the lives we’ve already led?

Revisiting my ‘sentence a day’ commitment for the year just passed, I was reminded of the curious joys, heartbreaks, and breaking hearts of the dating world; people who’d inspired; new friends who’d invited me into their fold; theatre productions that had played my emotions; gallery exhibits that had challenged my thinking; novels that stimulated my need to write; work goals kicked that ensured I remained a valuable asset to my employer. In all, I realised that, despite a tad of tumultuous activity, it had actually been a tremendous year. One of major personal and professional growth. And then I received an email from Jonathan Fields.

Jonathan (that’s him on the left) – who calls himself a ‘serial entrepreneur and growth strategist’ and whom I follow, had been busy curating his own 2015 highlights. In Jonathan’s words: ‘This has been a year of extremes. Major milestones and profound joy seemed to weave between moments of struggle and even deep loss. Before I close the books on the year, I thought it might be valuable to reflect on the images that best told its story.’ Check his story out here:

12 months in 40 pictures. 

While pondering Jonathan’s at once poignant, amusing, inspiring and uplifting ‘year of extremes’, I realised it’s the very act of reflecting on the rich tapestry of our pasts that both informs and shapes our future. A tapestry on which we’ll continue to weave the joys and sorrows, the laughter and heartbreaks, the lessons and the learnings from the goals we will set as we embrace the next exciting chapter of our lives. Oh! And it’s NEVER too late.

PSL Jonathan has also authored a number of best sellers including Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt Into Fuel For Brilliance (a great read)