A created life – conscious decision making in career experimentation

Business School alumnus Stuart Mack (MSc International Business, 2006) shares a very personal insight into the ups and downs of his colourful life and career experiences over the past 10 years.

I hope my experiences can help provide a new perspective for some and probably provide amusement for others, but it’s been my path and what has and hasn’t worked for me won’t necessarily be the same for others reading this.

I’ve worked at a large consulting firm, boutique branding agencies as a strategist and a short stint as a travel writer. I’ve quit, been fired, travelled for a few years, dealt with depression, written a novel, taken thousands of photographs of models, actors and countries. I’m now a freelance brand consultant and photographer moving to Mumbai via Norway, Dubai & Oman. Needless to say life hasn’t quite worked out as expected!

Eight years ago I was stood on the platform at London Bridge and couldn’t breathe. I’d missed my train by a minute and faced an hour’s wait on a freezing winter evening and a one and a half hour journey home after that. I was having a full-blown panic attack, a slightly over-dramatic reaction for sure. But it was indicative of a wider problem, a lack of purpose created by living the life I thought I should have, rather than finding out what I truly wanted to experience and achieve during my stint on this planet. My decisions weren’t aligned with my values, which wasn’t surprising as I had no idea what my values were.

Today, I have my own business and am writing this from Tromsø (Norway) chasing the northern lights before heading to Dubai and Oman before settling in Mumbai to work with an NGO. So how did I get here? Well, the simple answer is, I experimented. Here are a few of the experiments I’ve taken and some of my realisations.

The first job

My first job was on a graduate scheme at a large consulting firm in the City. Armed with suit, shiny shoes, backpack with laptop compartment and a smart new overcoat, I thought I was ready, but wasn’t.. not even a little bit.

Large corporates provide great opportunities to work on big projects, offer exceptional training and career structure, and pay well, but I still wasn’t happy. The two hour daily commute, having no time to myself and dealing with some personal issues early on in my employment didn’t help, but the truth was that I’d never really thought about why I actually wanted to be a Management Consultant. I took that route because I hadn’t studied Law or Medicine and was attracted by the salary and opportunities, but it wasn’t the place for me at the time.

My Grandfather taught me the importance of not delaying happiness. Spending your days doing things that don’t set your soul on fire or doing things you think you ‘should’ do is a big mistake. Enjoying what you do and making the most of it may seem simplistic but is a guiding truth, because you won’t ever get that time back.

The paradigm shift

I've worked in two smaller companies, one I was fired from and the other I left. Different companies have different cultures and people. Sometimes it gels sometimes it doesn’t. Getting fired wasn’t the best thing that ever happened to me, but it caused a paradigm shift. From that point on I wanted to make sure I had a range of skills that could provide value to different organisations through different means so that if one was taken away I had others to continue with.

Find where you belong, if you feel it’s not working it probably won’t in the long run - our time is too short to spend it wondering when things are going to get better. Sometimes you fit in, sometimes you don’t, sometimes it’s your fault, sometimes it’s not - keep going, you can’t change what’s happened but you can learn from it and effect what’s coming.

I put a lot of pressure on myself to reach my goals – too much and I end up stressed and burnt out. Sometimes having no goal should be the goal and a change of pace and place can get you over the bridge. For me that was travel.

Changing pace and place

After being cut loose from gainful employment, having a minor meltdown and a brief flirtation with becoming a pilot I was spent, unhappy and exhausted. I had to re-evaluate what I wanted in my life and stop putting pressure on myself to ‘succeed.’

I had been writing in the evenings of my consulting job and enjoyed the creative therapy getting my thoughts out provided. So I wrote a novel about the concept of trying to live a life I thought was right for me without knowing who I was – called ‘Constantly Trying Not To Fall Over’.

The book was never intended for publication but my own personal satisfaction. It took four months to write and is one of my proudest achievements. It was a first taste of living according to my heart not my head. I didn’t want to head back into an office after that and I had some savings behind me so I decided to conquer another goal – solo travel.

Running my own business

After a previous boss got in touch when I was in Myanmar I took a role at a small consulting firm based in the countryside which was great, but I was beginning to realise that one of my values was freedom – the ability to live and work on my own timetable. I am more effective when I can work when and where I want – being an introvert I find office environments genuinely distracting.

Last year I decided to try a different option – working for myself. I had slowly built up a few photography clients on the side of my job and saved up enough to tide me over for a few months.  I set up a brand consulting business and started to grow my photography client list. One thing led to another and now I have several regular clients and work on brand, design, marketing and photography projects.

I enjoy the freedom to come up with ideas and just go and do it outside the confines of a job description. However, the privilege of running your own schedule has to be matched with desire, effort and application.

So, what has my own rollercoaster experience taught me that could help others in their career journey? Here are a few thoughts.

What do you want?

The way I like to look at it is how I approach any project with a client – what does the end result look like? When you’re looking back at your life, it’s been lived and it’s nearly done and dusted, what do you really want to have experienced and achieved? What will make you smile when you remember?

When you do this you strip out the unnecessary, we’re very good at not thinking about the fact that any day now could be the last, we always assume we have time. Have a go now, grab a pen and paper and write down what you want to do with your life. Try answering these three questions each year:

• What do I want to be doing?
• Where do I want to do it?
• Who do I want around me?

Health

The underlying theme through all of this is health, without mental and physical health none of this is possible. I’ve suffered from depression and still experience periods of anxiousness now, you learn to manage it but it can still be a huge barrier.

Here are some things that helped me focus and reduce my anxiety:

• Cut down or reduce alcohol and caffeine. They stifle creativity and increase anxiety.
• Exercise most days and give your conscious brain a rest.
• Consider your environment e.g. I’m an introvert and open plan offices are too distracting for me, give me a quiet room and I can work all day.
• Remember to enjoy and not beat yourself up. I’m prone to a fair amount of thinking, planning and working (read worrying) – so much so that I forgot what I actually enjoy doing ‘for fun’. When you work for yourself there’s no start and finish, so manage your time and make sure you’re having a fun.

So what’s next?

I have shoots booked in Norway, Dubai and Oman then I’ll be based in Mumbai creating online content for an NGO that works in Indian slums to provide a route into employment for children. I’ll be working remotely for my clients back in the UK and building the photography and consulting sides of my business. I also have plans for a second novel and a personal project based around the ideas in this article, after that I’m not sure, but I’ll review and know what the next step is at the right time.

For much of my 20’s I was walking a path of fear disguised as practicality and I know there’s no telling how this will all work out but if you’re not enjoying today, or yesterday and probably won’t enjoy tomorrow, you might want to think about a bit of a change. Don’t throw it all away, quit your job and ‘travel the world,’ that’s the easy route. Take a moment, think and write down what you want your life to say about you.

Start at the end.

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