How I Unpackaged my Passion & Developed New Skills.

For many of us, our careers are tenuous links to our University Degrees, which in themselves are
tenuous links to what we did well in at school, which are tenuously linked to subjects we liked. It’s
possible, therefore, for the bulk of our adult life to be spent in a career, which though can be
professionally fulfilling, leaves us with thoughts such as ‘I wish I’d done……’ or ‘what if……?’
We can allow our careers to become things that we tolerate, a means to an end, food on the table
& a homeowner title. But in doing so are we neglecting our true selves? Are we really happy and are
we fulfilled?
What would you do right now if someone said, ‘Press the ‘Life Reset’ button and start again’?
Choosing to carry on with no changes would not be a surprise. Fear of change itself is probably the
biggest barrier to us all.
I’ve had that very opportunity to ‘reset’ and decided to jump in headfirst. Here’s a summary of the
what, why & how.
My wife works in retail & loves ‘product’, loves a ‘deal’, and loves to succeed. After being made
redundant in 2014 she decided to take as long as it took to find the ‘right job’. That left me as the
sole breadwinner, grafting into a Packaging Development (consumer goods) Managerial role that I’d
come to realize I did not like. At the time I was in my 19th year in the industry. I had no idea that the
20th would be my last.
My wife’s search for the ‘right job’ led to an opportunity to autonomously head up and grow a good-sized Homeware retail department in a global organization based in India. The location was the
hook. We’d always told ourselves that not having kids was so we could one day drop everything and
travel. Well, here was the perfect test of our resolution. And someone else was going to pay for it all.
I could easily write several volumes of an alternative blog detailing the difficulties in uprooting and
trying to re-settle on another continent, suffice to say that all the clichés and challenges that one
may associate with India were faced. This, as well as trying to maintain a loving, balanced marriage
in an environment of chaos. The ensuing move took several months to plan and execute & during
that time I did not have the head-space to think deeply along the lines of ‘what am I going to do?’
Lyndsay left the UK (what turned out to be 10 weeks) ahead of me whilst I got our house ready for
tenants, sorted all the bills and sold the car, etc. The delay was propagated by the fact that our new
build apartment in Mumbai was not ready…….
Fast forward 3 months and we’re in our apartment, just a 10-minute drive from Lyndsay’s office,
have a car with a driver, and an entire country to explore.
It seems now like a no-brainer. House in the UK rented with sympathetic tenants? Yes. Happy to
leave parents, family & friends with just the possibility of bi-annual visits back to the UK? Yes.
Comfortable giving up your routine, club memberships, past-times, hobbies, social lives……..? Well,
we’ll see…….
Again, skipping a lot of the detail around moving abroad, living in India, and starting a new life in an
alien environment, we soon realized that it would, at least partially, defeat the object if we were
both working full time – the stuff that we take for granted in the UK is not always as simple in India. I
would need to take care of the day-to-day‘ stuff’ (we have a maid, as all apartments do, for general

cleaning) such as laundry, ironing, shopping, bills, admin, phone & TV, (intermittent) internet
connection, deliveries, home chores, etc. Taking care of ‘all’ (& it’s not that much really) still left
a void, both a literal chunk of daily ‘dead time’ and a metaphorical hole in my current self-worth.
Recognizing I needed to do something was a good thing. On reflection, I’m pleased I felt that way.
There was an inherent drive to challenge myself in some way. So, cutting to the chase, what did I do
to fill that career-sized void that I created when leaving the UK? Well, my passion has always been
athletics and cycling. From the age of 11 until my mid-30s (when I broke an ankle) I’d always been a
pretty decent club athlete. Training, racing, being coached and trying to fit it all in around a full-time
job.
My broken ankle led me to cycling. I joined my local club, did time trials, and some racing, and even used
a professional coach. Cycling became my pastime, my passion, my preoccupation.
Back in India, having agreed with Lyndsay that I would not work full-time, we discussed what I could
do. The Cytech cycling mechanic courses looked attractive, but although I recognized an opportunity
for a trusted, high-end bike mechanic, the downsides were 1) the labor prices charged in India
were/are low, 2) you can only ever work on one bike at a time, 3) I didn’t have a workshop, or many
of the specialist tools I’d need if I was going to offer a ‘premium’ service and 4) how could I
familiarise myself with all brands/technologies quickly? (such as hydraulic discs and electronic
shifting).
Having used the services of a coach in the UK, I understood the basics regarding the ‘performance
process’ and knew there were opportunities to coach on a one-to-one basis, with groups and even
provide plans/feedback remotely. Human performance & achievement was also something I was
very interested in. Finally, I felt there were strong synergies between the Industry / Manufacturing
Project Management Tools I had been using and the development of Sports Performance.
Nevertheless, I knew there was plenty to learn…….