3 Amazing things that happened when I stepped out of my bubble!
JOMO, and the delights of spending time in my own space, reading, mulling over ideas. I’ve always struggled with the concept of being bored — there are so many interesting things out there, and the internet means that I can explore all sorts of cool things from the comfort of home. While it’s great to get together with friends and chew the fat, I’ve historically avoided networking events like to proverbial plague, because they were filled with people I didn’t know and there was this weird expectation of making small talk.
For several years now, I have been quite happy to avoid the noise and hubbub, hunkered down and exploring all the things that I find fascinating. Of course, COVID and lockdowns reinforced this behaviour.
Breaking habits
It’s one thing to recognise that you’d like to change something. It’s a completely different thing to actually change something. I didn’t have a particularly well-formed plan, but I did have several goals:
- Meet people — preferably interesting ones doing interesting things.
- Learn new stuff — I’ve always found learning new things interesting, and there is so much to learn about.
- Do something new and different — that wonderful adage — what got you here won’t get you there.
About a year ago I decided that it was time to venture out of the shadows, poke my head up above the proverbial parapet and see what else was happening out here in the big wide world.
I’ve met amazing people doing extraordinary things!
I joined a community of people who run their own practices, sharing their expertise with the world. We’re all different, with different expertise and different life experiences. And we all have commonalities — we’re all passionate about what we do, we all want to share what we know with the world around us, and we’re all determined to make the world a little bit better, in our own ways.
I went to the Blackbird Sunrise Festival in Auckland. And I met so many phenomenal people, building extraordinary companies. I met a dude who started out wondering whether it was possible to train a cow. Turns out, he and his team can train cows and are now changing farmers’ lives for the better. I also learned that when people are passionate about building a better, brighter future, networking conversations are fun, energetic and interesting!
I joined a community of Women in Tech. Wow, talk about inspirational, there truly are amazing women doing things in tech, near tech and with tech. Just last night I was at the Auckland Meet-up where we discussed some of the things we got up to during the pandemic. So many great vibes; my key take away; ordinary, everyday people do amazing things just by being themselves and by being in service to those in their communities. Humbling and inspirational in equal measure. And again, reinforcing the fact that passionate people are fantastic to chat to.
Seeing all this extraordinariness inspired me
I’ve spent years coaching and mentoring analysts, helping them hone their skills and spread their wings. It’s something that I enjoy, and about a year ago I decided that I wanted to do more of that; so now I work with analysts and other technical specialists, helping them with their missions. And I help credit risk teams learn more about the dark arts of retail consumer credit risk analytics.
I wrote a book. It launches on 18 November. I’m pretty chuffed with myself. Through this process, I discovered how much I actually love writing. This came as a bit of a surprise, as I never did like writing reports, and I’m pretty sure I wasn’t a great English student. It’s called It’s a Risky Business and you can check it out here if you’re interested.
The creativity and action spiral is real and amazing!
We often talk about a negative spiral, one bad thing leads to another, which then leads to something else going wrong, sometimes called quicksand, sometimes a negative feedback loop. Well, maybe that is just a function of the fact that I have worked in risk for the past 25 years, and sometimes we really do focus on ‘areas where there is an opportunity for improvement’.
I’ve discovered, or perhaps that should be rediscovered, the joys of the positive feedback loop, the flywheel effect, and the impact of momentum. It’s the same as the downward spiral, except that the trajectory is upwards. The more good stuff we do, well, the more good stuff we do. And, TBH, even if we just start by doing stuff, those first tentative steps are steps in the right direction.
About a year ago I started with some very small and tentative steps, we were still very much in the grip of the pandemic, well, here in AKLD we were; so my steps were small, and online — virtual events. And I met amazing and inspirational people. They were kind and encouraging and demonstrated that the world is filled with phenomenal people. And so I took a few more steps. Don’t get me wrong, it hasn’t been all sunshine and roses. There have been moments where I met people who are not my people. And that’s a good thing. Breaking out of our comfort zones means that we do meet and interact with people who are very different to us. That, however, is a much bigger topic for a different post. Just know that it doesn’t have to be confrontational and spiky like a porcupine.
My top tips to head in the direction you want to go
1. Take action, just do it, even if it is only 1 small step at a time. It is not a competition, it’s not a race.
2. Breathe. I cannot stress this enough. A deep gentle breath can work miracles.
3. If you take three steps forwards, decide it is all too much and duck for cover, that’s absolutely fine. Rest, recuperate, and then have another crack.
4. We’re often our own worst critics. A little self-compassion goes an exceptionally long way. Some of the kindest most deeply compassionate people I know are their own harshest critics. If this resonates with you, take a deep breath and show yourself a teaspoon of that compassion that you show those around you. Your future self will thank you.
I’m deeply curious and passionate about helping analysts and technical people transition from technical roles into leadership roles. If you’d like to know more, please book a complimentary discovery session here.
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