Day 55 - Love your life

13 years ago today (maybe yesterday) I started at Simon Carves. Zero engineering experience, freshly finished PhD just about in the bag and no idea what the future was going to bring. I often talk about how lucky I am to love my job, and the opportunities it gives me. I also am aware of the good luck which I have been blessed with which has resulted in me (more of than not) to be in the right place at the right time to take advantage of those opportunities. 

There were many times during the years when I was (often without realising) teetering on a knife edge between two choices. And I have been so fortunate that almost every time I have ended up coming down on the right side. But I'm also proud of what has been achieved so far, and I'm proud of how hard I work to continue to achieve things. During my school and university days it is fair to say I was "efficient" - just doing the bare minimum to achieve what I needed to achieve to reach the next step. Don't let work get in the way of fun.

But as I've got older and matured I've started to realise a real sense of worth in doing things properly, to deliver more than people expect or than you've promised. If there is one thing I try to take pride in daily at work then it is the attention to detail and the quality of product I put out (OK, that's two things!). It is important to take that pride in what you do, it helps you to enjoy it and also fills you with a greater sense of satisfaction. That comes from Mum and Dad and I thank you both for instilling that in me, over a longer period of time than maybe you meant it too!

So that is today's takeaway. "A job well done is its own reward" they say. And I see what "they" mean. If you can enjoy something and take pride in it so much that you WANT it to be well done, then that is the real reward. You love what you do, and want to keep doing it better. We can spend upwards of 50 years our life working. I hope you get as lucky as I do in finding a career (and hobbies too) that you want to succeed at, that you love to do and that you take great pride in.

Just an update on my charity drive. I've been neglecting to mention them in my blog but I've got 5 (by tomorrow it'll be 6) great charities that I want to tell you and about and that I hope you can help me in supporting. 

I'll make that the subject of tomorrow's blog as I won't have too much time to think of something else. I'm off to the airport to collect my dad and then head back over to BR. Tomorrow night is New Orleans so Sunday's blog will be telling you all about the delights of the Big Easy!

Till tomorrow, Tom 

Day 16 - To work!

First day officially in office. Everything that has been in the works (from a career point of view) over the last 18 months or so is finally in place. It has been a long, and often painful, ride but I am here - and ready to work. 

Panorama Action

Got myself a nice little cubicle - complete with my own whiteboard, drawing desk and noticeboard. Wasted no time adding Katie's artwork to the noticeboard, including he collage of "things I want to do which you will have to work hard for Daddy". 

I wouldn't change that for the world, being able to help her realise her dreams is a big motivation for what I do. 

I know I keep going on about it but being a Dad really change my whole perspective on things. It helped me to understand what is truly important, and I genuinely consider it the greatest blessing I've had.

Also thought I'd share my cooking exploits with you all tonight. As the video says, I've been working on this new philosophy called Noom. It has really helped me to make better (if not always good!) decisions on food - particularly around portion size and understanding how to feel fuller on less calories. Food wise its pretty simple and very unrestrictive, which suits my style.

Evening meal generally need to consist of a protein, a non-starchy veg, a low-carb option and a healthy fat. The custom meal plan they provided gives. me recipes but also provides suggestions as to what each of the above might entail - to allow you to make your own recipes options.

Today's is Tom's Pesto Chicken:

200 g Chicken (the protein)

1 cup roasted squash (the low-carb)

1/2 cup sprouts (the non-starchy veg)

1 1/2 tsp pesto (the healthy fat)

Bit of spinach/kale (filler)

Clocking in at 400-450 calories according to my app, it was excellent. And a bit of forward planning means I have plenty for lunch.

Till tomorrow, Tom,

What to do, what to do?

Sat watching a programme last night on telly about ice (don't laugh it was actually very interesting) when I noticed that a large number of people had job titles that sounded very exotic and fancy - such as Glacieologist and Space Physicist. It got me thinking about careers, hobbies and what we all choose to do with our lives.

I kind of fell into my career through a series of what can only be described as "non-decisions". When I got my GCSE results I picked the 4 subjects I did best in and did them at A-Level and then I picked the subject I was best as at A-Level as my degree. Nearing the end of my degree I was offered a PhD and, being brutally honest, I only decided to take it because it stopped me having to make a further decision about what to do with my life. Upon finishing my PhD I had no idea what I wanted to do until it was suggested to me that I try my hand at Engineering - and I'm still there. I've basically got to the age of 31 without actually having to make a decision about what I want to do as a career. 

Its the same for a lot of people and how does it happen that so many people fall into a career which they do rather than enjoy every second of? I suppose it starts at school, some people are lucky enough to know exactly what they want to do from an early age. I, however, had no idea and so was gently guided towards doing what I was good at, partially due to me own inability to decide or articulate what I enjoyed doing. There is no doubt that it is the responsibility of the individual person to do the research about potential careers but at that age you are relying more on the adults in your life - its probably no coincidence that my sister and I are a teacher and an engineer - just like our parents. You can end up not making a decision and simply falling into the easiest (or least taxing) route.

This mentality of doing what seems to be the easiest path and following what is essentially there in front of you can often transfer over into other aspects of life, such as hobbies. People can often become "bogged down" into a routine in life and when confronted about it, it seems that it is simply a general acceptance of "well thats what life is like" - almost like people have got to a certain point without really making a decision (hopefully the analogy I'm aiming at is becoming clearer here!!). 


Often times people are heard complaining about not being able to do something in life due to lack of time or money and, whilst this is a perfectly valid reason in a lot of scenarios, I feel that it is also often a convenient excuse for some people who are unwilling or unable to get out of their comfort zone and try something new - there is often a way of working around the problems of time and money, granted I am looking towards this country when I make this statement rather than say somewhere in Africa where the challenges are greater and more life changing. 

In the last few years I've tried rock climbing, snowboarding, salsa dancing, Italian classes and SCUBA diving and I can honestly say that the only thing that has changed is that I have stopped making excuses for not doing these things - in other words I have started to make decisions rather than relying on non-decisions to guide my path through life.


I think thats the general thrust of where I am coming from here, too often in life we seem to rely on decisions to be made for us and then we moan about the consequences. We should take some responsibility, go out and be brave enough to make these decisions and follow what we want to do and what we are passionate about. Stop thinking "why should I do something?" and instead think "why shouldn't I do something?". If we do this then it makes it much easier to follow our dreams and passions and to end up doing the things we love with the people we love - which is what life should be about in the end.


Till next time,
DT