Turns Out I Always Wanted to be a Trader!!

Last week while sat in the Spanish sun, drinking Mahou and eating Tapas, a group of friends and I were discussing what job we would do, if some clever techy person offered us a time machine and took us back to the start.  Games like this fit very nicely with coaching and so I was in my element, especially as the Mahou was flowing very nicely.

My top 5 was almost instant and made me think I had probably done this calculation a few times myself, but the order was a little more difficult.

The top 2 was undoubtedly Trader and Footballer and after much deliberation I decided that was indeed the correct order.  I hasten to add at this juncture, that this game involved a certain amount of imagination, as I was never going to be a top class footballer.  The time machine would have needed to be fitted with a leg stretching machine, offered me another 3 yards of pace and also the ability to shoot!!

It was unbelievably close though and as with most things in life, it was all about the timing.  I started work in 1996 and if I had started in 1992 I would have chosen Footballer.  4 years on however and the game was starting to change.  The money was obviously a lot better, but the fun was being sucked out of football and for the players their life would begin to become a goldfish bowl that has continued to shrink as their wages have risen ever since.

So while football was and always will be my first love, trading offered nearly all the same benefits while allowing anonymity and the freedom to enjoy the things that money can buy.

In at number 3 was Fighter Pilot.  We all know why and I am probably one of millions of people from that generation that can thank a certain Mr Tom Cruise for giving us a career dream that was pretty much impossible to achieve.  Top Gun 2 did briefly get me thinking, “is there still a chance?” but once the sugar rush of the pic n mix had died down, I decided it was time to give up on that one.

Commercial pilot was number 4 and I still think it remains one of the best jobs in the world.  No disrespect at all to all you awesome short haul pilots, one of whom had delivered me on my lovely holiday, but I’m talking long haul here.  Flying the world, seeing new places and cultures, being in charge of those majestic and beautiful machines we call aeroplanes and making thousands of people’s dreams come true every week.

Lastly was to be The Captain of a boat.  My grandad was in the navy and I have always loved the sea and travelling on it, whether it be a Pedalo or a cruise liner.   I didn’t really narrow down the type of boat, as people were getting bored and it was someone else’s turn, but it definitely wasn’t a fishing trawler.   I think some ‘little man’ syndrome might have been coming out, because the boat needs to be big and again it needs to be seeing lots of the world.  LNG tanker maybe?

So that was my list and it made me very happy to confirm what I already knew, that I spent so long doing something that I loved.  When I stopped loving it, I made a change and found coaching, kabooooooooooom.  The only other thing I would consider right now (apart from fighter pilot) is to retire completely this time.  That would be a waste though, I’m using my brain more than ever, I’m helping people, have built a successful business and there is still plenty of life in the old dog yet.

And what about you, what did you want to do then and what do you want to do now?   We can’t change the past and we have to be realistic to a certain point, but it is never too late to make a positive change that will make you happier.  Will you do it though?