This blog post was originally published on November 5, 2018, I am re-publishing it to show everyone who follows my new blog on danstheengineer.co.uk and my career path.
I’ll explain my background a little.
I quit A levels aged 16 to work to earn money.
Soon after, I started an electrician’s apprenticeship which I loved! I worked
my way up the ranks very quickly and aged 22 I started up an electrical
contractors’ company which grew year on year.
Aged 30 I decided I wanted more from life than
working every awake hour 6-7 days a week, the stresses of being an employer,
the pressure of a very hard industry and wanting more time with my family.
I had fantastic security of income to pay the
mortgage and to provide for my family, a 5-bedroom hillside house with a great
view, good cars, and a business which turns over £1.5M per annum.
In the year 2017-2018, my career was at an
all-time high. I had been accepted as a fellow of the IET, I helped set up the e5 Group, my YouTube
channel Dans the Engineer was growing and gaining lots of
interest, business was booming, I had a great client base, and I was given
plenty of opportunities within the industry I was about to leave.
I left the UK aged 31 to embark on an adventure
of a life time early August 2018. I am writing this 3-months into my full-time
family travel journey lying in bed in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
I certainly left on a high!
My family have now travelled across Iceland, BC
Canada, Alaska,
California, Nevada and Arizona to where we currently reside in
Mexico.
My life is completely different to what it used
to be.
I have absolutely no idea what day of the week
it is and that really doesn’t matter…. apart from Sunday’s when
certain things aren’t open. That can always be a pain.
My life used to be full of strict routine,
procedures and schedules. Everything was a timeline.
I still have timelines now, but they are far
more flexible other than flights and key dates.
The only ‘routine’ I have is working out,
eating and bedtime. A word was introduced to me recently which I would like to
replace routine with; ‘rhythm’.
Typically, I get up when my body tells me it
wants to which is around 6.30am. I work out in a gym if I’m near one
or a park if the weather isn’t terrible. I then come home and wait for the
family to wake up and make us breakfast. My wife then works out and I get the
kids ready for the day as well as myself – although getting ready myself
usually involved throwing on a top and shorts and I’m done!
We love food and being vegan, we have to plan
where we eat if we choose to eat out but we try to home cook as much as
possible if we have a kitchen. In between eating we carry out the usual family
chores, but we try to explore in the location we are as much as we can.
It might be a walk on the beach, checking out a
town or going to a visitor attraction. It all depends where we are, and we try
to be as active as possible…. but we all need rest. So, we do that too!
My wife Poppy does our travel planning which is
time consuming so when she needs the time I will take the kids out.
Essentially, we have swapped roles. She was a full time stay at home mum. I
worked. I spend a little more time with the children than she does, and she
does more ‘work’ than I do.
I also have this huge amount of time that I
have never had before during adulthood. We are always doing something but even
on a walk up a mounting or around a lake, I don’t need to think about where my
engineers are tomorrow, or if Charles has the quotation he was asking for.
I literally have time to think about whatever I
like plus to enjoy being in the moment. And this is an important point…. I am
totally living in the moment.
The transition from my old to new role has
presented some main changes. Another point I would like to make is that I often
replace the word ‘change’ with ‘develop’. So here are some of my main
developments:
1. Being a main carer of my
children.
This is something I never thought I would be
doing. I enjoyed fatherhood in my old role but I looked at work as an escape
because parenting is tough. I no longer have that. Do I find it hard??? Hell
yes!!!! Parenthood is one of the hardest things I’ve had to do.
I’ve had to adapt my parenting and self to be
able to deal with the mental challenges parenting brings.
I’m not going to lie. My skills still need
tweeking but I’m getting there!
My kids have taught me more than anyone else. I
learn from them all the time so it is important for me to embrace this role
change and absorb what I can whilst having fun teaching my them and myself.
2. The sense of importance.
Being a business owner, I felt my team relied
on me and in some sense they did. I had responsibility on ensuring they had
work, were paid, we were paid, projects were completed, and materials ordered.
I’ve worked my way up the career ladder, so
I’ve always had responsibility due to always managing but now I no longer have
that responsibility.
This was tough. Sure, I have responsibility
being a father and husband but that hasn’t changed, but the responsibility that
I had with work has totally changed.
I grew up thinking that one must work. One must
bring back bread to the Family home and provide – very traditional thinking. I
thought that was essential as part of being male.
Now I am very open minded. I’m not sexist and I
welcome change but when that change is implemented it doesn’t mean I can adjust
within seconds. I need to process the changes, especially when I have had certain
beliefs my whole life.
When I started travelling and no longer worked
for my old business there was a huge hole inside and I started to question who
I am and what my role is. I became paranoid that my wife may think less of me
and wondered what I offered her. I developed anxiety.
I realised my job defined me!!!!! It was
self-importance.
I thought that my job was everything I was, but
now I realise how stupid that is!!!!
I’m not just what I my job was. I’m a father.
I’m a husband. I’m a friend. A sibling. A son.
Although I no longer bring home the bread, I
support my family. I teach my kids. I encourage both my wife and kids to do
whatever makes them happy and support them however I can.
I have had so little time before travelling to
think about myself that I have actually forgotten who I am and have neglected
self-care!!!
I know that feeling important was perhaps
egotistical and slightly delusional because the truth is my old role has been
fulfilled by someone else. Whether or not they do the same job better or worse
than me, I don’t know, but they have taken on the responsibility that I thought
was so important. Do the engineers call me up asking for my help (not going to
lie, I’ve had a few phone calls) but in general, no they do not. It isn’t my job
anymore.
A JOB is temporary thing. YOU are not.
I’ve realised this now, but I know I still need
a focus to exercise my mind more than anything. My wife and I are implementing
our future plans. To maintain some sort of focus I work out each morning, I read,
I eat as well as I can on the move, I meditate and socialise when I can.
I’m spending as much time enjoying what I can,
when I can. I’ve started to look after myself!
Since working on myself I understand that when
my mind and body is in a good place, I am at my optimum. This is important, so
I provide positive energy which transfers to my family. It dawned on me that
all the time in my old role I was overworked and practising self-neglect, I was
transferring negative energy to my family because I wasn’t happy.
My advice to anyone….. balance is key. You
need to work to earn money, but you also need to be happy and do things for
yourself. You will not be at your optimum performance if you’re over worked and
unhappy. Employers should also take note of this. People are human. Not
robots.
If you manage a team of people who are directly
affected by you, if you provide bad energy to the team, they will absorb that
whereas if you are providing positive energy, they will benefit too! Who wants
to be around someone who is always stressing, negative and unmotivated???
3. The relationship with my
wife
We have always had what I believe is a good
relationship. We care for each other and support each other. We always seem to
be on the same page and agree on most things. The extent of arguing is a
disagreement about something but that’s it. We laugh more than anything else.
We are with each other ALOT. We don’t see
friends regularly. We don’t have an escape from each other (not that we need
one).
We are best friends as well as being married
but our bond has grown. We have created a stronger team. We are fully aware of
each other’s strengths and weaknesses and help each other where
needed. This is so important when travelling because you need team work!
I think mutual respect is vital in any
relationship. Understanding each other’s roles and being happy with what each
of you provide, whether it is marriage, friendship or a business relationship.
We have become incredibly open with each other.
The way to explain it is that you have friends you may talk to about certain
topics but not to others. Well, we are that friend in all cases and no topic is
off limits.
Our very strong relationship has got
stronger!!!!
4. I can do whatever I want to.
I can be whoever I am.
I don’t need to answer to anyone but myself.
Obviously, I have to consider any repercussions
of my actions, but I don’t have to answer to society!
I don’t have to do the same as everyone else
and don’t have to meet others expectations.
Every country has its own culture which I enjoy
learning but as a foreigner, I stick out like a sore thumb in many places.
People may already judge me as a tourist which is fine, but nobody’s judgement
will influence how I do things, how I dress, or how I act.
I just have to ensure that my family unit are
well, and we are living life how we wish to!
I am essentially at the start of my journey on Our
Venture Beyond and hope it may inspire you if you feel you
share similar struggles with your life! I will be posting more blogs as I go
and hope to share my experiences with you.
The answer to the title of this blog post – I
left my great career to travel the world… Have I made a mistake? HELL NO!!!!!
I feel free. I feel like me. I am enjoying every second and have zero regrets.
I have realised how unhappy I was and how negative my life was but when you’re
in the thick of it, it is easy to be blind sighted. Do I know my future and is
it secure? Nope, but that is the fun of it. I am in my own story book and I
don’t know what is going to happen next!!!!
Written
by Dan Jackson AKA Dans the Engineer
in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.