I have done this
three times
Not gracefully, and not according to a plan.
seven countries, no qualifications
Seven countries, three rebuilds
and more industries than is sensible
- Early years
Always moving
Born in South Africa to an English mother and a Greek father. South Africa, Greece, England, back again. I left school with no qualifications at all.
- First chapter
Recruitment
My first proper chapter.
- Until 2008
Construction
I built it into a seven-figure company.
Closed by the 2008 crash - Two years
Back to recruitment
Certain that everyone I knew thought I was the bloke who tried to get out and could not.
- 2014 to 2018
Haulage
I did not leap. I drove a van while I worked the business out.
Every contract, overnight · Brexit - Spain
Mojácar
I still work with my hands, mostly kitchens and bathrooms, doors and tiling. I also have chickens, which is relevant more often than you would expect.
Leon, Mojácar - Now
Building Human Renovation
I would rather tell you the truth about where I am than sell you a finished life I have not got. When this replaces the trade income, I will say so on this page, with the date.
one of my jobs, mid-refit
What starting again taught me
Every time I started again, I started as though the last twenty years had not happened. That was the mistake, and I made it twice before I noticed.
The story was worse than the money.The first time nearly finished me, and not for the reason you would think.
Silence costs time.The man who sorts things out does not turn up needing sorting, so I did not turn up. It cost me time, and I would like it back.
Build a bridge, do not leap.The second time I used the contacts, the pricing instinct and the tolerance for risk I already had. If I could keep only one part of the book, it would be that one.
Five things, and I will argue about all of them
- Reinvention is always possibleRegardless of age, mistakes or circumstances. I have needed three next chapters.
- Responsibility creates freedomYou cannot always control what happened. You can control what happens next.
- Small consistent actions beat motivationMotivation is a mood. Systems still work on the days you cannot be bothered.
- Self-worth drives outcomesChange the belief, the behaviour follows, then the result does.
- Success is personal, not just financialI have had the number without the rest, and it was not enough.
What I am not
No psychology degree. No coaching certification. No qualification of any kind, which I mention here rather than hoping you do not notice.
Everything on this site is what I did myself first, usually badly the first time. If you want peer-reviewed theory, there are better people to read, and some are genuinely worth your time. If you want the account of somebody who has actually had to do it, more than once, with people depending on him, that is what this is.
Enough about me
The useful question is not what happened to me. It is what you are working with. That is what the survey is for.
Start the surveystarting from zero.