Never regret the things you do…

Welcome to the latest Rise & Shine blog.

A little phrase that is often used in our house and to family, friends and colleagues is;

“never regret the things you do; only the things you don’t”

Little did I know that it would play out with such significance over the last few weeks…!

We’ve been on an amazing journey this last year and tried out lots of new ideas, and approaches. Some have been successful and some didn’t quite work out as planned. All of them have helped us learn and grow both our business and ourselves.

One thing has remained constant – although we may look back and learn from where we go wrong, we have never regretted the bold steps we have taken, but have continued to look forward at how to tackle the next set of challenges.

My role has been to offer support, guidance, and a different perspective, and to make sure that we balanced the books. (see the Playing your part blog post – http://wp.me/pLHLC-7a)

All of a sudden an amazing opportunity came my way. I could ignore it and continue into next year doing the same as this year, or I could grasp the opportunity with both hands and ‘give it a go’.

After lots of soul-searching and pros and cons, it came down to that one little phrase – if I don’t take this and give it 100% then I will always ask myself “what if” and 5 years from now I could really regret not giving myself the chance.

So after 11 ½ years I will be leaving the bosom of M&S Money in early January and joining Bank of America as their new Customer Experience Manager.

In some ways I leave with great sadness, I’ve made lots of friends along the way and care about a lot of people (you know who you are and I won’t lose touch)

I also leave knowing that it’s now my time to grow and challenge myself in the same way that Jeff did this time last year.

It’s comforting to do the same thing day after day, but sometimes you have to take the risk and hope that with it comes the reward.

If you live your life avoiding risk because of the ‘what ifs’, you’ll reach that rocking chair in later life and look back and wonder – what would things have looked like if I had done this or that rather than avoiding the change?

Take the chance – jump into the cold water and see what happens. Keep a safety net close by and always have your plan B…but never be afraid of going for something. Don’t use the excuse of I can’t – didn’t your mum ever tell you “there’s no such thing as cant”
Reframe your mind to; “I will and I can” and see how it changes your life in 2011.

Set those goals – my 11 will look very different to Jeff’s – but they will be mine!

Check out the 11eleven11 site for more details:

http://wp.me/p1emfM-1

Give yourself the time over Christmas and New year to think about how you want your life to be next year – and if the opportunity comes your way – then don’t let it pass you by – reach out and grab it with both hands – you never know where you’ll end up!

Regards
Jo

http://www.riseandshinetoday.co.uk