There comes a point in many careers when our current story isn’t working for us any more. When we want to write a different story.

A better story than the one on offer if we stick where we are. That old story might have worked well for us in the past. But it’s not going to work in the future.

Let’s be honest, sometimes this new story is forced upon us by events we can’t control. At other times, it’s completely our decision.

Living new stories can involve shifts that no-one might have guessed at from the outside. Like leaving secretarial work to retrain as a midwife. Or leaving a career in sales to teach English in Spain. Then there’s the slightly more familiar narrative, when we leave an employer and start our own business. Or the often relatively late career switches, leaving (sometimes very large) organisations to help lead something close to our hearts, perhaps in healthcare, environmental protection or social care.

These are all real examples. And a common theme to all of them, as the quote at the top of the page might suggest, is that the central characters had to overcome conflicts and challenges to make the shift. And whatever the switch, let’s be clear. It took courage. But always at the core of the story was the motivation on the part of that central character to

LIVE A BETTER STORY

“Don’t Look Back” tells the stories of nine characters who set out to live better stories than the default ones on offer if they did nothing. In their cases, they chose to become coaches in various forms. They did this at ages from 30 to 50. And, as it says in the book, age does matter, because the nature of the challenges and conflicts to be overcome varies with age.

Their stories provide a template for many such stories.

Each story tells of a character seeking to find greater purpose and meaning from their work. And grappling with a mix of, essentially, ten different themes as they write those stories. Here’s a picture.

If “living a better story” is what you’re thinking about right now, whatever your age, do please take a look at “Don’t Look Back”.

Maybe those stories can provide both the inspiration and the template for yours.

“Don’t Look Back” is sold to raise funds for the Boaz Trust, in supporting destitute asylum seekers and refugees. And if ever there were people looking to live a better story, it would be those men, women and children. Just possibly, as you think through how to live your new story, you can play a small part in helping them to live theirs.