A marker in the sand

Some years are the ones that you use a markers compared to other years. What do I mean by that? Well, let me explain with some of my marker years…

1986 - my ‘A’ Level year. I use this as a marker for when I started college.
1992 - Georgia was born
1993 - Josh was born
1999 - Lauren was born. A marker for when I started swimming (it was when Lauren was 1)
2006 - trained as a Master Practitioner of NLP
2009 - first channel solo
2011 - diagnosed with ovarian cancer

The list goes on. Clearly these are not all the significant events in my life. My life has been blessed with hundreds of significant emotional events. I suspect we all have these. These are the years when I remember where I was and what I was doing. They’re not just any old year.

Very special markers

But then there are the very special marker years. The ones that seem to be cram packed full. 2021 is one of these. Before I explain, let me share some others:

1989

In this one year I turned 21, finished college, bought a house, got married and started my first full-time professional role. It was indeed busy!

I use this year to work out when I started many other jobs because I remember how long I stayed in various jobs. I remember that my nephew was born this year.

2005

One of my peak swimming years. I trained extremely hard in order to travel overseas to compete and what a year it was. I went to the World Masters Games in Canada and won a bronze medal for open water swimming, three weeks later I went to Sweden to compete in the World Masters Championships. Whilst in Canada I was phoned by a friend who asked me to be in her channel relay. That was to be my first channel relay and the start of a chain of events that led to where I am today.

2014

Having got over the fairly traumatic time around my first attempt at the channel and my subsequent successful first swim, I became curious about what I could achieve in open water again. So I booked a Round Jersey swim. Cancer got in the way for a while and I lost a lot of weight, and I became even more curious. Could I do a faster English Channel Solo too? I went under the radar and swam the Channel again in a time that I still don’t understand. 7 days later I swam around Jersey. I think my reputation changed at that point too, at least the way I saw myself as a swimmer changed.

My confidence improved and I took a significant new job as GSK in the same year.

It was also in this year that I was told that I’d be taking over running training in Dover.

So that brings me to 2021 - a very, very special marker year. That’s a very special label. There have only been 3 others. This blog shares why this year has been like no other so far.

Some big changes

A year later than originally planned, I left AstraZeneca in March this year. That might not sound all that epic, but it really was. As I mentioned above, I secured my first post college job in 1989. I have been continuously employed since then. Whilst I left organisations before, I’ve never done that without another employed role to go to. My whole adult life has been based on the security that being salaried has brought.

This would be a massive adventure and leap of faith.

Over the last few years I have put away some funds to give me a financial buffer, fund some additional training and to enable me to build the endless pool and cabins needed for that and my office.

It’s not just about financial security though, I’ve always been part of something bigger than me, part of a team. There have always been other people that I can ask for advice and opinions. There have always been people around me that I can learn from in a formal and informal way. I’ve always had decision makers above me who I can influence but ultimately who will decide on proposals. I’ve been part of a team which enabled me to focus on my area of expertise and had colleagues around me who took care of other areas that I’m not proficient in.

Of course I still have the support of others around me, it’s simply the dynamics that have changed. My team is now outside of my organisation, and currently not within it.

A year of learning

I like to be the best that I can possibly be at the areas where I choose to specialise. My business portfolio is broad and so my training has also been broad. My training / qualifications in 2021 have included:

Paddlefish Panda

Motivational Maps - Practitioner qualification
Web design - Bubble bootcamp
Entrepreneurs Circle annual convention and monthly local meetings
NLP Coaching bootcamp (refresher)
Breakthrough sessions - refresher masterclass
Master Hypnotist Qualification
Trainer of Hypnosis Qualification

Channel swimming

Sports psychology - return to training after COVID-19

Paddlefish Pools

Pool Plant Operator qualification
Completed L1 & L2 swimming teacher (Covid delayed the final assessment)
Level 1 Swimming Coach
Started L2 Swimming Coach
Safeguarding course

Busy, busy, busy. I love to learn and to improve what I do by learning from the best.

Sporting challenges

I planned to swim the Catalina Channel in the USA in tandem (two solos side by side) with a friend in 2020. Covid got in the way. We deferred to 2021 and it looked like Covid would get in the way again. To be completely honest, I was totally hot for it in 2020 and my swimming was on form. Multiple lockdowns caused impacted my training. It also meant that a back condition that was kept at bay by swimming became free to wreck havoc. Catalina isn’t a realistic target at this time. That moment has passed.

So, 2021 started with no plans in place. Was it to be a quiet year? It seems not.

In January a friend asked me to join his channel relay which was planned for mid-June. I quickly said yes (I didn’t fully consider just how early I’d have to complete the qualifier, but that’s another story!).

Then I decided to create another relay for the Dover Channel Training leadership team.

A little while later another friend asked me to join their relay, again I said yes.

We’re now into the summer period, and there was some banter on the beach about how I seem to land more relays than I should (there is something in that) and we joked about having a ‘Boat full of Emmas’ then ‘Emma’ would be guaranteed to land. That joke turned into a booking!

Just when I thought that 4 relays were enough another friend asked me to step into their charity team. I clearly lost the ability to say no and so that was relay number five for 2021 booked.

Five relays in one year - that’s crazy, even by my standards. It all worked out well in the end though and all five were fabulous and a lot of fun. Anyone who errs on the OCD side would appreciate the fact that I ended up with a relay in June, July, August, September and October, even if that wasn’t how it was originally booked.

With that many relays you do get to explore your hang ups and motivations. During the darker swims I re-confirmed that I was retired from marathon swims and relays after this season. In some of the nicer daylight swims I remembered the joy of the sport and why I’ve done this for so long! My total count of relays is now 20. I don’t know anyone else who has done this many. So time for a rest perhaps!

At the time of writing I have no open water plans for 2022 and my targets are firmly in the pool.

Talking of the pool though, I really enjoyed being back at swimming galas. It was an opportunity to reset expectations and focus back on the pool for a least a few years.

Finding my way

I have been thinking about working for myself for a long time now, ever since I did my NLP training back in the 00’s. I had never been brave enough to commit as I was used to the security blanket of a salary.

One thing that I’ve learned with channel swimming is that if someone doesn’t achieve a channel swim and it really does mean something to them that they will be back. Sometimes it’s straight away (even within a matter of weeks), sometimes it can take years - but the burning ambition remains until the swimmer goes back and finishes what they started.

It felt like that with me. This ‘I wonder if……’ question just remained in my mind. It wasn’t even buried, it was often front of mind. My significantly logical and risk averse mind ignored it or rationalised that the time wasn’t right for a very long time. I progressed successfully in my career. But my heart wanted me to explore entrepreneurship.

The business started part-time at first, but with all the commuting and running the logistics of a business, it left very little time to actually make much of it. It was time to go big or go home. So I took the plunge and resigned from work. My 3 month notice period turned into over a year, at the request of my employer but the day came and on Thursday 18th March I closed my laptop for AstraZeneca for the last time. It’s weird to leave in a pandemic. No awkward goodbye as you leave the office. No leaving drinks. Just log off and courier your equipment back to the office. Weird.

So how has it been?

It’s been strange. It’s been amazing. It’s been a massive learning curve.

It’s early days. It will take a while to see if this will be a success. I really hope it does as I’m loving this new life.

I have developed a broad and diverse set of services. It’s been a lot of work and I am genuinely excited by the options that I’m able to offer clients. I’ve got some amazing clients that are a privilege to work with.

These are the diverse services that I now have on offer include:

CORPORATE CLIENTS:

Executive coaching
Motivational mapping
Relaxation workshops
Personal breakthrough sessions
Motivational speaking
Consulting and short-term contracting

INDIVIDUAL CLIENTS:

Executive & performance coaching
Personal breakthrough sessions
Hypnotherapy & timeline therapy
Hypnosis workshops & qualifications
Masterclasses

ATHLETES:

Training of channel swimmers
Swimming coaching through my endless pool
Pool hire to individuals and coaches
Sports performance hypnosis
Performance coaching

When you write it all out like that, what’s been achieved in less than a year is quite remarkable!

2022 - what’s in store?

I have no swims planned. I would like to improve my 1,500m times in the pool. A bold and ambitious target is to break the 26 minute mark.

I’m starting 2022 with one simple business goal and that is to turn my fledgeling business into a financially viable / sustainable business and I appreciate your ongoing support. I’m here for you. I’m here for your teams. If you think I can help you and / or your team(s), just get in touch and we can chat. Everyone needs a little Paddlefish Panda magic in their life!