Episode 1: Introducing the Change Work Life podcast

Episode 1: Introducing the Change Work Life podcast

Jeremy Cline
I'm Jeremy Cline and this is Change Work Life.

Hello, and welcome to the Change Work Life podcast. I am so happy to have you here with me.

So what are you doing here? What's this podcast all about? How is this podcast gonna help you?

Well, this is about the Sunday evening blues and, in particular, it's about banishing the Sunday evening blues. So, you know, it's Sunday evening, you've just finished your evening meal, you're clearing up, maybe you going to watch some TV, and you're starting to think about the week ahead, and you're thinking, I'm just not sure I want to go to work tomorrow. Does that sound familiar to you? Because it certainly sounds familiar to me.

We spend so much time at work. It's, you know, 40 plus years of our life at work. And is that what we're supposed to be thinking? You know, it's a Sunday evening, and we're just a bit sort of. eeurgh, I've got to go to work tomorrow. And is that normal? Is that right? Is that how it should be? Shouldn't we be a bit more excited a bit, I get to go back to work, fantastic! But you know what, a lot of us just aren't like that.

So I've been working now for about 18 years. I reckon I've got at least another 25 years until I retire. And how's it been for me so far? Well, it's been okay. You know what? I can't say, oh, it's been an awful 18 years because it hasn't, there's been some really good points. There's been some points where I've been proud of what I've been doing where it's been exciting, it's been interesting. Can I say it's always like that? No, no I can't. It doesn't thrill me every day. Sure, there are times where actually yeah, it's quite interesting and I'm enjoying what I do. But a lot of the time, it's just, you know, it's a, it's a bit of a grind, you know, it's not unpleasant, it's not that I hate it. It's not that I'm, you know, really itching to get out. It's just it's a bit....eeurgh....okay, then.

And having been doing it for, as I say, the past 18 years or so, I'm starting to think now, quite late, you might say, well, does it actually have to be this way? I mean, is this the way it is? Is this just the nature of work? It's just, it's what happens. We get up, we go to work, we tolerate work, it's okay, we get paid for it and, don't get me wrong, the pay is great. But is it supposed to just be something that's a bit...oh, okay, then? Or are there other ways of doing it? Are there other options? What changes are possible? Is it even sensible to make changes now? I mean, I'm in a position where I've got a family, there's bills to pay, you got to keep a roof over your head. I can't complain about my pay, it contributes to the household so we can live the lifestyle that we want. Is it really sensible to start looking at whether I should make changes now so that I don't have that feeling of "eeurgh" when actually, it does so much for me.

So all this is telling you why I started the podcast. I've started this podcast, because I wanted to find out. I wanted to find out whether it's normal, it's the way it is that we just, we tolerate work we accept that work is ok but no more than that. But I wanted to find out whether things can be done a bit differently.

And I figured that the best way to find that out was actually to start speaking to people who have made changes, people who were in that position who thought, hey, you know what, work's just not doing it for me at the moment and find out from them, why they decided they were going to make a change, how they decided to make the change, how they actually made the changes, what they did, what help they had, and perhaps most importantly, has it worked out for them? Is this something that other people have done? Have people made changes so that actually, they do enjoy the prospect of going to work? They do wake up and think, hey, great, I get to go to work today. I figured I can't be the only one who's starting to ask these questions.

And so I figured that you'd probably be interested as well. I mean, these are people who some of them have changed lines of work completely, they've gone from working in an office to going into nursing, or some of them have started their own business. Some of them made their change some time a go and I'm going to find out from them how it worked out. But I also thought it would be really interesting to talk to people who are at the start of their journey so I can follow them almost in real time, see, see what it's like, see how they're making the changes as they go? What's working for them? What's not working for them? What fears have they got? How are they dealing with those fears? What plans are they making? What help are they having along the way?

I wanted to follow them on their journey. And you know what, there's some great people out there, and they've been kind enough to let me follow them and let you follow them as well.

And also talking to life coaches, career coaches. One of the things I've realised is that we don't get born with just this innate understanding of knowing what's right for us, knowing that things aren't working out, and that we need to make a change and knowing what changes we need to make. We just don't have that as part of our natural DNA, we have to learn that we have to pick that up. And partly, I'm going to be doing that and you're going to be doing that from speaking to people who've made changes. But then there's the people who have made it their mission to study what changes people have made, to study how people feel, why people are dissatisfied with what they do, what changes they need to make, what is going to work for them. They've identified patterns, and they've developed tools. I'm sure you've all come across various personality tests, and I'm sure some are more effective than others. But there's tools, there's thought experiments that we can use to help us to work out what's right for us.

Because that's what we're talking about here. We're talking about, what is it that's right for me, and what's right for you, isn't going to be the same as what's right for me or right for someone else. We're trying to find our own version of happy. That's what it's all about. We're trying to find our own version of happy. For some people that will be working in an exciting environment where you're wearing a suit, and you're surrounded by a real busy, buzzy work atmosphere where everyone's working really hard, late in the night, but you're getting a project done. You know what, for some people, that's what they want. Other people happy is freedom, freedom to spend more time with your family freedom to arrange your working hours in a way that best suits you. So you know what, actually you don't want to go to the gym at seven in the morning or seven in the evening, you want to go at 11 o'clock in the morning and maybe happy for you is having the freedom that you can do that and arranging your life so that you can do that sort of thing.

And what's what's happy for you will change over time. As you get older, as you start a family, as you meet your life partner, whatever changes are going on in your life, the version of happy for us is going to change.

And so it's all these sorts of things that I'm exploring on this podcast. So if the Sunday evening blues is something that you can relate to, and if you're even just slightly curious about all this, if you're slightly curious about maybe starting to think well what does happy look like for me? Well, then, you know what, you're in the right place.

So it's great to have you here I'm so looking forward to just sharing with you all the stories that my guests have got to share all their tips. I'm talking to some, you know, inspirational is an overused word. But you know what, there are some inspiring people out there. And they, they've just, they're happy to share their story. They've come on, they're talking to me, and they're passing on what they've learned is they've gone through their own changes. And, and that's great. And I'm going to learn a huge amount from them. And hopefully you are as well.

So hit subscribe. You don't want to miss any of the interviews. So hit subscribe on whatever device you're listening to this on. And also make sure you visit the website. It's changeworklife.com there's going to be a ton of information there. There's going to be show notes for each interview for each episode. There's going to be loads of information, loads of resources, you don't want to miss it. So do please visit that's changeworklife.com and, you know, I'm really looking forward to exploring all this and I'm really looking forward to exploring it all with you.

So enjoy, and I can't wait to see you in the next episode. Cheers. Bye.