When people hear I’ve written two books, Why Losing Your Job Could Be the Best Thing That Ever Happened to You (2020) and Another Door Opens (2025), they sometimes ask the question:

“What’s the difference between them?”

When things go wrong, when we face a setback, it’s easy to fall into default responses. We might catastrophise and imagine the worst. Or we might keep powering forward, ignoring the emotional impact entirely.

Being offered voluntary redundancy can feel like both a curveball and an opportunity. Whether it’s a corporate restructure or early retirement offer, the decision can shape the next chapter of your life. Do you take the package and leap into the unknown, or stick with the familiar?

Each pause serves a different purpose and works for you in a different way. Play with what works for you, when you need it, how you need it. We all pause in different ways, in different moments. It’s about knowing that ‘pausing’ is an important part of navigating change well.

What kind of pause do you need today?

As AI automates more tasks, many traditional jobs are likely to evolve, disappear, or become deeply intertwined with technology. However, new roles will emerge, and some will become more important than ever. I asked AI what it thinks the future of work might look. Here’s what it said.

If you're considering a career change, you're not alone. Many of us reach a point where our current work no longer fits who we are or where we want to go. But knowing you want to change and knowing how to begin are two very different things.

Starting from the beginning is not a flaw, it’s fertile ground. It’s where fresh ideas, deep learning, and meaningful growth take root. So the next time you find yourself at the start of something new, be bold enough to ask, humble enough to listen, and brave enough to not have all the answers.

Navigating change isn’t about controlling it, it’s about collaborating with it. By pausing, allowing emotions, playing, trying, and intentionally restarting, we create a relationship with change that is less about survival and more about evolution.

“Who do I want to be right now?”

It’s a question we often overlook, especially when life is unraveling, or ironically, when everything seems perfect. Yet it might be the most important question we can ask ourselves. Not tomorrow. Not someday. Right now.

When we react with our perspective or even quiet judgment, we’re not just shutting down empathy for others, we’re limiting it for ourselves.

“Resistance will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work. It will perjure, fabricate; it will seduce you. Resistance is always lying and always full of [it].” – Steven Pressfield

Whether it is a sign, a shift in energy, a moment that just makes you laugh and roll your eyes – it doesn’t really matter. It’s about keeping yourself open to possibility.

“People often fail to act on their good intentions because they do not specify when, where, and how they will act. ‘Implementation intentions’ help to automate goal-directed behaviour by linking situational cues to responses.” Dr Peter Gollwitzer

“Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still.” Chinese Proverb

“The idea that winners never quit is both overly simplistic and completely false. Most successful people have ‘quit’ several times.” - Paul Jarvis, Company of One