This week’s interviewee is Amir Lodge, Digital Project Manager at Tag Worldwide.

1. Biggest mistake you made in the last year & how you fixed it?

Second guessing myself?

In the past year, this has been my biggest mistake and it’s led me down a path of nothing but stress and anxiety as I was questioning absolutely everything to the point of obsession.

I took on opportunities that my gut told me not pursue and I often overrode my own thoughts and feelings about a role by asking friends and colleagues their thoughts and advice. Often I would become overwhelmed by their responses which put a lot of pressure on me. There isn’t anything wrong with asking people for their advice but just be wary of how many people you ask and be prepared to take in the numerous responses you’re going to get. It’s just you at the end of the day no one else.

In some cases, last year was a write off for me but I’ve learned a lot about myself and I feel much more in control in making my own decisions on opportunity and ideas without doubting myself or having any regrets. The facts are that family will always tell you the safe route, friends will tell you what you want to hear and the rest will pretend to give a shit.

2. A lightbulb moment

Living in a city can be very busy and very lonely, however, there is one thing in which we all have in common (well many of us do) and that is commuting to and from work.

For nearly 3 years on a daily basis, I’ve been asking people on Reddit ‘What are your commute observations?’ on the London sub-reddit. Since it has started we now have a bimonthly meetup which attracts lots of people from all walks of life to come together and just talk about everything and anything. The community has helped others find work, it has created great friendships and given people a chance to be a part of something without the need to have a specific skill or interest in order to meet new folks.

3. Tip for tomorrow

It’s just a job. It’s just a job and your health and happiness comes first, if you don’t like your job don’t cold quit it (unless you’re able to), look at your job differently, perhaps not as part of your career path but as a tool to help mitigate the risk and fund a new idea, hobby or bide the time to find the right opportunity for you whilst keeping the bills paid.

Start and finish on time, if an employer expects you to work beyond the hours you’re obliged to then this is a red flag and you need to get out fast. A good employer won’t clock watch you and should trust you enough to get the job done by the deadline.

Want to share your advice?
NWB confessional style interviews are posted every Monday from people in the business community. They are not self-promoting, or carefully selected quotes to make you sound good. They are full of useful, actionable insights from experience, not egos or bravado. If you like NWB’s style and have something useful to say, we’d love to interview you. Tweet @nowankybollocks or email katie [at] subjectconsulting.com.