Things I wish I could tell my younger self

In quiet moments of reflection, I am sure many of us have looked back on our professional path to date and winced at the mistakes we made and quietly celebrated the successes. Much like life in general, every career is a unique experience comprising highs and lows and steep learning curves.

We build on each relationship we make and learn from our mistakes. As we pop these experiences in our memory bank, we may be called upon to pluck them out again to the benefit of others – our colleagues, for example, or our children, family and friends – or sometimes as reminders to ourselves. Reflective learning helps us shape our future safely and successfully. Almost everyone has experienced a less than 100% positive work experience at one time or another and we will almost always learn something of value that will inform us – or others – in a future work setting.