Rest

Holiday I have just come back from holiday. I needed it. I could feel myself becoming jaded. Unable to deliver courses to the standard that I set myself and it got to the point where I was saying words because I had said them before and not because they needed to be said.

Since becoming self-employed, I have found myself working week in, week out without really taking a moment to reflect or recuperate very often. I aim to take a decent holiday at least once a year, which, by and large, I have done, but the pressure of not only having to find work but then deliver can be exhausting and lonely.

Maybe this is not a wise thing to say publicly but I think it’s important to practice what I preach. 

I will shortly be delivering a package of mental health first aid courses to a customer in which I will stand in front of a group of them and tell them that you must look after yourself first before you can be a good wife/mother/father/husband.

But if I am to announce this kind of messaging on my courses, I must acknowledge when I myself, need that break to become a better father/husband/son.

Nice break - Small shorts

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In 2013, I was working for the Cambridge branch of the British Red Cross. 

During one lunch break, my colleague Anthony and I were having a conversation regarding the effort and energy it takes to deliver training, especially since the arrival of my son in the previous November. He proceeded to say something that I have remembered ever since.

“When you are training on your own, there is nowhere to hide. In any other job, if you are not 100%, you can make excuses but not in this job. You must show up and deliver because if you do not provide the energy and enthusiasm, you have lost the group”

He was right then and he is right now.

There is nowhere to hide. The delegates do not care if you had a bad night’s sleep. They do not care if you were up all night with an ill child. They have little time for why the traffic was bad and you had an argument with your partner.

And to be frank, it is not their problem – it is yours.

So this is something that I pass on to other trainers that I have mentored or given advice to. Be professional, do what you need to but make sure to understand that to mask the fatigue and low energy takes effort and eventually, it can cause you to burn out. Hence the need to recognise when you need to take some time out to recharge and go again.

The quiet times

This time of year is traditionally a quiet time for freelancers. The summer holidays have started, people have taken annual leave, and employers do not have the staff available to release them for training courses.

I have always found this time particularly challenging.

During this time, I will try and reflect on where I am, what have I done so far this year and what I would like to accomplish or do. It is a suitable time to also set about completing courses for continual professional development. This is often a pre-requisite of many accrediting bodies and training providers to ensure my standards as a trainer are maintained as well as keeping up to date on any changes in legislation or training frameworks.

It can also be challenging due to the fact that the money that is earned is less in the month of August but the expenditure seems to increase due to the fact that those with children need to keep them entertained for the mammoth time of 6 weeks.

So, keep going.  The weeks will come and go. Keep getting work where you can, as long as it suits you and you are not being taken advantage of and soon it will be September, the traffic will be terrible again and you’ll be wishing for a time when it was August.