London Calling! Part 2 out of 3: Lessons learnt after moving to London

Is this your first time reading the series?  Read Part 1 here and then continue on!

Lesson #4
Be open to objective criticism, but filter out the unnecessary

I don’t know how, but within 1.5 weeks of moving I found myself in a private meeting at a business club and restaurant on top of London landmark, The Gherkin. I haven’t even heard of the name of that unusual structure (I felt The Bullet would have been more appropriate..) until the call to set up the meeting. Originally it was going to be at West End and I would probably have fared worse as I have really only walked through it. Where and what the meeting was about was unimportant, what was important was the takeaways from it.

“You are really quiet and people will assume some things about you. You need to tell them that you may be quiet, but it doesn’t mean that you won’t get things done.”

I have been told often that I am a quiet person. It was something that I had to work on with conscious effort and something that I kept in mind. This was the type of objective criticism that I was after.

On the other hand, some of the feedback that I was given could be detrimental or at least prove to be unnecessary background ‘noise’.  A common example revolves around the role of social  media and social networking – is it detrimental or beneficial to one’s professional profile or career?

Lesson #5

Focus on the Commander’s Intent and impose a deadline – do not stray or let yourself deviate from it

Have you heard of the term Commander’s Intent? You can read more about it here.  It is a way to manage uncertainty, to keep focused despite challenges and distractions that can potentially lead you to deviate from what you originally set out to do.

It doesn’t have to be a huge, complicated plan.  It can be something really simple and straightforward – “I will find a place to rent by x date and it will fit the following criteria…”.  While looking for a place to rent, I had this in mind thus enabling me to filter out anything that is irrelevant in terms of the type of place that I was seeking.  Which turned out to be  most properties and a couple of room viewings which ended up in no-shows/late viewings that I luckily avoided.

Lesson #6
Know and work towards your optimum self
Moving, changing careers and locations, job hunting, dealing with loss of everyday and face to face contact with your loved ones will drain your optimum self.

I went through an unfortunate situation which drained a lot of my positive energy and thus leaving me with a less than optimum self.  I decided to head out and visit my relatives in another country and while the decision may not have been the best one in terms of use of my time and finances (as it was quiet low at the time), it was definitely one of the best decisions that I have made.