Whoa, I went off track there

In my recent post, Sorry; you're not who I was expecting, I described that things haven’t recently gone well with my career. I suggested a couple of things contributed to this: over-inflated expectations of myself and brain injury issues. There is of course quite a lot more to say about these. Here I go trying to better explain what I meant…

It isn’t easy finding a job in a new country, no one really knows about the places you’ve worked and the things you’ve done. Add to that a CV made a little unusual by a brain injury and it’s tough to get the start you want.

Yet, my recent history made me think I deserved such a start. I’d recovered from brain injury to complete an Ironman triathlon and a Masters in economics. I’d backed those up by getting two useful, somewhat demanding corporate roles in New Zealand. However, I lacked the experience to demonstrate I’d be much help to London employers, doing the sort of jobs I thought I was capable of.

After mucking around for some time, doing contracting roles, I was lucky to get a permanent position as an analyst, working at a major UK retailer. I started the role, but didn’t appreciate it would be quite different to work I’d done previously. I needed to adjust my approach a whole lot. However, brain injury issues and a lack of insight about myself meant I failed to perform in it. I resigned after it became obvious I wouldn’t pass my probation.

With a very supportive family and partner, I went back to the drawing board. I sought and eventually found a job doing economics, a subject I know I love. I have much more to write about this episode, including the brain injury issues that affected my work at the retailer. I’ve started the new post label, Recovering revisited. Look out for most posts shortly on it.

Cheers,

Mike

Sorry; you're not who I was expecting (a multi-part post)

Well guys, it’s been over five years since I wrote my last post updating people about my recovery progress. While in many ways I still feel I’m one of the luckiest recoverers around, the last three years of my recovery have been pretty tough. I now realise how I'd thoroughly underestimated how hard it was recovering from brain injury. Quite simply, I wasn't the person I thought I was.

What’s been happening? A lot’s been great: I moved to Britain with my partner I mentioned in my last post, we got married and now have a one year old child. Have things really been that bad you might well ask...

 It took issues with my career to show I was still suffering from some brain injury issues that had been limiting my productivity. Over-inflated expectations of myself meant it took me ages to find a new job in London. I finally found a pretty good one after a bit over a year. However I made a mess of it, brain injury issues contributed to me resigning after only six months in the job.

 I recently got a new job that I feel is a much better place for me. Yet, the brain injury issues I've faced the last three years are still there to deal with. I’ve plenty more to say about them and what my experience says for others recovering from brain injury. In a series of posts, over the next few months, I intend to write much more about them. I intend to explain how I'm not the person I thought I was.

 Hope you stay tuned for what more I have to say. And if you're facing the hardest struggle, recovering from your brain injury, please hang in there. I hope what I have to say will help you, most of all.

Cheers,
Mike