18/12/2025
Sometimes, I have to remind myself about how lucky I am to have arrived here, with this as my office.
All of the jobs I've done over the last almost 4 decades, have led to this point, where I get to be in here, my office, every working day.
I'd always wanted to drive, right from childhood. I passed my car test when I was 17.
I'd wanted to teach people to drive from my early 20's.
Coaching people to do what is a game changer for everyone I teach is the best thing I've ever done.
Learning to be a driving instructor is the single hardest, most challenging and most rewarding career I've ever had.
I've worked in warehouses on manual and admin duties, shops in customer facing and managerial roles, garage workshops fixing stuff, on building sites installing mains electrical wiring and HVAC equipment, I've been a pro standard pencil artist selling drawings to customers, in transport offices in supervisory roles, organised and taken part in rock festivals, delivered furniture in a HGV, bread in a HGV, household electricals in a HGV, carpets, tyres, pizzas and, even people when I was a bus driver. All of which was hard work.
I was a working musician for many years, playing bass and doing vocals, sometimes running the PA system at the same time as performing. All of which was hard work.
I was the frontman and songwriter of a daft band for 5 years, the 9plan. All of which was hard work.
I've played hundreds of gigs in front of collectively thousands of people. All of which was hard work.
I learned music production through trial and error then released my own self written, self recorded and self produced music on Spotify and iTunes, under the name of Ian Nineplan Brookes, which is still available to hear. All of which was hard work.
I have engaged in continual professional development across all of my previous jobs, including this one, doing many courses and amassing so many qualifications, I can't actually remember them all.
All of that has led to this. This is the thing I was supposed to do.
I love helping people. It's been one hell of a journey to get here and, it's not finished yet.
Never give up, never stop learning, never lose faith, you can do what you want to do, if you believe you can do it and work hard, not just physically but on yourself too.
Reflect on what goes well and why, how it made you feel and, importantly, what didn't go well, why and, how it made you feel. Then, decide what you need to do to improve. Then do that. If it works, great. If not, rethink again.
Make the changes you need to make by being honest with yourself and those around you. Nothing is ever perfect but, strive to be as near to perfect as you can, in any aspect of life, by being true with and to yourself...
You can do it.
