S8E5 - Yesim Nicholson
In this episode of 'More Than Work', host Rabiah Coon sits down with Yesim Nicholson, an author, podcast host, and career coach. They discuss Yesim's diverse career journey, managing career changes, and the important aspects of finding fulfillment beyond job titles. The conversation also delves into Yesim's book 'Ready to Quit Your Job?' and her insights on balancing financial concerns with career satisfaction. Tune in for inspiring stories, practical advice, and a fun Q&A segment.
00:00 Introduction to More Than Work
00:34 Meet Yesim: Author, Podcast Host, and Career Coach
01:20 Navigating Career Changes and Challenges
02:33 The Journey to Becoming a Career Coach
07:37 Balancing Work and Personal Life
12:14 Writing the Book: Ready to Quit Your Job?
18:46 Finding Fulfillment in Your Career
24:39 Reflecting on Career Lessons
26:09 Identifying Positives in Your Job
27:25 Introducing the Podcast
28:51 The Concept of Toe Dippers
31:34 Encouraging Career Changes
32:45 Health and Decision Making
35:39 The Fun Five Questions
43:09 Channeling Confidence
44:31 Where to Find Yesim Nicholson
45:09 Closing Remarks
Note from Host:
Yesim and I met when I was a guest on her podcast. Either my SEO or her solid sleuthing brought us together. I’m nearly done with her book and finding it helpful as I consider what I’m doing in my life (or at least in one aspect of it). It is good to assess sometimes and see if you can align what you do with what you want. That’s really what “More Than Work” is about. We got along like old friend and Yesim is as authentic as it gets! I recommend the book, the podcast and a chat with her wholeheartedly. If you’re reading this, I’ve probably heard from her recently. Be well
Host Rabiah (London) chats with career coach, author and podcaster Yesim (north of London).
Transcript
Rabiah Coon (Host): [00:00:00] This is More Than Work, the podcast reminding you that your self worth is made up of more than your job title. Each week, I'll talk to a guest about how they discovered that for themselves. You'll hear about what they did, what they're doing, and who they are. I'm your host, Rabiah. I work in IT, perform stand up comedy, write, volunteer and of course, podcast.
Thank you for listening. Here we go!
Hey, welcome back to More Than Work everybody. So this week I have a guest whose podcast I was actually on. And so we'll be linking that in the show notes, but she's here to talk about her today, instead of listening to me talk about myself. Her name is Yesim and she is an author, podcast host and career coach.
So, welcome to More Than Work.
Yesim Nicholson: Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah. I'm excited we're getting to chat again. So first of all, can you just say like, you know, where I'm [00:01:00] talking to you from today?
Yesim Nicholson: So today I'm sitting in my home office near Cirencester, which is west of London, about just over an hour away from London.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah, not bad. Not bad. And did you have a dedicated space to work for a long time? Or is that something you added like during the pandemic, like a lot of people?
Yesim Nicholson: During the pandemic, I was actually still employed by an organization. And obviously we all had to work from home. So I did work from what was the spare room and then turned into mine and my husband's office. And then we would sort of take it in turns to work from here and then the kitchen table, and then, you know, do the whole homeschooling at the same time, spinning a hundred plates.
And then my husband is now. back in the office and I get to still use the spare room, which is awesome. So I have a very, very long commute that takes me, I don't know, four and a half seconds. [00:02:00] It's quite cumbersome.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Oh man yeah we might have the same commute. I'm just in my living room and I come from the bedroom to the living room and when I want to break, I sit on the sofa like a foot away. that's good.
You were still working in I would say just an, what we'd call, what would you call it?
Like a normal job, I guess, like a standard job. You were still employed, like by someone else.
Yesim Nicholson: Yeah. Yeah.
Rabiah Coon (Host): in the pandemic. And then at some point you switched to becoming a career coach. You've got your podcast. You're an author. What led to that and when did that happen?
Yesim Nicholson: It's a really long story, which we could be here for about 10 hours, so I'll give you a very snapshot version of it. I went to university and I did the most generic course I could find, which actually turned out to be amazing. It was international management with German. And after I left, basically all my peers went into corporate, and so I followed suit.
And I, I [00:03:00] worked for actually an American multinational for about five years and it was really great. You know, I had a great time. Met some amazing people. Got to travel the world. Had plenty of responsibility and I could ticked all the boxes But I just remember going into work one day thinking there's got to be more to life than this you know, like everybody's sitting in their little cubicles typing away and that was probably sort of the beginning of the journey for me in really just exploring what a career can look like. And so I set up my, I set up an ecommerce business. This is, you know, gosh, 15, 15 or so years ago. And then we moved to Australia and so I had to, you know, find other work while we're over there. We were there for seven years. And then I became a mom and then we moved back to the UK. So there's been lots of sort of I guess lots of change [00:04:00] in my adult life and in my, of my childhood as well.
My dad was a hotel manager, so we moved around a lot. So cut a very long story short, I've experienced a lot of change over my life. And with that, I've experienced lots of different jobs in different countries, different cultures, different organizations, and, and I, I kind of thrive on that. I like the newness of it. I like the challenge of something new.
And then getting to midlife, I noticed that That a lot of my peers were not comfortable with change. They were sort of stuck in jobs that they weren't enjoying. And I guess I was like, well, you know, if you don't enjoy it, then surely you can do something about it.
And obviously it's not that easy because we get dependent on the, the particular salary or we get dependent on the prestige or the status that a job gives us. And so I was like, well, maybe this is something that I can explore. And [00:05:00] so I developed an online program for people to attend for people who were thinking about a career change and weren't quite sure whether they were ready to make that leap.
And that went really well. I did it as a trial with six people. And then it sort of snowballed from there. And now I spend all my days talking about career change with people from all over the world, which is really exciting. I love it.
Rabiah: Yeah, that's cool. And I think a few things came up while you were talking through this, but one of them was that just even thinking about a career change, and I, I've had different sorts of managers or bosses who saw either being at the company we were at was the only option really, right? And the only option was to move up there or stay in one place there or whatever, but that was it.
And then other managers who have encouraged me to pursue what I'm interested in and that might be outside of it and they would be perfectly [00:06:00] happy for me if I left knowing that I was going to move forward. And I think what made me think about this was that you said, you know, just you started talking to people just thinking about a career change because sometimes that almost seems like a betrayal.
Like, even if you tell your coworker, "God, I'm really like starting to look at other companies, just thinking about what I want to do", they might hear that and go, Oh, they're leaving the company and this is it there. I can't believe they're doing this. And it's interesting that even thinking about it has, is a difficult thing to do at some points in your career.
So have you found that too?
Yesim Nicholson: Definitely. I think even just thinking about it is quite stress inducing for a lot of people, especially if you've been in the same industry and the same company, which, you know, people of our generation are still doing. They join a company when they leave university or whatever education they've undertaken, and then they stick with that organization because the organizations looked after them well.
They've been [00:07:00] promoted, they're climbing the ladder, et cetera. And and it's easy to, to, I don't want to say get stuck because, you know, for some people that's really perfectly, they're perfectly happy staying in the same organization for their whole lives. But I guess I was more thinking of the people that, you know, do end up feeling like they are stuck in a place where they don't want to be anymore. So yes, I have lots of those conversations where people are just like, oh my god, just even the thought of leaving here is too much. I'll just bury that for a second.
Rabiah Coon (Host): you know, the idea that that came to me about more than work was just talking to friends who lost jobs after 12 or 13 years and who were and looking at my own career and just realizing how I defined myself so much on my job that anything that didn't go well, there would just be devastating to me.
And I would lose like my sense of self worth and I can't do anything else anywhere. I can't [00:08:00] succeed anywhere else. And so that's why I started this was to talk about that and what people did to overcome that. I don't, I don't know if you were defining yourself by your job, but you're someone who's definitely looking after people to help them not do that.
And to then find the work that matters to them. And I think that's important too. Like most of us can't just not work and stop working altogether. I mean, that'd be nice, you know, in a way. Although it might be very boring, I don't know, but there's the idea that you can pursue what you want.
What's one of the things that you tell people when they're talking about the salary because you mentioned that and that's a big one, right?
Yesim Nicholson: Yeah.
Rabiah Coon (Host): even me, like I work in IT, so for me to go pursue stand up comedy for probably like a third or less of the pay to me seems daunting, but what do you tell people when the salary is a big thing?
Yesim Nicholson: I mean, that's probably the most emotive subject when you talk about career change. I mean, it's an, [00:09:00] it's an emotive topic anyway, isn't it? Money. You know, we have to have really real conversations around it because like you say, most people aren't sitting on a trust fund and they can just, you know, I'm just going to get up and do whatever the hell I want every day.
And, and by the way, I think that would potentially not be very fulfilling anyway. We do have to be quite realistic about it. So I, I am a realist in that sense that you ha you do have to plan and you have to plan really well so that making that change doesn't become stressful and you can start putting things in place for your next career while you're still employed.
So like I mentioned in my book, actually some companies massively encourage a side hustle. So companies like Google, for example, because they see that actually their staff are more engaged because they're, you know, they're doing something quite fulfilling outside of the outside of work. So anyway, setting up some kind of [00:10:00] side hustle or, you know, going on an evening course or extra education and just exploring what you might do outside of your, whatever work you're used to, your nine to five or whatever it might be. And then, and then putting together a plan and that plan can be that you're going to gradually phase out that your current work and end up just doing the stuff that is actually meaningful to you and maybe I don't know six months time or two years time, five five years time, It doesn't really matter as long as it works with what you what you're aspiring for and I the other thing that I yeah, I do talk about the money quite a lot in the book because it is such an important topic. And the other thing is I think a lot of people who've been financially successful in their careers really struggle to let go of, well, this is how much I'm used to earning and I can't possibly earn [00:11:00] less than that. And I think it's quite nice to challenge that belief and to really I mean you can be really, quite analytical about it and go. Okay, well, what are my monthly outgoings? What is the luxury? What am I spending money on that? Actually, probably if I didn't spend money on that it's not actually going to affect my life that badly. You know, I don't have to have these things that at the moment feel like necessities, but actually if I drill down, they are luxuries and they don't actually add that much to my life.
So it's really being analytical in that sense and looking at, okay, are there ways that I can reduce my costs? Do I have to earn the same amount? And I'm I mean, people worry that they're not going to earn the same amount and then other people go on to earn loads more.
I think people automatically assume that they're going to earn less money when they make a career change. And that's definitely not always the case. I've got some examples in my book of people who've gone on to earn [00:12:00] much more money because that was really important to them. Or,
I don't know, I guess sometimes it's a fluke, but, um, you know, some people do put in just that they plan to make more than in their current position.
Rabiah Coon (Host): So we talked quite a bit already about the book and i've started reading it I already admitted to I didn't finish just because i'm a slow methodical reader who actually there are like nice activities in the book and I was doing them. But it's it's a it's a good read.
I think it's light hearted for this subject matter and the heaviness for me is just comes from my own thoughts about my my career, my job, but your book is called "Ready to Quit Your Job? Your Guide to a Much More Fulfilling Career". So it, I assume goes along with the course that you created for online, but what got you to actually write the book?
Because so many people talk about the book, they're going to write the book and they don't do it. So how'd you do it?
Yesim Nicholson: Yeah, I, honestly I never thought I'd write a book. It was [00:13:00] just not on my radar at all. Because I don't consider myself to be a very disciplined person. And I, I definitely had this belief that in order to write a book you had to be a disciplined person. But this is what I love about my work, that you can challenge beliefs, right?
And, and I definitely had my beliefs around writing a book challenged. Because I host this podcast and I was talking to all these amazing people who had made career changes and then obviously conversation with clients and I don't know, like all these amazing stories started to emerge and I guess in my line of work, I, I am repeating myself a little bit and the same themes kept popping up.
And so I just started to take notes, like literally on my phone. I'd have a thought and I'd be like, Oh, that's an interesting thoughts and or theory or whatever. And I'd just take notes. And then I sort of very tentatively started writing, not really [00:14:00] thinking that I would ever finish writing it because I'm really good at starting things, less good at finishing them.
I didn't tell anybody that I was sort of half writing a book because I'm like, well, it's just another thing that not another thing, but it's going to be, then people are going to be like, "Hey, what's happening with the book?" And then I'll be like, "Oh yeah, nothing. You know, it's, it was just a pipe dream." So I really didn't tell anybody.
And then it was a few months in that I was chatting to a friend and he said, Oh, I'm writing this book, Yesim. And so I very tentatively admitted that I was sort of, maybe, kind of writing a book as well. And he said, well, let's hold each other accountable and make it happen. I was like, yes, that sounds like a great plan.
And so we blocked out a certain amount of time every week where we would both sit and write our books. And then and then I got to like 25, 25, 000 words and I was like, [00:15:00] well, This is actually going somewhere and carving out that time is actually working and I'm just going to block it out on my calendar for the next six months and see what happens.
And then before I knew it I had 40, 50, 60, I can't remember, like several thousand words enough for a book and then I just had to put it into some kind of logical or what I thought might be a logical format. And then I was like, okay, this, this, there is actually something here. And then I, I still was like, I don't know if this is actually any good.
It's kind of weird doing something in isolation like that, where you don't really have anybody to be You know, I'm not bouncing off anybody. Nobody's going, "Oh, this is a load of rubbish. What, what, what the hell have you written?" And then I sent it to a proofreader and she was the one that was like, this is actually really good.
I was like, Oh, [00:16:00] okay. Really? You, you just saying that, or, and then before I knew it, I had a book. And I still sometimes look at it and go, "Oh, I actually did that." And it was a really, I have to say, I really loved the process of writing because it helps to solidify thoughts that you're having and and then actually being able to share them with the world is really fun.
And I, touch wood, so far I've had really nice feedback and I know at least three people have quit their jobs as a result of reading the book, which is not actually the aim. So there's a huge question mark on the, on the front cover of the book. And it really is a question like, are you ready to quit your job? I was going to call the book, are you, are you ready to quit your job? And then it was too, just too long. So that's why it's ready to quit your job question mark, um, because, um, I don't advocate people just quitting their job willy nilly . Like, I really do encourage people to put a lot of thought [00:17:00] into it and make the right decision for them at the right time.
Rabiah Coon (Host): I was looking at going into nonprofit. I was feeling really uninspired by what I was doing. And I just have this like service as such a important aspect of my life. And, then, I actually talked to someone who founded a nonprofit who told me, Rabiah, like, think about your wellbeing long term and your livelihood and actually like you can probably serve others in a better way If you continue to take care of yourself in a job that pays really well and pursue nonprofit outside of that and that really was eye opening because she's dedicated her life to it but she also had the resources to do that.
And so then I realized for me, no, I wasn't ready to quit my job, but I was ready to make moves to, to do other things that were really important outside of work. And so like, just, you know, there are the different ways of looking at it. And I do think your book, for the, I read the first I'd say [00:18:00] third and first of all, I'll just give feedback and then people listening can hear it too, but what I think is first of all, your personality shines through, which is great because you're bright and encouraging, but also very smart.
And like fact-based so it's cool. And you've developed these ideas of what you can quickly identify, like what kind of where you are in this "are you ready to quit your job?" journey. But then also like your anecdotes are really good. And the quotes are really good. So I think it's a good mix of like your text, other people's stories and quotes.
And I just think it works really well. So I would say congratulations. I think it's an awesome book and I am enjoying reading it.
Yesim Nicholson: That's so nice. I don't know why, but it never gets old hearing people say nice things about your work. It's, it thank you for saying
Rabiah Coon (Host): that.
So this passage really struck me and it's near the front of the book. But it was "whether they're conscious of it or not, most people seek meaning, control and fun work. Why? Because when your job aligns with your passions, values, and [00:19:00] interests, something magical happens.
Your job becomes more than a means to earn a living. It becomes a constant source of inspiration, purpose, positive energy, and joy. Please show me someone who doesn't want that in their life." And I really, that resonated with me because you can't always get that out of your work, but you can get it somewhere. And, but, if you can, you should get it out of your work. And do you, do you identify with this more now than you used to? Or is it something you realized earlier in your career? Or is it something that came through working with people, I guess?
Yesim Nicholson: Oh, I love this question. I've not been asked this question before. Do you know, I've always had a sense that you should just enjoy what you love to do. And there's a story that I tell, I think I tell it in the book quite early on. That very early on in my career, I had this fear that I was, I had this really clear vision of being at a dinner party with lots of fascinating people and the [00:20:00] person next to me turns to me and says what have you done with your life?
You know, when I'm in my seventies, eighties, whatever. And my biggest fear was that I would turn around and go, I worked for this big multinational all my life. I wanted to be able to say, do you know what I did this, and I tried that, and I failed at this and I succeeded at that, and bloody hell, it was a fast, fabulous ride.
That's what I wanted to be able to say. And I, I really had this. very early on in my career, like early twenties. And I think having that fear has been the driver for me to always find, not just in my career, but I, I just having have a life that is like, yeah, this is, this is awesome. And obviously your work is such a big part for me, for sure.
Like I, I, you know, I've got two kids and I guess potentially I could be a stay at home mum. but that
just [00:21:00] never appealed. I, I love work. I, love the challenge of it. I love the people aspect of it. I love learning new stuff. so yes, that's a very, very long answer to a very short question. Yes. It's been very deliberate. (laughter)
Rabiah Coon (Host): I think it is so important. I think your kids will see that too. They'll see this example at some point that, okay, mom was doing this and then she was able to build this thing her own. my parents had an auto repair shop and my mom will sometimes put herself down about that because it wasn't some it or corporate thing, but I actually admire that my parents had their own business. And it was a service business and it was a business that they worked really hard at and they, you know, were able to raise a family and have a house and everything with this business. And so,
the kids are always watching, you know, and, and seeing that. And I think that [00:22:00]
also prestige of the job isn't that important a lot of the time to other people as it is to
yourself, you know, and, and that kind of thing. But being more satisfied in it is, I
think.
Yesim Nicholson: Yeah, I agree.
Rabiah Coon (Host): You become a better coworker too, you know,
Yesim Nicholson: I think I'm a better mum because of my work. if that makes sense, because I, I'm more fulfilled as a human being. And I'm not saying everybody, you know, everybody has to work at all, you know, some people are really happy being stay at home parents, and that's awesome. But for me, I
know that I'm much happier when I'm, you know, doing something that's meaningful to me and you're right, your kids see that. They see whether you're happy or not. So hopefully I'm setting a good We'll see We'll give it a few years and then we'll [00:23:00] judge.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah, well in the state on parents to like that's, you know, a privilege to be able to have a one income household because not the reality for a lot people now. I think the people who
do end up doing that, like they're working in job that's really tough. And there's a lot of women who are trying to go back
to work after, Staying home for X amount of time with their kids and worried that they're losing something in their career.
But it's like, well, you're having to do a lot like I, you know, I don't have kids and I think that is a good decision ultimately for me, at least alone, maybe with someone else that would have been different, but alone. Yeah. Because I can't imagine trying to balance everything that parents do and getting, just getting people out the door, like getting me out the door.
Like I like my mom here to get me out the door some days. You know, or get me ready for the podcast. Robbie you have a recording. Why are you still sitting around? I don't know I don't know mom, you know, because it's gonna be on things all [00:24:00] audio. Is there a job in your past that you just wish you hadn't spent your time at, or how do you feel about that?
Yesim Nicholson: I don't think so. I mean, I'm not somebody that sits and sort of dissects stuff that I've done anyway, generally speaking, but I think if I did dissect it, you know, I, I really. This is maybe a bit of a weird thing to say, but I just don't know if there is such a thing as a waste of time, because I think you learn something from everything. And so it might not be the best use of your time, but I don't know if it's ever a waste. And so I think everything that I've done in my career to date has taught me something, you know, consciously or subconsciously that I bring to what I'm doing now. So, yeah, I, I don't know if I'd change anything because I think every, every job that you do teaches you or shows you things that you [00:25:00] enjoy doing and things you don't enjoy doing.
And you, you know, you get exposed to different personalities and different environments. And there's lessons in all of those like, "Oh, actually, I really don't like being in a very busy office." Or "actually, I don't like being by myself for too long." Or, "I really like working with people who energize me," or, "I really like people who just shut up and get their work done." Like it's really like literally everything that you do sort of if you do take a bit of time to reflect on and this is something that I do in my coaching is really look at you know what are the things in your current work that drain you of energy and what are the things that fill you with energy because theirs clues all day every day as to what you know you we should be doing more of and less of. All the time.
Rabiah Coon (Host): yeah, that's a great point, and yeah, just learning and finding out. I think it is [00:26:00] important to know what you don't like and what you do like too because sometimes you focus on one or the other, but it's powerful to know what want. So you can go after that.
Yesim Nicholson: And actually, you know, a huge majority of people I work with get to a point in their careers where they are only focusing on the negative and they've, they stopped seeing the positive. And it might seem counter intuitive to do this, but the first thing we do do is start looking for the things that they do enjoy in their current job.
Because there, there will be stuff. You know, it's very rare that somebody says, I hate a hundred percent of what I'm doing. \ There'll be elements of, of things that they do enjoy. I've had a couple of people who say I, because they, I get them to keep a diary of stuff that they've really enjoyed that day, what energized them, et cetera. And I have had one or two people that have done it for a week and come back and go, [00:27:00] there was
literally nothing,
nothing. And I, and I think that's really, really sad. So, so then we definitely,
you know we need to, make changes quite quickly because my life's too short to be going through your days finding zero joy in what you're doing.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah, totally. Yeah. That's rough. I mean, that's rough to hear feel. So, your podcast, let's just, I mean, I know I love having a podcast mostly because of the conversations, right. And, and who I get to talk to and co what's your, give the name of your podcast and,
Yesim Nicholson: I have the best guess, you know, as you know, it's called Your Big Career Move. And you know, it's where, where you can find most podcasts, so Spotify, Apple YouTube, et cetera. And, yeah. I don't know, I just love chatting with people, I love having these conversations like the ones we're having now.[00:28:00]
And because I was meeting really quite fascinating people who had amazing career change stories to tell, I was like, well, I really want to showcase these stories. So I, I think I've only done one or two episodes where it's just me talking because I find it boring. I've been encouraged to do more of it
so. maybe at some point, but what I really love about the podcast is having conversations with people and finding out what, you know, what led to their career change, how they made the transition, who was part of the journey, what they've learned about themselves and the process. And the idea is that hopefully there's, there are people out there listening who are thinking about making some change to their career because they're unhappy and then being inspired by something that they've heard and making a change. And that's why I love sharing your story because actually you're the perfect example of a toe dipper. So a toe dipper is somebody who is in a [00:29:00] full time job, who actually quite likes what they do, but knows that there's something outside of their current career that they, there's a part of them that they want to fulfill. And you do that so beautifully, not just with your comedy, but also your volunteer work. So I was really, I was so happy that you agreed to be on the because you're like the, for, people they'll dippers out you.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah, I no, I just, I feel lucky that don't know that I just kind of have the, whatever it is that says just go try it, you know, um, because I think it's, that's big battle They think of things, search things on the internet. They'll maybe put something on their calendar and then they just won't go.
And I think that's the thing. It's like, just go. Cause the worst you did, I mean, you probably would have been sitting around thinking about, I should have gone. So just go, if it doesn't work out, then, you know, [00:30:00] but I hate, I hate not knowing the answer to things in a way questions, you know, that I can answer like that.
I mean, other questions I'm not going to answer, but that one, like, should I go to this thing? Yes. Go see how it is. Oh, it was awful. Don't go. Yeah. It was great. Go again, you know, but Yeah.
Yesim Nicholson: Totally. Just try
it out.
Rabiah Coon (Host): and then see, and you can't know, I mean, even like you think you dream job, but sometimes it's not. And if you can do things in a low risk way that doesn't cost much and take much time.
I don't know. It's just in a way. It's kind of like, yeah, take advantage of that opportunity.
Yesim Nicholson: Yeah. Yeah, but I think you're quite unique in that respect. I think there are, you know, there are quite a lot of people who are so used to get up, go to work, come home, eat, sleep, repeat, that it feels like a huge stretch to do anything different out of their [00:31:00] ordinary existence. And so it's just, it's starting to break habits that we've got into breaking cycles that we've got into. And, you know,
even just driving to work a you know, just to spark us And um, but it's, it's, some people have to be encouraged, very, very, you know, friendly encouragements to, to, do something a little bit
Rabiah Coon (Host): So we have our podcasts and if they listen to them, they'll the encouragement.
Yesim Nicholson: I know so far, I know there are at least three people who have quit their job as a result of reading the book, but I was talking to somebody the other day and they said, we all needa tipping point. There is a tipping point for people who make big changes and that tipping point can be, you know, bad health or it can be you know, somebody gives you that shove. You know, well, it can be being dismissed from your job. You know, like [00:32:00] it can be such a variety of things. And sometimes it is something like reading a book or hearing a podcast or something that just you've been sitting on that fence and then it's just that final, okay,
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah, and it feels sudden, but it was kind of there a long time
One thing you mentioned that I think is really important is around health. Cause people will have either major their life, or, you know, we discussed, I have a chronic illness that's kind changed my perspective on life, or maybe even a parent ill or something happens that really just kind of makes jars and says, oh, this for me. So. How do you just a little bit more about how do you think health plays a role in all of all of it?
Yesim Nicholson: Yeah, I mean, I think good health is sort of a prerequisite for making a good decision. So like I said, like the, you know, the work that I do is really to help people make a very big decision that's going to have an impact on people's health. Pretty much [00:33:00] every area of their life. I mean, it's very rare that a big career change isn't going to affect, you know, your relationships, your financial status, et cetera, et cetera.
And so it's something that I absolutely advocate spending time over and being in the right frame of mind. And your health. massively plays into that. I think if you're in chronic pain, or you're not sleeping well, or you're feeling sluggish because you're not eating the right foods, etc, then that can cloud your judgment.
And I, and I have seen people make poor decisions. Based, you know, based purely on the fact that they aren't thinking straight, which I don't mean for that to sound patronizing, but it's hard to think straight when you haven't slept well, when you've been feeding yourself a load of rubbish food, when you haven't exercised, et cetera, et cetera.
And so I, you [00:34:00] know, I, I cover all these topics in my book. And I think sometimes people are like, well, what's sleep got to do, for example, you know, with, with courage. And I'm like, well, Like, when's the last time you made a really good decision on after a really bad night's sleep? Like, we should be looking after ourselves really, really well.
And that's why I think some people go through this whole process, you know, whether it's reading the book or coaching or whatever, and then they realize that, like, they start to look after themselves better. And they have a change in mindset. And that, that's why they then become better people. Remainer as I call them.
It's somebody that goes through the process, goes through the motions and decides ultimately that they're in the right place. They, they are working for an organization that they actually quite like. They like their colleagues. Their boss isn't too bad at all. They're earning good money, et cetera.
Like it's ticking all the right boxes, but they were feeling negative about their work
[00:35:00] because you know, they were tired or they were stressed out or whatever. And just by going through this, process of self-reflection, they come to the realization be of is working for me.
I just needed to have a slight mindset shift and a, a new appreciation, I suppose, of the situation I'm
in.
Rabiah Coon (Host): yeah, no, that's a good point. And yeah, you're right. I mean people when you don't sleep Well, you're just you're emotionally not gonna be where you want to for this kind emotional decision, right?
Yesim Nicholson: yeah.
Rabiah Coon (Host): So we're gonna get into the last part, which is
the Fun Five It's five question to ask everyone But first I like to ask every guest like do you have any advice or mantra you want to share that you just kind of follow that's important to you when you have a conversation to share with people?
Yesim Nicholson: I don't know if I have a [00:36:00] mantra. I just, I every I just, But this is just for me, you know, I just think life is for living and you should Do what makes you happy, and, and then that has a ripple effect on everybody around you.
Rabiah Coon (Host): So now we'll get into the fun five. So five questions. I ask guest. The first one what is the oldest t shirt you have and still wear?
Yesim Nicholson: Can I just say that I love these questions, and I'm really glad that you're asking them. But here's, here is some life advice, okay? Don't read your emails before you go to sleep. So, I made the stupid, stupid, rookie mistake of reading my emails just before I went to sleep last night. And you'd very kindly sent me through these fascinating questions. So, speaking, speaking of sleep I mean, I [00:37:00] blame you for me going to sleep way too late last night, because then I literally couldn't switch off. I was like, these are really great questions, but oh my god, what am I gonna say? So I'm just pulling your leg, obviously. But it did make me, it did take me longer than, it takes me about three seconds normally to fall, fall asleep.
It took me a good minute last night. So the t shirt, my oldest t shirt, I think is a t shirt that I bought in Italy on holiday about 10 years ago and I really love this t shirt. It's nothing special actually, but I don't know, I just really like the way it fits. I like the way it looks. And It's ancient, it's got holes in it, it's kind of crusty under the arms.
It's not, I mean, it's not, if you look at it closely, it's not a good t shirt, but I love wearing it. So I, it's one of those that
I thinking I should probably get rid of and then I get really the then I go, I'll just, it's clean. I might as well wear it one more time. And then it goes [00:38:00] back in the washing basket then before I know it's in
my drawer again. And then I, you know, it's kind of on repeat. So I still own it and I still wear it I just
tuck in the bits that have holes
Rabiah Coon (Host): Exactly. Yeah. What else are we supposed to do? Um, okay. So this one I like because I love
film Groundhog's Day, and music, but if every day was Groundhog's Day, in the film where he wakes up, Bill Murray wakes up to his alarm clock playing same song every single day, what song would you choose for your alarm clock to play?
Yesim Nicholson: There's a song, there's a Turkish song and the lyrics are you know, translated something about,
um, waking up to my mother's voice that's just popped into my head and I'm like, oh, that's actually quite nice, isn't it? Wouldn't it be nice if I just had my mom whispering in my ear, hey, Yesim, it's time to wake up. It's by a singer called Sertab Erener who's my my favorite Turkish [00:39:00] singer? and I can't think what the name of the song is right now, but I can send it to you later It's a very sweet song.
Rabiah: Good.
Rabiah Coon (Host): All right then this one. Coffee or tea or neither?
Yesim Nicholson: Or both?
Rabiah: Yeah. You know,
Yesim Nicholson: Is that an option?
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah, it is.
Yesim Nicholson: Yeah, tea and coffee equally. I it makes
I only have one of each a day because I get heart palpitations otherwise. Um, but I love, a good cup of coffee and I love a good cup of tea and they taste so much better when somebody else has made them for you as well.
Rabiah Coon (Host): that's true. Um, can you think of a time that you, like laughed so hard you cried, or just something
that when you think about it makes you laugh?
Yesim Nicholson: Yeah.
I mean I, you might have noticed I laugh a lot. I also cry, I cry at everything, like I cry at adverts, you know, like really ridiculous. Um, do laugh a lot, and actually I was talking to my husband about this the other day, I was like, you know what, when [00:40:00] did we last like properly laugh together, like.
He makes me laugh every day. He's a very funny man. My children make me laugh every day.
Yesim Nicholson: I'm lucky that I've got lots of friends who make me laugh every day. I make myself laugh with, like, not because I'm funny, just because I'm stupid sometimes. Um, But there, there is a TV program that for both of us sprang to mind that we have been in stitches uh, which is called "Life in Pieces". and I can't, it's an American sitcom y thing. Tom Hanks son, son is And there's a, there's a character in that, and I don't know his name, he plays the bald, tall bald guy.
And he just comes out with the funniest lines that I, I, we've literally been like, you know, that uncontrollable laughter, and it's just ridiculous. And then one of us will finish laughing and
then set the other one off again. and, you know, you know that, when we just [00:41:00] keep like, each other.
But Yeah.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Um, all right. So the last question, who inspires you right now?
Yesim Nicholson: I'm really stuck on this, Rabiah. Like, I really don't know, because I think, I think my brain is trying to find one person that inspires me. And I think the truth is that I am inspired by different things that I see other people doing or saying and so it's really hard for me to just pinpoint one person.
I think I'm inspired by stuff that I see all the time by, you know, lots of different people.
Like even my children, you know, they inspire me. So, yeah, I, I, I really struggled with this question and I, I, you know, I'm gonna be a complete cop out and say there aren't one or two people that immediately spring to mind. It's just a plethora of, of, things that I see and here. [00:42:00]
Rabiah: that's
Rabiah Coon (Host): a nice view of the world, you know?
Yesim Nicholson: I hope so. Did you, were you hoping I'd say like Donald Trump or something?
Like just, just one person?
Rabiah Coon (Host): it was, you, did he read your, I don't think he could read your book.
but I was gonna say, maybe he read your book and decided he wanted to change his career. That's why he did.
Yesim Nicholson: you never know. You never know.
You never know,
Rabiah Coon (Host): different.
Yesim Nicholson: he does actually get a
mention in my
Rabiah Coon (Host): much other like
Yesim Nicholson: yet. So you'll, you'll have to feedback when you get to that bit.
Rabiah Coon (Host): And I can't burn the book because it's on my kindle. So am I gonna do do?
Yesim Nicholson: Send you a, hard copy, for the satisfaction.
Rabiah Coon (Host): [laughter] he he had
a different career before and it was just different anyway, it's, that's too much.
That's a whole I was, I was thinking about that actually. Like, Oh, do I start on just things I don't [00:43:00] like and me them. then think it just turned into a podcast about him and it go very well yeah
Yesim Nicholson: just a
one
way street.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah.
Yesim Nicholson: The reason I talk about him, and feel free to edit this out, is that I find Trump interesting in that he comes across as so sure of himself. And I think sometimes we could all do with a dose of that
Rabiah Coon (Host): Sure. That I agree with.
Yesim Nicholson: And I, think we, we all suffer from, you know, whether you want to call it imposter syndrome or just lack of confidence, like we've all experienced what that feels like at some point in our lives.
And I think when you're making a big decision, like that's really going to affect your life to feel confident. You want to feel like you're making the right decision. And, and so I do talk about channeling your inner Trump, which is kind of like the extreme [00:44:00] version, right? The like almost deluded self belief.
I, do say in the book, obviously some people are massively offended just by hearing his name. So if Trump you know is going to offend you just think of somebody else who's really confident and at least seems to have this unlimited amount of self belief and just channel that Because it does work
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah. It's a metaphor. Donald Trump..
Awesome.
Um, so if people want to look you up either for coaching or your podcast or your book, where do you want them to find you. And of course I'll put links in the show notes
Yesim Nicholson: Thank you. Well, I think I'm the only Yesim Nicholson in the world. Uh, my name is spelled Y E S I M and my website is YesCareerCoaching.
I think we mentioned the podcast is Your Big Career Move and the book is called "Ready to Quit Your Job?", and it's available on Amazon [00:45:00] worldwide.
So, yeah, and I am probably most active on LinkedIn if anybody wants to connect with me on social media.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Awesome. Well, you, Yesim. This has been a lot of fun, and it was good to learn about you this time.
Yesim Nicholson: Thank you, thanks for having me. We know everything about each other now, that's it. There's nothing more to know.
Rabiah Coon (Host): there isn't. I know. that's, we've, we've achieved it,
Speaker 2: You can learn more about the guest and what was talked about in the show notes. Joe Maffia created the music you're listening to. You can find him on Spotify at Joe M A F F I A. Rob Metey does all the design, for which I am so grateful. You can find him online by searching Rob M-E-T-K-E.
Please leave a review if you like the show and get in touch if you have feedback or guest ideas. The pod is on all the social channels at At More Than Work Pod (@morethanworkpod) or at Rabiah Comedy(@rabiahcomedy) on TikTok . While being kind to others, don't forget to be kind to [00:46:00] yourself.
