I grew up as a very nervous person, who had very little self-confidence and who was very shy. I was not happy being this way and often felt jealous of other people who were happy to speak up and take control of tasks and situations. I wanted to be one of these leaders and not the follower that I certainly had become.

In my early twenties, I decided that the time had arrived to make a series of life changing decisions.

I was not happy at work where I produced cheap flyer printing and I therefore joined an employment agency in an attempt to find alternative employment. I was hoping to start a career in the DVD authoring sector.

In the reception area of the agency, I started speaking to a man who was also there hoping to find a different job. His name was Mark and we got on well and wished each other the best of luck in our quest to find work. We swapped mobile phone numbers and agreed to keep in touch with each other.

I was then interviewed by a man who explained his plan to help me to find this new role of work. At one stage of the meeting he described the scenario of a group interview. He suggested that we may be ushered into a large room with a big table. As we sat down there would be a sheet of paper asking the group to debate a particular subject. He stated that all of the people in the room would be in the same position, all looking for work, all nervous, however that in that room I could be whoever I wanted to be. He said that I needed to stand up and take the lead by stating that I would act as chairman and that if anyone had a comment that they wanted to make, that they could raise their hand. How impressive would these kind of actions be to the interviewer? Well it would show them, in our opinion, that I was a person of strength, a person of confidence and a person with leadership qualities.

I fortunately was not ever asked to attend an interview on a group basis however Mark was. He surprised himself by carrying out the advice and stated that after he had said his initial statement about being the chairman, that he had never felt so powerful and in control.

I have now started up my own SEO company. Life is now very good and I am content for possibly for the first time in my life.