Why am I here?

This sounds like a rather large question, but rather than pondering the meaning of life what I will try to explain is why I signed-up for RLP. In its simplest form the answer might be "because I could". I read the email advertising the scheme and it sounded like something different, something very different in fact, something that would stretch me in ways that I do not experience in my day-to-day life.

I work at the heart of the City, I help people to buy and sell companies, your pension funds are invested in businesses that I advise. I am married, I have a small boy, I have a lovely house and by anyone's standards I am very lucky. This is my life and I know it is rarefied. It is easy to forget that others do not share my worries and that others have fundamental needs in areas that I take for granted. It feels to me (sometimes, I am not very saintly to say the least) that this places an obligation on me to do something extra. Although I sense this I have not always acted on it. RLP is about acting, taking a step, dipping my toe in the water when I know the temperature will be manageable. On top of this it also feels to me like a holiday; that is odd as I have no doubt I will end many days exhausted, but it is the immersion in something different that seems to generate a feeling of emotional refreshment. I will get to be a different person doing different things.

Many have asked what I will get out of it or what I hope to get out of it. I do not yet know. I will let you know as I go. It is traditional in PwC to set objectives for all things; we are accountants and if we cannot measure it we have a deep suspicion that something is not worthy. My first small break for freedom is about not setting objectives, not knowing how it will work out and letting my time have a life of its own.