Anna Champneys left school aged 16 without any GCSE’s.

(For those not familiar with the UK education system, all students sit GCSE exams aged 16. Certain grades are a requirement to continue into higher education, ages 16-18. Many students will voluntarily end their education aged 16 irrespective of their grades.)

Anna left school before sitting a single GCSE exam. She struggled with the regimented classroom structure and had already missed many course deadlines.

The prospects for someone leaving school aged 16 without any qualifications are not fantastic.

Anna worked as a library assistant, a waitress in a roadside café, and a cleaner in a pub. These were jobs she held just to make some money.

Soon after turning 18, Anna found out she was pregnant. Two years after leaving school aged 16, Anna gave birth to her daughter.

Being a teenage mother is not easy. Coping with the demands of raising a small child, while simultaneously finding your way in the world, is a lot to take on.

It’s Never Too Late

Becoming a mother ignited a spark in Anna. She began thinking about how she could get back into education, and learning without having to endure a traditional classroom structure.

At aged 20, Anna passed her GCSE exams in English and Maths. Shortly after that she enrolled in a higher education course that offered a more hands-on approach to learning.

The new found joy she felt for learning led to an undergraduate degree in Wildlife Conservation. Around the same time, her daughter started primary school.

Anna recalls the passion she felt in the labs and lecture halls at university were a world away from the authoritarian nature of school.

Her education journey didn’t end there. She spent the next five years studying for a PhD in Behavioural Ecology.

In 2012, 20 years after leaving school without any qualifications, she graduated.

Today Anna works as a course leader and senior lecturer at Nottingham Trent University. She recently won the Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award.

Anna’s unusual route into education is not the typical path. She chose a non-traditional journey.

It was a journey guided by her instincts. She followed her passion.

“I spent all my years at school hating it and couldn’t wait to get away from education, but now I’ve spent half my life in academia,” she says.

“It’s ridiculous really, but it wasn’t the learning that I didn’t like, it was the system of school.”

“I love learning. I still do.”

What Stops You?

I speak regularly with professionals who tell me how passionately they hate certain elements of their job or profession. It’s a struggle I’m personally familiar with from the 15 years I worked in the corporate world.

Identifying specific elements of your job that you don’t like is not a challenging exercise. You could compile a list fairly quickly.

The struggle people have is letting go of the narrative that keeps them stuck.

I hear the same stories again and again

• This is just the way it is
• It’s too late for me to change
• That opportunity sailed many years ago
• I don’t know what my passion/life mission is

If Anna held on to one or more of these narratives, she would have settled for a life earning minimum wage and endured the drudgery of living a half-life.

No doubt there were moments of severe worry for Anna. Worry, fear, and anxiety are all part of the human psyche.

Your objective is not to find a way to numb these feelings, but to prevent them from holding the casting vote.

Almost 30 years later, Anna can relate to her younger self with the benefit of experience. “If I could speak to young Anna, I would just be reassuring and say, ‘don’t worry’.”

Process of Elimination

Matthew McConaughey speaks passionately on this subject. During his commencement speech to the University of Texas in 2015 (which is a compelling listen) he said

“Look, the first step that leads to our identity in life is usually not, ‘I know who I am.’ That’s not the first step. The first step is usually, ‘I know who I am not.’ Process of elimination. Defining ourselves by what we are not is the first step that leads us to really knowing who we are.”

For anyone resolutely searching for their true life calling, you are best served shifting your focus. Clarity about the ‘thing’ you were born to do rarely falls from the sky with ribbons, balloons and fireworks.

The reality of life’s journey is much more nuanced. Your learn by trying new things, and then pivoting.

In Anna’s story, she first learned that structured education was not for her. That didn’t diminish her desire to learn and to do something enjoyable with her life.

Are you clear about what you want to do with your life?

1. At the end of a typical week, take a sheet of paper and draw two columns. On one side, list all the things you don’t enjoy doing. And on the other side, list all the things that you do enjoy doing.
2. Identify the narrative you tell yourself that leads you to hold tightly to both columns.
3. Honour the fear you feel regarding letting the narrative go.
4. Prevent that fear from holding the casting vote in your life.
5. Create a reality where you can reduce the time you spend doing tasks that you don’t enjoy.

If you commit to this for some time, clarity about who you are and what you should be doing will visit you in unimaginable ways.

Place your focus on having fun and doing things that you enjoy. Avoid stressing about the destination.