Sunday’s Inspiration: “It’s Never Too Late to Make a Brand New Start”

I’m not sure if it’s cool or not to keep using quotes from others as part of my Sunday’s Inspiration series, but this Paul Weller lyric (from the song “Brand New Start”) is one of my favourite quotes. This one helps clear your mind, leave the past behind and move on. Times get tough. But there’s a way out. We’ve all been there. But don’t despair. It’s not the end and you don’t have to go on doing something you don’t want to be doing. Start today, or start tomorrow because…it’s NEVER too late.

Sunday’s Inspiration: “It’s never too late to make a brand new start”, Paul Weller

“It’s never too late to make a brand new start”

No matter what life throws at you, you have a load of other options. Here are a few times in life when I have had to pick up the pieces and make a brand new start:

1. Losing a job

2. Losing a relative

3. Losing a friend

4. Moving towns

5. The end of a relationship

6. The end of a dream.

It’s never too late to make a brand new start.

So how do you start to “make a brand new start”??

In my eyes, you should make a major change in your current lifestyle if you want to make a brand new start and leave something behind. If you’ve been sacked from a job in a bank, get a job doing something completely different. Maybe that banking job just wasn’t for you anyway.

Do something completely opposite to what others expect of you. Do something radical. I’ve had a load of “brand new starts” in life and they have served to make me a better person, find new opportunities and meet a load of new people.

Something radical like these 10 “new starts” in my life:

1. Dye your hair lime green and put a spike in it, when you always had “normal hair”.

Making a Brand New Start: Lime green spiked hair

2. Appear on a TV show spoof of Big Brother, when you’re a quiet lad who doesn’t watch much TV.

3. Become a student and get a degree while working full time, when previously you used to laugh at students.

Making a brand new start – I got a degree in Public Relations.

4. Get a job where you will meet loads of new people (e.g. work on ferries, cruise ships)

Making a brand new start – get a job with a load of cool new people.

5. Go backpacking in Taiwan when you don’t know anything about it.

Making a brand new start – backpacking in Taiwan somewhere between Hualian and Tiansiang, apparently!

6. Get a Visa for a country you ain’t heard of!! (Yes, I headed to Suriname a few years back)

Making a brand new start – backpacking it through Paramaribo in Suriname!

7. Forget about the girl. You’ll never change what’s been and gone.

Making a brand new start – do your own thing and forget about “her”

8. Move to a new country to live for a while.

Making a brand new start – moving into a new flat in Australia in 2009.

9. Prove a point to your mates – I went from being stranded in Tasmania and jobless to becoming a hardcore farmer!

Making a brand new start – working long hours on farms in the wilderness!

10. Give yourself a new challenge – teaching English in Hong Kong springs to mind – I didn’t really mean to fall into that job.

Making a brand new start – testing myself as an English teacher in Hong Kong.

So that’s it for today – I have made a brand new start a load of times, and moved on. Hope you can too!!! Get inspired on Sundays on Don’t Stop Living and live out your lifestyle and travel dreams. It’s NEVER too late!!!

* Here are a few top resources I recommend for making a brand new start:

1. How to Live a Life of Travel – Derek’s book will help you on your way.

2. Learn a language fluently in 3 months – Benny is an Irish nomad who cracks languages easily and has built an impressive e-Book series on language hacking!

3. A guide to teaching English overseas. – Another of Nomadic Matt’s highly recommended books!

With thanks to Paul Weller…