In 2005 I walked away from a permanent job at the BBC.

HR couldn’t believe I was handing in my notice and double checked to make sure I knew I was on a permanent contract.

I knew.

It was a really hard decision.

But I also knew that this wasn’t right for me, that I wanted something different from working life.

In leaving that career there was so much I was walking away from:

• All the work I’d poured into getting my journalism qualification

• The investment I’d made in working freelance and on short term contracts to get to where I was

• The prestige of working for the BBC

• The idea of being a journalist/producer

• The dreams of my parents

None of those things were important for what I had planned to do next.

Some of those things would come in useful for the rest of my life.

And the rest of those things were not mine to lament and in some cases, not even real.

I knew that I wanted to do something more directly people focussed and I knew that to get it, I had to give up quite a bit. And it wasn’t certain that I would get what I wanted.

I did get what I wanted though.

A few twists and turns later, I do work that I love and I still know I made the right decision back then.

This time, to further my career and grow a business alongside my job I have to give up some things. This time I have to give up:

• An extra hour in bed a day

• A little bit of my peace of mind (always feeling like I haven’t done my homework)

• Hours of leisure time to learn new skills

• Comfort; some of the new learnings are bringing me to uncomfortable places.

And I don’t know if it will pan out down the line. But I don’t want to look back in 20 years and kick myself for not trying.

What do you need to give up to get what you want?