Expand Your Comfort Zone with an OS!M

9 July, 2007 - Motivation - 5 Comments

I’m a big fan of expanding your comfort zone, and one way to do that is to have an OS!M. What’s an OS!M? Watch this video and find out. It’s a leadership talk by one of my favourite speakers, Steve Farber. I’ve wrote about one of my OS!M’s below the video.

It all makes sense now, right? :) I’ve had quite a few OS!M’s in my time, but the one that stands out most is when I dropped out of college.

It was the new millennium. I was 14 years old, the Millennium Bug had proved to be as devastating as the fly on my wall, and the Dot Com Boom was beginning to slow. It was at that time when a friend opened up Microsoft Frontpage and showed me the basics of developing a Web site. It was at that single point in time that I became hooked on a dream. A dream where I could work free of a boss, doing something I truly loved. It was at that time when school work became second in importance to Web development.

As it happens, I passed all my exams with a few B grades and the rest C grades, and I made the decision to continue on in education in to Sixth Form College (that’s a college which is attached to a high school, and is where most university candidates go to). It also happened to be the time I formed the International Web Developers Network with two friends, as well as the time I went in to business with those same two friends to form our Web development company.

So, sixth form it was. I chose the subjects I wanted to and I thought it was going to be a riot. If I picked my own subjects, then surely I was going to enjoy it, right? Well, despite all the ICT, computer studies and Geography I got, I still didn’t enjoy it. My company was growing. My business skills were expanding, and the employee mind set that was being drilled in to me each day at college was getting beyond a joke. One college year in, just a month before my first year exams, I decided to drop out of college and work full time from home. What a stir that caused!

I still remember when I told my two business partners that I had dropped out of college. In fact, I’ve just been looking at the message I sent them. Here is what I wrote:

“I am all for it. In fact, I just decided not to carry on with college. I wasn’t enjoying it and we know if you don’t enjoy it, it is a waste of time. So, I am now on a 9-5 schedule for Equentity.”

That’s all I said. It really was that short. Looking back at that, it seems as though the decision meant very little to me at the time. That couldn’t have been further from the truth, and I found that out when I told my Dad. Understandably, he wasn’t too pleased (In fact, I seem to remember him distinctively kicking off in to a fit of rage!), but I defended my position right to the end because I knew it was the right decision for me.

A few months down the road, I looked back on that week when I dropped out and how I didn’t really tell anybody at college. I had teachers phoning me asking for coursework. I had friends asking why I wasn’t at college. Rumours started to circulate about me dropping out, and over time people began to realise I had done just that. Of course, my reputation as the college drop-out was soon removed when I received my first half page spread in the local business supplement (those teachers and friends who didn’t know about my business were now congratulating me and it felt fantastic because I always felt I needed to prove myself to those people).

I still look back on that decision as one huge OS!M. It was, however, an OS!M that became the best decision I ever made!

PS. Since dropping out of college, I’ve met a lot of my college friends on nights out and I’m always greeted the same way and one story from my past always comes up in conversation… “How far from your first million are you?” is the greeting. And the story? Well, let’s just say one young women (girl at the time!) once got herself in trouble with the police for writing “I love Jamie Harrop” in black marker on a building. She plans to sell her story to the media when I make my first million. :lol:

Have you ever had an OS!M (’Oh shit’ moment)? Please share it with us!

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Posted on 9 July, 2007 by Jamie Harrop
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5 Comments »

Comment by Russell Wagner
2007-07-10 03:08:52

He is a very good speaker. I have some OS!M’s time to time.

Haha that girl writing your name on the building is pretty funny, lol.

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Comment by Jamie Harrop
2007-07-10 08:29:36

Yeah, we generally get a good kick out of it each time it is mentioned. It’s usually about five pints in to the night, but I still manage to remember it. :D

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Comment by chrisblogging.com
2007-07-10 18:24:15

Great post! I like the way that you approached this subject matter…

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Pingback by Local Knowledge - The Key to a Full Stomach! : Jamie Harrop | Young Entrepreneur | Video Blog
2007-07-22 00:32:06

[...] more thing. My post about OS!M’s attracted the attention of Steve Farber, who I spoke about in the post. In fact, he was so kind as [...]

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Pingback by You Must Adapt to Your Readers Needs : Jamie Harrop | Young Entrepreneur | Video Blog
2008-01-02 00:04:41

[...] sole aim of publishing my advice, tips and experiences as a young entrepreneur. I intended to share inspirational stories, motivational speeches, marketing advice, sales tips and conduct interviews with interesting [...]

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