What not moving house last year taught me about my business (and life in general)

The title of this blog post might seem a bit weird (especially if you haven't seen or listened to the latest episode of the Kate Languages Podcast!) - lots of people didn't move house last year, so why on earth am I telling you that I also didn't move?!

Well, the fact is, we were supposed to move house last year. Long story short (you can hear the whole story in the podcast episode), we accepted an offer in March, found a gorgeous house to move to, and then the sale fell apart a couple of months later. So we decided to stay put for a while and get a lovely new kitchen instead!

How does this relate to my business, I hear you ask?

Well, when I was reflecting on it for the podcast, I realised that I actually learnt some really important lessons from not moving, that I think we can all take into our work and careers.

So, here is what not moving taught me...

1. The grass isn't always greener elsewhere. 

Sometimes you have to look around at what else is out there to appreciate what you already have. When we started house hunting, I realised that our house is actually rather great compared to most of the houses that were on the market in our budget, and I think this attitude can be applied to so many things. For example, if you're thinking of leaving teaching to work for yourself, have a look at other schools and jobs, or do a course like my Teaching Beyond the Classroom programme, to more deeply understand what it all entails. Sometime we realise that the grass is in fact greener, but often we just get a whole new appreciation for what we already have!

2. Everything takes longer than you think it will. 

When we first put our house on the market in November 2024, I thought we'd have an offer and be moving within a few months, but the reality was a lot longer, and we finally took it off the market the following August. Even though this is one of my life mottos, I constantly need to remind myself that things never happen as quickly as I think they will (aka "should"!) and patience is something I have to actively practice every single day. It does not come naturally to me at all 😂!

3. Good is good enough. 

Our house is by no means perfect, and the location isn't ideal, but actually there are lots of good things about it, and that's enough. It's so easy to compare our lives to people on Instagram, and think we should have a bigger house, or earn more money, or constantly create funny memes and TikTok dances... but once we accept that "perfect" doesn't actually exist, it becomes clear that we're a lot better off when we just crack on with it and enjoy our imperfect lives! 

PS Sadly, the house in the photo is NOT the house we were planning to move to 😂 It's Burghley House in Stamford, Lincolnshire, and I can highly recommend visiting it if you're ever in the area.