A change of course.

And the importance of setting out on a new journey.

The memory is still so clear.

I was on the bridge of a navy warship. The spring sun was bright, the water glassy still. I was dressed in my white uniform, my weathered officer hat on the chart table. I’d just navigated the ship out of Sydney harbor, and we were heading south for two weeks of mine-hunting exercises, late nights, and cold scuba dives.

I was sailing away from Kaitlin. From our chat the night before about moving to Africa. From the university paper I was writing on poverty eradication in Bangladesh.

The Captain was sitting in his sheepskin-covered chair, working on his laptop. ‘Lieutenant Tait,’ he said, not looking up.

‘Sir,’ I said as I looked through the gyroscope, using Macquarie Lighthouse high up on the cliffs as a navigation point.

‘Signal just came through from Naval Officer Postings. You can leave. Last day is the 14th August. Now I need to find another god-damn navigator.’

I gazed over the water and took a breath. This was a life-changing moment. A new course for my life.

Four months later, Kaitlin and I took a one-way flight to Kenya. We had no job, barely any money, and a rough plan of spending at least the next two years somewhere in Africa, doing something good for the world. We were twenty-five.

This week, I had another big course change. I left the business I co-founded twelve years ago. This time, I have no job, more money, and a rough plan to be an author. I’m forty. And it feels like another life-changing moment.

We only have a few course changes like this in our lives. Maybe one every decade or so.

What are some you’ve made before?

When is it time for the next one?