On the launch evening for my book 'A Very British Afterlife', I met a freelance journalist that I'm extremely happy to now call a friend. That evening she took away my first book and read it.

We stayed in contact in one of our email exchanges I commented upon how dissatisfied I was within my job and how it was affecting my general happiness.

She replied to my email with this:

"…by that, have courage in your convictions and then and only then will feel that you never let your true self down. Your life was your life. You know life was too short to be afraid, so many people stay in their comfort zone, but we generally only get the best rewards and enriching experiences when we step out of those. Tell me, what are your goals up here, what do you want to achieve,"

From my own book!

Reminding me that life is extremely short and most people stay within their comfort zones, but the true rewards come from the times we step out of those and push ourselves in order to achieve our goals. She went as far as providing me with the pages references, from my own words.

I went into work the next day and quit with nothing else to go to. I have no safety net, no parents to go to, no girlfriends to stay at but what I did have was a belief that I deserve to be happy within a job and in life.

The messages within the book are from my heart and I do believe in those words sincerely. I always pride myself in not being a hypocrite, always being honest and sticking to my principles.

I had a great friend at university who once gave me advice 'Have the courage of your convictions' His words and my own ringing in my ears when I ended my unhappiness by quitting.

Within a month I had the opportunity of two jobs, both had their pros and cons.

The role I chose is a long commute every day and is constant hard work but the team are great with a good sense of humour and caring which feels like pretty rare commodities these days.

Just as Vincent finds out within the book, a little bit of empathy can sometimes go a long way and sometimes that empathy can stick with us forever and maybe even change our lives for the better.