Are You Going To Die Because Of Your 9 To 5

I was on Facebook this morning and I caught a glimpse of an article in the Belfast Telegraph about 10 People from Northern Ireland who had died in 2017.  Normally I wouldn’t be reading into a lot of doom and gloom articles, but out of the side of my eye, I saw the name of one of the people Darren Simpson.

It just so happened that Darren used to be our next-door neighbour many years ago.  Then coincidentally we both ended up working in the same Michelin-star restaurant in Belfast called Roscoff which was run by Paul Rankin and his wife Jeannie.

As I ended up working with Darren as a pastry chef, we both had to be at work at 7 am leave the house at 6.30 am every morning.

I remember as soon as I would arrive in Roscoff Darren would say put on the breakfast, he used to love my poached eggs on toast that I made. I would also juice 6 oranges, and then we would have a cup of tea before getting stuck into the day’s work.  I remember many times Darren ended up working till very late sometimes 1 am in the morning if the restaurant was busy or we had special guests arriving.

I always remember Darren was eager dedicated and absolutely brilliant pastry chef his desserts were amazing and his skills were second to none.   He won the Northern Ireland chef of the year competition at the age of 21 and his mum and my mother were good friends.

Darren left Roscoff and decided to go on to other restaurants to learn more stuff and improve his experience, I think after Roscoff he went to work with Marco Pierre White.  And a number of other places.   After this, he went to Australia and opened up a place in Sydney near the opera house.

I remember Darren when I knew him was very thin he was as pale or white as a sheet because of all the hours he used to work.  It was very rare for him to see the light of day as in the Roscoff kitchen there were no windows.  So until you left you would not know whether it was night or day.

I myself was used to working in restaurants in fact I started when I was 6 years waiting tables and cooking shortly after.  We opened a Greek Restaurant in Newtownards called the Symposium Greek Restaurant, then one in Botanic Avenue beside the train station.  A few years later my dad started waters edge coffee shop in Carrickfergus and then Smugglers restaurant they were both on the sea beside Carrickfergus Caste beside the Edward Albert Pier.

A few years later my dad took over the Pot Belly Restaurant in Banbridge and had that until I was about 17 years old. Due to a big extortionate rates bill, he decided to close it before the RCA Bankrupted him and threw him out of his Apartment in Ardmore Terrace.

He then rented a building off the church in Main Street Holywood and opened up the Acropolis Restaurant which he had for about 5 years until the church wanted the building back. I worked in all of these restaurants I also went to catering college for three years and did my catering exams to be a chef also my advanced pastry exams and Silver Service Exams.

I worked for two years 3 days a week in Roscoff Michelin Star restaurant where I trained to be a pastry chef under Jeannie Rankin and Darren Simpson for a year.

I then was invited to be a Pastry chef in Shanks Restaurant by Robbie Millar, shortly after I started working at Shanks we also got a Michelin Star while I was working there too.

Robbie Millar Died In a Car Accident Tragically

I remember working in Shanks we worked for six days a week starting at 9 or 10 am and didn’t get home many nights till 2 am.  All the chefs including myself were white as a sheet due to the lack of sunlight from being in a kitchen all day, we were all like zombies.

It was open from 5 pm in the evening but because I had to make everything fresh from scratch daily, Breads, Cakes, Ice Creams, Fresh Egg Pasta, Petit Fours Chocolate Truffles, Blow torch fruit, and fresh Jus and sweet and shortcrust pastry bases for the cold starters and desserts. It took all day to get prepped for the evening.   It was finally the last straw for me when the head chef Robbie Millar said we were going to start doing lunches as well and the salaries are going to stay the same.  That for me was the final straw, I waited for the Easter Holidays got my two weeks’ holiday pay, and then left that job so I could once again have a life outside of A kitchen.

Like many other chefs I loved food and cooking but was not willing to kill myself for the love of it.    My dad after having the restaurants got a job cooking in a nursing home and worked himself into the ground until he died in 2009.

Today I, unfortunately, came across this article that my friend and next-door neighbour Darren Simpson died of a Heart Attack in June 2017 it came as a big shock to me.  I also happened to watch a documentary last night about a famous engineer who also worked 18 hours a day and died aged 55.

The thing is do you want to work yourself to death, or earn money and have a life I believe the choice is entirely up to you.

Unfortunately due to years of self-neglect in my catering jobs, many hours driving a car and lots of time spent on the computer I myself have been having some health challenges lately.

The great thing is due to having some passive income streams coming in I can take time from my work so I can get myself better, an option most employees or workaholics don’t have.

What about you?

Today it is 8 years since my dad died on 27th December 2009 RIP Dad Lots Of Love From Your Son Sotiris, Grandsons Aristotle, Stellios, Sotiraki, And Xander who you never got to see 🙁   XXXXXXXX OOOOOOOO  Gone but never forgotten.

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Are You Going To Die Because Of Your 9 To 5

When it comes to working a 9 to 5 Job. Lots of people think it is completely normal, and they have been programmed since birth to think that having a job is their responsibility.  But today I want to give you some reasons why you really should say goodbye to that nine to five job today.

1. When you are in a job working for someone else you are giving someone else control over your time in exchange for a salary.

2. Working a 9 To 5 Job means you do not have the opportunity to see your family in many cases for up to 5 or 6 days a week.

3. The majority of people working a 9 to 5 Job are employees as an employee you will pay more in tax than any other entities or business owners.

4. By leaving your 9 to 5 job you are giving yourself the opportunity to create passive income streams that can make you money while you do the things you want to do.

5. When you leave a 9 to 5 Job eventually you will get rid of that fear-based mentality that expects a weekly paycheck.

6. When you look for opportunities or anything for that matter things present themselves.  You will find this once you make the decision to start a business, new opportunities that you didn’t see before will appear before you sometimes in the most unexpected places.

7. By leaving your 9 to 5 job you are taking complete responsibility for your financial future instead of following the 40-year job security plan that so many people fall for.

8.  Having a business that you enjoy means that you won’t feel the need to clock watch every day in fact in my own case I rarely know the time of day or even the day of the week except for the other social programming tool school. (Yes on schooldays I take my kids to school and pick them up from school because I choose too.) 

9. Every day can be a choice when you run your own business. You can decide what you are going to do. And where you want to be without worrying about getting fired, threatened, or coming back to disciplinary lectures it’s all up to you.

10. If you choose the right kind of business that generates a passive income online you can go away for a 3 month holiday without any worries all you need is an Internet connection and a laptop computer or an IPAD or Tablet! Try doing that when you work as an employee on a regular basis and you may find yourself broke and unemployed with some shitty references for your next employer.?

11. More Excitement- Yes it is a lot more likely you will get excited about your business or results especially when you and or your family are the ones who gain to benefit from it.  Let’s face it if you are working for a big corporation and their profits go up by ten million dollars.  It won’t benefit you much unless of course, you are the business owner or CEO who runs the corporation.

12. Get rid of the Sunday Blues- Why would you get the blues on Sunday when you don’t have a job?  Well, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to work that one out do you?

13. Building A Dream Team – Okay let’s face it when you go into a job you don’t exactly have a choice what people you will be surrounded by unless you are the senior manager and hire and fire staff members. As a business owner you have the choice to hire and fire your own employees or business partners so you not only have the choice to like what you do.  But you can also be the one to choose your dream team.

14. Lose the regrets – How many people have worked as an employee all their lives and get a pen or a certificate at the end of it before being dumped onto a meager pension and being left to die broke and full of regrets? By choosing your own path and taking responsibility for your own business empire, you can build a dream life that many others will only dream of. It all comes down to making the decision and taking the necessary actions needed to create the change you desire.

15. Living The Dream –  When you make that what may seem like a scary decision to turn your back on the life of being an employee.  Now you will have the opportunity to start building your own dreams, the only thing that can hold you back is your own negative beliefs or lack of taking action. The thing is if you have a strong enough desire to achieve a certain financial status or lifestyle then you can do it. Just decide to take action and it will be yours…

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15 Reasons To Say Goodbye To Your 9 To 5 Job