Then he closed his folder, leant back a bit and turned his chair so he was looking straight out at the pretty awesome view of the city behind him and said to me: "Do you ever get the feeling that you have abandoned your intellectualness?"

I wasn't entirely sure whether he was thinking out loud, asking me the question specifically or just putting the thought 'out there' ... so I just let the silence linger a bit. But then he turned back around to face me (so this time I knew he was asking me for my opinion) and said: "Sometimes I just feel a sense of 'stuckness' and I need to find a way to re-discover my 'purpose'"

Now normally in my job it's my candidates who talk (often quite philosophically) about the need to find a new challenge or new purpose ... certainly not my clients - so this was all a bit new to me. But when he said: "I know I over-achieved as a child but I now realise I am totally disconnected from my passion" I immediately understood that he was just wanting some advice and needed someone to listen to him.

He didn't regret where he had reached in terms of his career, but just wanted to make his day-to-day life more exciting.

I guess I learned that just because someone holds a senior role and has the perfect office with an amazing view out over the city, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are happy in their job.

Don't get stuck doing something for the sake of doing it just because that's what's expected of you, or because you might feel ashamed of starting all over again in order to experience something exciting and new.