"Ah so you learned to drive in a Ferrari" that's what a new colleague said to me when I explained that I had joined Google straight after university.  This sentence echoed in my head, when in the months after that conversation; I got an offer to leave Google.  Deciding to leave Google was hard, really hard but I'm really glad I did. Here's what I learned when I handed back the keys to the Ferrari.

Lesson 1: Great Isn't Always Enough

Google is constantly named the best company to work for. And I think Google deserves those awards. Let's be clear: I said goodbye to something I loved, not something I hated. And it was mutual. Google looked after me. They always gave me a strong package: a super competitive salary, every perk you could name and even a swimming pool! I also left behind a super-talented team: we were set up to succeed and we looked out for one another. In other words I walked away from a great job.

A great job wasn't enough to make me happy. My work life balance sucked.  No matter how hard you try if you work in Ireland for a California based company you cannot avoid some late nights and some travel, in my case many late nights and much travel. I became a bad friend and partner. I never made 7pm spin or mid-week drinks. I spent many Sundays on the plane to San Francisco and when I come back at 11am the next Saturday I would be tired and cranky. Over time, these patterns really began to negatively impact my life. I was in San Francisco last year when my grandfather had a huge stroke. My manager was amazing, he did everything he could to help me but at that moment in my life I felt more powerless than I have ever done. I was too far away from my family at a moment when I needed to be close to them.

Ironically, a fantastic Google based training called 'Search Inside Yourself' (now a book and separate organization) helped me realise that my work and what makes me happy in life were mismatched.  It gave me the mindfulness to see that what made me happy was an awful lot more than job satisfaction. My job was great, but it wasn't enough.

Lesson 2: The Right Role Can Be In The Most Unexpected Of Companies

If you told me a year ago, that I would be working for a bank, I would have laughed at you. I would have told you that I was a product manager, I liked tech and startups and those really weren't things I associated with a bank. I do now. My narrow view of what the right company for me was could have resulted in me missing a great opportunity to work on the things I really like to work on. I got lucky, this role came to me. I'm not sure I would have found it. This is why platforms like Linkedin and Twitter and the good old fashioned drink coffee with your network technique are activities that should not be neglected.

Lesson 3: Moving Company Doesn't Mean Starting From Zero

One of the things that scared me the most about changing role was the thought of having to start again in a new company. In Google, my reputation preceded me; people knew what it was like to work with me. I wasn't looking forward to having to build that credibility up again.  This has been much easier than I expected. I realised that it wasn't my reputation that had built up in Google, it was my behaviour.  I went into Google a graduate with no experience of working for a large company and came out with six years of experience; the experience changed my behaviour in Google and it meant my behaviour in Bank of Ireland was informed by it from day one.  Don't let fear about being new or having to start again hold you back.

Lesson 4: There Are Great People Everywhere

My team in Google was superb. We not only got things done but we had fun doing it. We challenged each other and supported each other. I was happy to go for a pint with anyone from my team on a Friday night. That's a great barometer for anyone you work with: are they sound enough for you to be willing to spend some of you non-work hours with them.  It turns out my team in Bank of Ireland is very like my team in Google – I'd happily grab an after work quiet one with any of them. And I do. The people I met in Google wanted Google to be the very best that it could be and the people I've met in Bank of Ireland want Bank of Ireland to be the very best that it can be. An 18 year old tech company and a 232 year old bank might not seem like they have a lot in common, but when so much of a company is determined by its people, these two actually have a lot more in common that you would expect.

Lesson 5: Careers Are Journeys Not Final Destinations

The days where you worked one job for your adult working life are gone. We will all have more than one role in more than one company. That's good.  It keeps us thinking big and we can learn and leverage more than we could if we just stayed in one place. It also asks more of you. You have to be focused on your career. If you don't want to stay in one place forever, then you should have a 3 year plan (I like 3 more than 5). If you don't know what skill or interest you want to explore next, how can you possibly build the steps to get there? I have a lot of conditions, things a role must meet before I'm interested (a product angle, a startup focus, a customer focus, freedom to execute and a positive contribution to my work life balance) and I know that if a role has those, then I can grow from it. If it doesn't I'm not interested because it's not going to help me on my journey.

So 90 days post-Ferrari, did I make the right decision? Yes I did. What type of car is my new role? I don't know yet, it's still under construction. It's new for the bank and it's new for me but I know my team is passionate, driven and equipped to succeed.  And when I leave the office this evening, I'll be in my favourite city close to my family, and when I meet my other half at home, at a reasonable hour, there'll be no excuse not to go out for a jog on this sunny evening. Ok so there is a downside: jogging!

My new jogging route!