EDITORIAL: UNCERTAINTY BRINGS ITS OPPORTUNITIES

Did you make any resolutions amid the alcoholic haze on New Year's Eve this year? (And could you even remember them in the morning?) If so, how many of them were work-related? It would be fascinating to know the answer. It is a sure bet that every workplace in Britain contains managers who have promised themselves that in 12 months' time things won't be as they are now - another reflection that the world is more unsettled and anxious than it was this time last year.

Some people will want to get promoted. Some would like to see more of their family or spend time in the gym. But we suspect that what distinguishes this year's resolutions is the unprecedented number trying to come to terms with something far more radical. Some will have decided they just want out.

We hope that our feature 'How to Reinvent Yourself' will help some of you to make the right decision. From the dozens of examples of career-changers that we have encountered, we have spoken to four individuals who, with a remarkable combination of imagination and courage, abandoned the comfort of well-established positions to explore undeveloped parts of themselves. The result is a heartening tale of metamorphosis, which none of them regrets having gone through.