Talk it through with the SI guide

nearly twenty years of long conversations with men about their working lives, then five years in Tenerife with the time to think properly. This guide speaks in his words. It is not James, and it is not a person. Read more about James

There is a lot in life men are expected to just know. Perhaps we missed that class at school.

Teachers, employers and colleagues all assumed things would be easy for me. Every one of those assumptions was wrong. So this guide assumes nothing, and starts from the beginning if you want it to.

For the man who has left work earlier than he planned and is working out what the next part of life is for. It will not advise on money, pensions or packages.

Leaving work early is rarely only about work. It often sits alongside money worries, a quieter house, drinking or a body that is changing. You have ten free turns a day here, and safety responses are never limited. Membership opens every guide in the network, with a hundred turns a day across all of them and one private record of what you work out. See what membership includes

You are speaking with an SI guide, not James replying live. It is not a financial adviser, a pensions service, a recruiter, a lawyer, a therapist or a crisis service. It will not tell you whether you can afford it or whether to go back.

If you are in danger, or thinking of ending your life, contact your local emergency services or a crisis line now.

The safety page lists where to go.