The pandemic has motivated many British people to turn their lives around, with one in ten planning to put their career on hold to travel the world. Jenny Southan reports

A survey of 2,000 Brits by international memoir-writing service StoryTerrace has revealed that the pandemic has made many people reassess their life trajectory.

Overall, 37 per cent of respondents said that they plan to “turn their life around” this year, while 34 per cent said they will not be doing their current job in a year’s time, reflecting the Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting trends already occuring.

Suggesting that out of darkness comes light, CEO and founder of StoryTerrace, Rutger Bruining, explains that it is “often our most challenging moments that provide the most fertile ground for radical and positive change”.

In fact, 54 per cent of younger Millennials said they plan to make their 30s the “most exciting years of their life”. And 10 per cent of Brits are putting their career prospects on hold so they can travel the world.

That said, Bruining notes that “big decisions that define our existence are not usually made on a whim, instead coming to fruition following weeks, months or even years of thought and self-reflection”.

Bruining says there are a variety of activities that can aid this process, with one of the most effective being journaling. Following a boom in this activity during the pandemic, data from StoryTerrace now shows that almost one in five (17 per cent) Brits have taken up journaling over the course the past two years, particularly to help with their mental health.

What is evident from the research is that self-reflection through this medium has helped people across the country gain clarity and helped them positively change their life trajectory.

As a result of making such life-changing plans, 39 per cent even said they’ll have experienced enough by the age of 40 to write their life story so far.

Bruining says: “One similarity I have come across in so many of our stories is that people with a seemingly clear-cut life path laid out before them often make a decision that completely changes the course of their lives.

“What is interesting is often this actually comes after a significant moment of hardship. With so many people experiencing such challenging times currently, I’m not surprised to see that such a large portion of the nation is reassessing what’s important to them, and their life trajectory as a whole.

“What I have learned from the stories I’ve been privileged to hear is that people who make conscious decisions around the turning points in their lives – at times breaking with the expectations of others and taking their destinies into their own hands to carve out a path for themselves – are often the people who are happiest when reflecting on their lives to date.

“There is power in writing to help people reach a sliding door moment – whether it is daily journaling or even writing a biography. It is one of the purest forms of self-expression and allows room for creativity, self-exploration and even just some fun to past the time.

“We have the pleasure of seeing exactly how writing directly benefits not just our clients but our amazing ghostwriters as well.”