When Anthony Butler was in his thirties, he started to wonder – is that all there is?

Anthony, the 252nd person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, had built a good career in technology sales and was quite happy. But he also had some nagging doubts.

Do I really want to work for somebody else for the rest of my life? Am I in the right industry? And am I fulfilling my potential?

So Anthony quit his job, with no plan other than to spend two months thinking about what to do next. Those two months ended up becoming 15 months, during which he did a lot more reflecting than he’d anticipated and also took a transformative course in positive psychology.

The big lesson Anthony learned was that we have far more control over our lives than many of us realise. If we’re not good at something, we can learn it; if something’s not working, we can fix it; if we’re not satisfied with the path we’re on, we can move to a new one.

That gave Anthony the self-belief to take control of his life. He decided to work for himself, launch a career as a buyer’s agent and become a much bigger version of himself.

I had a great lunch with Anthony. The two of us really hit it off, in large part because I’ve gone through a similar journey.

Over the past seven years, I’ve done a lot of personal development, which has strengthened my mindset, given me the confidence to start my own business – and inspired me to have lunch with 500 strangers. If not for that, I would never have had the pleasure of meeting Anthony and making a new friend.