In the autumn I wrote to a number of long-standing clients to ask how their career choices had worked out.  Might they, perhaps, have any advice for people making new career decisions now?

Most of those I wrote to were clients of many years standing - one or two since the 1980s and all dating back at least 5 years. I think this long view is important.  With life-changing decisions it’s not always possible to assess the real impact for some years. (And in fact most advisers wouldn’t maintain prolonged contact anyway.)

What a pleasure to see some sun at last after one of the coldest and surely wettest winters for many years. There are buds on the trees and the birds are singing merrily. There is still a chill in the air but surely Spring cannot be far behind …

Talk of green shoots is also in the air with a technical end to recession and some increased consumer confidence. Yet a sense of fragility and uncertainty persists … it scarcely feels like recovery. And anyway, do we want to recover what went before or do we need change?

Driving past the Tate Gallery recently, I was surprised and delighted to see the words "Everything is going to be alright" in neon lights above the pediment.

Well, perhaps. The thing that is certain is that we need to maintain a positive outlook to see beyond much of the daily diet of gloom so prominent in the media.