Living in 30 Houses Taught Me Everything I Know About Change
By the time I turned 40, I’d lived in more than 30 houses. I’ve called four different countries home. I’ve worked in six.
By the time I turned 40, I’d lived in more than 30 houses. I’ve called four different countries home. I’ve worked in six. And I’ve learned to build that next chapter of life - socially, professionally, practically - again and again and again. At this point, I could pack an entire home in under a day, label every box with strategic precision, and step into a new place already knowing what will go where.
We moved a lot - first for my Dad’s job, then my Mum’s, then for better schooling options, then later for my own career. Most recently, for lifestyle: more nature, less pace, more space, more meaning.
It sounds chaotic to some. But for me, it’s been formative.
All this movement has quietly, consistently shaped the way I think about transformation - not just in life, but in work too. It’s given me a lived-in, deeply embedded understanding of what change actually feels like - the disorientation, the decisions, the resistance, the resilience, the renewal. And more importantly, it’s helped me see what helps people not just survive change, but get good at it.
This isn’t a story about moving house. It’s a story about how living a life in motion taught me how to lead transformation with resilience, perspective, and precision.
The Real Lessons of a Life in Motion
1. Resilience isn’t just bounce-back. It’s repeatability.
People talk about resilience like it’s a reaction - something you summon in tough moments. But when you move house every year or two, or build your black book in yet another country, you learn that true resilience is about repeatability. The ability to reset and re-engage over and over again - and still find all the joy and momentum in doing so.
2. Change builds pattern recognition.
After a while, change stops feeling novel. You start spotting familiar phases: the awkwardness, the adjustment, the frustration, the breakthrough. And you learn how to guide others through them, too - recognising when to push, when to pause, and when to just let things land.
3. Good transformation is both strategic and surgical.
You need to see the big picture (Why are we doing this? What’s the end state?) and care about the detail (What’s going in that box? Who’s moving that desk? How will this feel on day one?), etc. I’ve learned to operate across both layers - and help others do the same.
4. You can’t transform at pace without systems.
Moving house so many times has made me almost comically organised. I know what fits in what box. I keep mental inventories. I run logistics in my head. I have Plan A, B, and C ready to at any time. I bring this mindset to organisational change: systems make change sustainable. Without them you rely on hope, heroics, and chaos.
5. Change leaders need anchors too.
Here’s the twist. Despite all the movement, I also love repetition. If I find a dish I love at a restaurant, I’ll happily eat it three nights in a row. It’s not about avoiding change - it’s about choosing small, steady rituals to anchor me. (I am that person who’ll have the same Japanese curry every day for a week). The same is true in work: teams going through big change also need consistency, rhythms, and small wins to keep them grounded.
If You’re Leading Change - Or Living Through It
Whether you’re driving a company transformation, guiding a team through a pivot, or navigating career uncertainty yourself, here’s what I want to say:
Change doesn’t have to be dramatic to be effective.
It doesn’t have to be chaotic to be meaningful.
And it certainly doesn’t need to be feared.
You can learn to recognise it.
Build fluency in it.
Even enjoy it.
Because just like moving house, it gets easier with practice. You stop clinging to what was, and start getting curious about what could be.