• About Laura
  • Disclaimer

Inside Laura's Head

Leeds based Food, Travel and Lifestyle Blog

Uncategorized

Why You Should ALWAYS Follow Your Instincts

August 15, 2017 Comments : 8

I always say that when someone shows you who they are, you should believe them. And I generally follow that advice. But recently, I was duped, in a big way. I should’ve followed my instincts and avoided this person, and I didn’t.

Trusting this person meant I wasted a lot of my time-fine, I’m self employed and I have a lot of that at the minute, and I did manage to do some things to write about for this blog so it wasn’t COMPLETELY wasted. Sadly though, trusting this person also cost me money I didn’t have to lose. This post is really a cautionary tale of why you should be more careful than I was. Here’s a couple of lessons I learnt from what was a really awful weekend.

Don’t arrange work through anyone but the client directly, or a reputable agency/job site. I broke this rule and let someone else arrange two jobs for me, which were rearranged or cancelled at the very last minute, and I’d driven a very long way to do the work-so I lost the money I’d spent on fuel, all

Always take a non refundable deposit of at least 10%, and more if needed to cover travel. Send something DIRECTLY TO YOUR CLIENT, IN WRITING stating that if the job is cancelled you will be keeping the deposit, and if the job is rearranged they will need to pay your travel for a second time. I didn’t do this and have ended up paying the entire deposit back to avoid the hassle I knew I’d get if I didn’t-despite this person knowing how far I’d driven for the work.

If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. This person had wanted me to visit them for a while (I’m not entirely sure why!) and so when these jobs became available it seemed like the perfect time. Sadly, however, I’m not sure that these jobs ever existed.

Work to your own timetable. I spent a chunk of time doing things I hadn’t planned to, including running errands as I was the only driver. I’d gone down to see the city, with the person-and so when they needed to run errands I should have gone off exploring by myself. If I hadn’t been there, they would have presumably found other transport.

Leave when you don’t feel safe or comfortable. I should have left Saturday evening, when I felt uncomfortable and not very safe. I didn’t, because I didn’t want to cause a scene. Instead I spent the night laid in bed not sleeping, when I could have been driving home. Idiot, Laura.

Be aware that when someone offers to do something for you, they often want something in return, and if you don’t know about that you’re going to be seen as a bad person for not giving that. In this case, it was a meal I didn’t want to go for, that was booked and paid for before I knew about it. I ended up going, but I couldn’t afford it and so I didn’t offer to pay for it. This was later commented on, about how ungrateful I had been.

To cut a long story short-despite cutting this person out of my life once before, I fell for their lies and let them back in. I tried hard to be friendly to this person as, like lots of people, I’m sure they have their own problems and issues. But in the end, I lost out. Since arriving home I have removed this person from social media, from Whatsapp, and blocked their number-because I know from past experience that there WILL be drama at some point. Removing myself means the drama will still happen, I just won’t see it. I also declined the Facebook friends request that came from their relative a couple of weeks later *raises eyebrow* because this person has never met me, so has no need to be my friend on Facebook.

I just want to reiterate guys, this is why you should always trust your instincts. Don’t be me.

Previous:
AD Hive Leeds Review
Next:
All Bar One York Review

You might also enjoy

Knowing When You Should Work For Free
First Impressions Of Wroclaw
AD Travelling ‘Light’ with Cabin Zero

Comments

  1. Rebecca Smith says

    August 20, 2017 at 7:31 pm

    I agree, it is so important to follow our instincts – especially when we are self employed

    Reply
  2. Mel says

    August 21, 2017 at 10:16 pm

    It sounds a tad creepy, to be honest. It sounds like you didn’t feel safe at all during the time you spent with that person, who was deceitful and used you in a way. I couldn’t agree more: always trust your instinct!

    Reply
  3. Lu Lovely says

    August 22, 2017 at 9:48 am

    This was a really helpful post to me. I’m pretty naive and trust far too easily. We should all trust our instincts more. You’ve learnt from your experience and passed on the warning to others so not all is lost. (I think sometimes blocking unhealthy people is absolutely the way to go).

    Reply
  4. Toni | This Mama Blogs says

    August 22, 2017 at 11:38 am

    I’m so sorry you went through this, it’s awful you were deceived like this. I’m self employed too and also have a cake business, I learnt very early on that some people don’t care and will let you down at the last minute even though you have invested time & money. I will always take at least a 25% deposit for a cake now as I had someone that just didn’t turn up & completely blocked me meaning I was left with a cake I worked really hard on and spent money creating that couldn’t be re sold

    Reply
  5. rachelanne_bee says

    August 22, 2017 at 11:40 am

    Completely agree with this! Human instinct is such an important thing. Hope you’re OK now xx

    Reply
  6. Jenni says

    August 22, 2017 at 10:30 pm

    My partner always tells me to trust my instincts. It’s awful when something happens to put you in a situation like this and I try to look for the best in people which does sometimes lead to not seeing them for who they are. Hope that makes sense

    Reply
  7. five little doves says

    August 22, 2017 at 11:33 pm

    I’m so sorry that you were duped and put in this situation, it sounds really un-settling. I am very good at trusting my instincts, I am usually right about a person or a situation, although on the few times I have been wrong it has really knocked me!

    Reply
  8. Georgiana Quaint says

    August 23, 2017 at 3:59 pm

    A lot of truth here. I like to take other´s advice and learn from other´s mistakes. Still I get disappointed sometimes. It surprises me when a trustworthy friend wants something, so you start working on it and then never hear about it again. Or when they are very late with the payment with an “excuse” that you did not remind them enough so they thought you don´t need the money, like what?? Still learning…

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

About Me

Welcome to my little corner of the Internet! I'm Laura, a 33 year old Yorkshire girl aiming to see as much of the world as I can, usually by myself. I'm a big fan of animal print, bright lipstick, gin liqueurs, cocktails, photography, writing and booking flights. I'm in love with a Lhasapoo called Buster and if I don't have my phone, laptop or a camera in my hand, you probably need to ask if I'm feeling okay. I blog about short city breaks, usually solo, on a budget without a hostel in sight. I also cover food reviews, life with Fibromyalgia, and there's a bit of lifestyle content thrown in when the mood takes me. I'm aiming to have visited 40 different countries before I turn 40, so I have 7 years left. Coronavirus has slightly changed my plans for 2020 but so far I'm 17 countries into the challenge and as long as September and October remain safe to travel I'm adding Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Romania, Serbia and a couple of others to the list before this year ends. I love working with brands on sponsored/collaborative content and if you're a travel or food related company, or just someone you think I'll love, please do get in touch.

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
Went on a lovely sunny walk with @busternoodlehalf Went on a lovely sunny walk with @busternoodlehalfapoodle today. Look at his smiling face
I absolutely haven't taken Instagram or the blog a I absolutely haven't taken Instagram or the blog all that seriously in 2020 and barely posted on either. That's fine, obviously, but I miss both, so for 2021 I want to be back to daily Instagram posts, finding people to follow that bring me joy, learning the best hashtags to use and trying to make a bit of progress on here. Hoping I'll get a fair bit of travel in in the second half of the year to help with this too. Happy New Year, Instagram!
Walking quickly out of 2020... This year has been Walking quickly out of 2020...

This year has been a bloody weird one hasn't it. Not just with the Pandemic, although obviously that's been a big part of it, but dealing with the hangover from a breakup, trying to make my new house a home, maintaining friendships when I can't see anyone and I'm not good on Zoom, and A LOT of overtime at work. Work has been going really well though and I'm excited to see what 2021 brings me there. I do know that I miss properly using Instagram, and writing on Inside Laura's Head, and I'm currently writing my 2021 goals post as we speak. What are you looking forward to in 2021?
Vienna, after only 24 hours in the city, has becom Vienna, after only 24 hours in the city, has become one of those 'I really need to go back to....' places on my travel list. On Thursday I posted over on the blog about what I did during my day in the city, I wasn't sure whether to post this so close to the horrible events they've had this week but actually, I think sharing how amazing the city is is a very positive thing. Link to the post is, as ever, in my bio, if you want to go and have a read
I've spent today working overtime and listening to I've spent today working overtime and listening to a new audiobook, 'The Year Of Living Danishly' by @mshelenrussell. Ive finished it in a day, loved it and want to go back to Copenhagen now as well as exploring more of Denmark. But for now, I will stay at home, be sensible, and add Denmark to my plan for if things work out for next year. 📷: @fordtography
I'm missing travel, adventure, and sitting watchin I'm missing travel, adventure, and sitting watching the world go by drinking hot chocolate outside pretty houses
I've been home from my trip for 48 hours now and I I've been home from my trip for 48 hours now and I've got that never been away feeling, as well as over 300 photos to edit and at least 6 blog posts to write. I wasnt sure how I'd feel about Vienna and I only had a day there but it turns out it's a city I'll definitely return to, as there's so much more I want to see now. Have you been? 📷: @loras.clicks.photography
My last stop in Vienna (maybe, depending on how I My last stop in Vienna (maybe, depending on how I feel in the morning!) was St Stephens Cathedral where I tried Chimney Cake (yum) and Schnitzel (meh) before heading back to my apartment and collapsing onto the sofa. Tomorrow I have an hour ish to the train, 4 hours on the train, a 2 hour flight then an hours drive home, after maybe 30 mins to get to my car. I suspect Monday is going to be a flare and a half 😑
2021 Inside Laura's Head. All Rights Reserved. Design by SkyandStars.co
Back Top