It’s now a year since my husband Graeme and I decided, along with our children, to make the move to Dubai.

When we decided to relocate we had quite a few potential locations on the long list. As we do with any big decision, we brought the kids into the discussion, and made sure that we all had the opportunity to assess the pros and cons of each potential new home, before putting forward our top choices.

Happily, we all had Dubai either at or near the top of our personal lists, so the decision was clear, and we immediately put plans in place to make the move – as a couple, Graeme and I don’t hang around once we’ve made our decision! Housing, schools, and business decisions all had to be made, and we’ve wasted absolutely no time in putting roots down in our new home.

Environment is stronger than will

We’ve always believed that environment is stronger than will; that’s why we’ve chosen to surround ourselves with people who seek success as strongly as we do, and why we chose Dubai for the next stage of our lives. My environment has made me who I am, from the strong work ethic I got from my parents, to the fact that I surround myself with people who have walked the path to success before me, and who I can learn from.

By moving to Dubai, we actively chose to put ourselves into a pro-business environment. Everything about the culture encourages us to take positive action, from the government which is constantly making changes to facilitate growth and investment, to the open networking culture which makes it easy to build new connections. The proactive culture here has been a game-changer for us. Dubai is built by and for successful people, and it attracts people who want to work hard for success as much as we do.

We take risks that others don’t

Graeme and I took a huge risk when we simultaneously quit our 9-5 jobs, in pursuit of financial freedom. It was 2007, right at the start of the financial crash, but we had done our research and were ready to make the leap – so we did.

We don’t take wild, unnecessary risks – of course we do our homework first – but neither do we get stuck in ‘spreadsheeting’ our decisions. When we see the value of something, the decision becomes really clear, and that’s when we make our move.

Since taking the first leap of quitting our jobs, we’ve learned that the bigger the risk the bigger the reward. That’s why we constantly challenge each other to keep moving forwards, and will never settle for the status quo. Put into that context, moving to Dubai was really very low risk for our family. We have deliberately built a life outside of the usual 9-5 routine, and where there is very little balance, so changing location didn’t feel like a stretch – just an extension of the challenging life we have chosen.

Accountability drives success

I’m very clear that accountability is vital to growth and success. Graeme and I, and our kids, all hold each other accountable for what we say we’re going to do, no excuses. The same goes for our group companies – leaders of those businesses are held accountable, just as we hold ourselves accountable, for taking positive actions where it’s needed.

That’s why we’re holding our group conference, UC22, in Dubai next week. It’s a space for us to look back at the successes over the past year, but more importantly, it’s where we collectively take stock of the lessons we learned, and the ways we can improve as we move forward. Only by honestly reviewing our performance can we set bigger and better goals, and hold each other accountable for doing what we say we will.

And look – sometimes it hurts to hear where we could do better, or where we lost out because we didn’t take the risk – but accountability is part of the United Capital culture. Graeme and I are known for doing what we say we’ll do, and we want all United Capital leaders to be similarly inspired to take positive action in their own companies. Being collectively accountable is how we all win.