1 Idea

Planning Out Your Year

There‘s no other psycological boost compared to new year.

It’s a fresh start.

A chance to write over what happened in the previous year.

If you haven’t already done so, I would recommended planning out your year in full as much as possible.

Write down when you’re going on holiday, what events you want to go to and anything else you have planned. Visually look at what you have already locked in place.

Then, I’d ask myself the following 5 questions

• What went well last year?
• What didn’t go to plan?
• What do you want to do more of this year?
• What do you want to do less of?
• What are you main goals this year? (Split these by personal, career, fitness for example).

These are going to give you clarity on what you’re working towards rather than starting off with a bolt of enthusiasm before running out of steam.

Once you’ve got clear goals in place you can then break them down in the relevant parts to move you closer to them.

You might surprise yourself with the answers. If so, I’d love to hear what‘s in store for you in 2024.

2 Positive Outcomes

Doing More Of What I Enjoy

One of my favourite things to do is reading.

Whether it’s science fiction novels or interesting non fiction, I love following a story or learning cool, new ideas. In 2023, it wasn’t something I done enough of.

It was a maintenance habit. Before bed I read which I was keeping up but that was it. I wasn’t going out my way to read more. I found it hard to listen to audiobooks too.

However, I’ve started off 2024 differently.

I’ve made a commitment to myself to read or listen during the day - on my commute or when I’m doing a cardio session on the bike.

Even at the weekends too I’m going to read more.

Sitting with a coffee and enjoying a good book is one the simplest ways to start off a great day.

What are you reading right now?

8 Weeks Until The Big One

It’s now 2 months until Hyrox Glasgow.

Training has stepped up over the last couple of weeks with some tough conditioning sessions.

What I can say though is I’ve feeling the best I ever have in terms of performance. More slow runs and bike work have brought my overall fitness up and the Hyrox specific conditioning workouts have left me feeling in a great spot so far.

One of my biggest improvements is in the walls balls.

When I first did them I struggled.

During a simulation last September, I found them the toughest especially at the end.

However, now I‘m finding them a lot easier with a heavy weight than what’s required on the day.

There’s still a lot of training to done before we compete.

3 Learnings

Asking The Right Questions

I’ve been thinking a lot about who I want to be in 2024.

What behaviours do I want to exhibit? What would the person I want to be behave like? How can I be more like that person? What am I going to leave behind that no longer serves me?

These are what kind of questions been on my mind.

When I planned out my year, I envisioned myself as an everyday athlete who competes in tough environments.

To be that person:

• I’ll train harder than ever before while being disciplined with my nutrition.
• I’ll put more focus on recovery than before. I don’t just want to do this in the short term.
• Consume content that is educational rather than just entertainment.
• Mentally train as well as physical - meditation, walks in nature, journaling.

There’s a lot of focus on the what’s at the beginning of a year, rightly so. However, if you want to embody serious change then you have to ask yourself about the who.

What Gets Measured Gets Managed

I’m currently working on creating a digital personal dashboard on Notion.

The purpose of this is to allow me to have a task manager, note-taking system and personal managment system all in the one place.

It lets me have everything in a centralised location. Looking at it in the morning I can see what needs to get done that day while also taking note of me modo etc.

Ultimately, the goal is to be able to use this as a one stop for life management.

I‘m pretty new to whole Notion thing so if you’ve used it before, drop me a message.

For Those Feeling Overwhelmed

While this time of year can be exiting for a lot of people, I understand not everyone will be feeling the same.

For the people find a lot of this too much - I hear you.

Because I‘ve been that person before.

Completely overwhelmed with what’s going on.

Only now do I realise what helped me through this time.

Focusing on what‘s in your control.

The everyday habits and behaviours that generate momentum.

If you enjoyed this, please share it on your stories.

Or send it to someone who might enjoy it.

Speak soon!