How did we get here ?

This is an interesting question and possibly one that has been years in the making. However, let's focus specifically on the last 12 months.

What Happened

For simplicity and to fit in with the various other aspects of my life, I plan my year around a Fiscal year (April to March). Given normal conditions, by the time I get to April, there is a rough outline of how the next 12 months are going to play out.

However, by April 2023, much of this was still hanging in the air, largely due to me receiving my RAF Reservist "Call Up" Papers. I did volunteer for the mobilisation and was aware of the time frames. The detail of how life would operate in that environment was very much a mystery. I had to make the best guess based on other people's experiences.

Once in Cyprus, I was faced with the ever-present heat of a Cypriot Summer. A Shift System that made it difficult to use time effectively. A lack of familiar surroundings and too many distractions to keep focus. On the flip side, I very much enjoyed the work. The time outside of work, however, was of low quality and rotted my brain with next to no mental stimulation.

Then, to add insult to injury (quite literally), I ended up with Plantar Fasciitis in the final month of my mobilisation.

Once the RAF had spat me out of their system, I arrived back in Cornwall in November depressed, directionless, and barely capable of standing for more than 15 minutes at a time, Not ideal attributes for someone planning on spending a winter away Cross Country skiing.

Having scraped any plans of racing for the winter season, I made it away towards the end of December. The idea was to focus on coaching and furthering my qualifications. This plan wasn't fully realised, then I contracted a healthy dose of COVID and had to head back to the UK early.

Clearing Away the Clouds of Discontent

The smallest of things were blowing up in my head to be the world's biggest dramas. My mental RAM had run out of processing space. Of course, this was all internalised and had no real opportunities to release that pressure valve in any vaguely controlled manner.

Having been dogged with a certain amount of "Mental Fragility" long before it was fashionable and rebranded as Mental Health. I am thankfully relatively self-aware enough to know what's required to get back on track.

At these moments, the Journals and note-taking apps come out, and I vomit everything from of my head over numerous weeks. No area of my realm is left out; this Life Audit aimed to find the links and reorder the mess in my head into something more structured. From this, priorities, plans, projects, and goals come together.

Hey Presto! An Annual Plan is born

Finally, all this gets put against a timeline, and Hey Presto, an Annual Life Plan is born.

With the Annual Plan now set up, It's time to launch this blog.

I confess this blog does feel like a vanity project. However, its job is to address the challenges that The Life Audit brought up. Namely my lack of accountability, frustrations with never doing anything creative, and to fill up my evenings that would otherwise be spent binge-watching content on Netflix.

So there you have it. Over the coming weeks & months, the content will grow, and you never know; a few people might even find solace in some of my self-indulgent ramblings.

You are more than welcome to join me on this journey. Simply sign up below, and you'll have some light reading delivered to your inbox over your morning coffee.

Catch you soon