#16: How to live on less and still thrive after an income reduction

There have been two, self-imposed, periods in my working life in the past decade when our household income has dropped by about 50% overnight. Both have been associated with significant life choices and change of work direction, moving from secure jobs to starting something new. The first period was when we founded Dementia Adventure back in 2009 and the second was relocating to North East Scotland last year. The first time was when our kids were tiny, this time, not so much.

Maybe you have chosen to start up a social enterprise or have become self-employed in the last year? Maybe you have seen your wages reduced or even wiped out due to the current virus-crisis? The following tips are all things I have tried following a significant drop in income and are aimed at supporting you to live on less, still thrive and stay well.

1. Back-up: Identify who or what is your back-up? Knowing that someone or something is your back-up is often enough to get through your difficult times. Read my previous blog post on Back-Up and identify someone in your life and ask them - will you be my back-up?
2. No food: Well not completely of course, but there is some great evidence associated with intermittent fasting, longevity and physical inflammation reduction. It also helps with food cost reduction - if you’re fasting 2 days a week, it can mean a significant saving (small print - do check medical advice before embarking on any fasting programme).
3. Grow food: We have grown our own food for fifteen years now starting with basil on a window sill, tomato plants in pots and garlic in the small patch of ground in the yard behind our tiny terraced house. You can grow potatoes from seed to plate in about 10 weeks (lettuce in much less) and only need a bucket or container and the seed potatoes. Try cutting the ‘eyes’ out of your existing potatoes and planting these if you can't source seed potatoes at the moment. Growing and eating your own food can provide you with great taste, great nutrition whilst also giving you a green workout, saving you money and can be highly effective at alleviating low mood.
4. Slow food: Fast food deliveries are the fastest way to run out of money and often contribute to physical and mental ill-health, further worsening our peak stress situations. Growing to love oats for breakfast, baked potatoes for lunch and rice and beans or lentils for dinner are cheap staples that have sustained thousands of people for generations. Take your time to eat it too, savour each mouthful, putting your cutlery down - making your smaller meal last longer is another trick for eating less and costing you less.
5. Save to buy: my granddad would say, “put away the money for it each week for six months, and if you still want it after six months, then you can buy it” - often, of course, the thing I had thought I wanted, I no longer wanted by that point. Deferring buying those ‘must-haves’ is another cost reducer.
6. Monthly direct debits: Take a close look at all the regular monthly payments going out of your account and ruthlessly cancel everything except those critical to sustaining your situation. If you are locked in on a contract or have some other tie-in then speak to the provider about a payment holiday and temporarily suspend the payments. If you want or need to be more drastic cancel TV subscriptions and sell the TV and go back to the radio and books, sounds harsh but you might find you have more productive free time. 
7. Moments in nature: Nature is on our doorstep, is free, is ever-changing from one day to the next and can teach us a great deal about frugality, change and happiness. Find some food scraps for the birds, take a seat under a tree and listen to the sounds. Find some moments in nature every day and see how this can bring joy into your situation. Try keeping a nature diary or nature notes.
8. Keep a gratitude journal: Write down three things each day that you are thankful for. Such a simple thing to help you identify the positives relative to your situation.
9. Be ready to grab opportunities: Make time to update your CV, make a phone call to someone in your industry or in the work sector you would like to work in, or to someone you know and admire. Take a free online course, get yourself ready to grab the new work or income opportunity when it comes along. And it will!
10. Start an investment habit: One of the problems this crisis has really brought to light is the fact that so few people have any savings. It sounds counter-intuitive when you are struggling for money but try starting with saving pennies or pounds in a jar or rounding up payments online but cultivate a habit of saving and investing for when you do have more income again. Then when the next crisis happens, you’ll be better prepared. Premium bonds are a safe way of gambling without losing your money and there are many investment products on the market now which are accessible and accept very low entry points for new investors starting as little as £1. Compound interest is your friend so do try and leave the amount untouched until you have to access it. 

The list can go on and if you have lost a significant proportion of income recently making the change to living on less whilst still thriving can be very challenging but you can and will find a way that works for you. Engage with the finances, engage with the support offers available and pay attention to the things which bring you joy - and are free!  My joy yesterday came from this butterfly...

Nairn beach butterfly

#15: My Top Ten Tips for working from home

I first started working from home back in 2006 and can remember one early episode which sharply brought into focus the reality of the challenges that can present. My son Charlie was about a year and a half old at the time and couldn’t understand why his daddy was shutting himself away behind a door. I was on a phone call to the office with my new boss when the screaming started. “Is everything ok?” says my boss. “Yes fine, please ignore the screaming” I replied. “But he does sound very upset.” I had to abandon the call as the concerns, and the screaming, grew. My son was ok after a mummy cuddle, who was also working from home. So, if you now find yourself working from home and trying to cope with the children being kept off school and home from nursery, here are my top ten tips for home working.

1. Dress food feel good - Whilst it is tempting to have endless pyjama days in front of the pc, do try to avoid doing so. I remember my granddad who used to dress in a shirt and tie only to sit in his lounge with only family for visitors. Make a point of dressing well, so you can think well.
2. Get outside for 5 minutes - There is great evidence that just 5 minutes outdoors is enough to lift our mood. Start the day with a 5-minute dose of nature. Step onto your balcony or garden or get out into a green or blue space. Ask yourself “What do I notice?”. Become fascinated and immersed in nature for a few minutes. Repeat after lunch, gentle exercise after eating aiding digestion and at the end of the day, to help create a division between work and home time.
3. 45-minute work chunks - Set yourself a recurring alarm on your phone for 45 minutes. Attention dwindles significantly after this period and staring at a bright computer screen for prolonged periods is detrimental for your eyes too. When the alarm goes off just stop, don't ignore it. Get up and walk around, check your posture, do a few yoga stretches, trust that whatever you are working on will still be there when you sit back down again.
4. Do one thing - Set yourself one thing to do for the morning and one thing to do for the afternoon. For the multitaskers amongst us that might feel too easy but it is important, in the absence of an immediate physical team or boss, that you focus on the really important tasks which need doing. By doing that thing first in the morning you will feel better and form effective work habits.
5. Put things out of reach - It is all too easy to stay seated for extended periods of time, the negative health consequences of which are dire. I leave my stapler and hole puncher upstairs so that I have to go upstairs to go and get them. Getting some much-needed steps and stair exercise each time.
6. Develop a list of mantras - positive self- talk can be helpful to tackle the demon thoughts which might emerge when you are working alone at home. Develop your own mantras, short affirmations you can draw upon “I am great at this”...I can do this...the only way out is through...if you are going through hell, keep going.” 
7. Visualise a good day - when you sit down to start work visualise yourself at the end of the day with key productive tasks completed with satisfaction and ease. Imagining a positive outcome is the first step to that becoming a reality.
8. Spend time with the children or with the dog - there will be times when the children or your pet is demanding attention. Give them the attention, give them a hug, stroke the cat, give them your full attention for five minutes. Tell them you love them. It will make you both feel good.
9. Set up virtual coffee mornings - actively ask colleagues to join you for a video call for no other purpose but to catch up over coffee. Book these in your calendar so that you have regular social contact that would otherwise happen naturally in an office/team space. Actively invest time for social networking support.
10. Turn off the news - Whilst the news is a helpful source of updates during these challenging times, there is a good argument for limiting your access to the news whilst you are working. If you need to find something out about the latest developments you can do this at lunchtime or at the end of the day. Try phoning your parents and get their take on the news. Rationing and limiting your consumption of news will help focus, reduce distractions and help keep things in perspective. If you need some helpful background noise then instead of listening to the radio try peaceful music which is repetitive and calming such as Max Richter’s Sleep album, the RSPB’s Let Nature Sing put on repeat or Gregorian chanting for example. 

And finally, practice gratitude. Be thankful for being able to work from home, for having functioning IT to enable you to communicate easily with others from the safety of your living room, and be thankful for the health of your family. An attitude of gratitude will keep you open to the possibility of the positive - write down three things you are thankful for today.

Stay well and work well.

#14: Thinking of moving to a remote corner of Scotland?

When Lucy and I told our friends in Essex that we were relocating to North East Scotland the overwhelming response, aside from the initial positive pleasantries, was ‘You know it gets cold and dark up there in the winter don’t you?’ Since moving we have met many like-minded folk from England who have also made the best move of their lives. Now it appears that we may have just moved ‘ahead of the rush’ as more people start thinking about living a quieter, less frenetic life, characterised by community and outdoor activity and not filled by jobs and commuting. An outdoor life with family and others first. If you are thinking of moving to Scotland, I would say do it! But if you are needing a bit of guidance I thought it might be helpful to share our personal search criteria list for a family relocation to Scotland.

This time last year we made the trip from Essex to Aviemore and beyond to look at houses in the North East of Scotland. Our goal whilst on our house hunting holiday was to find a new family location and home which could house the four of us (Lucy and I, along with our two children, now 13 and 10) as well as my parents, as we looked to sell two houses in the south-east and buy a larger family home together in Scotland. The six of us sat down and drew up the following collective criteria for our new home:

1. Waterside, view of water from the property
2. Close to a park or green space
3. 5+ bedrooms (for our extended family: 4 adults and two children)
4. Downstairs bathroom and/or bedroom (if my parents might need it in the future)
5. Upstairs bathroom (and/or ensuites)
6. Two lounges downstairs
7. Large kitchen diner
8. Potential for two desk office space (for working from home if needed)
9. Garden with side/back access big enough to grow our own fruit and veg
10. Shed or wood store
11. Off-street parking for 2 cars
12. Sunroom/garden room
13. Solar panels or eco/energy-saving features
14. Conservatory
15. South or West facing orientation
16. Independent kitchen/space for Mum and Dad
17. Storage space/loft
18. Local clubs for swimming, cycling, running, sailing
19. Local pub (never really had a local pub, within walking distance before)
20. Local shops and amenities
21. Less than three miles to good schools
22. Local hospital, medical and social care if we need it (Mum and Dad have both had health scares)
23. Broadband and good mobile phone reception
24. Access to outdoor adventures
25. Access to a train station and bus station (so we are not reliant on the car)
26. Access to Inverness airport (for holidays and work trips in the UK).

The more we spoke about what we were looking for the longer the list grew until we had over 25 items on our list. In that week-long house hunting trip it quickly became obvious that Nairn ticked nearly all of our boxes. But it was the magnificent beaches that ultimately sold us on Nairn. 

The house we chose, in the end, didn’t have eco features, nor a downstairs bedroom and there wasn’t an independent kitchen for Mum and Dad but these could be added at a later stage if we wanted and needed them. But amazingly we found very much what we were looking for. There is a wonderful Scottish phrase we have often heard since ‘Whit’s fur ye’ll no go by ye!’ There may well have been a healthy dose of destiny in the mix too. 

If you are thinking, maybe because of Brexit or because of the recent global challenges, it is time to think about and plan a move to Scotland, rest assured there are many rural communities, like Nairn, who will welcome and support you and your family. Six months into our new location and with a new job starting tomorrow we have very much settled into life in our remote corner of Scotland. So make some time, sit down with your loved ones and draw up your criteria list - where would you love to live, how would you like to live, what would you like to be doing? Make your list and start looking at places on-line, book a house hunting trip and you might just surprise yourself at what you can find. Rural Scotland might just be the answer to your problems.

Lucky #13: New Charity Venture with Green Hive

Superstition is a rather strange thing but thirteens certainly do have an uncanny way of aligning with positive events in my life. This post brings the 4HQ blogroll to thirteen and I certainly hope this thirteenth post is auspicious because I am pleased to introduce you to my new charity venture as Manager with Green Hive.

The River Nairn to the hills and source beyond

About six months ago I wrote my Future Framework to check against in deciding what matters to me and in assessing the various work opportunities as they presented themselves in Scotland. The advert for Green Hive Manager post came out on Christmas eve in the local paper. As it turned out this could not have been a better gift. It neatly addressed my interests and passions for the environment, innovation and in social sector leadership. After the various application stages I am extremely pleased to have started with this amazing environmental charity based in Nairn. We have the vision to be a local exemplar taking action to address global environmental challenges. We are an inclusive, collaborative organisation which engages the local community in sustainable solutions to bring about a better life for the people and place of Nairn. The breadth of our Green Hive activities ranges from beach and river cleans to repurposing fabrics into bespoke bags and a brand new plastics upcycling workshop. We are just getting started with re-purposing what would otherwise be wasted into beautiful and functional items. Globally, there is a need to move beyond the evidence into action to help the environment thrive. The scale of the challenges can be daunting, but by focusing on what we can do in our local communities we can start to re-imagine a more positive future for all of us.

Do you have your Future Framework in place? Are you ready to seize the next opportunity which comes your way? What would your core interest be? What matters most to you in your next job? For me there is a joy in working locally, for the first time in years, and yet thinking globally. There is an element of time sovereignty in walking to work and not facing a train or car commute. Family and others first is another value which can be upheld in working locally to benefit the community which has so warmly welcomed my family and I. Jobs, now more than ever, can be re-designed flexibly to be home based but I think we will also see more jobs being locally based as we all rise to the environmental challenges in front of us.

The River Nairn out to sea

Since relocating to North East Scotland I have been developing a number of work related projects, call it a ‘portfolio’ or a ‘cocktail career’ - there is a precedent in these parts for people having more than one job and the wearing of many hats is commonplace. Delivering multiple projects requires an appetite for variety and efficient working practices to cope with all the juggling. I like juggling, but what I have learnt is that all these organisational/projects which are work related are all rubber balls - if you drop one in all likelihood they will bounce back. But your health and your family juggling balls are both ‘glass balls’ in that if you drop one of those, they can break. So making decisions about future opportunities has to keep these two balls in the air at all times, and ever be our focus. In the studies of people on their deathbeds, no-one says they wished they had worked more, many wished they had found more time for family and health giving activities. In getting started with Green Hive I am keeping this at the forefront of my mind.

#12: How to single task and bring a new focus to work

There seems to be a sense of complicitness about busyness. We must have 100 apps on our phones, 10 tabs open on our computers and time management systems to track how busy we are, with ever more complicated colour coded calendars keeping track of the sheer amount of work, hobbies, kids, life admin and all the associated events. How often have you been asked ‘how are you?’ only to answer ‘busy.’ Maybe for a moment, we can delude our egotistical self that we have left this encounter with more status than when we arrived. But telling people we are busy is really just telling the other person that we are unable to focus. But in a world where multi-tasking is both desired and seemingly required in more situations at work and at home how can we go back to one-thing-at-a-time or ‘single-tasking?’

Attitudes precede our habits. If we think that busyness will bring kudos then we may fill our time with repetitive reinforcing behaviours which soon become habits. But perhaps, upon waking in our beds, we can recognise our attitude and give ourselves a chance of changing our habits as soon as we wake. Instead of leaping out of bed and starting with the long busy task list ahead we can simply be in bed for a moment, perhaps a minute, listening to our breath, maybe looking out of the window.

Start the day with a positive question: If I were to do one thing today what would it be? What would be the most critical thing today? What would the one thing be that would bring me joy? What would be the one thing which helps someone else?

Reflection is something that need not take an hour, it can be a moment where we simply sit and ask ourselves a searching question. So, breathe, slow the breath, calm the mind, for a moment and ask yourself - What is my focus for today? Write it down, write one thing down for the morning and one for the afternoon. Turn off the phone, turn off as many other distractions as you can, put up a do not disturb notice if need be, turn off notifications, maybe turn off the computer and go use a pencil and paper. Get it done. Have a break, have lunch. Enjoy lunch. Go for a short walk. Repeat.

A helpful practice for supporting us to address the single task at hand is walking. Try walking a circular 10-minute loop, make it five minutes if you are pushed for time, but try and leave the building, get to some green space (even if it is a tiny pocket park or under a tree) and get some fresh air in your lungs and listen to the birds. 

Walking forces us to take a break, but regular walks are also the simplest thing we can do to break the serious consequences associated with long periods of time sitting down staring at a computer screen. Have you noticed your back aching, your eyes straining? Time for a walking break. Call it a ‘walkshop’ or a ‘walk and talk’ if anyone at work asks why you are heading out, call it ‘time to think’ - you will come back refreshed, the brain will have more oxygen and you will be more productive. But like the other tasks in our lives, focus on the simple act of walking, just walk, don’t set yourself a step goal, try to solve a problem or make a phone call whilst out walking. Use your time walking to practice the habit of single-tasking. Over time, busyness can be replaced with happiness, and being more focused on the important things in our lives can make us realise how much dross we spend our time worrying about.

Take these steps tomorrow and see how it feels to be absorbed in fewer more effective tasks giving them your full attention:

• Stay in bed for an extra minute - start with a change of attitude and give yourself a positive question: What am I going to do today that brings me joy?
• Do that thing - it doesn’t necessarily need to be added to a list, just do it, first chance you get
• Take a break
• Reward yourself with a walk outdoors somewhere in nature
• Ask yourself another positive question: What would be the most important thing to me today?
• Do that thing.
• Repeat.

Doing one or two important things really well each day may be one of the steps on the path to less stress at work and a happier home life.

#11: Synthesis or Unite and be Mindful

I am fascinated by human interactions, the minutiae of life events, taking pleasure in the seemingly odd coincidences. I don't believe in coincidence by the way. I don't really believe in odd either. I believe that everyday life events present us with hints and guide us along our path if we are mindful enough to notice them. I am reminded of the Jose Gonzalez track Hints lyric: We need hints before we get tired...we need a hint to know we are on the right track. In my work with people with dementia, I am reminded of the image of a lampost in the fog. In the Highlands of Scotland by the Cairn on the hill in the mist.

I was at a friend's house in Edinburgh the other day, and just as we were leaving, front door open, she invited me to draw a 'power card' from the bowl of cards in the hall. More of these minuscule life hints happen in doorways and transition areas than other places in my experience. My card was Synthesis - to put together, combining things to make a whole. This came at the end of a week where I had been sitting in the Nairn courthouse contemplating St. Ninian’s motto blazoned on the wall, "Unite and be mindful”, a week where I hosted a Zoom meeting of consultants keen to come together, to combine our individual skills and strengths. To be more than the sum of our parts, for a greater whole. This same week where I have held mentoring conversations with leaders in Nairn, London and California about the need for togetherness, not separation, for collaboration, not isolation. Specifically where people living with dementia are concerned. It may not be easier together but it will be better together.

Your ideas, your project, your organisation might be wonderful, might be a game-changer. But the question is not how can you grow, how can you scale? The question is how can you combine? How can you join together to maximise impact? The synthesis you find may come from an unusual source.

Try keeping unity and union in mind in the next week and see how you can work better together, make something new.

#10: Finding solutions to problems

What is your number one problem at work? Let us imagine that this problem could be magically solved tomorrow. What would your next biggest problem be, and the third on the list? Are you really concentrating on the right problem? Maybe there is a problem that is at the top of your list but actually the second or third problem is, in reality, your biggest problem. Either way, finding solutions to problems can be difficult, should not be tackled alone and benefit from a diversity of perspectives.

Action Learning is a structured and facilitated peer-based approach to identifying problems, reflecting on them and resolving them. It takes place in a group, mostly between 6 and 12 people and can be done face to face or through video conferencing tools like Zoom. Action learning has a long track record in the UK and internationally, enabling people to find solutions to intractable problems and take the actions needed. It has been a key element in the success of the leaders who have been supported by the Clore Social Leadership Programme since its inception back in 2010. I am the Clore Social Leadership ‘chapter host’ for the North of Scotland and our group has Action Learning Sets embedded in our face to face and virtual meetings for members. In our most recent meeting, one of our members brought a ‘job interview problem’ to successful fruition and has a way forward with a new senior position. So how does it work, and why?

Problem insight

So think again, for a moment, about your biggest problem at work right now. With that problem painfully held in your mind, ask yourself the following questions:

Am I able to clearly articulate the problem to others?
Am I struggling with the ‘wrong’ problem?
How can I uncover other’s insights into this problem?

Often when an individual leader is asked to ‘present’ a problem succinctly to the group, what follows can be a less than coherent ramble. That is fine and perfectly normal, although sometimes it is to the surprise of the presenter who thought they were clear about it!

Problem resolution

It is important for leaders to have a safe space amongst peers, outwith their organisation, where they can safely air and share a problem for resolution. First of all, it is reassuring that your concerns and struggles are shared by others, some of whom have successfully addressed similar problems in the past. Secondly, each peer in the group will approach the resolution from a different viewpoint and you will come out of the group with suggestions and actions on practical ways forward for resolving this problem.

Problem-solving reflection

Time to think and reflect is a precious commodity. We hear about people being ‘time-poor’ and that ‘capacity’ is the issue. Action learning sets provide that important time and space to think out loud, to hear yourself talking about a problem amongst trusted peers. Maybe this is the first time you have had a chance to talk about the struggles that have been going on in your head for some time, maybe waking you up in the middle of the night? Being part of an action learning set requires commitment to the group and your peers but also to your own learning. Ultimately you are valuing yourself. Through action learning, you can find solutions to problems, but you can also be a better coach, mentor and buddy and learn to unlock excellence in yourself and in others. The concept of ‘rounds’ (turn-taking) gives people equal opportunity to talk, and the question and answer nature of the group builds your repertoire of ‘good questions’ to ask those who are struggling with a problem.

If you are already in an Action Learning Set then great - you are developing your skills and experience that will support you to resolve problems across your life. If you would like to know more about facilitation or finding an Action Learning Set then you can start here for more information.

#9: Finding the casino exit

Have you ever been to a casino? Maybe in Las Vegas, maybe Southend? If so, you may recall how hard it is to find the exit once you are in having a good time because casinos are carefully designed to keep you inside playing. As the Gamble Aware programme says, “When the fun stops, stop.” Maybe as January comes around again you have thought about new projects. Perhaps you have thought about stopping your current work and exiting your organisation. Finding the exit is not always that easy, especially if you are the founder and/or CEO. Organisations, like casinos, are designed to keep us playing.

Often we begin new projects, new jobs and new ventures with seemingly endless energy and ambition. Our last consideration is how we might exit them successfully in some distant imagined future. As social sector leaders, we are also ever mindful of leaving our organisations in a stronger position than when we started. At the start of 2019 Dementia Adventure (DA) began preparing for its 10th anniversary and I began formal discussions with the trustee board about succession planning and my departure from the charity I had co-founded with Lucy Harding back in 2009. As a founding CEO, I had long been conscious that organisations develop and change over time and that organisations, in my view, need different leaders at different stages in their evolution. I had often been referred to as the inspiring leader who had the ideas and energy to get the organisation started. But with increasing success came the reflection that it was the right time to look for a new leader for the organisation, consciously avoiding Founder Syndrome whilst enabling the charity to thrive and grow into the longer-term future. To continue the casino metaphor, I was looking for the exit whilst I was still having fun.

Around this time, I was very grateful to receive a Rank Foundation bursary which enabled me to secure some invaluable 1:1 leadership mentoring and coaching. As a CEO, my focus had been on growing the organisation and supporting the team and so support for me had been lacking at times. With such a critical recruitment of a new CEO to embark upon and with no clear job waiting for me upon my departure from the organisation guided time to think was critical for me personally. Having 1:1 time with a mentor or a coach can sometimes feel indulgent or navel-gazing but I think it is significantly underrated, particularly at times of change and transition.

The mentoring created much needed time out of the office, space and time to think, to discuss and to address any concerns the team had about the changes, as well as logistically plan the steps in the calendar as we embarked upon our transition year. Mentoring and coaching can provide a healthy dose of challenge, support and enable you to critically address the key decisions that needed to be made. In senior positions decision fatigue can be a real issue and so addressing the right decisions at the right time is very important.

For me personally, I stayed objectively distant from the recruitment process of the new DA CEO Vivienne Depledge but did actively engage with Vivienne at various events and meetings both prior to her starting and once in post. I have every faith that she is a perfect fit for the organisation and is already taking DA to another level as we aim to reach and benefit even more people living with dementia. I am confident that I handed over my CEO role and the organisation in the best possible position to thrive, and am proud to support DA in a voluntary honorary adviser capacity. Without key mentoring support at a crucial time, I am not sure this process would have been so smooth or so positive in its conclusion.

When considering the next steps in your future career it is very important to pay attention to the things you are naturally drawn to because they are often connected to your path, passion and purpose in life. A good leadership mentor or coach can help you focus on these things so your next steps are heading in the right direction.

Are you ready to stop and find an exit? Could you exit? If you could exit soon do you know where your path is heading? Where will your next adventure be?

#8: Little green (& black) books

Review and reflection can be a helpful thing.  Looking back at what you did in the last decade feels important.  Maybe you got married, got a new job, reached a sporting milestone?  But how many of us plan where we will be in ten years time? Putting in an equal amount of time in facing forward to the decade now in front of us is just as crucial.  Planning ten years from now - have you figured out your BeHaveDo?  

What will you be?

What will you have in your life?

What will you be doing?

Ten years is a long time, so be ambitious with your plans. Resolutions are not solutions, with many people running out of energy for their new year’s resolution by mid-January (the 19th apparently). But do review the past year in planning the next ten.




The little green book on the left in the photo above is the original ideas book for Dementia Adventure. I started writing ideas and future plans for Dementia Adventure back in 2005. I started sketching logos, writing down website domains, planning service costs/benefits and looking into marketing options and thinking about who could help me get this idea into reality. Looking back, my first mistake was not to start the organisation sooner, finally having the confidence to get underway in establishing Dementia Adventure in 2009. My second mistake was making it about me, not we. I personally invested a lot of my time, my family’s time and took on the responsibility which could have been better shared from the outset. Don’t try to do it all alone. Dementia Adventure quickly became more successful when there was a we and we made decisions together. By focusing on the cause and on others first, it also makes it more likely that you can make a successful future exit from your organisation, should you need or want to do so.

But over ten years down the line, many of the original ideas in that battered little green book have come into being, with Dementia Adventure now a thriving and successful charity giving people hope, joy and a sense of adventure in their lives. I am glad I started that little green book. Glad I started future-gazing.

In looking at the decade in front of you, ask yourself which people and causes give you ‘endless’ energy? In the search for meaning, try to start with We, not Me. It’s not about you, it’s about the impact we can have on the world. How can you join together, work together, be together with the people and causes which matter to you? Years ago, a lot of importance was placed on your ‘little black book’ - an address book of key contacts, your network literally in a black book which you carried and guarded. I would like to see more ‘little green books’ - books with ideas, books with sketches and dreams imagined and being nurtured to grow. By the way, it does need to be a real notebook in my opinion (virtual notebooks don’t create the same magic) because there is something important that happens in the brain by physically writing and drawing things down.

I have started a new little green book, the one on the right in the photo above. It came as a present from my mentor Ashley Cooke. My new little green book contains some brilliant questions and tools if you, like me, are looking at where you will be in 2030. If you have not already seen it check out my blog #5: Backup 2=1 and 1=0 for more on getting started with long term planning.

See you somewhere amazing in 2030!

#7: Big mountain small steps

Which way are you facing? Where are you heading? How long will it take to get there? 

These are three foundation questions for navigating in the mountains. But how often do we ask ourselves these questions about what we want in our lives? Time is a bendy thing, with a turn of our head a decade has passed and we ponder on “How did I come to be here?” By stopping, looking up and pointing ourselves in the right direction we can head towards our mountain on the horizon. We can achieve a great deal in life if we are focused on bringing about our long term life goals, “Scaling our mountains.” Maybe you have seen this mountain before, you have focused on this future life goal previously but it seems elusive off in the distance. You tell yourself you don’t feel ready to start the journey toward it. When will you be ready? Tomorrow? Next year? We don’t necessarily need lots of life coaching to know what we really want in life, we simply need to sit quietly and ask ourselves “Where am I heading?” Once we are facing in the right direction we simply need to take a step, a tiny step is fine, towards our mountain on the distant horizon. This small step forward might just be the biggest step in your life.

Is there a distant dream you have long coveted, long imagined for your future self? Do you have a mountain on your horizon? As the beginning of a new year approaches take a small step forward today. Enjoy the first steps on this new journey. First steps are exciting and satisfying when we know we are finally heading off in the right direction. I have had a quote re-emerge in my life at different times, the origins of which I am uncertain, which goes along the lines of “Try not to stumble over the rocks at your feet whilst eyeing the distant mountain.” I take this to mean that once underway trust you are on the right path and focus on the small actions which are needed daily. Step by step you will get there.