Summer has become my opportunity to reflect on the year that passed and where I am in life in general. Looking back, 2024 was a tough year on many different levels. This continued into early 2025 and I’m only recently coming out of this fog and am in a better place in many different areas which is encouraging.

1. Health

This is one of those areas that is incredibly significant for my overall wellbeing and life in general. 1 month ago, a switch turned off in my head. It wasn’t subtle it was instant and my hope is that I will be able to maintain it indefinitely.

Since then I have taken control of what I consume and when. In this limited time period I have been able to loose 5kg, which is the easy ones I feel. Having said that I am not in a rush. My body has been dealing with having an overabundance of calories for seemingly at least a couple of decades.

Truth is I have never had the body that I always wished for. I am essentially looking for healthy insides and outsides to make doing things with my family a pleasant affair, both now and into the future.

I have been doing my Five Tibetans and have enjoyed the process immensely. It’s a small lift and honestly I can tell that it is better than not doing anything.

I read my post from 5 years ago and it’s a little disheartening because I know what happened next after I had then lost 10kg. I completely fell off my No-S diet because of work stress and never came back until 1 month ago.

2. Finances

Last year I took complete control of 90% of my finances. It was one of the most liberating actions I’ve taken. My only regret is not acting earlier and it’s something I certainly had some control over, but I decided to outsource. A lesson for sure, and one I can certainly pass over to my kids. Read A Simple Guide to Wealth and don’t rely on a financial advisor from Dubai.

I can take control of a further 5% (the rest is in pension schemes I have no real control over), which I absolutely plan on doing even though I am going to be loosing some further money.

3. Creativity

This took a beating. Apart from writing to my website and the occasional small piece of art, this year was one of my lowest creative output years in over a decade. I fell off the wagon and it took me reading We Need Your Creativity (at least the start) to kick start this again.

I’m in a good place on all thing Stet. I’m 6 posts into the new season which I hope I will start publishing at the start of 2026. More importantly however I have the right setup that I can see myself continuing through this process as long as it remains fun for me.

4. Drawing

One area that I do want to add to my general activities is drawing. I have the projects, the art tutors (aka books) that can make me a better artist. I have all the gear. I just need to dedicate 10-15min a day to build that muscle.

5. Work

This has gotten much better. More satisfying as I have learnt to let go of certain things and embrace others. I feel like I have a lot more to give but the environment around me is one that allows me to give more.

One area that has not been in a good place has been my emails, notes and timeblock planning. They have been in complete chaos this last year and I want to get back to a place where I control these again.

6. Family & Friendships

This dial has been on life support for the last few years. It has slowly increased a little bit in the last year but I can certainly do more in this area. Hopefully seeing my family this December.

7. Hobbies

My hobbies can be listed as follows:

1. Coffee
2. Beer
3. Stationary
4. Technology
5. Watches
6. Reading
7. Journalling
8. Walking

These are all being fed a different times and in different capacities. I’m happy with how these are generally going and I look to add a couple of experiences or pieces to my collection.