Having set my intention for the year as “health”, Q1 2025 felt a bit like whatever the atheist, gender neutral equivalent is of the saying “Man plans, and God laughs”. I had a good start to January – all set with my intentions and my Trello board – only to get very sick in February (the worst time of year at work to get sick, the annual review cycle). Then, mid-February, my friend Martin died. After all of that, I was physically and emotionally decimated. At the end of March, I feel like I’m only just starting feel human again.
I like the idea of doing a quarterly review of my annual theme, as a way to reset, re-evaluate, figure out what I want to change and celebrate what I did actually accomplish. For all Q1 was pretty rough, I did move many things along.
One part of the word “health” is the core habits that keep me grounded. In Q1 I:
- Clocked just over 1K peloton minutes (2/3 of my goal, because spinning with a chest infection is inadvisable).
- Read 10 novels
- Finished 2 non-fiction books: Traction, and Backlash.
- Finished one crafting project
- Wrote 10 blog posts
- Sent 6 WTHIC letters
I had a good number of adventures:
- A weekend in Dublin
- A trip to Madeira with Nandana
- A couple of days in London for work
- A night at Castlemartyr for a special dinner event with Ballymaloe Cookery school
- A weekend in Kinsale
- A couple of nights in Manchester
- A week in Iceland for work
When I’m stressed I tend to stay with things that are familiar, so one of the things I’m paying attention to is how many new experiences I have, aiming for at least one each month.
- Crafting: my friends and I tried pottery painting, crocheting, and pottery making.
- Restaurants: We went to a new pizza place in Cork (GoodHood), and an exciting fine dining restaurant in Kinsale (Rare).
- Experiences: I saw the Turner Prize collection in London, and visited the Sky Lagoon and Fly Over Iceland in Reykjavik.
- Places: Madeira!
Part of health for me is definitely keeping the life debt under control, this is always the first thing to give when life is not going well! However, I did move some things along:
- We replaced the water tank and the dishwasher. The building projects might be finished but home ownership never ends! But seriously, it’s been nice to upgrade our quality of life with these things where possible, and we’re fortunate to be in a position to do it.
- I switched my business bank account which was an ORDEAL but has been a vast improvement.
- I got the first round of Botox in my jaw (for the teeth grinding, argh).
Professional growth is also important – I always want to feel like I’m learning, growing, and giving back.
- I completed the (updated) PQ program. It was interesting to do it again after 4 years or so, and a good refresher.
- I was on the program committee for LDX3 in London.
- I did a round table with Sergio from sudo make me a CTO.
- I got promoted.
Looking forward to Q2 I have more adventures planned, including an elaborate birthday party! I have a talk to prep and give in May, and some projects to work on, and more life debt to pay down. But really at the core, I want to keep reading, writing, working out, and trying new things.
I hope your Q1 was what you hoped for, but if not, that’s okay. April 1 is the start of Q2! A good time to reset, and have another go.