Do you have goals? Things you want to achieve one day? I do. I have measurable goals mapped out in all areas of my life for the next 15 years. These are then worked back in greater and greater levels of granularity to goals in 5 years, 1 year, 6 months, 1 month, 1 week, … Continue reading 6 simple ways to develop new habits

Something I've known for a very long time is that I need to spend more time being still. Time doing nothing but pausing to think. There are plenty of great examples (not least among which Stefan Sagmeister's superb TED talk) of the times when we're able to stop and think becoming launchpads for the successful … Continue reading Movement as meditation

One of my favourite books is James Cracknell and Ben Fogle's "The Crossing".  It tells the story of the authors' attempt at the Atlantic Rowing Race in which, inexperienced and unprepared, they rowed almost 3,000 miles from the Canary Isles to the West Indies.  It's incredible and inspiring stuff. The overwhelming feelings I took from … Continue reading The open ocean

Take your pick. Get off the fence. Choose a side. But I was made for balance. I'm equally at home in the country or the city. In the UK or abroad. In silence or with other people. I live in the space between the two and my life is the richer for it. Do we … Continue reading On balance

This week, I've been taking advantage of the lovely weather to get some outside DIY done. The front of our house was starting to show its age and so some serious TLC has long been in order. By far the biggest job has been leveling the front garden to widen our existing driveway. Older kids … Continue reading In praise of monotonous work