Hey all, it has been a year since my last blog post and it has been quite a year as little by little my lifestyle, my habits, my geographical location changed beyond recognition.

But to be honest this cliff face was preceded by a gradual decline in the habits that I had fostered over a few years.

I used the increase in hours, multiple responsibilities, re-location and change in weather as a justification to drop what made me, me one by one.

At first it felt good because I reconciled that it was only a short-term thing. Then three months turned into six and then onto twelve and beyond.

It wasn’t until month six that I started to notice the difference.

The hump of my new role was still at its peak, but I had grown into the job and was no longer arriving before 6am and leaving after 9pm.

Therefore, there were those few hours where I could read a book, go for a run, cook a healthy meal but instead I collapsed on the sofa and watched YouTube.

The person I had the propensity to be, I allowed to consume me.

At work, I was the person with little attention going from fire to fire looking for the next high. Always available to respond to the next slack, text, or escalation.

At home, it was endless scrolling, or looking for escape on the internet dreaming of a new life now that the world had opened-up.

I was left thinking it would all be different when I reached that point of escape.

But bad habits travel with you, and with no discipline and more time those bad habits would only grow and manifest into a bigger downward spiral.

Positive habits can be likened to a muscle building activity, you start of small and build incrementally.

You cannot lift the same amount if you have not picked up a dumbbell in over a year.

And therefore, the things I want to rediscover will have to start small. I cannot go straight into running a marathon or writing a thousand words in one sitting.

But I do need the discipline to get out a run every day, to pick up a book and read.

Just like this article. It is my way of starting small and building again. It starts will baby steps and these are mine.