Earlier this year, I set an arbitrary time target for my big swim. The following week I was sea swimming in very choppy conditions, and I was aware that so many elements are out of my control and setting that goal was not going to serve me. It’s a similar theme in my life when thinking of goals and habits - how much of a tangible goal do I need to set and how much do I leave to enjoy the journey and let things emerge. For anyone familiar with Insights Discovery, I lead with sunshine yellow energy, closely followed by fiery red and sometimes those two sides of me have a little tussle about the best way forward! I know my goals need to have flexibility and I also know that having targets is a helpful way to keep me on track, but they key for me is working out what it’s useful to measure. Is that goal serving and motivating me? Am I allowing for all the uncertainty and elements outside of my control. For my swim, I realised it was three things. The first is about preparing myself to be in the best shape that I can be - for me this is a goal around regular swimming and gym training and eating well. By doing this, I’ll be in the best shape to face the unpredictable conditions on the day. The aim is to be the best that I can be and that is motivating enough to keep me training The second is about preparing mentally to face the cold and unpredictable condition – for me this is about me reflecting on my swimming journey, celebrating my swimming successes and building my resilience The third is about enjoying the journey and reflecting and learning about myself along the way. I continue to push and surprise myself about what I can achieve when I put my mind to it! The time goal was not pushing me to train more as I’m already training enough. In fact, I could be setting myself up for failure as there is so much that I cannot control.  Often, it’s about doing something consistently, seeing those successes and enjoying the journey. Sometimes the destination changes or you get knocked off course. So, whatever your habits and goals, choose them wisely, measure what is serving you and step back and celebrate the successes along the way.

I’ve found myself navigating a busy period of work – not just busy but a lot of brain-switching between wildly different projects. Amazingly my swimming doesn’t suffer during these busy periods – I still manage to fit my swims into the week, no matter what’s on the agenda. However, I noticed that other elements of my life have been neglected in the last couple of months. In particular – reading. I finally started a book at the weekend that I have been trying to start since the beginning of March. Why does the swimming never suffer, and yet other things do? I’ve thought about it and think there are a couple of things going on for me: The benefits of swimming radiate through all aspects of my life – mind, body, spirit – I always feel better after a swim, and I know that feeling so well that I always know that it is worth carving out the time for it I have found times that are flexible and work with my routine. I build enough flex into the week so that when things get busy, I can find another way to make it work Swimming is always front of mind when I am planning my week In essence, swimming is a big non-negotiable part of who I am and my whole being. When I started my book this weekend, which is about walking alongside grief, it was an incredibly uplifting read. However, I realised that the perception I had been carrying beforehand was that it might be hard going and so had prioritised something seemingly lighter like watching TV over reading. It comes back to what James Clear and others have said about habits – you need to find a routine but also recognise the reward and benefits of doing them. So how can I work on this? I know I need to bottle the feeling of when I started my book and remember how it nourished my soul I can be more creative about when and where I read, particularly when the rest of life is busy I need to accept that there are some ebbs and flows in what I can do in busier period BUT I have a choice and, for me, it’s about listening to my heart and making more mindful choices My own fulfilment suffered because I didn’t truly appreciate the rewards I would get from reading. So next time you are doing something and get in flow, think about how it makes you feel and write down that feeling. The more we keep those feelings front of mind, the easier it becomes to prioritise what makes us come alive and in turn, we can live a more fulfilled life.