Why many situations in life are similar to going on a hike: the view changes once you start walking.

I used to avoid posting online because any kind of attention made me feel uncomfortable. When I say avoid, my personal instagram was a eulogy to youth gone by, questionable haircuts and WKDs.

Fast forward to 2019, the year the world shut down and I, like many others struggled with depression. Not 'feeling a bit down': feeling nothing. When you can't distract yourself with the outside world, you have nowhere else to go but in. As the months passed, things began to feel lighter. I wrote in a journal a list of things that made me happy.

Some of it was as simple gratitude exercises: a place to sleep and nice coffee.

Yet, I soon realised a cohesive theme was travel and the outdoors. Nothing extraordinary - I wasn't alluding to climbing Everest in 60 seconds with a six pac. Just the feeling of being pelted by the bitter Peak District wind as hair whips your face and you have to jam your boots into the ground to avoid rolling down Winnat's Pass. 🌳

Growth Equals Change

So the story far: dislikes sharing anything online + healing x I know what will put me further out of my comfort zone = starting a business that helps others heal.

Now I have to share the majority of my life online whether people are interested or not 😱

Ryde x Boardmasters Festival 2022

Three years later, October 2022 and Christmas fast approaching. I think quietly to myself, 'hmm what else could I possibly do to accelerate going grey?' 👵🏻

Long story short, I decided to leave my sensible full time job that I had until this point, been working alongside everything else.

Does it feel right or safe? Not particularly. Could I have timed it better, probably?

But as James Clear says:

“Many situations in life are similar to going on a hike: the view changes once you start walking. You don't need all the answers right now. New paths will reveal themselves if you have the courage to get started.”

There are only really two outcomes: if it goes wrong?

I keep walking.

Or it works out and I get to keep creating nice things with a down to earth team, making real products for real people. Shifting the focus from doing less harm to doing more good.

Not a bad 50/50.

Courage doesn’t mean you don’t get scared, it means you don’t let the fear stop you.