Welcome to 2020. A new year. A new decade. Time to reflect back and look forward. 
In many ways the last decade has been good to me. But it was at times very sad and at times challenging.

Some of my highlights include:

• The Five Great Swims (2011)
• Cycling from London to Paris (2012)
• Promotion at work (2012)
• Joined RAW Inc. Training (2012)
• Going to Harvard University if only for a week (2013)
• Spartan (2014) and a Tough Mudder (2016)
• Three National Peaks (2017), Three Yorkshire Peaks (2018), Three Welsh Peaks (2019)
• Half Marathon (2017)
• Travelling (Caribbean (2015, 2016) Jamaica (2016),Prague (2014), Barcelona (2019), Turkey (2010, 2011, 2012, 2019), Egypt (2013), Toronto (2017), Tenerife (2019), Amsterdam (2017) Bruges (2017), Manutius (2018), Boston (2013)
• Qualifying as a personal trainer (2016) and professional coach (2019)

But the lows included:

• Having open heart surgery to replace my calcified aortic valve with a titanium one (2015).
• The death of my best friend from bowel cancer (2016)

Ironically it is the lows that have had the most impact in terms of my happiness and wellbeing. I now have a huge appreciation of life and the opportunities that I probably took for granted before these two life events. I’m grateful that I’m here to enjoy and take advantage of what is on offer and what I can make happen.

Age also brings some bitter sweet events. My son going to University (2017) being one. Life moves on in a positive way but we still grieve what has been left behind. 

My biggest change during the last decade has to be finding a passion for health and fitness. It is a little ironic that it was my health that took the biggest battering in this decade. But my fitness helped me get through it. So not for me the New Year resolution to lose weight and get fit as I’m already living it.

However, I do have goals for 2020 and the next decade.

I have been reading quite a lot on the value of making resolutions. Are they just a waste of time or the first step to making a positive change. The start of a New Year seems the perfect time but January is dark and cold and summer is a long way off. So two weeks in the resolutions are starting to feel less than inspirational. But there is evidence to support how having a goal with a plan is a blueprint for success. And there is something about stating it out loud. If January is not a good month for you (it does boast the most depressing day of the year) then wait until Spring starts showing its face. Spend the first  few weeks of the year planning and scheming. 

So back to my 2020 goals. The first two are recurring ones but I am determined to kill them in the next few months. They are a 30 minute 5k and 5 chin ups. A combination of strength and endurance. A good fitness mix.  

There are also things I want to do more of. Cooking and reading being two of them. And much less procrastinating and watching rubbish box sets. 

The one thing I do want to banish from my life is anxiety. The Christmas break is where I feel it most acutely. I think it is to do with the pressure to have a good time and the lack of routine. It is a horrible feeling. One inherited from my father. But one I need to conquer. I cannot be 100% sure that it didn’t cause my heart condition as there is an association between anxiety and inflammation.

And why shouldn’t a resolution be about feeling and not just doing.

I am also working on my 70 for 70. Seventy places, experiences, goals leading up to my 70th birthday. 

So here’s to the next year and the next decade. I suspect the latter will bring great changes. Retirement, moving home, children leaving home (possibly), grandchildren (possibly). And I intend to enjoy every moment.  Well most of them.