Goodbye 2023 and hello 2024.

I can’t believe how quickly the years go by now. I stopped work in October 2022 and decided not to return to the corporate world of learning and development or social and virtual technologies ever again. That ship has sailed and in some way, when I think about my past working life, it’s like a distant memory that I simply don’t talk about to people anymore. It never rates a mention and in some ways, no one really wants to hear about it so I keep quiet about it.

In some ways, it’s nice to not have to talk about work to anyone anymore.

I’ve been off social media all this time too and not missed it one iota.

2023 was all about well and truly into purging my past life and setting a new course albeit I still don’t have a map nor do I have any idea what it is I want to do with my time, who I am anymore or what I believe in anymore.

That’s a Work In Progress.

All I know is that I need to get comfortable with the fact that the world is constantly changing, I don’t have any answers, my age, grey hair and gender means that I’m rendered invisible and unacknowledged (not so bad sometimes), enjoy each day that you have because you don’t know what will happen and that I despise cancer because it’s taking my friends.

In some ways 2023 messed with my head with the amount of uncertainty, chaos, crazy weather, increasing cost of living and going without some things to save money.

BUT.

When I think about it, I’ve been my most happiest, healthiest and use my time to learn French, play golf a few times a week, spend time with my loved ones and met some great new people this year that I think, “Yeah I’m doing ok!”

Most of all, it’s made me realise that I don’t need so much in my life.

I have no plans for 2024 except for the following:

• Lose a bit of weight to prepare for a wedding we have in our family
• Decided that my YouTube channel Life Lessons from Books will get some more love and attention from me so that it starts making an income for me. It’ll be trial and error but let’s see how I go.
• Reduce my golf handicap to 25
• Read Don Quixote as 2024’s “Big Book of the Year”

The rest? I’ll make it up as I go along.

Happy new year!