How you should focus your time in 2020.

Figure out what makes you feel alive, and go and do that. Do lots of it. Fill your 2020 to the fucking brim with the shit that makes you think "oh, this is what its all for". For me, that's running and RTR-ing and strength work and clouds. Running alone makes me feel connected to myself. Running with @runtalkrun makes me feel connected to others. Lifting heavy things makes me feel like I'm invincible. Looking up at the clouds makes me feel empowered by the insignificance of my existence. Figure out your things. Then go do them. Be selfish with them. Be consistent with them. Do them daily if you can. Do them daily when you MUST. 

Should you make a new years resolution?

Jumping on the bandwagon and talking about resolutions because I'm getting really bored of the "don't feel pressured into making a resolution" posts that are being thrown about, with an air of superiority between the lines that read

If you're thinking about changing yourself just because its a #NewYear then LOL AT YOU

Listen, there is nothing wrong with wanting to make a change, and there is nothing wrong with using the New Year as a motivational drive to actually be the catalyst for that change!

I'm not advocating for exercising yourself into oblivion, or becoming full vegan, or promising yourself that you'll read the entire self-help library from Amazon in a year. I just wanna say that hey, if you're looking to make a change from January 1st then you fucking rock.

Of COURSE you are already enough as you are. But you know. Change is cool. Change is growth.

My only advice would be this...

make resolutions that are centred around VALUING your mind, and valuing your body.

When you put VALUE into your decisions (for both mental work and physical work) then you're more likely to strike a balance where you don't overwork yourself into burnout, and actually achieving impactful change.

Value for your entire being should underpin every resolution that you make.

What is the "end goal" for Run Talk Run?

I get asked this a lot. Like, a hell of a lot.

I used to find this question somewhat frustrating, and I’d react quite negatively. I realise now that this was just a defensive (and scared) reaction of mine.

It frightened me that people were expecting some grandiose outcome from Run Talk Run, that I wasn’t sure I could deliver. I couldn’t deliver it, because I didn’t even know what they were expecting when they asked this question.

What I have come to realise with Run Talk Run, is that there is no “end goal”. Some things in life simply do not have an “end goal”… they just are.

That’s not to say we don’t have goals at all. But our goals are not “end goals”, they are goals that will help us improve our reach, goals that will make us safer and more effective, goals that will hopefully ease the burden of mental ill health for as many people as possible.

I have three big goals for Run Talk Run in 2019:

• To have a RTR in every county in the UK

• To have a RTR in every state in the US

• To receive funding and/or a grant

These goals are designed to help us support people in as many places as we possibly can. Because I genuinely believe that us humans are more than capable of supporting our peers. These goals are also designed to help us operate more safely. Funding would allow us to provide training to run leaders, running kit for those attending, and further mental health support for those in the community if required.

I may not reach those goals, but I’ll be working damn hard on trying to make it happen – you can count on that. And heck, if we fall short, you can bet there will be plenty more new towns and cities offering a mental health support community that didn’t exist before. And that will be good enough for me.

So… no.  We don’t have an “end goal”.

We just have mini goals which should hopefully make seeking mental health support a good lot easier, and we’ll be having a lot of fun in the process.