There’s a shared frustration that comes with these posts that is shared throughout my journaling and my photography. That is that my life is pretty mundane and built on load sod routines. My life is not one that social media would find very fascinating, and certainly is not all sunshine and rainbows.

This week, I have been preparing for my birthday and also numerous big projects coming up in my working life. Reflected by feeling as if this is the calm before the storm. I celebrate my 40th birthday (yes, I am that old) on Wednesday and before that, I have two days of kick off meetings. Oh, the joys! I hate my birthdays.

• Watched two games of the greatest team the world has ever seen (Arsenal), both with amazing atmospheres and great goals.
• Celebrated my mother-in-law’s birthday with a visit of all the family to our house, which is where the photo above comes from. Too many kids to count and so much fun playing with their toys. Moments like this make me realise what a huge kid I still am at heart.
• Ran just under 10 miles for the first time in a long time on Saturday. Meaning my weekly milage is slowly creeping up. The main issues I have is running more than 2 or 3 times in a week, at which point my body starts to tell me off. It is a struggle, but it’s worth it for a great cause – donate to London For Lucie.
• Received my iPhone 15 Pro max on Friday. I’ve gone up in size this time, and although I’m still not convinced, the curved sides and Titanium build make it much easier to handle. The zoom lens seems a bit meh, though.
• I have been thinking a lot about blogging recently. Why someone would start and blog and the motivations to publish on the internet. A quote from Seth Godin stuck out to me, “ If you’re about to spend time and money and effort to create something, how will you know if it worked? What needs to happen to make it worth it?” The only external metrics you really have are clicks and responses, and it is up to you if you want to measure either of those things.
• I managed to leave the sunroof of my brand-new car open last weekend, and, of course, it rained. There were some choice words muttered to myself, but it’s being repaired and should be back with me shortly. Mistakes happen, I guess, but the stress could have been avoided. I know how to make the sunroof shut when I lock the car now!

Interesting Links

Lies, Damned Lies, and Social-Media Metrics – Those view counts on Twitter, TikTok, and Netflix? Be skeptical.

Walter Isaacson Calls Into Question the Accuracy of His Own Book – I might read the Musk book because I liked Isaacson’s other work. His podcast appearances have been pretty interesting too.

These 14 Small Mindset Shifts Will Change Your Life

Social proof is overrated

Working remotely is a competitive hiring advantage again – you can tell a lot about a company by their response to working from home. As with most things in life, it boils down to trust and ego.