My Time for accountability
Staring into the unknown.
The Biggest Adventure: Accepting Personal Accountability
Almost ten years ago, I started on one of the biggest adventures of my life. I wasn’t planning on trekking across continents or conquering the world’s highest peaks, but it was a daring expedition into the unknown. I had come to a juncture in my life where I decided to take complete responsibility for my life, my growth, and my future. This adventure began with one vital and fundamental step: I had to assume accountability for myself and this began by enrolling on an access to higher education course at Sunderland College on mental health to better understand my own challenges and those of my partner.
This turned out to be a decade of relentless struggles and challenges, with huge sacrifice. The access to higher education course then led to a foundation degree in counselling, which then led to a full Batchelor of Arts in counselling. At the end of this I also decided to make the mammoth decision of building a startup business in private therapy and then Lighthouse Therapy Group was born. None of this however, came without a cost.
Throughout the whole process, I was all in, giving 100% to everything that I did. I worked full time with Go North East as a bus driver, studied at college, and completed several placements with different counselling providers. All of this resulted in me being busy every single day, seven days a week, all while being the sole breadwinner for my family. So what was the cost? My physical and mental health. I simply didn’t have the time or energy to take care of myself or consider my own needs. This being said, I don’t regret a single thing because I firmly believe that if you want to build a start-up or create something meaningful, you simply must give it your all, so please don’t be thinking that I’m after some kind of pity party because I’m not. I’m simply highlighting that everything comes at a cost and if you want to achieve anything then you must be willing to bare that price.
A New Chapter: Accountability for Self-Care
So, ten years on and Lighthouse Therapy Group is ticking along nicely despite a Brexit, A Pandemic, several elections and a cost-of-living crisis. I’ve reached a point now where I can call in my director’s loan and shift some of the focus onto my own physical and mental health. This now marks the beginning of a new kind of adventure, and possibly even my biggest adventure yet: reclaiming my physical and mental health. It’s time for me to practice what I preach and assume accountability and get myself healthy once again.
Even sat here right now, typing this blog, I’m questioning myself: what is going to be the hardest part of this adventure? The simple answer is that to assume accountability, one must accept vulnerability and by blogging and vlogging my journey I will undoubtedly be vulnerable which is to say that these blogs will be used to hold myself accountable. I want to share with everyone that yes, I am vulnerable, many people know me as the grumpy optimist, the opinionated joker and the bloke who will not shy away from what he wants to say. The truth is that I’ve been vulnerable my whole life and now is no different. I’m actually really unhappy with myself and in the words of the great Jelly Roll, “I Am Not Ok.” My physical health is in the worst state that it has ever been with this new bloody Garmin watch telling me every 10 minutes that I have an abnormally high heart rate. I can’t remember the last time I had a good night’s sleep, and I struggle to tie the laces on my hiking boots. Please remember though that I’m not after any sympathy as I’m well aware that the only place you can find sympathy is in the dictionary, between shit and syphilis. I’m just allowing myself to be vulnerable to help with my accountability. My Mental Health is also not in a good way, on top of all of my extensive historical issues, running a business with quite a few people reliant on you is extremely stressful, and even though work is ticking over nicely, the future when you’re running a business is always insecure and things can change dramatically even within a couple of days. We’re about to enter 2025 and already I have some mammoth challenges that are either going to make us or break us. (Saying this though, I don’t think anything will break us, it will simply just set us back a little). This is a huge weight to carry and I guess that’s all part of my adventure.
“sympathy can be found in the dictionary, inbetween ‘shit’ and ‘syphilis’!!!”
I’m going to kick off this adventure with our M.A.D January campaign which is a call to action. I want to encourage everyone not to go Mad this January but to do M.A.D which stands for "Mile A Day." The idea is simple: be accountable to completing a mile every single day in January, whether you are walking, running, or cycling, or even crawling. A mile a day keeps the shrink away. Our campaign is not about going "mad" with unrealistic resolutions but more about making consistent, manageable changes in your lifestyle that can bring us all together and start conversations about our lives.
Accountability as the Ultimate Adventure
Accountability is not just about discipline; it’s about aligning our actions with our ‘why’. My why, the driving force behind my ten-year adventure was my family. I wanted my son to witness and experience my adventure, to set the example and to show him that pursuing an authentic and meaningful life is the pathway to a fulfilled life.
Looking back though, I’m aware that I neglected my physical health which made the whole journey a lot harder than it needed to be. If I had considered my physical health more then I could have been more focused and achieved my goals sooner. This has really made me approach this adventure differently by prioritising my physical health.
As most of you already know, I firmly believe that one of the main causes of poor mental health is our disconnection from the nature. There is however, more to it than that. In order to successfully reconnect with nature, we need to disconnect from the noise pollution of our everyday lives. This noise pollution drowns out our inner voice, pulling us further away from our authentic path. I’m really excited to try and reconnect with nature and disconnect from the noise through hikes and other outdoor adventures, additionally, I’m also looking forward to simple moments of stillness where I can keep everything in perspective.
What About Your Accountability?
So how about you all, what do you all think about what you are reading so far? I invite you all to look inwards on your own life, are you living your true authentic life, in line with your own values? Are there any areas where you may be avoiding accountability, and how do you think this might that be holding you back? How about if you ask yourself:
What is your "why"? What drives you to get up in the morning ready to take on the world?
Are you able to make time to look after your physical and mental health? If not, why? And what small steps could you take to start taking back accountability?
What are your connections with mother nature, or are you too connected with all of the noise pollution?
Are you currently in a subjective world that allows you to become the person you authentically are? If not, then why?
Embrace Your Adventure
This year, I will be journalling my adventure of accountability on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Through stories, tales, hikes, and shared experiences, hopefully this may inspire you to take your own first step towards accountability and a more authentic and fulfilling life.
I would like to wish you all a very happy new year which is filled with all your dreams coming true and remember that the biggest adventures are not just found in far-off lands; they can also be found within So, what’s your next step? Your adventure is waiting.