Deciding what to do

and thank you

I hate being tired as my mental health only suffers when my battery is low.

And boy has it been low recently, which is making me feel like a fraud leading up to the Energy Management and Resilience presentation I’m giving in the Barossa next week.

But I need to cut myself some slack as this week I went to Sydney to say goodbye to Grandpa who is slipping away, held down the fort while Jen was away for work, and work has been super frantic, which means I’ve had little energy to prepare for this awesome opportunity.

A part of me wants to cancel it and just focus on the bare minimum I need to get done until I recharge, but the opportunity aligns with how I want to spend the rest of my life, so I won’t.

I had a long time before retiring from footy to think about how I’d spend the rest of my working life, and decided I want to share what I learned about getting into shape, to help people who beat themselves up for what they eat.

Something I really struggled with, but have overcome, and think anyone can too.

But the longer I work on Alfred, the more I’m realising that I’m not trying to help people eat better and lose weight. I’m trying to help them have more energy, which is the biggest benefit of sustainably losing weight and keeping it off.

More energy to get after whatever they want in life, whether it be training for a race, working hard to get that promotion, building a business, or just more energy to play with your kids and do something fun with your partner after a big week at work.

I’ve yet to find an area of life that doesn’t improve when I focus on the things that recharge my battery, and I hate how my brain works when I let my energy levels slip.

I start to doubt myself, my thinking becomes muddled, and I just generally become a version of myself that I’m not proud of.

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Working hard on Alfred to help people recharge their batteries is how I want to spend the rest of my life, and when I was depressed at the start of the year, I told my Dad that’s how I was trying to spend it.

He then asked:

“Ben, is Alfred the only way you can help people do that?”

After some thought, I replied: “Ummmm, I guess not.”

“Of course it’s not. Alfred is just a part of how you can help. You can write about it. You could even do talks. But for now, you can’t put all your eggs in one basket with what you want to do for work (Alfred). You’ve had some bad luck with everything that’s happened to the Dock (pandemic), and I reckon you should think about getting a new job so you can learn some new skills that will help you get to where you want to go”.

That was the conversation that lead me to get a job at KPMG, and to now be asked to do talks about exactly what I’ve been trying to do with Alfred is fucking awesome.

But while my energy is low and I need to prepare, one thing that helps me recharge has been writing this blog and reading your comments.

When I first started writing it, I was so scared of what readers thought and really wanted people to subscribe, that I’d spend ages trying to get every blog perfect, which became an energy-draining process in itself.

But now I just dump whatever is my head on the page, which frees my mind up from whatever it is I’ve been thinking about, and the support I’ve been receiving from you means a lot.

You’ve helped me work thru stuff, clarify my thinking, prepare for pitches, and whether we know each other personally or not, you’ve supported me during some of my toughest times, and I’d love your help one more time.

If there’s anything I’ve written about that’s helped recharge your battery or anything you’ve read elsewhere, could you please help me prepare for my presentation and leave it in a comment below?

Thank you.