Thanks for tolerating my recent brain dumps and writer burnout a month or two ago.
But now that I’m back feeling on top of things, I thought this week I’d share the good stuff that I’ve got going on, to help those of you who don’t know me personally see that my life isn’t all doom and gloom as some of this blog could have made it out to be.
I’ve got a lot to be grateful for and I’m excited to share them here.
Giants
My day job at the moment is communicating change at the professional services firm KPMG. But before I started there, I founded a start-up called Alfred which helps blokes count their calories in a minute per day.
I’m really enjoying KPMG and learning a lot there, but my heart is in my work with Alfred as I want to help people to stop beating themselves up for what they eat, like I did.
And last month, I got into a mentoring program called Giants which is run by Australia’s top Venture Captial firm Blackbird, which is a great opportunity to get Alfred to the point where I can pay myself a wage and go back to working on it more, so I can help anyone who’s self-esteem is being affected by stress eating.
I eat to deal with stress, but I don’t do it much anymore, and I believe that’s because I’ve learned to eat mindfully, which is the result of tracking what I ate.
But as you long-time readers know, I’m prone to getting excited and over-committing to stuff, and since getting into Giants is such an incredible opportunity, I may skip a week or two of writing to make sure I have enough time and energy to make the most of it.
Wish me luck!
A chat with Dermie
My first sporting memory is watching the 1991 AFL Grand final between Hawthorn and West Coast at my Great Aunt’s house when I was living in Melbourne. And recently, I was invited on to the podcast for one of the stars that day, Dermott Brereton, to chat about all things Alfred and mental health.
Dermott sadly has been impacted by suicide and I was asked to come on because of what I’ve been writing about in this blog. It was awesome to chat and get to know my first sporting hero, and I’ve realised that funny things can happen when you share your work publicly.
Fortem
Every morning, KPMG has a newsletter called “Breakky News” and recently I wrote an article for it called “How I cope” and shared how and why I prioritise my energy levels. And from that article, I was asked to join Fortem (the Solider On for first responders) as an ambassador, as apparently, the struggles I’m facing in retirement from sport are similar to those of anyone leaving their career as a copper, firefighter or ambulance officer.
Fortem is the organisation behind “thank a first responder day” and being asked to get involved is another example of serendipity happening when you share your work publicly.
Learn more about Fortem here
R4R does City2Surf
Last month, Running 4 Resilience (R4R) had its first road trip to the City2Surf, and it was bloody awesome!
Despite the 3am start to drive up (and watching the Wallabies lose to Argentina) the day was the most fun I’ve had in ages, as it was great to be around such positive people, all excited to get out there and have a crack.
In case you don’t know, R4R was started to save lives from suicide, and if you or anyone you know is doing it tough, we believe the best thing you can do is to be active with mates and JUST. KEEP. MOVING.
We move 6pm every Wednesday at Arc de Resilience and we’d ove to see you there.
Writing 4 Resilience
While the success of Running 4 Resilience has been a huge shock, but what's been even more surprising is how many of our runners have also started writing.
Each runner has their own unique story to tell and we've all found writing to be a great way to lighten our mental load and organise our thoughts.
We’re all using a free platform called Substack, and we started our first monthly writers catch-up called Writing 4 Resilience.
If you’re keen to write but don't know where to start, why not join our group of beginners and share what you've learned from your journey?
The Dock does NZ
I know it’s still too early to get excited, but the All Blacks are looking very beatable and I’m pumped to be heading over with Jen for the 2nd Bledisloe test in Auckland later this month, as part of the Dock’s tour. The package includes a-class match tickets, accomodation, and a day touring wineries on Waiheke Island!
Spots are still available and click below to find out more. C’mon Walllaaabbbiiiieesss!!!
Thanks for reading. I’ve got a few more brain dumps coming this weekend so please unsubscribe if you don’t want your inbox spammed.
Cheers.
PS: Happy b’day Dingus. Errrrrrrrr.
Lot of good stuff happening in your world!
Almost like boasting now 😂 Good to hear,
Ben
Can we get a new photo tomorrow please? 🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️