A bit of a monster update today, so you might want a cup of tea for this one (or possibly gin).

 

April was a pretty good month all in all! It started with a holiday which is always good. We had a nice Easter weekend, which unusually for us was pretty relaxed and not too busy. On the Tuesday afterwards, Paul and I made our way to Heathrow and flew out to Puerto Rico for our Caribbean adventure. We had a fabulous few days! The ship we were on was lovely and his company did a sterling job of looking after us. I wouldn’t say that it was a particularly restful few days, there were activities every day, dinners in the evening etc. It was great though, we got to zip wire through the Antiguan rainforest, play golf in Nevis and explore St Barth’s in our own mini. There were so many pinch me moments, sitting on our veranda drinking champagne and watching the sunset, dancing the night away on the pool deck under the stars, swimming in the beautiful blue waters of the Caribbean sea. After a difficult March, it was just what I needed, having some time away and really feeling grateful for all the opportunities that life affords.

The second week of April was also lovely, a few days down in Dorset with my Dad and the children. We were all sad that Mum can’t really travel, but we enjoyed ourselves. That was actually a bit more restful, lots of time spent looking for shells on the beach, throwing stones into the sea and we even got to see Dippy the Diplodocus on tour from the Natural History Museum!

After two weeks off, it was back to earth with a bump when I went back to work. However, things are ticking over nicely and I’m also making progress on thinking about my NT business. My assignment this month is to write my business plan, which brings some focus to the whole thing, but I’ve also taking some practical steps like setting up a meeting with a website designer and thinking about the products I want to offer.

Exercise has been ok, I’ve managed a few session, although I didn’t do too much on holiday and there was a slight spanner in the works last week when I had a bit of stomach upset.

Last but not least for April, two very special girls had their birthdays. We managed to stretch birthday season out for a fortnight this year as it seems that my time of getting away with a joint party is over! Poppy enjoyed her party at the soft play centre, and Daisy went for the grown up option this year with a select group of friends for a trip to the cinema. I can’t believe how quickly the years are passing, but I’m very proud of the funny, intelligent and determined little people they are growing to be.

I’m not sure how May is going to top that really! I didn’t set myself too many goals for April, one of them was about focussing on goals and I didn’t really find (or make) the time to do that. I do need to get back to a bit of structure, I’ve got so much going on that I haven’t taken the time to actually be deliberate about my actions, instead I’ve gone with more of a scattergun approach and am hoping that I’ve more or less covered the bases! We’re a third of the way through the year (gulp) and I’ve definitely got some meta goals in mind, I just need to reverse engineer them into an actionable plan. That will hopefully mean it becomes a bit less overwhelming. The issue is that I have assignment deadlines looming, so whenever I have spare time, I feel like I ought to be spending it on that. That said, given the assignment is the business plan, there is alignment with other goals, so that should help.

Sorry, that’s a bit waffley, but I feel like I need to get it all out at the moment!

I feel like the next three months are going to be quite significant for me. In 3 months, we go on our main holiday of the year to France, but it feels like there is going to be an awful lot happening between now and then and lots I want to achieve. At a high level, the goals look like this:

• Qualify as an NT. This will involve successfully completing two more assignments, one more client in clinic and my Viva on the 23rd June.
• Have everything set up ready to launch my business once qualification is confirmed (hopefully!) in mid-July. That means having my offerings ready to go, my operations in place (company registration, insurance etc), my finances organised and a marketing plan
• Successfully complete the fiscal year at work. Review my objectives and ensure I’m focussing on the areas that still need work. Get everything set up for a good start to FY19.
• Be exercising consistently. There are a few summer clothing items that are a bit too tight currently that I want to feel comfortable in by the time we go on holiday. Yesterday I started the second 12 week phase of my fitness programme, so I’m planning to go all out on that, it also fits nicely with the timescales I have.
• Get some social dates in the diary. There are a few friends I’ve not seen for a while and I’d really like to have caught up with them before holiday season.

I have broken those down a bit more, but in the interests of my time and yours, I won’t write them all here. I will give a progress report at the start of June though (June! Squeak! Where is my life going?)