Sarah’s Annual ‘Where-Did-The-Year-Go’ Roundup! 2024
| Seriously, I cannot believe I am writing this end-of-year round-up already. It seems like no time since I was heading to Pembrokeshire for a five-day getaway back in early January. It was a pivotal few days. While Gorgeous (new) Hubby and I continued our search for our new home in West Wales, something profound and transformative took root for me. I pressed the ‘Great Reset’ button on my life. At this point, I will pause and say that if you are only interested in the history content I post, you need not read on. I wish you a very Happy New Year and hope it is filled with joy and prosperity for you and your family. However, if you want to know more about the person behind The Tudor Travel Guide, read on… If you have been following me for a while, you might remember that I crashed through the New Year of 2023/2024 feeling completely burnt out. To be brutally honest, I was embroiled in a self-imposed, never-ending race to do more, be more, and have more. Social media algorithms and the internet’s insatiable hunger for content did not help my physical or mental state. It was clear to me that I was running on empty. This year, I reached the grand old age of 54. I had to admit that the train of driving ambition and boundless energy I enjoyed in my 20s and 30s had left the station a while ago. However, as a lifelong ‘striver’, in the beginning, the antidote, I decided, was to push harder. Surely that would work? Nope…That just drove me closer to ‘Destination Burnout’. Luckily, having been down this track before as a junior doctor in my 20s, I could read the signs, and I stepped off that train before it reached that final destination. I knew I needed to step back and take stock. To find my way through, I needed to shed unwanted baggage weighing me down and decide what I wanted my life to look like for the next phase. It was the beginning of a year of trial and error, of piecing together a new way of living, unlearning some very unhealthy striver-associated habits, and replacing them with ones that allowed much more time just to be. So, I have done two radical (for me) things this year: the first is prioritising my physical health and well-being above everything else. Now, every day begins with a health-based routine (courtesy of The Andrew Huberman Lab podcast) to set me up for the day. This often includes a trip to the gym before sunrise or a run, yoga or Chi Kung. My goal is to be physically stronger and more resilient than ever. To do that (because it turns out that looking after yourself takes time), I have had to be much more focused in my work. Consequently, I adopted the Cal Newport philosophy of ‘Slow Work’, concentrating only on two or three areas and letting everything else go. I decided on the two areas I wanted to focus on and began stripping back anything that didn’t support those goals. This represents a massive change from a couple of years ago when I was spinning multiple plates and dissipating my energy every which way! If you are curious, I’ll share more about those areas in the New Year. This is all still a ‘work in progress’. While I have radically changed the shape of my days, and life feels much more peaceful and balanced, it’s not all been plain sailing—not least because, as I write, I am sitting here nursing a hip injury thanks to some overzealous stretching! I hope next year will be about fine-tuning ‘The Great Reset’, finally selling our house, and realising our dream to live a more rural life in West Wales. Watch this space! If you want to hear me talk more about what’s been going on for me this year, I was recently on the ‘Ultimate You‘ podcast hosted by Jessica Barrett. We talked about many of these topics and more, including a shift in focus with my ‘other’ work as a coach, away from leadership coaching with corporates to facilitating change in midlife – enter The Midlife Warrior Programme for successful executives who are looking to thrive in the second half of life. In the middle of all this, this year, in May, Chris and I got married at the gorgeous Leez Priory in Essex, once home to Sir Richard Rich. The picture above is, I think, my favourite picture of the year and one that will create many happy memories for years to come. So, 2024 is wrapped—for better or worse! But I wonder what challenge you have overcome this year and what you are most proud of. I’d love to hear. Please hit return and let me know. In the meantime, We’ll be back in January to update you on what to expect from The Tudor Travel Guide in 2025. I look forward to sharing that with you. Have a wonderfully Happy New Year! |
| All my love, Sarah aka The Tudor Travel Guide P.S. Subscribe to my mailing list to receive all my most detailed write-ups of Tudor places so that you, too, can lose yourself in the sixteenth century…You can sign up via The Tudor Travel Guide homepage. See you on the inside! |
