Stepping off Autopilot
Reflections on time, health, and finding alignment again
I rarely take real time off.
No emails. No work. Just quiet.
When the noise stopped, my mind finally cleared. I realised how often I’ve been living on autopilot - always rushing to the next thing, rarely present in the one right in front of me. Time away reminded me how important it is to pause, to stay quiet, and to ask: Why did I start what I started? Am I still aligned with who I am today - or just following the momentum of who I was ten years ago?
Here are some of the shifts that surfaced:
I’ve been absent. Not physically, but mentally. Always living in the future, rarely here. That hurt. In the short term it hurts my closest family and friends. In the long term it hurts me.
A recent DNA test reminded me: my time might be shorter than I think. That alone compelled me to re-prioritise health.
I’m turning 40 soon. Another reminder: health isn’t optional. It’s the lever that makes every other lever possible.
Success depends on time. More healthy years = more unfair advantage = more leverage. So I’m treating health like a startup and doubling down - the engine behind everything else.
Alcohol has to go. No more pints after work, no more shots when going out. The cravings aren’t the issue - it’s the social side. I still don’t know how to navigate that. If you’ve cracked this, email me. I want to hear from you.
Sugar and processed food: cut. Boring to write about, but transformative to live. Except for my favourite chocolate cake at Jade in Blackheath, London.
AI as an ally. I’ve been feeding GPT 5 my health data and book notes - even whole books. Training it on my body, my brain, and my plans. The power is wild when you point it at the right data. It’s already helping me design systems for body health, mind health, and business.
Play is back. I’ve been designing for almost 20 years. The rules change, but the feeling evolves - shifting shape yet staying familiar. Recently I started building small apps with Cursor, Claude and Replit. It reminded me how much I love to experiment and learn - the priceless feeling of creating something for its own sake. No budgets, no timelines, no margins. Just play. I’ll be launching a few new side projects soon.
No clean conclusion. Just a messy set of shifts I don’t want to lose - and that I wanted to share with you.
If you’ve gone through something similar - cutting alcohol, reshaping health, or rethinking how you spend your time - I’d love to hear your story. Email me.
PS: I’ve been quietly building something new that I’m super excited about. I’ll share more soon.