As we approach the dark nights & cold mornings, today I want to share with you an insight into the personal journey I’ve been on over the past 9 months when it comes to both my physical & mental state. This took a huge hit last Autumn, and by sharing my story today I hope that I can help someone out there who may potentially have gone through, or is going through this battle too.
In the backend of 2021, my mental health massively deteriorated, due to a number of different factors, but naturally like most it spiralled from the change in weather, the days getting shorter and from just not enjoying the AW season. We were also still coping with the effects of COVID & with MBM being a remote-first company, I was spending most of my days alone and trapped inside the house.
With gyms constantly opening & closing, I had no real routine, and my eating habits had changed, I was indulging in junk food due to the restrictions still in place with restaurants.
My agency was also becoming increasingly busier, again after COVID and as a result, I was bringing on more team members, and more clients resulting in more responsibility, stress and an overall headache.
Being a new dad in COVID, lead to me falling back into old habits and utilising them as a coping method. This included excessive drinking and the use of recreational drugs, which as you’ll understand I am not best pleased with this looking back. This resulted in me putting on weight and my emotional, physical and mental states took a really hard hit. In all honesty, I was in the darkest place of my entire life.
Come January, when we fall into the cliche of ‘new year, new me’ I decided to act upon this and decided to seek support from the great John Beamson, also known as the Adventure mastermind.
As founder of Robustours North East Ultra, ex-army veteran John strives to support business owners, business professionals and CEOs to accomplish a range of outcomes, including overcoming mental health disorders to improving their fitness. Through hiking/running, he encourages individuals to go outside of their comfort zone and believe in themselves.
I had followed John for some time through Linkedin, & Instagram and really loved what he was about and his strong attitude towards improving mindsets & reached out to him on Monday the 10th of January 2022.
Four days later, I was picked up by John and we headed to the magnificent Rosebery Topping, at 6 am where he would assess me physically, mentally and emotionally to find out where I was really at. He identified my pain points & problems as the first component of the transformation.
The hike itself really pushed me to my limits, I couldn’t even make it to the top without taking five or six different breaks due to being out of breath & I absolutely despised it.
Eventually, I made it and once we were back on ground level I was so happy with what I had achieved, and this is where John introduced me to the CEO Adventure 90 program. This is designed for people like myself who are very busy, and who work in business and helps to build up resilience to stress, break up habits and present you with coping mechanisms. & I jumped at the chance to sign up for it.
January the 14th 2022 – this day feels like a lifetime ago!
The 90-day program consisted of two hikes per week, always with 6am starts, alongside one personal training session per week and one coaching session per week.
After the full 90 days, I felt so much better about myself, I was eating cleaner and picked up on my good habits again. I was also gradually losing weight, drinking less and banishing those old bad habits for good. My whole state had drastically improved.
Upon completion, I headed away on a much-needed vacation as a reward to myself but was then met by work stress again once returning home. Again, due to the effects of COVID, business hasn’t been as plain sailing as I’d hoped. We’ve won clients, lost them, some have been bought out and some businesses we’ve supported have completely collapsed due to the world’s state.
Besides this, I continued to keep up with my training and habits that I’d work to improve on, and John then suggested that the next biggest challenge was the National Three Peaks – a challenge which sees you climb Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike & Snowdon in 24 hours.
We discussed it and decided it would be a great personal achievement for me to say that in January of this year I couldn’t even climb Roseberry Topping without worrying about my heart. So we planned it, booked it and started the process of training towards it.
This was the biggest challenge that I’ve taken on both physically and mentally, and even taking a step out of my business was something that I would never have been able to do a few years ago. But, thanks to my great team, who have been so supportive of my journey I was able to.
Similar to my first hiking experience nine months ago, when climbing Ben Nevis I didn’t think that I could make it and how I could genuinely get up and down on a mountain, let alone climb two after. So, I had to dig deeper and I shocked myself, but I actually did it. I’m not a quitter after all and I feel fantastic for it.
Thursday the 1st of September – the face says it all!
When I look back on where I started I’m so proud of myself and the moral of the story here is that whilst it’s difficult to reach out at the time you can improve on yourself.
I started this journey at the worst time of my life, weighing 113kg and with the worst habits and now I’m at 102kg feeling fitter than ever and with the best living routine.
In the coming months, I will be working towards completing the Yorkshire Three Peaks, which is based on endurance and height. Stay tuned for dates and to read about this part of my journey.
If you are a business owner and find yourself in a bad mental health state, reach out to the great adventure mastermind, the infamous John Beamson today to learn more about CEO & adventure days out.
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