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2023 challenges

Project pause

Published April 2, 2023

Project pause

I mentioned in my wrap-up of the March challenge that I’m taking a pause on these monthly endeavours, because there are only so many hours in the day. That’s part of it: I don’t know why I assumed time would just keep expanding to allow me to add hobby after hobby. But there is more to it than that… in having to pause the project, it really proves what a success it has been.

How to break the news

Published April 1, 2023

How to break the news

My challenge for March was to read the front page of the Financial Times website every day, and see what interested me, read through some of the articles and generally get a bit smarter. I’ve talked already about how surprised I was at the variety of content for what is originally a newspaper about financials and economies, and that continued as a pleasant surprise as the month went on.

Making a mountain out of a molehill

Published March 11, 2023

Making a mountain out of a molehill

I’ve been reading the Financial Times for about ten days now. I mean, I say reading it which sounds very grandiose but it’s more like scanning the homepage for interesting topics. There have been a couple each day, although naturally the weekend is quieter than during the week. I’ve been surprised at the variety, though, with lots of culture stuff that’s interesting, TV reviews, and even recipes! Plus all the expected economic talk as well, of course.

Keeping abreast of the times

Published March 2, 2023

Keeping abreast of the times

For a while now, I’ve had access to a digital Financial Times subscription and have I made any effort to make use of it? No, I haven’t. Mostly, I think the politics puts me off, but there’s so much the FT covers that I’ve really been missing out on some good journalism. They cover politics, sure, and particularly the financial impact of such goings on, but there’s also a lot of business talk, marketing, global events, culture and interviews with some of the biggest and most influential names.

28 days later

Published February 28, 2023

28 days later

When I kicked off my February challenge of knitting, it was my intention to pop back in several times during the month and show off what I had made. I knew I wasn’t going to be producing sweaters and complicated patterns, but I thought there might be something worth shouting about. Turns out, knitting takes quite a bit of practice and time. I spent the first part of the month remembering how to cast on and what the difference between purl and knit stitches are.

A knit in time

Published February 1, 2023

A knit in time

February has arrived, and that means a fresh challenge, another chance to try something new. Actually, this isn’t something new to me but something I’ve tried my hand at a long time ago and since mostly forgotten: knitting! A lot of my previous experience was based on knitting rows and rows of just plain stitches, marvelling as the length of knitted material grew, then frogging the sort-of scarf I made and starting over again.

Working out the kinks

Published January 29, 2023

Working out the kinks

It’s not the best start for a new year of 30-day-or-thereabouts challenges to have given up halfway through the month, is it? Actually, it wasn’t so much giving up as realising it wasn’t working. Therefore I’m refraining from using the word fail because even though I didn’t do a full month like I hoped, I learnt a lot along the way. This month, I was supposed to be following a Les Mills challenge schedule, a featured workout each day that is backed by a scientific plan and reason for the order, duration and difficulty.

I like to move it, move it

Published January 2, 2023

I like to move it, move it

To kick off the new year, my first challenge is a health and fitness related one - to stick to a Les Mills challenge schedule. I was in two minds about this because, you know, the new year resolution to keep fit and change your life and be the absolute epitome of health is such a cliché and I am fully aware of that. But when I sat down and thought about it, the timing is perfect.

Happy new year 2023

Published January 1, 2023

Happy new year 2023

Wahey, we have reached a new year and there’s a fresh 365 days awaiting us. Last year was a bit of a rollercoaster on many levels, and although this is just another night turning into another day, it’s nice to have that clean slate feel of a New Year. I usually take this space to talk about what my aims and goals are for the year but for 2022 I mixed it up with a whole heap of 30 day challenges instead of twelve months concentrating on one thing.