About

Mindset is everything

v1.1 / updated 15/11/24

Within this blog I hope to share personal experiences, lessons and research I've gathered through my 20 year self development journey. I hope the posts motivate readers to start or continue their personal challenges with a bolder mindset.

The blog themes and scope

This blog will primarily consider 3 core topics of:

💡mindset
⚡productivity
👥 networking

The supporting topics of

💚 physical health
🧠 mental health optimisations
✈️ travel (to move out your comfort zone)

will also be considered.

Personal findings, not professional advice

This blog is not written as professional advice and the scope of topics covered is intentionally limited. Volatile topics such as politics, religion, social justice, gender ideology and criminal justice are 'off limits' (including user commenting). Individuals must continue to do their due diligence when researching topics and consult qualified physical/mental health professionals. See the disclaimer for full information.

Is this blog just for single people?

The blog was not created for a specific demographic. The title 'bold solo' was partly selected because the majority of my experiences and lessons were undertaken while single. This experience has both advantages and disadvantages. When deciding the blog title I decided to align with my largely solo experiences, so I could write authentically from this perspective.

However the primary reason for the title was the core belief that everything starts with the individual, and the individual's mindset. Positively changing your mindset means you can create a ripple effect of better serving, sharing and encouraging all others you contact. The power of team work and networking is undeniable. A strong solo/personal mindset compliments, rather than opposes, this fact. The more you commit to work on yourself, the more you can give to others.

Have you mastered 'being bold' and a 'strong mindset'?

No. I strongly believe improvement in these areas is an ongoing challenge, a lifelong journey. I will be presenting my journey and lessons, not as an example of 'mastery', but as a honest and vunerable record. The blog will outline the progression from my origin of zero confidence with a generous topping of social anxiety. I hope this will demonstrate that anyone, including those with social anxiety, can choose to change their mindset and experience the benefits.

Unqualified and unremarkable

It is common for the 'about' pages of blogs to outline the detailed credentials and remarkable achievements of the author. So this will be a short section. From the academic point of view I have no qualifications in psychology, mental health, or physical health. My IT degree gives no acumen to the majority of the interest topics I enscribe and I don't claim to output professional advice. In the absense of remarkable achievements, I will instead relate created systems, processes and experiences which have been immensely helpful and I hope can aid readers (see next point). Being completely transparent in this area can help readers to decide whether the blog content is rogue or relatable (possibly both).

Right or successful?

We are constantly learning. The desire 'to be right', or the feeling that one has to respond to every topic, instead of simply saying 'I don't know' can be expressions of ego.

One of my favourite quotes on this matter was within the introduction of a video by Dr. Eric Berg. Within the introduction to this video he expressed a revision of a viewpoint within the topic of nutrition. Did he feel shame about his previous view, or enter in to a damage control episode. No. He simply said:

“My goal is not to be right about things, it's to be more successful about things.”

Ideally we all strive to be both right and succesful. But the desire to be right is a stumbling block to future learning and development.

With this in mind I hope to practice honesty and transparency if the views expressed in this blog evolve over time.

Why did you start this blog?

In 2024 I hit the 'valley' and had to reconstruct my unbalanced life, address physical health concerns, and most signifigantly tackle a mental health freefall following the lockdown years. I am passionate about mental health and have supported the M.I.N.D charity by fundraising and undertaking workplace training.

When it comes to mental health resilience, although I appreciate the value of talking, nature and meditation, writing is my 'go to' practice. I have enjoyed writing from childhood, and thankfully as my handwriting is so bad, I didn't have to worry about others being able to decipher my scriblings.

I was fortunate to receive early support for this blog concept in 2024. And so, after making a commitment to start therapy, I decided to pull the trigger and deshame my experiences through writing. Although I have 'written' notes and journals on mindset, social anxiety, mental resilience and productivity for over 2 decades, these have remained private. With the blog launch in the last quarter of 2024, it was time to step up, be vunerable and publically unravel my thoughts. I hope readers will resonate, connect and maybe benefit from my clumsy ramblings. I also hope they will feel comfortable sharing their own experiences in the comments.

Feeling no connection does not mean there no hope

The idea of undertaking challenges 'solo' is generally not appealing. Like myself, you may at times have felt alone or isolated with regards to your convictions, goals or passions. This can eventually lead to feeling self-doubt and zero connection.

However, these times can also be the building blocks for your personal resilience. Whether you've faced similar challenges to myself, such as confidence, social anxiety, mental health or dopamine addictions, a changed mindset can be a powerful tool to change your direction.

This will be my first writing project so I'd love to hear your constructive feedback. Please subscribe to the blog updates and share with any friends who may find the topics of interest.

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