Tag Archives: mental health

The Twixtmas Trap and the Myth of the Fresh Start

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Because frankly, “New Year, New You” is a total shit idea.

The annual circus has arrived. Right on cue, we’ve hit that “Twixtmas” stage—that weird, blurry week between Christmas and the New Year where the “New Year, New You” industrial complex kicks into high gear.


I can’t look at a screen without being bombarded by adverts for PureGym memberships or “life-changing” masterclasses. My social feed is a toxic sludge of Dry January manifestos and, recently, people shouting about military calisthenics in the freezing cold. Even the supermarkets have swapped the mince pies for those “low-fat” rice cakes—which, for anyone watching their blood sugar, are basically flavoured cardboard disks that spike your levels if you even look at them sideways.


It’s a collective fever dream of performative productivity, and frankly, it’s a shit idea.


1. The Myth of the “Fresh Start”
The idea that you need a specific square on a calendar to change your life is the ultimate form of procrastination. If you’ve been sitting on your arse waiting for January 1st to “start” something, you’re not just behind—you’re probably going to quit.

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🤦When Good Intentions Go Massively Tits-Up

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Right, settle in. We’ve all been there, haven’t we? That moment you try to be incredibly helpful and, instead, you look like a prize pilchard. I’m talking about my latest spectacular self-sabotage, an act of sheer, well-meaning idiocy involving one of my brilliant clients.

My Helpful Default Mode

For those who don’t know, my two birth-children are technically adults now. They are both brilliantly capable, but they still manage to drive me insane and do spectacularly stupid things. They are also severely dyslexic. I’ve lived the struggle, and I know that sometimes, a great, big wall of text is the absolute worst. A quick voice note? Brilliant. A chat? Even better. It’s my default setting for communicating anything important to them.

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The Burnout Warning Signs: Protecting Trustees

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Read time: 8 minutes

Sarah sounds tired when she calls. Really tired. Not the kind of tired that comes from a busy day teaching primary school children, but something deeper. Something that sleep doesn’t seem to fix.

Three years ago, Sarah joined the board of Oakdale Community Sports Hub with excitement. She’d been volunteering as a football coach and wanted to help the charity grow. Now, when she talks about the Hub, there’s still love in her voice—but it’s mixed with something else. Worry. Exhaustion. The weight of feeling responsible for keeping the doors open.

Sarah and her charity are fictional, but their story mirrors what happens to real organisations across the UK every day.

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