Nothing like taking a step back in order to see the path forward

I've just entered the second week of what was a much needed holiday. In my inbuilt 'Americanisms' as a result of over 2 decades in Corporate, I found my fingers writing vacation, but I quickly deleted it..

The first week was blissful in that time went slow, time out with the family, getting some much needed movement and fresh air and the energy levels were good too. This week I have started to mentally 'uncoil', focusing on what I want to achieve both personally and professionally through to year end - and one of those outcomes was to think about my platform / audience here and how I wanted to impact others with regard to health and wellbeing in the workplace.

Do you make lists? I'm a big fan of lists, though invariably, they get mislaid. Its only when we stop to review, reflect and think on what we want as individuals that we can get some good self reflection going.

In my list making on holiday I wrote down how I wanted to live my life and Why. I figured that if I was going to overhaul my life it would be better to first work out the outcome / target state of what I was looking to achieve. This would then act as my 'North Star' in times of self criticism, doubt, fear and self resistance to change - allowing me to review again why I set out to do what I do.

Reading this almost sounds like the drafting of a Business Case on a significant investment, and I guess that it is. In Change and Transformation, often the Business Case is the go to on why an organisation is doing what its doing, why its doing it, what the benefits are, what the costs will be, and any Risks, Issues, Assumptions, Dependencies that are known.

Having wrote down my 'Wants' and 'Why's' it left with the conundrum which faces most people, and thats the How.

I heard a sound snippet the other day where it said "Change is possible, but you have to completely let go of what you are holding on to in order for change to happen".

I think this is where most people get stuck. I see a lot of suggestions on people who have transformed their life, though they are generally from a generation who have no significant commitments. These in turn can mean that you feel personally that you are constrained in your own evolution or journey - but it doesn't have to be that way.

I have spent three years working on my own recovery (and its still ongoing), trying to balance my health with my own commitments, but I haven't really embraced what I want to achieve from the event of having a heart attack and what I believe my contributions could be more significantly to other people. Its taken me over three years to develop my own mental aptitude and approach, and now also to start my physical recovery. A cheeky promo plug, but if you want to get real time data and insight into your physical self, then you could use Welltory , which is my go to application as it isn't locked to one source of data / device in order to work. With this link you'll get 30% off.

That's why things are about to change for "Jonny Frostick's Life 2.0". I think that could still be a book title and I like the term Life 2.0 still, as its about the upgrade if you like of an individual who is making change. But my vision is much bigger now on what I want to take forward and how I think I could go about helping others.

If not more than ever I can feel my mortality as I look at the road ahead versus the road behind and realise that, quite possibly, I have less road ahead of me.

And this moves on to another thought I've had over the last 10 days - Legacy. What am I doing now that can positively impact others and what am I doing to secure the future of my family and future generations. I have learnt over the past two decades that Job Titles really mean very little other than to feed our own sense of self worth - and whilst purposeful and beneficial, no one remembers the job title, only the person. I've also seen the effect on people when they leave a Corporation having held a relatively senior role and the sense of loss of identity, and its not something if its unplanned that you would want to go through.

I recall myself leaving Accenture at the beginning of my career, and you had to drop off your 'kit' to one building in London, and then go to another for the HR exit interview. Even though it was my choice at the time to leave, I can still feel the sense of numbness as I walked down the street afterwards, a complete sense of not having any identify. As it turned out, it was the right thing for me, I then went on to join JP Morgan a year later and the rest is history.

If I was guilty of anything in my life it would have been to not prioritise myself more. I've spent 9 months so far with a fantastic coach who has helped me develop myself further, put in place some healthy boundaries (and they are ALWAYS works in progress - think more of an Ocean defence wall - sometimes water will go over, but as long as the wall is holding, it can be addressed), and I've changed up a couple of gears mentally on how I'm managing myself and my environment - so my career, my life, my work, my relationships both personally and professionally.

And all of this reflection brings me back to the start. What do I want to achieve. I think if you're reading this then you too should be considering taking that step back, reflecting on what you want from your life, how you want to live it, what work do you want to do, what is your Legacy?

I will be announcing soon the change that is about to commence to the Newsletter in line with some super new content I have planned in September including:

• Videocasts: Following some of the requests I have received I will be publishing some videos of my recovery journey and musings / observations
• Podcast: I'll be leveraging content across media types including a regular Podcast so I can plot the journey

As I enter this next phase of my journey, I’m filled with a sense of purpose and anticipation. The reflections and planning during this much-needed break have clarified my vision for the future, both personally and professionally. Life 2.0 is more than just a catchy title—it represents a commitment to living with intention, embracing change, and leaving a meaningful legacy.

As I prepare to share new content, including videocasts and podcasts, I hope to inspire others to reflect on their own lives and take proactive steps towards the life they truly want to lead. The road ahead may be uncertain, but it’s one I’m excited to navigate with renewed energy and a clear sense of direction.

Thank you all for your continued support.

Jonny Frostick