Fifty years ago Alvin Toffler and Adelaide Farrell wrote a book called Future Shock. They defined the term "future shock" as a psychological state where individuals and entire societies experience "too much change in too short a period of time". They could have been writing about 2020.
Our world suddenly became one of health catastrophe, economic collapse, post-truth populist politics, post-geographic post-industrial work, isolation, loneliness and unpredictable change.
The challenge of life became one of adapting to change, for the entire world, and for me.
Let's get the things that didn't go so well out of the way first.
I started studying Krav Maga, which I really got a lot out of. Pandemics, not enough time, and not being in one place made it impossible to continue.
I started lots of side projects, didn't finish any of them. Mostly that's ok though as the projects were more about learning about the indie maker community and approaches to side projects. The side project I worked most on was the Ultimate Digital Tools List. There are lots small lists on nocode products and the like but I wanted to create as a comprehensive a list as possible with the idea that it could be used by indie makers to figure out the best tech stack for their business.
I joined Visualise Value, a paid community of indie makers, but never gave it enough time to get the most out it.
I wanted to read books. Actual books. But I never had the time. Any time I could of spent reading I choose to spend studying. Rightly so, because it's more of a priority but it meant all those books remain unread.
I'm grateful that so many things went well this year.
I started a new role at the Prince's Trust in January. And I've really enjoyed it. It hasn't been without its challenges, but that's where the fun is, in figuring out how to navigate the things that get in the way. I'm lucky to have a manager who is clear about what he wants to achieve and what he wants me to achieve. I'm even luckier to be part of a team that wants to learn how to build things that help young people achieve.
I continued to be a trustee of a small mental health charity. For some time I've wondered whether I should resign, whether I have anything of value to add. Then, one day one comment from one person and I realised what I bring. I'm the only one on the board who works in the charity sector, so although I don't have experience in investing or property management I can offer some perspective on what I see happening across the sector and how these might be relevant to our charity and work.