Last week, my Grandad made his way heavenward after an incredible 92 years on Earth. It's a huge loss for our family, but witnessing his peace, and even joy, at the prospect of going to heaven was the most moving display of the truth that “to die is gain.” On Sunday, someone asked me whether his passing had stirred in me a desire to live with more urgency, as a fresh reminder of how fleeting life is. But, interestingly, that wasn’t what I felt at all.

It was late. I was tired. All I wanted was to collapse into bed but then I saw my nemesis: a pile of freshly washed clothes I’d dumped there earlier, still waiting for their final destination in the wardrobe. With a sigh, I scooped them up and set them on the floor beside the bed. I’ll do that tomorrow, I told myself. But then a strange thought popped into my mind…

Last week, while driving my son to swimming lessons, he said, "I don’t want to go."
Not a huge shock, if you’ve spent any time with five-year-olds, you’ll know how quickly they tend to change their minds, my son is no exception.

This week, I had a call with a mentor. Just as we were wrapping up, they leaned closer to the camera, looked me straight in the eye, and said, loud and clear:

“Emma, you need to BACK YOURSELF!”

It was a hard truth but those words were exactly what I needed to hear.

So, I was listening to a Mel Robbins podcast where she shared her weekly planning routine. I gave it a go, tweaked it a little, and ended up with a process that’s genuinely changed the game for me. It’s simple, satisfying, and—shockingly—actually helps me get stuff done.

I have a degree in Journalism. And while I didn’t love the course (it leaned heavily into newspaper journalism and barely touched on anything else) I did learn some core principles that have stuck with me far more than I ever expected.

"The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself." – Plato

We often imagine victory as something external—achieving a goal, landing a dream job, buying the house, ticking off the bucket list. Society praises the visible wins, the shiny moments, the Instagrammable milestones.

I have been journaling for most of my life, so a diary isn’t a difficult thing for me to maintain, but this felt a little different, for obvious reasons; mainly that other people will read it.