With Mental Health Awareness Week providing an opportunity to pause and reflect on what we each do to support our wellbeing, it felt like the right time to share a little about my 40before40 challenge.
At the start of 2026, I decided to set myself a challenge: complete 40 things before turning 40. The idea behind 40before40 was simple, to push myself outside of my comfort zone and make space for experiences I would otherwise never prioritise. While fitness features heavily, with at least one major physical challenge every month, the list was never just about exercise. It was about creating moments that were intentionally for me.
Why did I do it?
As part of a leadership team, your diary can quickly become consumed by meetings, squeezing emails and “doing the doing” into every available gap, before suddenly the day has disappeared. When you genuinely love what you do, it becomes even harder to switch off. I often find myself happily working through the evening because I enjoy the challenge and momentum of it all.
Add in children’s activities, PTA commitments, school life and the general chaos of family schedules, and I realised I was living a very full life - but not necessarily one with enough space for my own wellbeing.
Mental health is often associated with slowing down, mindfulness or rest, and while those things absolutely matter, I’ve also realised that wellbeing can come from growth, challenge and purpose. For me, having goals to work towards creates focus and accountability. I’m someone who is hugely motivated by milestones, targets and achievement. It’s probably one of the reasons I’ve always loved loyalty programmes and reward mechanics professionally - there’s something incredibly powerful about having clear goals, visible progress and small wins along the way. The same principle applies personally too.
I’m definitely not naturally athletic, so anything that significantly increases my heart rate rarely fills me with excitement - unless it involves dancing or being on my bike. But setting myself structured challenges gives me a reason to keep showing up. The 40before40 journey started with a DEKA MILE challenge, which I somehow convinced a friend to join me for. Together we smashed our PB by five minutes, completing it in 26 minutes.
Coming up, I have the Blenheim Triathlon, DEKA FIT, DEKA Strong and, if I can talk myself into it, a few running challenges too, despite running being the thing I dislike most. But the list isn’t all fitness-focused. Other challenges include watching a thriller stage show, reading a Jane Austen book and finally completing craft projects I’m about five years behind on.
There is only one challenge out of the 40 that is charity-backed, and that is Trek26. On 1st August, myself and four friends will be trekking 26 miles of the Norfolk coast in support of the Alzheimer’s Society. If you’d like to support us (and help motivate us through the blisters and inevitable complaints), you can sponsor us here: Trek26 Fundraising Page
As I approach my 40th birthday, it amazes me just how many friends and colleagues have been directly impacted by dementia and Alzheimer’s. In September 2025, we lost my father-in-law to this cruel and debilitating illness. Another close friend is currently navigating the same heartbreaking journey with a family member affected by vascular dementia.
Experiences like these remind you how important it is to look after not only your physical health, but your brain health and emotional wellbeing too.
This weekend, our team headed down to the South Coast for a 15-mile training walk. It turned into so much more than simply preparing for the challenge ahead. It gave us uninterrupted time to talk, share worries, discuss the things currently weighing on us and support each other properly - something busy lives don’t always leave enough room for.
That, perhaps, has become the biggest lesson from 40before40 so far.
The challenges themselves matter, but the real value has come from what they create around them: space to reconnect with myself, permission to prioritise experiences, moments of discomfort that build confidence and opportunities to strengthen relationships with the people around me.
My 40before40 journey is forcing me to step away from the constant whirlwind of life and become more intentional about my own wellbeing. And maybe that’s the reminder Mental Health Awareness Week is really about, wellbeing doesn’t always have to look like slowing down. Sometimes it looks like saying yes to the things that challenge you, energise you and remind you who you are outside of work, responsibilities and routine.