Tools for anchoring
It started with my sisters calling me grumpy. It jarred—mainly because I didn’t think I was a grumpy person. Was I?
The comments didn’t stop. And they coincided with a time in my life when I’d started to notice the drink and drugs becoming uncomfortable. I wasn’t just indulging socially anymore—I was doing it alone. That story reached a peak in 2020, but around that time, something unexpected happened: I started reading again.
I’d stopped for most of my adult life—something I’m not proud of. But suddenly I was devouring books. Derren Brown’s Happy. Mo Gawdat’s Solve for Happy. There was a clear thread running through all of them: references to Stoicism—a practical philosophy born in Ancient Greece.
I recognised some of the names—Socrates, Plato, Marcus Aurelius—but I didn’t know why they still mattered. So I dug deeper and picked up A Guide to the Good Life by William B. Irvine. That book blew my mind.
I realised I’d become a little arrogant. I thought I was the finished article—educated, curious, sorted. But I’d stopped asking questions. I’d closed myself off to anything spiritual or outside the mainstream. It had blinkered me.
That book opened the door. And through it came three tools that now form the backbone of how I live. They underpin Mission 52, and along with Sam Harris’s question—“What would you do now if you only had a year to live?”—they helped me shape my six pillars.
I call them tools. But really, they’re more like anchors. Individually, each one offers clarity. Together, they create a kind of feedback loop—one that helps me live with more awareness, intention, and emotional honesty. And that starts with one simple shift: paying attention.
1. Tune In – Mindfulness
It starts within. With the right teacher, you can begin to pay attention to what’s actually happening—beneath the noise of thought and ego.
Sensations. Sounds. Emotions. Even thoughts themselves. They all appear within consciousness before we rush to label or judge them. Mindfulness has helped me develop the ability to sit with what’s real, without the story.
It’s an underrated superpower. And there’s peace to be found here.
2. Make Sense – Journaling
This isn’t a diary. It’s an honest conversation with yourself. And being brutally honest—especially as a man—is no small thing. We’re not taught how to sit with our thoughts, let alone explore them.
Journaling gives me a way to peel things back. To look at what’s happening in my head and heart, and try to make sense of it all. It’s where I identify the patterns that pull me off course, and the practices that keep me grounded. It’s where I learn what actually makes me feel like the best version of myself.
3. Act Well – Stoicism
With clarity comes choice. And this is where Stoicism becomes a kind of compass.
The Stoics gave us a practical framework for living well. One that still holds up thousands of years later—because while the world has changed, we haven’t. At its core, Stoicism teaches you to focus on what you can control, and to accept what you can’t.
It’s as close to a religion as I’ve found—only without the deities and fantastical stories. Just a clear-eyed guide for how to be in the world. And when it’s aligned with personal values, it becomes something even more powerful: a way to move through chaos with calm.
I still slip. I still drift. But with these three tools—mindfulness, journaling, and Stoicism—I have a way back. They don’t fix anything. But they do something better: they help me see more clearly.
And that clarity brings choice.
Choice to slow down.
To show up.
To stay aligned with what matters—one week at a time.
That’s what Mission 52 is. Not a system. Not a goal.
Just a gentle way of tuning in, making sense, and acting well.