The year was 2008.

I had a summer at uni with diddly squat to do apart from write my dissertation for my Mechanical Engineering Masters.

I got into a bit of a wacky routine.

(Mum and Dad, look away now)

I’d sleep in each morning. And when I say sleep in, I meant I REALLY slept in. 

I’d wake up about 2pm, stroll through to the kitchen halls to make some breakfast and spend the next couple of hours playing poker.

Around 5pm I’d start to think about work.

So I'd pack my bag, trot along to the engineering lab and do a few half-hearted experiments. Then around midnight I’d wander back to my room, have some dinner, watch a movie and play some more poker.

My cue for going to bed was when the sun came up. 

Now, fast forward to today.

This morning I woke up at 5.10am.

I’ve spent the last couple of hours making coffee, boiling two eggs, checking last night’s football scores, poking around on a couple of forums and replying to some emails from new subscribers.

I’ve also spent a few minutes editing my new book and now I'm writing this email.

When I look through Fort Grundy’s turrets and battlements (aka my office window), the sun is just about peeking out from above the horizon.

I feel content. I’m enjoying my oasis of calm and creativity before I fire up laptop number 2 and see what my banking job has in store today.

Quite the turnaround from my uni days.

So was I an evening person who’s morphed into a morning person?

Actually, I don’t think so.

I’m not a morning person OR an evening person.

None of us are.

Sure, you might say you’re a morning person. You might also say you’re a dog person, a chocolate person, a book person, not a book person, an optimistic person, an empathetic person, a realistic person, a spiritual person and so on…

But attaching a name tag to pure potential doesn’t change the fact you’re pure potential.

All it does is take a wide open road and fill it with traffic cones.

Going for an early morning run is tricky when you’re not a morning person. Going to a party could be hard when you’re an introverted person. And asking for a pay rise can be tough when you’re not a confident person.

All these are examples from my own life. 

Examples of when the tags I gave myself stopped me doing the stuff I really wanted to do.

But the truth is, none of us are our tags. There’s nothing fixed or locked-in about us.

We’re all wide open roads, clear of roadblocks and ready for exploration.

And you get to decide where you go next.

Speaking of which:

When Lauren’s bun in the oven arrives in the next few days, I doubt I’ll be a morning person or an evening person but more of a whenever-the-baby-says-so person.

This is why I’m pausing my 1 on 1 coaching for at least a couple of weeks.

If you’re currently taking a package of sessions with me, I’ve emailed you separately.

Otherwise if you’d like to be first in line for when my coaching kicks back up, here’s the link:

https://waitinglist.followingfulfilment.com