Starting at 41: Right, It's Time To Get My Own Stuff Going

I’m 41, Let’s Start Living

For most of my adult life, I’ve put off doing the work that really lit a fire in my belly. Not because I didn’t care, or was short on ideas, but because self-doubt, fear, and life itself always got in the way.

Now, at 41, this is where I take what I’ve learned and actually use it. I’m putting real effort into this blog and finally starting the projects I’ve always talked about.

TL;DR: I spent most of my adult life putting things off and blaming doubt, ADHD and bad timing. At 41 I’m starting anyway, and this blog is where I do it in the open.

The Voices In My Head

Every time I thought about starting, the same old thoughts kicked in:

“You’re not good enough. There’s people out there a million times better than you. People will just laugh. Who’s going to listen to a lad from Newcastle with a stammer? Who do you even think you are, mate?”

So I waited. I told myself: “Later. When I’ve got more time. When I feel ready. When things settle down…”

Life Just Cracks On, Doesn’t It?

While I was waiting to start, life kept moving.

I’ve been doing web development as a hobby since I was 15, back in the late 90s. Later I did my Software Engineering degree in Newcastle to kick-start my frontend career. Raised three amazing kids. Got through relationships, a divorce during Covid, work, multiple jobs, and trying to hold it all together while my brain tripped me up at every turn.

ADHD, forgetting things, panic, doubting myself. My head never stopped throwing out ideas, which made it more annoying when I wasn’t moving forward. All the stuff I wanted to do just sat there, going nowhere.

So, Why Now?

The ideas never went away. The ambition never left.

What kept me stuck was believing I wasn’t ready. Now it feels like everything has lined up. The skills, the experience, my headspace, it’s all pointing forward.

I see life a bit like a download bar. The first half was learning, raising kids, working, surviving. The second half is building the life I want, instead of just watching it happen.

That mindset took me somewhere I didn’t expect. Six months later, I started a Masters in Strategic Leadership.

What This Blog’s About (And What It Definitely Isn’t)

Forget the polished influencer nonsense. This isn’t a hustle guide or a highlight reel.

I’m not a Silicon Valley founder, a startup guru, or a 20-something living off the bank of mum and dad while travelling Asia.

I’m a working-class lad from Newcastle who built his way up between school runs, coaching grassroots football, juggling multiple jobs, and dealing with life like millions of us do.

So what is this blog?

It’s about what I’ve learned and where I’m heading. An honest chat about mental health, ADHD, fear, and working things out as I go.

I’ll write about the frontend work I actually do, so development, accessibility and usability. And the super-budget solo travel, a dad with a backpack, sometimes a hostel and sometimes worse, because that’s the bit that makes it interesting.

The point of it is building things that help people, without pretending I’ve got it all worked out.

Let’s Build

I’m not waiting until everything is perfect. I’m starting now, with what I’ve got.

This blog is where I figure out the next bit of my career in public, mistakes and all.