In the last 7 days I have been in 4 different cities: London, Jeddah, Mecca, and Madinah; what have I learned?

They say you learn a lot about someone when you travel with them, it is true. The cities I have visited are full of travelers and those who live there for work purposes. At the end of the day we all share a common desire to be successful and do well – of course definitions of success are individual with some seeking societal impact, others longing to gather more and more wealth, and some desiring learning through a range of life experiences. Of course there are other things we could add to this list.

Whether you want all of these or you desire something totally different I think at the end of the day what we seek across the world has a common theme – and that is that we have goals and aspirations.

As we are settling into the autumn, I would love to ask you what your wishes are for the remainder of the year? We still have a good 3.5 months which is plenty of time to make change, or embed something.

Whilst writing this letter to you on the Haramain bullet train between Mecca and Madinah, traveling at 300km/hour, I have created my own list of aspirations for the remainder of the year:

– To complete a training that has been lingering over me for a while.

– To sort through all of my possessions and do a Marie Kondo and get rid of everything that does not give me joy.

– To plan my travel and trips for 2025

– To review my financial plan for the rest of this decade

– To plan time for quarterly personal retreats

– To identify 3 things I will stop doing, 2 things I will continue, and 1 thing I will start doing.

What are your aspirations for the rest of the year? If you are reading this on your phone, take out the note app and jot down a few things. There is no better time than now before we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the working week again!

Some images from my travels. As I look at these I realise I really like textures and geometry. I also like taking pictures in taxis! Enjoy :-)

I have been traveling with my mum who is in her late 70’s and my young adult children; what have I learned?

Towards the end of our life simple things can become hard and young people take what they have for granted. I have seen the struggle that my mum goes through to walk a few steps, something that is easy for me and I am aware of. And then I look at my kids who have little appreciation of their strength, ability, and opportunity just because they are able to physically move in a way that is not restricted.

Traveling whilst sandwiched between those who are older and younger than me has made me far more reflective on what I can and can’t do, and much more grateful for what I do have.

This got me thinking about the summer generally – most of the time when I’ve asked how July/August was people replied by saying it was ‘great/good/a proper break.’ Perhaps I could have probed a bit more and asked ‘what was great/good?’ or ‘what did you appreciate about the break?’

Appreciating what we have and expressing gratitude for it is proven to increase happiness, wellbeing, and general calm.

I have been working and on vacation in the same trip; what have I learned?

How does one switch between work and relax mode outside of the general weekend to week dance that we all do quite regularly? In some ways it is harder when I am traveling because I have to check what day of the week and time it is. My google calendar is still set to UK time so all my meeting times have shifted forward two hours and that also disorients me a little.

So how do I settle between these shifts that are more stark? I saw this as a little challenge for the last week, and in my personal experiment I have discovered that being conscious and deliberate about the shift between ‘work Saiyyidah’ and ‘holiday Saiyyidah’ is important. It is like the shift between being a daughter and being a mum, something I am having to juggle on a moment by moment basis at the moment making it even more essential to make sure I am showing up with the right identity and frame of mind.

For me the decision that enables the shift is the thing that makes it easy to happen, otherwise one can get lost in a no mans land! It is similar to the shift needed in creating the space between the weekend and the week, and week and weekend. How do you get through those changes?

What sits at the threshold of these spaces for you?

A good way of understanding your own behavior more is to understand what you do on a Friday and Sunday night. These are the transition points. In the old days when I worked as a Executive Director Sunday was all about preparing for the week ahead and was chores of washing clothes etc. I wonder why did I put so much effort into that? Today I push my getting ready for the working week to around 7pm on a Sunday and then glance at my calendar for a few minutes and look for where the ‘pitfalls’ might be, and identify where I am required to pay a little more attention for a range of reasons.

On Fridays I stop work at 5pm, and usually the time after 3pm is for reflection, catching up with paperwork, or making calls with people who I want to reconnect with – still work activities but with a different cadence.

And I think that is the key to what I have learned between working and travelling on the same trip – awareness of the cadence and what is required of me in the moment is what enables me to show up as my best.

– What helps you to be the best version of you at work?

– What helps you to be the best version of you at home?

– What helps you to be the best version of you at play?

I leave you with this to think about as you go into the week.

Have a great one and see you again on Sunday.

All my best,

Saiyyidah