Three Things

I was scrolling through LinkedIn the other day when a post from Nico Rosberg caught my eye. Anyone who knows me will know how much I love Formula 1, so anything involving Toto Wolff usually has my attention. Nico was sharing something Toto had once said about happiness, and although it was only three short lines, they really made me think.

Someone to love. Something to do. Something to dream of.

Isn't it funny how the simplest ideas are sometimes the ones that make you stop?

I started asking myself why those words had resonated so much. Was it because I agreed with them? Or was it because, without really realising it, I'd been taking stock of my own life over the past few months?

I think it's probably the latter.

There have certainly been times over the last couple of years when life has felt like it was all about getting through the next day, the next week or the next challenge. I'm sure many of us have been there. You become so busy keeping everything moving that you stop lifting your head up to look beyond what's immediately in front of you. Work needs doing, people need you, the washing machine breaks, life happens... and before you know it, weeks have turned into months.

It made me wonder whether that's why so many people reach a point where they feel a bit lost. Not because they're unhappy, exactly, but because somewhere along the way they've stopped dreaming. They've become brilliant at managing life but forgotten to ask themselves what they're actually looking forward to.

When I read Toto's quote again, I realised it wasn't really the first two lines that stayed with me. Most of us have people we love. Most of us have something that fills our days, whether that's work, family or a combination of the two.

It was the third line that got me.

Something to dream of.

I don't think dreams have to be huge. They don't have to involve climbing Everest or packing everything up and moving to the other side of the world. Sometimes they're much quieter than that.

They might be finally doing the Parkrun you've been talking about for months. Booking the ski holiday you've kept putting off because your confidence has taken a knock. Starting a course simply because you've always wanted to learn something new. Or perhaps it's giving yourself permission to build something that excites you, even if you have no idea where it might lead.

When I look at my own life, I realise how much energy I've gained recently simply from having things I'm excited about again. My clinical hypnotherapy training. Developing new ideas for my business. The conversations I've been having with ski instructors about creating something that genuinely supports skiers beyond a single lesson. None of those things are guaranteed to work out exactly as I imagine, but that's almost beside the point.

They've reminded me what it feels like to look forward instead of constantly looking at what's next on the to-do list.

Perhaps that's why the quote stayed with me. It wasn't really offering a formula for happiness at all. It was reminding me that, whatever stage of life we're in, it's important to have something that pulls us forwards. Something that sparks our curiosity. Something that makes us think, "I can't wait to see where this goes."

So this week, instead of asking whether you're happy, perhaps ask yourself something slightly different.

Who do I love?

What gives my days meaning?

And perhaps most importantly...

What am I dreaming about?

Because I have a feeling that question might tell us more about ourselves than we realise.