What are you hiding from?
In my recent trip to the itSMF Conference, as expected we took a few group photos with the team during the few days.
Now, for most of this year I decided to grow a moustache. What started off as a bit of a joke one year for the kids ended up being something I got used to.
As the photographer in the family I take most of the family photos, so most of the time if I’m only in a shot for selfies. I’ve taken a few with the moustache and haven’t thought twice about it.
But I find myself looking at the photos from the conference and thinking “that isn’t me”. A weird feeling where it felt like I was playing a version of me but somehow not being authentic.
It reminded me of something my Mum said months ago. She doesn’t like it when I grow any facial hair; so when she quipped “What are you hiding from?”, I didn’t give it a second thought.
Now, looking at these photos of me at the conference I found myself asking the same question. Maybe I’m overthinking this. Maybe I’m just over the moustache era and looking to simplify where I can.
But for now, goodbye chops 😁
Crossroads
We all have moments in our lives that feel like a “deciding the path” moment. Right now, for a couple of reasons that feels like it for me.
There’s probably two areas of my life where I need to make decisions moving forward: my professional life, and my health and personal wellbeing.
Trigger #1: itSMF Australia Service Management Conference 2025
I was lucky to travel to Brisbane last week to attend the 2025 itSMF Australia Service Management Conference; my first despite being in the ITSM industry for over a decade.
There was a fair bit of apprehension before attending though. Part of this was the fact I’ve been disengaged with the community by choice for my career so far (yay for social anxiety).
The other part was the nagging feeling questioning my place in the industry. Not from a skill point of view, but from my work providing real value.
The good news is that my time at the Conference was great. Meeting a bunch of Service Management professionals, both doing great work and driving forward with a passion I envy, made me less cynical of the industry as a whole.
The bad news is I’m still unclear of my place in it. Once again, I find myself frustratingly indecisive around what the hell to do and how to make things better.
Annoyingly, one of the things I enjoyed the most was taking photos and videos for the team socials. That’s not a career for me though, want to keep that very much in the enjoyable hobby category.
Trigger #2: Blood test results
Note: Don’t worry, there’s no serious medical revelation coming up. Things are good.
A shamefully overdue blood test was done recently. Part of this is because I knew what the result would be. Letting myself go a little over the past year, feeling worse and putting on weight. The test results just confirmed all of this, sugars and cholesterol slightly elevated; another revision needed.
I’ve struggled with weight all my life. A few years ago I made a bunch of lifestyle changes which helped a lot. While I still am better that at my worst, the yoyo has happened again.
Starting off slow to restart some of the lifestyle changes. Eat less junk and more healthy foods, drink more water, move more.
It sounds so simple yet some of us struggle with it. I wonder if I can actually make them more consistent moving forward.
But at a minimum, I’ll give it my best go.