About

I’m Nick. I’m 42, I live in a small village in England, and from the outside, my life probably looks pretty good.

I have a career I enjoy, a home, two dogs, hobbies, friends and the freedom to do more or less what I want. Yet somewhere along the way, I’ve found myself enjoying surprisingly little of it.

That’s what Beyond the Bare Minimum is about.

I’m not setting out to reinvent myself, become relentlessly productive or write a guide to happiness. I just want to find out whether I can make a life that looks pretty good on paper actually feel that way too.

WHAT I’M DOING

I’m going to try things. Some small, some ambitious, and probably some that turn out to be terrible ideas.

Part of that means putting books, theories and advice to the test. Rather than just reading about building better habits or making new friends, I’ll spend time actually trying their suggestions and seeing what happens.

The rest is about experiences. Getting out of familiar routines, meeting people, learning things and occasionally doing something simply because it sounds interesting.

Alongside all that, I’ll write about the people, relationships and moments that have shaped who I am. Because understanding how I got here seems just as important as figuring out where to go next.

I’ll share what works, what doesn’t, and anything interesting that happens along the way. I suspect there’ll be plenty of all three.

A FEW EXTRAS

There’s usually something behind what I write, and where I can, I’ll share it.

For the experiments, that might be the books that inspired them, along with any tools or resources I’ve created. For experiences, I’ll include links to the places, people or activities involved, so you can explore them yourself if something catches your interest.

And for the personal stories, there’ll often be music. Certain songs have become inseparable from particular people, places and moments in my life. They’re an important part of those stories for me, and I’d like to share that connection with you.

WHY I’M DOING THIS PUBLICLY

I could do all of this privately, of course. Keep a journal, try a few things, occasionally congratulate myself for getting off the sofa.

But I’ve spent enough time thinking about making changes without actually following through. I want something that encourages me to keep going, particularly when the initial enthusiasm wears off.

So I’ve made myself a commitment: I’ll publish something every Wednesday and Sunday, by 9pm. And because apparently a deadline isn’t quite enough, I’ve attached a financial penalty to missing one.

You can read the full arrangement, including how readers can hold me to it, on my Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is page.

I don’t know where any of this will lead. Hopefully somewhere interesting. At the very least, I’ll have some stories to tell.