This year is going to speed past... whether we like it or not.

On 28 June last year, I was driving with my Dad. He described what Parkinson's feels like in social situations:

"Like three people firing tennis balls at you at once"

I had completely forgotten that conversation. I only remembered it because I'd written it down that night.

A few years ago, I started a micro-journaling practice based on what Matthew Dicks calls "Homework for Life". Each evening, I jot down one storyworthy moment from the day in the journal app on my phone. Not paragraphs, just a few lines, sometimes accompanied by a photo or two. Enough to trigger the memory.

As I've flicked through my entries for 2025, it's reminded me just how many meaningful moments slip through my awareness and, for all practical purposes, are lost forever.

Dicks describes these moments as dander in the wind. Moments that blow past you unless you learn to see them and capture them.

Another example, from 22 August, a text message from my daughter:

"Have an amazing day Dad I love you so so soooo much!!!! Hope work goes well and ur bawld head keeps shining!"

That still makes me smile... and now it will for years to come.

Looking back at my entries for last year, I'm struck by their potential to shape how I do this year. I'm seeing patterns, reflections, and formative memories.

In my work with clients, as we aim to be people or teams of influence, we start by influencing ourselves first - particularly our attention and perspective. Because what we see drives what we do.

And in this, my second reflection for the start of the year, I want to plug the value of micro-journalling. It's a low-effort practice with significant returns. A way to bottle moments of poignancy and joy, and to influence the person you are becoming.

This year will fly past.

How will you capture the moments?