2016 Wasn’t the Year I Planned: And Why That Matters

It took me a little while to convince myself to jump onto the 2016 trend going around on socials, because the truth is that it was a super difficult year for me.

​I found it really tough with the Rio 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games dominating the summer. I’d set myself the goal of being there and after failing my classification and being told I wasn’t disabled enough(!?!) 
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I was lost. I struggled to figure out my purpose and my identity. I spent a lot of the year feeling confused, frustrated and tangled in self-doubt. Were the classifiers right? Was I really not disabled ‘enough’? As a result I pushed myself hard, trying to keep up with what I thought a non-disabled person did - and unsurprisingly this didn’t work. 

I wasn’t there yet, but I was creating the future I wanted. I kept showing up and trying new things - and I got to do lots of exciting stuff! I gave my first TEDX Talk, I went to South Africa where I was the archery expert for a TV commercial for Bridgestone Tyres and I joined a debate in the House of Lords. I cooked on TV, visited loads of schools, spoke to companies around the country and won the Women Of The Future award in the sports category - in an Olympic year! 

2016 helped me find myself and allowed me to explore new passions and purposes. It inspired me to use my voice to change things that mattered to me, I started to write more seriously and I met the most amazing people. It set me up for where I am now. 

It was painful and messy and full of questions, but it forced me to stop chasing a version of myself that no longer fit and start chasing one that did. It taught me that purpose isn’t always found on the path you planned, and that success doesn’t disappear just because it changes shape. 

And for that, I’ll always be grateful.