It’s been three months since the last instalment of Decelerate.

Three months because there’s been a lot of change. A lot of decelerating, ironically.

Sadly, my partner in crime Jamie has had to stop writing to focus on his own health as he battles something deeply personal and difficult. His diagnosis of a rare blood cancer hit me in my tracks to the point where I didn’t really know what to say.

I love building things with people. Working with people is the reason why I started building companies, why I wanted to invest in them. I got really good at finding people who would share my visions and passions for things.

Jamie was one of those people. Decelerate was supposed to be a platform where entrepreneurs could share their mental health struggles, where we could build an open forum to tell the difficult side of entrepreneurship.

Well, it’s probably now my turn to say that I’ve struggled again over the last six weeks with my mental health, even though I’m in one of the most extraordinary places on Earth in terms of opportunities here in Dubai.

And it’s hit me like a ton of bricks.

There’s been a general decline for me of purpose and understanding of fulfilment, which has also been driven by what I really want to create and put into the world coming to a standstill for a while.

We’ve all got to, at some stage, stop and ask: Why are we doing things? Are we doing it for the money? Are we doing it because we love it? Are we doing it because there’s some deeper driven purpose and meaning behind it?

This is generally speaking why people do things. And now’s a good time to reflect.

Jamie’s diagnosis hit me hard because he’s still so young, yet he and his family are facing one of the biggest challenges they will ever face. This isn’t about me. This is about Jamie being strong. But he’s a really good friend and somebody I’ve relied upon over the years, and his situation forced me to step back and ask:

Why do we do things? What’s the purpose behind it? What’s the meaning behind it? Why is it important and how do we do things well?

So, again, these are just more ramblings.

I picked up my phone earlier and realised I felt like I’d let a few people down because I was writing this newsletter at least once a week, if not twice a week with Jamie. And then Claire came on board and it kind of became a bit overwhelming with various things happening in my life - moving continent, figuring out Evio’s place in the Middle East and beyond, raising capital for the fund, and the potential interesting opportunities that arise in this region.

Something had to stop.

I woke up today and said, “Today is the day. I’m just going to get back on the horse and write.”

And here we are. The ramblings again of somebody who cares about how founders feel whilst maintaining good mental health.

I will talk in the next edition about some of the things I’ve been encountering since I’ve been here and how I’ve felt. But for now, readers, welcome back.

I don’t know how often or what the cadence is going to be like for writing these. But we’ve got there in the end.

Sometimes life forces you to decelerate in ways you didn’t plan for. Sometimes the most important thing isn’t consistency - it’s just showing up again when you’re ready.