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Dom Palfreman

@thedompal

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⌛️ Firm believer in all things being temporary
🌏 Lover of the sea and planet
💪🏼 Functional Fitness fan boi
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Each year, I write a year in review; look at what I’ve achieved, learned and want to take forward or change. As part of this I reread what I have written in the previous years [since 2014] and also reread what I have written throughout the current year. I do this to help myself grow. Just because it is the conclusion of a calendar year, it doesn’t mean that it feels a natural conclusion to anything else or a particularly easy time to reflect. Nonetheless… I have been very fortunate to do some lovely things in beautiful places with some breathtaking company. I also have a lovely dog, and even had double lovely dogs for a good period too. I learned lots, and took numerous second jobs and side hustles too. Been a part of impactful projects and spent lots of time walking, on beaches and drinking coffee. In all of the choices I made, I listened to my heart. And despite that sometimes being a rather illogical guidance tool, I would absolutely follow my heart again. Collecting experiences — wherever and whatever they are — with good company is truly excellent. Being able to talk about and relive them afterwards only adds to their value. Did I always really listen to my heart? No. I got caught up in ‘what next’ and missed some of the good bits and silliness available in the present. This year, I am keeping it ‘short’, so this is my final thought — a broad reflection rather than a definitive conclusion. And this is not a rule just for myself, but entirely universal: Sometimes emotions take time to be understood properly. Learning to sit with them, work out what sits beneath them, and decide how best to act on them is an ongoing process. It is not always comfortable, but it is important. Ultimately, you are the only variable you are in control of; you are your only constant. So whatever you do - you live with that. . . . . . #OnAnAxisOf23Degrees *CONCLUDED IN COMMENTS* by @thedompal
2
9 months ago
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A year in review pt.2 - an untimely conclusion? Not the usual time of year, but directly linked. This is, as always, a reflection purely for myself. I wrote before about listening to my heart, and it led me into genuinely great moments - and I do not regret that at all. It has also reminded me that not everything that feels right in parts will consistently feel good for me as a whole. I’ve been thinking more about what I need for something to feel healthy and sustainable - things like consistency, openness, and a shared sense of direction. I also need clarity, trust, and excitement. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it’s a solid foundation. Not everything ends with a shared understanding. Even when something concludes, the learning from it can continue. You can walk away from the same experience with different perspectives, and no clear way to line them up. That’s uncomfortable, but it’s part of it. With time to reflect, it’s also made me more aware of how easy it is to get caught in our own interpretations - to reinforce them quickly, and lose some of the nuance that comes from working things through. I am not immune to that. Not everything ends well, but I think how you choose to leave matters. So the learning for me is fairly simple, even if not always easy: • notice what feels right early • pay attention to things that feel off and stay true to my personal boundaries • treat people the way you expect to be treated • place my energy where it feels met I still trust my instincts; I will still follow my heart. And I will be intentional about where I place it. That feels like progress, even if I’m still very much learning how to apply it. . . . . . #RightOnTime by @thedompal
0
6 months ago
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A few months ago, Luke first expressed an interest in giving Crossfit a go by popping me a quick WhatsApp message: “Hi Dominic, Last night at the sports hour, I thought it was fun and good for me and the team games were awesome. Yes, I would like to do it again in a team, or one to one” Since then, his progress has been really quite something… His confidence. His understanding of terminology. His continuous effort and consistency. His strength. His coordination. His balance. And, perhaps most importantly, a total belief in what he CAN do. Luke has cerebral palsy… but whatever. This isn’t a story about “impairments”. It’s about his effort, his progress and what happens when you both believe ‘YOU CAN’ consistently do something. Wasn’t really sure what to write with this video. But ultimately, for what it’s worth, I am proud of you, Luke. And you’re a joy to coach, and you should be proud of yourself too 💪🏼 . . . . . #LightWeightBaby #CrossFit #FunctionalFitness #CrossFitExe #BelieveYouCan taken in CrossFit Exe by @thedompal
5
20 hours ago
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🌊 BE PART OF THE FIRST WAVE. Active for the Ocean 2026 is LIVE! Take on 71 miles this October for the 71% of our planet covered by ocean. 🚶 Walk it. 🏃 Run it. 🚴 Cycle it. 🏊 Swim it. Do it your way. Raise funds. Protect marine life. Complete your 71 miles and earn your eco finisher medal. 🏅🌊 71 MILES · 31 DAYS · ONE OCEAN 👉 Sign up now: Comment "Active" will send you the link ! by @thedompal
16
20 days ago
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I went on campaign with @paulwatsonfoundation.uk to Iceland, around the same dates I had did three years ago - but this time, it was a very different experience. More morbid. Less exploration. Less wonder. The last two times I came here, Iceland had my heart. This time it did not. Being here without it was hard, but not impossible. Night shifts, general exhaustion, and the smell of dead whale lingering in my nostrils. But I was here to be part of something I believe to be important. • I was here to witness and document the butchering of Fin Whales - including pregnant females and bulls. • I was here to witness the commandeering of the Bandero by Icelandic Special Forces and Coast Guard. • I was here to listen to experienced campaigners I already knew, and to meet people whose voices were new to me. • I was here to add my own voice to the conversation, and to be heard. I was here for the CPWF-UK Icelandic campaign, Operation 86. I am glad to have played a small part in its impact. I hope I find my heart. And I hope Iceland finds the heart to stop Loftsson. . . . . . #HaveHeart taken in Iceland by @thedompal
14
2 months ago
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Some perspective… . . . . . #StopWhaling taken in Whaling Station Bay by @thedompal
9
2 months ago
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Over the last 3 1/2 years I have actively been working on myself - physically, mentally etc… and have been sharing my journey. Quite vulnerable [for me] and useful [for others], so I thought. However, over time this has turned into seeking validation to feel ‘good enough’. My solution to how I felt perceived, and how I measured my value, became a large part of the problem. It became performative [subconsciously or not]. No one is done growing, learning or living really. But the next realisation for me, is to make sure it is not performative. That was never the intent - though being told I was ‘good enough’ was what I craved to hear and believe. People are in control of their own chatter, perceptions and misconceptions and that’s not a measurement of you. The irony of sharing this is not lost on me. But it serves as a punctuation mark, where I take a break, I start doing me and this differently. Intentionally. . . . . . #StillMind by @thedompal
0
3 months ago
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Time to warm up the Quads and Glutes before completing a @spartanraceuk Beast, in support of @paulwatsonfoundation.uk - 1 Half Marathon, 30 obstacles. …before heading to Iceland to join Operation 86 - The campaign to shut down Icelandic commercial fin whaling by Hvalur hf. The second largest mammal on the planet, the massive Fin Whale is hunted exclusively in the North Atlantic by Hvalur hf under the direction of CEO Kristján Loftsson. Support me to help put an end to this. It’s time to break the harpoons. . . . . . #BreakTheHarpoons taken in Reykjavík, Iceland by @thedompal
6
3 months ago
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2000 days ago I stopped drinking. It’s men’s health month, so it felt apt to share a snippet of my experience around this. Especially seeing as a large part of the focus is ‘reducing the stigma surrounding emotional well-being and encouraging open conversations’. In the comments, I thought I’d share… - why I stopped. - what was hard when. - what became better/worse. There’s lots I have shared, there’s lots I have not. . . . . . #LagerThanLife taken in 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩 by @thedompal
8
4 months ago
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12 months ago I moved back to Devon. This was never intended to be long term. It has been tough, and that has been reflected in my increasingly negative posts and my outlook. Someone said to me not too long ago, ‘the amount of good things in your life depends on your ability to notice them’. And that’s stuck with me a bit. There will always be challenges and goings-on, but even then there are still positives to hold on to. I get to live 3 minutes from the beach, and walk my dog by the sea every morning before work. Chip thinks that’s pretty *ucking sick. And he is a purveyor of fine sticks; I don’t think anyone else’s yard stick is for me to use. Except maybe my Gran’s. And I think she would have said that’s pretty *ucking sick too. Though she may have worded it differently. . . . . . #ChipsCove taken in South Devon by @thedompal
1
4 months ago
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March ‘26. On paper it looks like a list of big achievements - the sort of things people celebrate and congratulate: • Submitted my first two Level 7 Strategic Management assignments. • Completed the CrossFit Open again, in gyms I’d never been to, across two countries (jet lag and illness included). • Ran a half marathon on the other side of the world, with a stress fracture 🤦🏼‍♂️ • Travelled to NZ through China alone and secured the three-year visa I have wanted for a long time and thought was out of reach. • Bought my own house in the UK after nearly six months of it slowly grinding towards completion. People call these ‘big things’. But what this list doesn’t show is the other side of the month… and having to keep everything moving anyway. We celebrate the visible achievements. This month I did things I once thought would feel huge - things that were meant to bring pride, certainty, a sense of direction. Instead, they’ve mostly felt quiet, hollow, and more complicated than foreseen. But they still happened. And maybe that’s the part worth acknowledging - that sometimes progress doesn’t feel like progress at all. Sometimes it just looks like continuing to move forward while carrying more than you planned for. No highlight reel for that. Just reality. . . . . . #NoHighlightReel taken in New Zealand by @thedompal
8
6 months ago
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The end of that chapter. . . . . . #FlownTheNest taken in Home Away From Home by @thedompal
0
7 months ago
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