Hello aspiration, nice to meet you.

"To work or not to work?!" Many women in London are in the remarkable position of being able to decide whether to go to work or not.

As an aside, I would say that it is a complete mystery to me how households manage this economically when, even pre private school education, the average middle class London annual expenditure is that of a pre-austerity Grecian city.  Not my place.

Should I work? This is about ensuring that personal aspirations are met. Is work a key driver of your life satisfaction?  As long as you meet your own aspirations at this time on this day, then generally it doesn't matter whether you spend the day teaching your children to say the word 'pantaloons', launching satellites or dressing in sack-cloths and working for a Hedge Fund. You are following your plan and should therefore feel balanced and satisfied.

Identifying a firm foundation to gauge achievement against target is the tricky part though. The drivers of our aspiration are highly reactive, sensitive and flighty.  They are inextricably linked with self-esteem, determination and the aspirations of others in your family. There are now no formal limits on what you can achieve.  However, there is no more prevalent limiter than that we erect for ourselves, such as the feeling of failure; and that others perhaps erect for you, such as not assessing their own aspirations in light of the family as a whole.

Key to ensuring that your own aspirations are kept in sight is an awareness of your personal ideal, the current reality and an appraisal of the barriers creating any gap. Working with your partner, it should be possible to remove some of those barriers to maximise family life satisfaction. I'll never again be the focused, independent person who crossed the finish line in that first triathlon, but I should be able to find time to train for that 10k next month.

Exercise Time: Think today about your own life aspiration, your personal ideal. Write it down on a blank sheet of paper across the top. Date it. You absolutely reserve the right to change it, pretty much at a moment's notice.