Helping others through tough times was the topic of today's episode, and the reason is simple. Someone in my close network was made unemployed. They have a young family, and they were struggling to find a way forward.

I heard about this today. I took an hour out of my day and phoned them. I did not have a plan or a framework. I wanted to listen, find out what was going on and understand why things felt so hard. Where I could, I offered some advice.

This is Day 2165 of my daily barefoot-style running streak. The run itself was quiet. It was breezy, and I mention in the video that the wind made me hard to hear. The most important part of my day was the phone call.

What I noticed on the call

I would like to think the advice helped. But I do not believe the advice was the useful part, and I do not think my knowledge or expertise made the difference either.

What changed was the tone of their voice. At the start of the call they sounded flat and worn down. By the end they sounded more confident in themselves. Nothing about their situation had changed in an hour. They still had no job and they still had a young family to look after. What changed was that they realised someone outside their immediate family cared about them and about what they were going through.

I have thought about this a lot since. A person does not need me to solve their problem. They need to know they are not carrying it in silence.

Struggle is relative

Nobody is immune to the struggles of day-to-day life. Some people feel the weight of the world on their shoulders. Others seem to carry much less worry. Comparing the two does not help.

We all have worries, stresses and anxieties, and each one is relative to the person's own situation. Something I might see as small could be catastrophic for someone else. Something that feels huge to me might look minor from outside. Neither view cancels the other out. If a person feels it is serious, then for that person it is serious.

I try to remember this when I hear that someone is finding life hard. My job is not to rank their problem against anyone else's. My job is to take it seriously because they do.

Reach out, and choose the call

If you know someone who is struggling, and most of us do, the signs are usually there. My advice is to reach out. If you can, phone them. A text message is better than nothing, but I find it can feel less personal. A call, or an offer to meet for a coffee, tells the person you have set aside time for them.

You do not need a script. Here is what I would say:

- Are you okay? - Let's put some perspective around this. - I understand what you are going through, as best I can. - If you need an ear, I am here. - I have got your back.

These words do not fix a redundancy or pay a bill. But I have seen how they lift a person's spirits. Someone who felt they could not overcome a problem starts to believe they might.

What this has to do with the streak

I run every day because consistency matters more to me than intensity. Looking after people works the same way. One heroic gesture matters less than showing up regularly, listening, and checking in when you know someone is finding things hard.

The streak has taught me that small actions repeated over time carry weight. I have now run on 2165 consecutive days. My vision is to keep going for 16.5 years, and I know I cannot do that through bursts of motivation. I do it by treating each day as one job: run, record, move on. Reaching out to people is a habit I want to build in the same way. If I only did it when it was convenient, it would not mean much to the person on the other end.

The mission behind the miles

This daily run and vlog is part of a fundraiser to help save the lives of children. The challenge is to run and vlog on consecutive days until I have covered the distance of a lap of the world, 40,075 km. As of today, my total is 16,618.77 km, which leaves 23,456.23 km to go. I am also working towards raising £1M for children's causes.

Children grow up inside families. When a parent is made unemployed, the pressure lands on the whole household, including the youngest members. I do not claim one phone call changes that. But I believe the people closest to a child need support too, and an hour of listening costs me very little.

I will say this plainly: I am not writing this to look good. I made one phone call, and the response taught me something I want to remember. Reaching out is a small action with a large effect, and most of us delay it because we think we need the right words or a solution. We do not.

What I would ask of you

Think of one person you know who is having a hard time. Pick up the phone today, or arrange a coffee this week. Listen more than you speak. Tell them you care, and mean it.

If everybody took this approach, I believe the world would be a better place. It starts with one conversation.

If you believe in the mission, you can watch the full episode, subscribe, share and comment. The more people who see the vlog, the more we raise for children's lives. I will see you tomorrow on Day 2166.

Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/0cO1vVAiqA8