When a mate goes quiet, check in properly
30 Walks, 30 Talks is about noticing the conversations that stop happening, and making the effort to start them again.
Expanded from a LinkedIn post originally published on 2026-10-05.
25 days to go.
This November I’m doing 30 Walks, 30 Talks for men’s mental health.
For 30 days, I’ll walk for an hour and call a different man from my contacts. Some will be people I speak to all the time, others I might not have spoken to in years.
The conversation starts with one simple question:
“How are you, really?”
A lot of people expect someone who’s struggling to make it obvious. They expect the sad posts, the vague statuses or the cry for help.
But often, especially with men, it can look completely different.
They stop replying in group chats.
They stop answering calls.
They stop turning up.
They just quietly disappear from the places and people they were normally around.
That’s why this challenge matters to me. It’s about making the effort to notice when someone goes quiet, starting conversations that might otherwise never happen, and reminding men that they don’t have to deal with everything alone.
Throughout November I’ll be sharing the walks, the conversations and the stories behind the challenge, while raising money for charity along the way.
If you want to support it, follow along, share the campaign, donate if you can, and most importantly, check in on one of your mates. Properly.
#30Walks30Talks #MensMentalHealth #Movember #MensMentalHealthAwareness #MentalHealthMatters
Silence deserves attention
Someone going quiet is not proof that something is wrong. People get busy, routines change and messages get missed. But it can still be a reason to reach out rather than assume everything is fine.
That is the spirit of this challenge. Not diagnosing anyone from a group chat, but making room for a proper conversation with people I might otherwise only exchange the occasional message with.
A simple commitment for November
The plan is an hour's walk each day and a call to a different man from my contacts. The question is simple: how are you, really? The important part is being willing to listen to the answer.
Supporting the campaign can mean following along or sharing it, but it can also mean doing something much smaller today: calling a mate and giving the conversation enough time to become a real one.