It’s hard to believe we’re already approaching halfway through 2026.
The middle of the year feels like a natural pause point—a chance to step back from the busyness of everyday life and ask a few simple questions.
- How am I doing?
- What have I learned?
- What am I proud of?
- What do I want to do next?
As I reflect on the first six months of this year, one thing strikes me.
Many of the most meaningful things I’ve done were not part of a detailed plan.
They began as experiments.
Looking Back
At the start of the year, I had an idea.
I wanted to learn to ride a motorcycle and explore Kenya on two wheels.
What I didn’t know was whether any of it would actually work.
- Would I find a suitable bike?
- Would I enjoy riding?
- Would I feel confident enough to travel beyond familiar roads?
- Would it become a hobby or simply an interesting experiment that faded away?
In January, I bought a motorcycle in Kenya and decided to find out.
What followed exceeded my expectations.
Weekend rides became adventures. New roads led to new places. The experience taught me new skills, increased my confidence, and gave me a completely different way of experiencing the landscape around me. I also started sharing my journeys through a new YouTube channel @Thinking on Two Wheels.
Perhaps most surprisingly, it eventually led me to buy a Honda Deauville in Ireland and continue documenting the journey.
The destination wasn’t planned in detail.
The experiment was.
And sometimes that is enough.
What began as curiosity became a new hobby, a new source of learning, and a new way of experiencing the world.
This year I also started what I call my Garden Laboratory.
I renovated polytunnels, planted vegetables, experimented with growing techniques, and embraced the reality that gardening, like life, is often a process of trial and error.
Some things worked.
Some things didn’t.
All of them taught me something.
I’ve also continued developing courses, writing, and creating new digital products focused on curiosity, lifelong learning, futures thinking, career resilience, and navigating a rapidly changing world.
Some projects have launched.
Others are still works in progress.
But creating something new is always a little like gardening.
You plant seeds and see what grows.
The Problem with Rigid Plans
For much of my life, I believed that success came from creating detailed plans and following them faithfully.
There is certainly value in planning.
But increasingly, I think there is a danger in becoming too attached to a particular path.
The world is changing rapidly.
Artificial intelligence is transforming industries.
New opportunities emerge constantly.
Unexpected challenges appear without warning.
Many of the most important opportunities in our lives are impossible to predict.
Looking back, some of the best things that have happened to me were never part of a five-year plan.
They emerged because I stayed curious, remained open to possibility, and was willing to try something new.
Perhaps the goal is not to control the future.
Perhaps the goal is to move towards a preferred future while remaining open to discovery along the way.
That is how I increasingly think about life.
Less as a blueprint.
More as a laboratory.
A place to experiment, learn, adapt, and grow.
A Mid-Year Reflection
Before rushing into the second half of the year, take a few minutes to ask yourself:
- What are you proud of?
- What have you learned?
- What challenges have you overcome?
- What new interests or opportunities have emerged?
- What experiments have you tried?
Many of us spend too much time focusing on what we haven’t achieved and too little time acknowledging how far we’ve already come.
Take a moment to celebrate your progress.
Even the small wins matter.
A Simple Exercise for the Next Six Months
I’d like to leave you with a simple exercise.
Imagine it is New Year’s Eve, December 31st, 2026.
Take out a notebook or open a blank document.
Then write the following sentence:
“Looking back on the second half of 2026, I’m glad that I…”
Continue writing for a page.
- What would make the next six months feel meaningful?
- What experiences would you like to have?
- What skills would you like to learn?
- What projects would you like to complete?
- What adventures would you like to take?
- What relationships would you like to strengthen?
Don’t worry about creating the perfect plan.
Don’t worry about predicting exactly how things will unfold.
Simply imagine a future version of yourself looking back with satisfaction and gratitude.
What happened between now and then?
Once you’ve written your reflection, keep it somewhere safe and revisit it from time to time.
Not as a rigid set of goals.
But as a compass.
A direction of travel.
Looking Ahead
As I look towards the second half of 2026, I don’t have every detail mapped out.
I know there are more roads to explore on the motorcycle.
More experiments to run in the garden.
More ideas to write about.
More courses and resources to create.
More opportunities to learn.
And undoubtedly a few surprises along the way.
What excites me most is not knowing exactly what will happen.
It is knowing that there is still much to discover.
The future is not something we find.
It is something we create through the choices we make, the questions we ask, and the experiments we are willing to run.
I’m excited to see what the next six months bring.
I hope you are too.
Resources
If you’re thinking about the future and planning your next chapter, you may find these resources useful:
Design Your Next Decade – A practical futures-thinking guide for navigating uncertainty and shaping your preferred future.
Build a Living Without a Job – Create income streams, skills, and resilience in the AI age.
Because in a rapidly changing world, curiosity and lifelong learning may be one of the most valuable skills we can cultivate.