New year, same focus?
For me, yes: continued learning, curiosity and helping others make sense of complex ideas.
Heading into 2026, many make resolutions for focus and growth—gym, languages, instruments, healthier habits, better balance—but how many truly change more than a little, even if the spirit of continued learning endures?
The Royal Institution of Great Britain has been delivering Christmas Lectures for nearly 200 years, designed to excite young minds about the amazing world around us. Using engaging imagery, experiments, and audience volunteers, children’s faces light up as they start to understand complex ideas.
This year’s focus is space, presented by Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock. Just in episode one, the children learnt how telescope lenses are made, how the moon was (probably) created, how astronauts use the toilet in micro-gravity (and that it is turned back into drinking water), and about a family who donated their driveway to science because a meteorite had landed on it.
My focus in watching them each year is not just learning, but mastering how to share knowledge through imagery, props, and stories.
The Lectures also feature John McFall, recently medically cleared by the European Space Agency for a long-duration mission to the International Space Station—making him the first person with a disability to visit the science lab in the sky. Having lost his leg at the age of 19, this is just the latest career pivot for John; previously an orthopaedic surgeon and Paralympic sprinter, his story inspires us to rethink what we can achieve.
Change is rarely a January decision; it is a series of choices over years.
As a child, I wanted to be a fast-jet pilot, specifically with The Royal Air Force’s Red Arrows. That dream was put aside for a career in hospitality (10 years running bars and nightclubs), followed by success in data and analytics.
But perhaps this is an opportunity for another change in direction. Theatre Manager, Air Traffic Controller, and HGV Driver are just some of the options I will consider, or perhaps the innovation route, developing and connecting different technologies together. So my New Year brings the same focus: curiosity, service, and using tech and storytelling to make things work better, whatever the job title.
Rather than a dozen resolutions, what is the one focus you want to carry through 2026? Mine is to keep learning, keep sharing, and keep allowing old dreams to shape new directions.
