Helping people in midlife to navigate a changing world

So, why did I create it?

I never really saw midlife coming at me. It all happened so fast, and then, just like that, I was in my late forties, with many of the checkboxes on the society playbook ticked. With my love of studying both the mind and the external world, I thought I had covered all the bases that I needed to continue along the path our parents, teachers, and employers had set out for us. It all seems so simple now as I look back at the photographs of my 50^th birthday while in Cambodia. It was a trip I’d planned for many years, and while I was there, everything seemed okay, but there were already signs of a lack of purpose. Shortly after that, I realised my “place” in the world was changing so much that my journey ahead felt a little foggy. That was why I’d started to feel lost, unfulfilled and without ambition, although I didn’t quite realise why at the time.

I tried all manner of self-help tricks and tips that had helped me in the past when I needed them. I meditated, wrote in journals, reread self-help and life-coaching books, looked back on my life to see what had changed or where I had changed, so I could shove the gearstick back into reverse and go back to that person. Every possible reason was looked at, including that cliché, “I was just getting old.” Three years of working on myself, and I finally found the answers. I developed my own programme or plan to take me forward. In midlife, I needed to forget about changing the version of myself I’d become. It was pointless. Something else had changed dramatically, so I realised I’d never again be that person anyway. The lesson here was not that the world had changed, but that it had changed so fast that the old playbook we grew up with was now redundant. All people in midlife now, that’s forties to sixties, are struggling because the way they’d previously done things to succeed has changed. The rules they’d followed to achieve success or govern their lives were now different.

What changed?

It’s one thing to sense that the world is shifting below your feet, it’s quite another to realise the playbook or map you’re accustomed to using to navigate your way through life’s little challenges no longer works. You’re standing there, looking forward across changed terrain, with a map from another continent or bygone era.

Personally, I looked ahead and realised that the way I had grown up in a predictable and safe world was all but gone. The laws of the world were already different, but now the change was speeding up.

Everyone feels a low-frequency hum of stress and anxiety that is always on. Words like “poly-crisis,” “new normal,” and “chaotic” are not just headlines anymore. The backdrop of our daily lives is being framed by several crises, whether it’s the cost of living, energy issues, wars, geopolitical restructuring, economic decline, or the dizzy pace of AI. We stand in midlife with the old playbook for slowing down, retiring to a villa and playing with your grandkids, only to realise that it’s no longer the path ahead of you. The old playbook was now a relic in some museum.

People are stuck, waiting for a return to the old, safe, and normal life. The stress and anxiety escalate when they realise that it’s not going to happen, and it gets even worse when they realise they have no idea how to move forward. I created A Resilient Path as a bridge to help cross the gap between where they are and where they want to be in an ever-moving world.

Why this channel exists

Part of the journey I went through was to realise that there were two main areas I needed to change. I’d already been an analyst for more than 20 years, looking at the “big” systems of economics, energy, geopolitics, and global trends, so I had a good idea of the outside world’s direction of travel. What I lacked was a new inner journey, or mindset, to get to grips with and thrive in that world. I needed to create a new version of myself.

People in midlife are operating according to a playbook that’s ill-suited for our world going forward. The “checklist life” they have come to accept as normal is broken. A checklist life like the one our parents and grandparents used to create great lives for themselves. Everyone can feel it now, but few are thinking about what to “upgrade” or how to get a new playbook for themselves. After helping myself with a great 5-step plan, I decided to become a resilience life coach. It’s about changing mindsets and creating new identities for the future, which I believe people will need to build resilience and compelling lives despite all the dark clouds on the horizon. Working on both your inner journey and understanding the external world is the best playbook for your future.

What I hope the channel offers

My YouTube channel is not a coaching programme in any way, and it was never designed to be. It’s an education and awareness channel, as are most of the things that YouTube offers.

I’ve broken A Resilient Path down into a set of 4 playlists:

The Declining World: Things aren’t getting better – This is where I post long-form videos about issues in the external world that will affect you, directly or indirectly. These generally relate to topics from my years as an analyst covering environment, energy, economics, and geopolitics. Usually around 30 minutes long, they focus on education and will hopefully open your mind to the macro issues you may not be seeing yet.

My Five-minute Take… – Short videos about the latest news, trends, coaching topics, and how I feel about them. These are my views, and they may occasionally be a short rant, so they are not a safe space for weak-minded people. I’ve taken pride in not being a safe space. And no, they are never just 5 minutes long, although I will continue to try to hit that mark.

Becoming a Resilient Human– With so much change happening in your world, it takes consistent, steady effort to build resilience and craft your compelling future. These are shorter videos (15 to 25 minutes) that can help you with the mindset part of your journey. They are short-form coaching videos that often address one or two issues you may be facing.

Next Steps: The Coaching Room – What are the next steps for you if you want to change your path in the future? I deal with that here. Many of these videos will be coaching programme-related or individual issues you need some help with. I will also offer promotions, giveaways, and books in this section.

The problems we solve on the channel

I want the channel to help educate those who are struggling with certain issues, but more than anything, I hope to instil an awakening that, despite all the problems out there, if you build a resilient mind, you will learn to take control of your life.

Humans often feel so much stress and anxiety without really understanding why, so I hope that by breaking down global shifts, you can learn to navigate the ones that will affect you, but most importantly, ignore the ones that won’t.

Another thing I’ll go on about is that I’m happy to be the age that I am (57 as of writing). I know that the most frenetic part of my life may be behind me, but I’ve thirty or forty years of living to plan for, so I go about it in a way that mirrors the shifting external world. Hitting “middle age” has always been seen as the peak before the decline. This is a stupid concept based on the old checklist life map. If that old playbook is gone, you can switch from a “surviving the change” mindset to a “mastering the transition” mindset. While it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the gargantuan amount of information that is online, and yes, I see the irony of me contributing to it with this channel (and blog), the goal of the channel is about clarity, especially around issues that will affect you, your family, and the great future you visualise for yourself.

What You Can Expect

I’m not here to simply dish out positivity or vague platitudes. I’m not here to tell you it will all be alright. You probably have enough people in your life to feed you that hope and glee. I want you to join me in getting our hands dirty with real-world resilience despite all the issues out there.

Here are some of the key tips I can give you right now that will alter your perspective from the start.

1. Future-Proofing Your Mindset: Build the mental elasticity to handle rapid change without breaking. This is the cornerstone of resilience. It’s not about toughness. It’s your ability to bounce back despite what is happening to you. Start trying new things today, despite your fear of failure or embarrassment. Welcome obstacles into your life because they are signs that you’re on the right path.
2. Macro-to-Micro Strategy: Taking those big global trends and translating them into actionable steps for your everyday life. Learning what is happening on the wider scene, so you can make changes in your everyday life that will help you navigate the worst of it. It also means learning what not to worry about. Distant wars that don’t affect you or your local community should be forgotten about. No, it doesn’t mean excusing wars. It means we’re headed into turbulent times, and there will be many wars coming down the line. Learn to distinguish what you can control from what you can’t.
3. The Bridge to “Next”: I offer future-focused practical coaching to move you from feeling stuck in the “old world” to being an active architect of your new one. It’s not about change, it’s about reinvention. You need to create the new version of yourself, because your old version is stuck in a world that cannot be replicated.

Your Action Step for Today: Take a moment to identify one area of your life where the “old way” of doing things feels like it’s cracking. Write it down. That crack isn’t a failure on your part. It’s exactly where we’re going to start building the reinforcement. If you are struggling with setting a goal in these uncertain times, that is where Resilience Life Coaching comes in. You can book a free 30-minute coaching taster session to see if we can tackle one of your goals. If you are interested in further, big, lasting change, look into my signature programme.