Expand. Explore. Evolve. 3 Words to Guide us in 2026
Every now and then, an experience hits you in a way you didn’t see coming. Recently, I had the chance to check off a long-time goal of mine: stepping onto a TEDx stage. It was something I’d worked toward for years, but what surprised me most wasn’t the talk itself — it was everything I learned from the people I met and the perspectives I heard.
Out of that experience came three words that have been sitting with me ever since:
The more I thought about them, the more I realized they’re not just nice ideas. They’re a roadmap for how we need to show up in our lives, our work, and our relationships.
Let me break down what each one has come to mean for me.
1. Expand: Challenge the Boundaries You’ve Built
Most of us like to think we’re open-minded. We assume we’re big thinkers. But if we’re honest, we often operate inside the same routines, the same perspectives, and the same comfort zones day after day.
That’s not a criticism — it’s human nature.
But the world is a lot bigger than the small slice of it we interact with. There are ideas we haven’t considered, people we haven’t learned from, and opportunities we haven’t recognized simply because we aren’t looking for them.
Expanding is about widening your lens.
It’s choosing to question your assumptions and stretch the way you see the world.
A good place to start is asking yourself:
- Where have I gotten too comfortable?
- Where am I limiting myself without even realizing it?
- What would it look like to think just 10% bigger this year?
Expansion doesn’t always require a major life shift. Sometimes it’s simply deciding to see more than what’s right in front of you.
2. Explore: Get Curious Again
Somewhere along the way, many of us stop exploring. We get good at defending our positions, our routines, and our beliefs, but not so good at questioning them.
Exploration is about getting curious again.
Curious about people.
Curious about ideas.
Curious about cultures, backgrounds, viewpoints, and experiences that are different from our own.
It doesn’t mean you have to agree with everything you encounter. It simply means you’re willing to understand before you judge, learn before you react, and ask before you assume.
When we explore, we start to see the world — and ourselves — more clearly.
And like I often tell my son as he gets ready to step into adulthood: there is so much more out there than the environment you grew up in.
But you only discover it if you’re willing to look.
3. Evolve: Become the Person You Intend to Be
Expansion plus exploration naturally leads to evolution.
We’re all evolving, whether we realize it or not. Life is too dynamic for us to stay the same. But the question is: are we evolving intentionally or unconsciously?
When we challenge our thinking and stay curious, we start to show up differently. We become aware of the blind spots we didn’t know we had. We understand others more deeply. We understand ourselves more deeply. We start choosing who we want to be rather than defaulting to who we’ve always been.
Evolving with intention helps us:
- show up stronger as leaders,
- be more present with our families,
- bring more clarity to our goals, and
- make a greater impact in the space we’re called to influence.
Evolution isn’t a finish line. It’s an ongoing process.
A Thought to Carry Into the New Year
We all want a better year. A better career. Better relationships. Better energy. Better clarity.
But “better” isn’t something that appears out of thin air.
Better comes from expanding the way we think, exploring what we don’t yet know, and evolving into someone capable of the life we want to build.
That’s the real takeaway from my TEDx journey. Not the stage. Not the lights. Not the talk.
The takeaway was the realization that growth happens when we intentionally stretch our thinking, our curiosity, and our capacity.
If you’re looking for a theme to guide you into 2026, consider adopting these three words:
Expand. Explore. Evolve.
Here’s to a year where we think bigger, stay curious, and keep becoming the best version of ourselves.
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