The Year of the Fire Horse is flying. Time for a Mid-Year reset.

Considering a new path this year? Me too. This mid-year check-in gave me the reset I needed.

2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse in the Chinese Zodiac, a combination known for boldness and rapid transformation. When I first heard this, it felt perfect. No more pregnancies (planned), and on a break from corporate life. 2026 felt full of possibilities for growth. But we’re halfway through now, and to ensure I don’t end the year transformed into a moth instead of a butterfly, I wanted to check in with myself.

7 years ago, I left my role at an incredible company, burned out and needing to regroup after having my first child. The agony of that decision (or was it an identity crisis?) was brutal. Was I going to be a stay at home mom? Or a working mom?

Fast-forward 18 months, and I did go back to work. I spent ~4 years in a new role, learned a ton and built something on a deeper level than I’d done before. When I had my third and it was time for a break again, this time I knew it wasn’t a death sentence for my career. The decision was still agonizing, but I could go back. However, I still considered the choice to be black and white. Either I could go back to work in a full time capacity or I could continue my “break” taking care of the kids.

Can confirm that there is in fact no such thing as black and white when it comes to working and being a mom.

Now I’m a year out from leaving corporate and I’m excited about a world where professional work and motherhood don’t have to be mutually exclusive. And while 2026 is flying by, there is still time to make this year transformative.

As such, I did a guided mid-year check-in, using questions I created, and Claude as my thought partner. You can download a worksheet with the questions to try it for yourself (Free Download Link). If you do, let me know how it goes in the comments. I’d love to be inspired by you too!

This mid-year check-in gave me a couple insights:

1. I get the most energy from building things that help other people

2. Working on my computer, in isolation, drains me quickly and intensely, so I have to be careful about those rabbit holes

3. Getting out there and talking to people - telling people in real life what I’m interested in, what my ideal job/life looks like, and what I’m nervous about opens up conversations that push me to get past my old beliefs and begin to shape new ones.

What started as a mid-year check-in has reminded me that everything I do is a way to collect data. Instead of pressuring myself to figure out the entire path before taking the first step, I’m experimenting. And while it’s too soon to see the long term effects, the short term effects have been pretty fun.

Some recent examples:

• I bench pressed the 30 lb dumbbells at the gym: success

• I attempted to do an ariel on the front lawn: fail

• I attended a Women+AI networking event where I knew no one: big success (thanks again, Kylee Hayden!)

When everything is an experiment, suddenly, the doors feel a lot more open. James Clear writes about a version of this where he suggests that building systems is more effective than setting goals. In this case, my ‘system’ is consciously treating action as experimentation. When you’re experimenting, the stakes are low, and you use the outcomes to plan your next move, not as a judgement of your worth.

Here are some experiments I’m toying with:

• I have been a student of yoga, pilates, and barre for 20 years. I love to dance, and I grew up doing gymnastics. Moving my body has always been essential. What if I deepened that practice? Getting a certification does not in fact require committing to a career change to become a yoga teacher. I could just try it.

• I have 15 years of HR experience. I live in the Silicon Valley where startups are plentiful and full time talent is expensive. How could I play with consulting offerings?

• I’ve lived the confusion of “what now?” more than once. What if I built something, even just a series of conversations, to help other women navigate this same in-between instead of white-knuckling it alone like I have so far?

If you’re feeling the weight of a big decision - whether it’s making a major redirection in your career or a smaller shift, I encourage you to take a beat to reflect. In a year of rapid transformation, it’s even more important to stay intentional about what we are transforming into.

How did the first half of year go? What do you want out of the second half? What ideas come up from this that you’re still thinking about next week? What resolutions have fallen off that you still care about and want to get back into doing? How can you make small experiments instead of trying to force a major life change all at once?

From there, I invite you to join me in letting the next step be a little less heavy. Play around. Try something, and ask for feedback if you can. Worst case, you’ll have a story for your Substack later ;)

Happy reflecting!