22nd March 2026

This week I want to focus this blog around what I have to say is my favourite subject, which is uncertainty. I’ve spoken about uncertainty many times before on my blogs, and don’t be surprised if it’s a theme that keeps recurring.

The reason why uncertainty is top of mind this week is that when we look around, we see there are many things happening globally that are enough to pull the rug from under people’s feet and throw them into the thing that they dread most.

Uncertainty leads to fear, fear leads to caution, and caution leads to survival mode. There’s not much of a life when all you’re doing is surviving… or is there? Some people go on to create extraordinary things from a position of survival, but do they do that because they have the will to embrace uncertainty?

I would argue it’s very, very difficult to be bold if you carry the burden of uncertainty.

The reason why uncertainty is the theme of this week is as we look towards the Middle East, we see that what was once regarded as an up-and-coming region—where many people flocked to embrace a new type of life, a better quality of life—has dramatically changed. There were lots of advocates talking about how living in places like Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and the Emirates was good for one’s lifestyle, good for business prospects. It was very much seen as an entrepreneur’s haven.

This is where people could go and be creative in an environment that embraced individual creativity.

Now, since the beginning of the Iranian, US and Israeli war, that picture has dramatically changed. There are many stories of people trying to find flights out of the country, sometimes costing up to 20,000 for a single flight. What was once seen as a paradise is now, for some, regarded as a hell hole.

It’s amazing how, in a space of a few days, all the effort and hard work to attract people to that part of the world has suddenly been turned on its head because of a war that very few would have been able to predict.

Nearer home, we read the tragic story of students who, after university for the first time, have been hospitalised—and in some cases died—because of an unprecedented meningitis outbreak. All the hopes, all the dreams, suddenly gone.

So it does make you pause, reflect, and wonder: with so much uncertainty, what is the point of carrying on? Why do we work so hard? Why are we so driven to achieve, when just around the corner uncertainty can come and slap you in the face?

My attitude is that certainty is not the goal.

Too many people spend their time trying to protect themselves from uncertainty—whether that is finding a job that they may never lose, or having enough money in the bank in case of any emergency. It seems our society is geared towards persuading people to chase certainty.

And the moment uncertainty raises its head, those people who have been conditioned for a lifetime to choose certainty are devastated. They are thrown off balance because they are then faced with the reality of life—which is that certainty does not exist.

But how do you give hope?

Hope, I would say, is the most important thing we can have as human beings. Because hope is not based on logic. If it was, most people would not be hopeful.

Hope, for me, is the feeling that anything is possible—anything that defies reason and logic.

And the reason I feel so strongly about this is, as I’ve spoken to you before in these blogs, 10 years ago I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia. The type of cancer that I had was so aggressive that logic gave me no chance of surviving.

But with hope, science, and a lot of prayer, I’m here some 10 years later.

So I’m very sceptical of those people who live their lives based purely on what is rational and logical, because I fundamentally believe that the people who change the world are the people who challenge and question logic—and more importantly, are at one with uncertainty.

I’m always amazed at the courage and strength of the human condition. There are so many stories that help us to understand that uncertainty isn’t necessarily a bad thing—it can be the making of us.

I’m on my recruitment drive to find staff again, and one of the things I pride myself on is that rather than asking standard interview questions, I like to get to know what lies behind a person’s character.

This week, whilst interviewing someone for a job, my instinct told me this is someone who is strong, determined, and driven. I couldn’t initially find out why this person, who looked like an ordinary person on the surface, had so much drive, ambition, and determination.

But by breaking all interview protocols and asking her about her personal story, this drive and determination became evident.

I found the reason why she was so driven.

This poor woman’s partner committed suicide, leaving her with four young children to bring up on her own. This happened decades ago, but to be able to deal with such a tragedy and still bring up four children on your own—that’s the stuff heroes are made of.

It’s people like that who encourage us, because whatever uncertainty life throws at you, it’s amazing what we can do with it.

Uncertainty—and people like this person—deserve our admiration, because they show us what is possible.

How does all of this impact business, you may ask?

Well, business is always about making a friend of uncertainty. Business accepts that you’re a fool to think certainty exists.

In my case, I’m attuned to uncertainty because I know two things happen: one is disappointment, but the other is opportunities beyond your wildest expectations.

And in our case, the contacts that we made with a couple of customers early this year have made a fundamental difference to our business.

So here’s a glass to the gods of uncertainty—because I don’t fear you. I see you as my ally, my friend. Because by embracing who you are, you add colour, delight, and enjoyment to my life.