There’s a quiet tax we pay when we choose to do something different, meaningful, or ahead of its time. It's not money or effort or even risk, though those are part of it. The real cost, the one no one prepares you for, is being misunderstood. Not briefly, not occasionally, but often for long, … [Read more...]
You Can’t Cook Rice Without Rice
There’s something refreshingly obvious about the idea: you can’t cook rice without rice. It’s a phrase that might sound silly at first, even laughable, but it carries a truth so foundational that we often forget it in our daily hustle to do more, be more, achieve more. Because in all of our … [Read more...]
Better Than Yesterday: The Quiet Science of Becoming Exceptional
No one is born a top performer. It’s tempting to think otherwise - to assume the most impressive people we encounter are just wired differently, gifted in ways we aren’t. But when you look closer, you see a more ordinary, more hopeful truth: they’ve simply built themselves differently. Not … [Read more...]
When Everything Feels Urgent: A Better Way to Prioritize What Matters
The older I get, the more I realize that most of our overwhelm doesn’t come from the amount of work we have - it comes from not knowing what to do first. In any busy, purpose-driven organization - whether you're building systems for equity, managing national funding cycles, or supporting … [Read more...]
From Curry to Commerce: Not Guests. Not Burdens. Nation Builders.
It’s 11:25 p.m. and I’m seated in a bustling Indian restaurant in Toronto. The scent of cardamom and cumin hangs in the air. The servers speak in Hindi and Punjabi as they glide between tables. The families eating here laugh over biryani and butter chicken, and I don’t need to peek behind the … [Read more...]
The Quiet Power of Playing the Long Game
There’s something oddly comforting about short-term wins. They give us something to point to - proof of progress, signs of momentum, applause. But in the obsession with now, we often forget that most of what truly matters happens slowly, invisibly, and without ceremony. The long game doesn’t … [Read more...]
One Intentional Hour
There are days when nothing works. The to-do list stares back blankly. The coffee goes cold. The conversation didn’t go how you hoped. A setback stings more than it should. Maybe there were tears, maybe just the familiar ache of disappointment. Whatever the cause, the spiral feels real. We’ve … [Read more...]
When They’re Almost There: The Turn Back to Familiar Paths
People turn. Not because they’re cruel or careless, but because they’re human. In moments of doubt, uncertainty, or discomfort, most of us will return to what we know - even if it’s less exciting, less visionary, or even less rewarding in the long run. It’s not a flaw. It’s a survival … [Read more...]
“I Told You So” Is Not Leadership. It’s Ego in Disguise.
There’s a moment - when things unravel, when a plan falls apart, when reality collides with ambition - where someone steps forward and says, “I told you so.” And in that moment, something subtle but powerful is revealed: not insight, not foresight, but failure. Not the failure of a project, or a … [Read more...]
The Apprenticeship Was Never Meant to Be This Fast
Co‑ops and internships have been misunderstood. In my humble opinion, the co‑op - and by extension, the internship - was born from the spirit of the apprenticeship. A concept built not on transactions, but on transformation. For generations, people who were curious and serious about learning a … [Read more...]