Reflections

Essays from my experiment of living deliberately. Personal stories, philosophical questions, and lessons from testing assumptions on myself about growth, presence, and the finite time we have to figure any of it out.

Reflections

The Ancient Art of Finding Calm in an Age of Overwhelm

Anyone who has read any news in the last few years would agree that the world feels like it's spinning out of control. We are surrounded by crises, whether it is wars breaking out all over the world, a faltering economy, or loved ones falling ill. This unpredictable

Reflections

Time Is Finite. Choose What Matters.

Recently, I began reading Oliver Burkeman’s Four Thousand Weeks and, even though I’m only a few chapters in, it has already changed my life. The central premise is simple: our time is finite, and we have no idea when our time will be up. Once it’s gone,

Reflections

The Enduring Power of Consistency

When I first started working out, I was impatient. Progress felt achingly slow. In fact, I almost gave up on becoming someone fit because I didn't see chiselled abs or bulging biceps within those first few weeks. But something remarkable happened when I just showed up every day

Reflections

When We Stop Hiding, We Start Living

I recently took myself on a breakfast date. Inspired by Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, I drove to a nearby café, ordered an oat milk cappuccino and vibrant blue matcha flapjacks, and took a seat at an open table. I laid out my notebooks, sipping my drink and

Reflections

Update Required: Refreshing Our Identity

Recently, my wife and I had a conversation about identity. She shared how clinging to an outdated image of herself was holding her back from moving forward, personally and professionally, and how working with a coach has helped her identify this pattern. I thought back on my own life and

Reflections

Prioritise and Execute: Choosing Calm in the Midst of Chaos

Every day, without fail, a moment arrives when I feel utterly overwhelmed. My emails and tasks multiply like a hydra; each one I address seems to spawn several more. Before I know it, I’m surrounded, pinned down, and unable to move. Meanwhile, the clock keeps ticking, reminding me that

Reflections

Beyond Duty: How We Shape Ourselves — and the World — Through Work.

I’ve been thinking a lot about work lately—not just as a means to an end, but as something far more profound. The word “work” comes from the Old English word weorc, which means deed, action, or creation. That’s exactly what we’re doing when we work—we’

Reflections

To Change the World, Start at Home

A few years ago, when I left formal employment at a Fortune 500 to pursue a career in social entrepreneurship, I had grand ambitions. I was going to build a billion-dollar business that would change the world. I was going to influence millions of people to reduce their consumption of

Reflections

Three Pages Before the Noise

There's something magical about the quiet moments before dawn. While the world still sleeps, wrapped in blankets of silence, I find myself drawn toward a ritual that has quietly reshaped my mornings and, in subtle yet profound ways, my life itself: the practice of morning pages. I stumbled

Reflections

Not All That Connects Is Connection

We live in a world where screens dominate our lives. We wake up and reach for our glowing phones, craving that first dopamine hit before we get out of bed. At work, we stare at computer screens for hours on end, barely noticing as time—and our lives—tick by.

Reflections

The Ukulele Effect: How Small Steps Build Confidence

One of my goals for 2025 was to finally learn to play a musical instrument. When I was a young teen, I would pretend to be a big rock star, playing alone in my room, riffing away at the air to System of a Down blasting through my headphones, being

Reflections

Wander with Intention

When I was younger, "winging it" was my mantra. Planning felt pointless because life rarely unfolded as I expected. Why bother planning when things were going to go wrong anyway, right? So I went where the wind blew, immersing myself in whatever life threw at me. I found

Reflections

A Return to Rhythm

A few months ago, I never imagined just how dramatically life could shift. One moment, I was comfortably settled in my weekly blogging routine; the next, I found myself navigating a whirlwind of challenges. These months pulled me away from the familiar comfort of writing, but as I sit here

Reflections

Interlude

As the end of the year draws near, life becomes busier, and I am confronted with a dilemma: a shortage of time to write. Therefore, dear reader, until the demands on my time ease up, I will be publishing a new article every two weeks. This adjusted schedule allows me

Reflections

Embrace the Storm and Find Your Flow

Anyone who pays attention to their lives will notice a pattern. There's an ebb and flow to the energy of life, akin to the alternation between seasons or the moon's phases. During certain periods of our lives, things are calm and peaceful. There is room to

Reflections

The Bonsai Principle: A Study in Patience

A few years ago, I attended a bonsai workshop by To Be a Bonsai with my cybersecurity specialist sibling, Rui Miguel, and my wildlife photographer friend, Nolan. We were each given a baby, three-year-old juniper bonsai, barely 20 cm tall. The tree had grown naturally, untrimmed, crowned with a verdant

Reflections

Embrace Imperfection

A couple of weeks ago, my self-discipline wavered. That week was a whirlwind of relentless work and personal chores, and the weekend became a catch-up marathon. By Sunday evening, I was exhausted, my usual energy siphoned off by the week's demands. When I dragged myself into bed, the

Reflections

How to Cultivate a Meaningful Life

Have you, dear reader, given much thought to what would make your life meaningful? Many of us wish that a life of meaning would materialise out of the blue. When it inevitably doesn't fall into our laps, we are disappointed. Meaning isn't something we stumble onto

Reflections

Take Time to Disconnect

Lenja and I gifted our parents a week-long holiday in the Midlands of South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province this past week. Our accommodations were unique: a refurbished church built in 1913, an adjacent small cemetery, and endless surrounding fields. The purpose of our trip was to disconnect from work,

Reflections

An Unexpected Lesson in Humanity

One day, while Lenja and I were enjoying breakfast at a local plant-based restaurant, we noticed a homeless man cradling a pigeon. He strolled up and down the street, having an animated conversation with the bird. His only possession was a black fabric bag into which he occasionally placed the

Reflections

The Dichotomy of Control

In 2019, I hit rock bottom. I remember the moment as if it was yesterday. I was sitting on my couch, staring at my bank balance, my heart sinking. My business had been failing, and due to insufficient cash flow, I had been paying staff salaries from my credit card.

Reflections

Interlude

We live in a consumerist world characterized by an unrelenting pursuit of more: more possessions, more entertainment, more consumption. Amidst this frenzy, adopting a simple, minimalist lifestyle is often scorned by a society steeped in wasteful patterns of accumulation. However, it's usually those who distill life down to

Reflections

5 Strategies to Enhance Your Productivity

When I embarked on my entrepreneurial journey a few years back, I struggled with being productive. The transition from a structured environment with more senior accountability to a world where I was responsible for everything, from task allocation to execution, was a seismic shift for my system. I was constantly

Reflections

The Currency of Life

If you've been following me for a while, dear reader, you'll know I'm all about time: how I spend it and save it. Money is important, but if we lose that, we can always earn more. Time, on the other hand...we can never

Reflections

There is Power in Stillness

When was the last time you experienced true stillness? I'm not referring to merely standing still in a long queue or sitting motionless while engrossed in a book. I'm talking about observing, noticing, and truly seeing things as they are rather than what we perceive them