Spend any time in a leadership program, personal development workshop, or even a local book club on self-growth, and one pattern quickly emerges: the room is often filled with women. Curious, engaged, and eager to learn, they are embracing growth with remarkable energy. Men, by contrast, are frequently underrepresented or arrive through encouragement from their partners, friends, or colleagues.

I was staying in a small serviced apartment, and over a few days, I noticed a quiet pattern forming. A coffee cup left from the morning, a breakfast bowl, then a dinner plate, each waiting to be washed later. It didn’t seem like much at first, just a few dishes for one person. But by day three, the little sink was full, and suddenly it felt like too much.

Have you ever noticed how some thoughts come back like ghosts? They drift in quietly at first, a whisper of doubt, a flicker of fear, until suddenly, they’re front and centre, convincing you they’ve been here all along. They’re not the kind of ghosts that rattle chains or slam doors. They’re the quieter kind, the ones that speak in familiar voices.

I was a pragmatist at heart, the kind of person who got things done and didn't stop until the job was finished. On paper, it sounded great: dependable, calm, organised, and consistent. The light side of those traits was stability and reliability. The shadow side told a different story. Beneath the calm was anxiety. Beneath the order, control. I was risk-averse, overloaded, and, truth be told, a bit of a people pleaser.

Most of us say we want healthy boundaries. But often, what we're actually building is a defence, a line in the sand drawn in frustration, not clarity. We say things like I'm not working late anymore, or I'm done with people taking advantage of me, but those lines rarely hold. Not because we're weak, but because the boundary was built to block, not to serve.

Who’s having endless discussions about AI and the future of our tasks, our jobs, our workforce, heck, our humanity?!?! Will AI replace me? Is AI a faster, smarter, better-looking, and more articulate version of me?