I Am Asif

Social media, news feeds, 24/7 news channels, gossip—our attention is being pulled in every direction, every second. It's easy to feel like we need to keep up with everything, to know every headline, to weigh in on every issue. But the truth is, not everything deserves our focus. And not everything is ours to carry. These platforms are filled with stories from every corner of the globe—politics, economics, crime, sports, and more. But just because something is trending, and just because everyone seems to be talking about it, doesn’t mean we are required to engage with it or feel deeply affected. Imagine two circles. The inner circle includes the things we can directly influence: our family, our neighborhood, our social and professional circles, and the specific areas where our expertise or actions carry weight. Beyond that is a much larger outer circle—things that may impact us indirectly, but where our own influence is minimal or non-existent. For instance, global politics or fa...

In life and in our careers, there's always a next move, a next goal, a next milestone. We’re almost always chasing something just ahead—an elusive promotion, a better opportunity, some distant version of “success” that keeps moving the moment we get close. But in all that chasing, we often forget where we’re standing. And sometimes, where we’re standing right now is exactly where we once dreamed of being. Take a moment to reflect: a year ago—or five, maybe even ten—didn’t you picture yourself hoping to arrive exactly where you are now? The role you’re in now might have once felt out of reach, not all that long ago. The responsibilities you're tired of might have once seemed exciting. And the stability you’ve started to take for granted? That might have been all you were asking for at some point.\ The problem is, we get used to the situations we once prayed for. We settle in, we normalize them, and we start to feel stuck. That feeling of being stuck can quickly turn into ...

There will always be annoying people around us. That’s just how life works. There will always be jerks. We often go through life with this quiet hope—or maybe expectation—that the people we deal with daily, especially our family or colleagues, will be thoughtful, cooperative, and on the same wavelength as us. But that’s rarely the case. The reality is: not everyone is going to be kind, understanding, or even reasonable. Some people will just rub you the wrong way. Some people will test your patience without even trying. And some—let’s be honest—will be jerks. But here’s the thing: we shouldn’t be surprised when that happens. It’s actually more realistic to expect that not everyone around us will align with us. Not everyone will see the world the way we do. And some people will have traits that conflict with ours, sometimes in uncomfortable ways. It’s like living anywhere on earth and expecting there won’t be flies or mosquitoes. That’s not how the world works. We don’t stop going outsi...