“What do you do when you look back at your life, say the past year, and you think you made the wrong choices. At the time you thought they were intentional but now you know they’re not? And now you’re trying to course correct but you’re not sure if you know how. Maybe it’s a […]

The Hidden Cost of Chasing Dreams Today, I want to peel back the layers on a topic that’s incredibly close to my heart and, I believe, resonates with many of us: the intertwining paths of love, loss, and the monumental decisions that shape our lives. Acknowledging and embracing the entirety of our journey—including the sacrifices […]

The Race Without A Finish Line Imagine you’re running a race, and every time you see the end, the finish line moves, just a bit further.  So you keep going. You run further, the next milestone, and the next.  You’re tired, you’re hurting, you start missing other things in your life, but you keep getting […]

Have you ever had that awkward moment  when you have something on your mind, you’re pouring out your heart to someone, and they say ALL the wrong things?  Today we’re going to talk about guiding conversations to ensure that people don’t just hear us, but truly understand us too.  Welcome back to the XO Conversations […]

Challenging Expectations: A Lesson in Intentional Decision-Making Today, I’m going to share a little story with you about expectations, norms, and about what it means to challenge them. It’s about a day, a line, and a lesson that’s stayed with me longer than I ever thought it would. I’m Rishma Walji, and you’re listening to […]

Do you ever make things harder for yourself? You do something that feels good in the moment, but you know it will make you feel worse later? And somehow you just can’t help yourself? People call this self-sabotage, but let’s explore it differently. We don’t self-sabotage on purpose. It’s not like we want to make […]

People always say we should make decisions rationally, logically, without emotion.  * Try telling that to someone is deciding if they should quit their job and give up everything to move across the country so they can live with someone they love.  * Try telling that to a woman who just had a miscarriage and is deciding […]

I’ve always been an independent thinker. I like to follow my own rules, I don’t like to be told what to do, and I am full of ambition (though what that ambition looks like has changed over the years).  While some little girls dream of their wedding day and who they will eventually marry, I […]

Is it time to curate your friendships? From Embarrassment to Intentional Living When we first moved into our last home, it was a bit of a fixer upper. The kitchen cupboards were falling apart, the floors were banged up, the bathroom was painted blood red. Even the ceiling. I was having nightmares of the movie […]