Every Day Is a Gift You've Never Opened Before
A teacher's reflection on repetition and discovery — how teaching the same lesson four times revealed that nothing in life is ever truly the same. A reminder to embrace each day as a unique gift.
"Enough" Is a Form of Courage — How KK's Column Reminded Me What Walking the Talk Really Means
This morning I read a column by KK about sharing results with employees. What shocked me wasn't his ideas — it was that he has actually lived them out for more than a decade. "Enough" isn't compromise. It's the courage of walking the talk — and that quietly handed me back the courage to look honestly at the direction I'm really choosing.
Hi friend,
Let me share something that just happened.
This morning, sitting at my coffee table, I came across a column by KK Tsang (曾錦強) — founder and CEO of The Bees — titled Sharing the Results with My Employees. The moment I finished reading, I put down my phone, watched the steam rising slowly from my mug, and just sat there for a while.
Not because he wrote about something I'd never heard of, but because he didn't just think about it in his head — he actually did it, and he kept doing it for more than a decade.
That kind of "walking the talk" hit me hard, and quietly handed me back a courage I'd long forgotten.
KK wrote one line that made me stop and think
KK leads a company with more than 170 employees and 38 subsidiaries. For many people, that already fits the definition of "success." And yet, in his column, he openly admitted something most owners would never say out loud — out of those 38 subsidiaries, 13 of them have no employees at all. For someone whose core belief is sharing the results with the people who built them, he was honest about it: this part isn't ideal.
He knows full well that with technology and AI, one person can now do the work of an entire team. He knows the market is moving in that direction. He knows that, if maximum profit were the only goal, going with the current would be the smartest move.
And then he wrote this line:
"But I just can't get excited about that direction."
It looks like a quiet sentence. But after reading it, I stayed with it for a long time.
Because that sentence carries a kind of clarity not many people have — not the world telling him what he should do, not the market telling him what he should do, but a quiet inner knowing: this direction is not my direction.
When did we stop recognizing our own direction?
I thought about so many people I've met over the past few years — including many versions of myself — who slowly get lost inside the word "should."
"I should maximize earnings."
"I should expand."
"I should not miss this trend."
"I should follow what everyone else is doing."
A lot of these "shoulds" were never actually chosen by us. They were quietly handed to us by environment, culture, our parents and the times we live in. We accepted them, lived with them for a while, and then realized we couldn't even answer the question: what do I actually want?
What moved me most about KK's column wasn't what he decided. It was that he still remembers what he originally set out to do. He spent more than a decade holding onto an intention many would call "too naive" — you don't have to chase every last dollar to live well.
And in the end, he proved it with results: this path actually works - and better.
"Enough" isn't compromise — it's courage
I used to think "not chasing every last dollar" was a sign of being incapable. Later, I realized it's actually a form of courage.
Because to say I have enough, you first have to ask yourself:
- What do I actually want?
- Is every extra dollar costing me something I can't get back?
- When everyone else says "this deal is too good to pass up — only a fool would walk away," do I have the inner steadiness to stay calm?
These are hard questions. So hard that most people would rather not ask, and just default to the “mainstream”.
But KK answered them. And his answer was: share with the people around you.
Sharing, at its core, is a way of being
I wrote a piece here a while ago — The Secret to Mastery? Give It All Away — about how sharing knowledge actually makes you understand it more deeply, not less.
KK's column gave me another layer of the same truth:
Sharing isn't a strategy. It's a choice.
And that choice quietly defines who you are.
When you're willing to share, the people around you stay longer, go further, and contribute more. You can't capture that on a spreadsheet, but it absolutely shapes your life and your business.
KK has spent more than a decade proving one thing: people who share don't lose.
To you, still reading this today
If something in this piece made you pause, even just slightly, I'd like to ask you a simple question:
What you do you want to be right now — did you actually choose it, or did you just inherit it?
You don't need an answer right away. Sometimes the question itself is enough.
KK's company quietly reminds us of something simple: not every "should" needs to be accepted as-is.
Somewhere in your life, there may be a few "the market expects this, so I'll just go along with it" defaults that have quietly taken over your choices. Today, on a blank page, you get to write your own answer.
When was the last time you asked yourself "what am I, really?" — and what did the answer give you a hint about?
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