In my freshman year of college, I came across the Japanese term Kaizen. Kaizen means 'change for the better or continuous improvement.' A Japanese business philosophy adopted by famous multinational companies like Toyota, Kaizen is the desire to continuously improve operations and productivity.

I fell in love with the term because it allowed me to see every failure as an opportunity to improve, making me more focused on how I can improve instead of berating myself on what I did wrong. This is where my love affair with Japanese philosophy began. Through the years, I spent time studying ancient philosophy, symbolisms, and cultural nuances to gain an understanding of their rich history, culture, and wisdom. A new one that I recently learned about is Wabi-Sabi.