PRACTICE The Oxygen Mask Principle Navigating the Boundary Between Professional Guidance and Personal Resilience April 13, 2026 • 6 min read We’ve all heard the flight attendants deliver the pre-flight safety briefing: "Put your own oxygen mask on first before assisting others." It’s a universal rule for a reason. If you are suffocating, you are a liability to everyone around you. For a long time in real estate, I ignored that advice. The traditional industry is built on a high-churn, 24/7 hustle culture. It demands that you always be available, always be chasing the next deal, and always pretend that everything is perfect. Running that marathon eventually taught me that trying to hand out oxygen masks to clients while running out of air myself wasn’t just exhausting, it was bad business. Outwardly, the playbook worked. I was competent, articulate, put together, and by all traditional industry standards, successful. The files were precise, the...
Principled work. Candid conversations. Meeting life as it happens - with truth, discernment, respect and a little humour. Neurodivergent Husband, dog dad, adventurer, and Realtor in Ottawa.