You and I - we live and lead in a world that worships control, certainty, and performance.
And yet, beneath the surface, there’s often a quiet exhaustion… this sense that no matter how much we achieve, something inside remains unsettled.
After more than 20 years walking beside leaders - and even more years sitting in silence on a meditation cushion - I’ve realized something we rarely dare to admit:
Most of what we fight for - recognition, success, reputation - isn’t as solid as we think. It’s mind-made. A story. A projection.
This isn’t spirituality. It’s reality, when we finally stop running.
There are four recognitions that have changed how I work, lead, and live - and that might quietly challenge everything you and I believe about life and leadership:
1. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 - 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 - 𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝.
We don’t respond to reality itself, but to the meaning our mind gives it.
2. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 - 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 “𝐦𝐞” 𝐰𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 - 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝.
The mind is empty of a fixed identity. Not damaged. Not lacking. Just not a rigid someone. When we see this, something softens. Space opens.
3. 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 - 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲.
Because nothing is fixed, everything can unfold. Creativity, intuition, insight - they don’t come from effort, but from allowing.
4. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡: 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞.
Thoughts arise and dissolve. Tension loosens. The next step appears - if we stop grasping.
This turns conventional leadership thinking upside down. We were trained to tighten, to control outcomes, to always know.
But what if real authority begins when we dare to not know - and remain fully present anyway?
When we - you and I - act from clarity rather than from our fear of losing control.
When leadership is less about performing a role - and more about being fully available to what is needed now.
When influence doesn’t come from pressure - but from grounded awareness that others can feel.
This isn’t passive. It’s a fiercer form of responsibility. One that asks for courage: to stop holding up a world that no longer exists.
So I won’t end with an easy question.
Instead, I invite you to sit with this - honestly, quietly:
Where are you still trying to hold everything together - and what might become possible in your leadership if you didn’t?
Not as collapse. But as truth. As freedom.
This is the field I work in - with leaders who don’t just want to improve, but to transform.
If that’s where you are - I’m here.