When I was 25 years old, I went to bed one night feeling totally normal and woke up the next morning with excruciating back-pain that made it nearly impossible to get out of bed.  At the time, I was bewildered.  How could something like this come out of nowhere?  I hoped that something that came on so quickly might leave just as quickly, but it was only the beginning of a decade-plus of various chiropractors getting me back into alignment, and many months (more than someone in their 20s/30s would care to admit) of wearing a back brace under my clothing.   

Something happens in almost every Authentic Leaders Intensive.  Perhaps we’re working with a leader with strong people-pleasing tendencies exploring what it feels like to share their own emotions or needs.  Or maybe we’re working with an action-oriented, justice-minded leader that’s experimenting with what it feels like to hold boundaries and listen to their bodies.  Or a leader that’s struggling to even acknowledge what their hearts are telling them because it feels like “I’d be centering myself.”

Whatever the case, the question almost always comes up…Isn’t that selfish?

When we think about habits or behaviors to change in the new year for better health and wellness, I think there’s something that often gets overlooked.

Being dishonest. 

They end.  And no matter how great a break or a vacation can feel, eventually you get more and more aware of how little time is left.  Then you’re back in your normal life.  Doing your normal work.  Usually, whatever life felt like before you went on break is what it feels like a day or two back into it.   And if it doesn’t feel good - then what?

I’m often reminded in our intensives how profound it feels when people are truly seen and heard. I hope you’ve experienced this for yourself - what it feels like to say out loud some of the challenging thoughts and feelings living inside you, and the relief of someone receiving you with grace and not trying to respond or do something about it.

Our thoughts can be over-reactive, judgmental, or exhausting. Mine often are. But I guess we need those thoughts It’s where our “intelligence” comes from … right?

You tell much about a team or organization by answering these two simple questions…

When we start to work with leaders on being deeply present in the moment, we often hear people say something (not so) surprising: they don’t want to.

We deserve the opportunity to come home to ourselves … to the childlike sense of joy, wonder, and peace that might feel so incredibly far away at this point.

"Should" can be the gateway to hell on earth.