Wise Wednesdays

Working as my own boss over the past two years has taught me a lot about energy management. I’ve always wanted to make a difference in the world (through medicine, science, policy, and now coaching others to help them make their greatest contribution to the world) and I’ve occasionally thought of what it would be like to give up and live a quiet life in a monastery. It often seems related to my energy levels… As an employee, the option existed to complain about the boss, the organisation, the workload, etc. knowing that a paycheque will hit the bank account anyway at the end of the month… As the person responsible for running the show, things are different. Your biggest asset is your energy. That’s what fuels the whole machine. If you run out, it’s over. Burn out is a big liability. Saying “yes” to something you don’t really want to do may not seem like a big deal in the moment, but the consequences on your energy, time, relationships, and dreams catch up eventually. T...

You may have heard the expression “you’re in your head too much” which usually refers to the person overthinking an issue. But why does this happen? Back in the early 20th century, Freud, echoing the discovery of Eastern spiritual traditions 2000 years before him, identified that overthinking was a way of protecting ourselves against anxiety and difficult emotions. Emotions tend to get bad press. But they’re a clever evolutionary system providing fast information about the value you place on an object, person, or situation. They’re also a component of what makes us feel alive. The willingness to feel the discomfort and intensity of emotions without resorting to defensive behaviours and distractions can take your life experience to a whole new level of flow, clarity, and focus! “A person’s success is directly proportional to the number of uncomfortable conversations they’re willing to have.” -Tim Ferriss (Author of the Four Hour Work) *** Here are two ques...

Breaking with convention is not for the faint of heart. And yet, it’s the inevitable path of those who innovate and lead in the world. Just to be clear, leading doesn’t imply a macho-absurd approach of the all-conquering Trumpesque variety. Leading for the good means evolving humanity to its highest potential through your own evolution, because you take others along with you. You touch a deeper part of you and from here you can move in the world with more ease, trust, and spontaneity. A growing number of organisational and leadership specialists, like Simon Sinek and Otto Scharmer, as well as my friend Prof Vlatka Hlupic who wrote Humane Capital, are bringing attention to the importance of organisations that are conduits for human creativity and amplifiers of human potential rather than soulless, industrial machines in which individuals are cogs competing for ranks. If you’re not part of one of the more progressive organisations, you may find yourself routinely overwhelmed...

It’s 3am. You’re trying to fall asleep, but your mind is whirring like an overheated computer. So many scenarios to model, so many thoughts to process, so much to think about. It would be OK to skip a night and get by on a few of hours of sleep, but this has been going on for a while and you’re becoming more irritable by the day. Your colleagues and family are noticing… Diagnosis: your inner-demons are raging. You’re in survival mode. During the day, things look a bit better and your inner-demons settle as they feed on distractions. But they return at night or when you’re alone. These demons have one purpose: to keep you from becoming something greater. They’re an ancient survival mechanism and they’re maladapted to 21st century life. Different demons might come up at different times. It helps to recognise which survival demon you’re dealing with, so you don’t make misguided decisions: The fight demon:  You’re going to conquer! You’re going to smash the w...