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Avoiding emotions only strengthens them.

Naming feelings creates space for thoughtful response.

Waves of emotion can often pass in just 90 seconds.

Self-awareness builds trust, unlocking clarity, resilience, and better decisions.

At the beginning of my session with Lloyd, I knew something was off.

“It’s the product launch,” he said, anxiety written across his face. “It’s going worse than I ever could have imagined.”

Lloyd had already founded and sold one successful company. He entered his second venture brimming with confidence and backed by plenty of investors. But unfortunately, when his product launched, it was clear it would evoke none of the warm reception of the first.

“How could I have been so wrong?” he lamented in our session. To him, it seemed like all roads were leading towards failure. The fear of it consumed him, paralyzing him until he felt unable to make decisions at work or otherwise.

Before pushing Lloyd to set any goals or put any plans in motion, I asked him to describe how this fear felt to him.

“It feels like a tight knot in my stomach,” he responded woefully.

“Feel into it,” I replied. Together, we took several deep breaths until Lloyd told me the knot in his stomach was dissipating. “What else?” I asked.

“There’s a kind of fog in my head, between my eyes.”

I attempted to draw Lloyd’s focus........

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