I used to believe that being stable meant keeping my intellect in charge. It turns out I was really trying to quieten the discomfort that comes when life feels unpredictable, paradoxical, or complex. It is easier to...

The more consciously I try to improve, the worse I perform. My mental clarity, energy and emotional stability all wobble — a paradox I didn’t see coming.  It's an occupational hazard of leadership coaching to keep...

Wendy kept apologising every time she executed a manoeuvre incorrectly. She is a beginner sailor. If she could already handle the boat reliably, she would not need me as an instructor. She was guilty of nothing; the...

I strive to avoid making others uncomfortable or wrong. Truly, I do. Yet I fail more often than I would like. I suspect it is because I sometimes make one too many leaps in logic which effectively is inconsiderate. I...

At some point, most of us ask, who am I, really? The question isn’t just philosophical. It’s personal, urgent, and unsettling. And deeply human. Psychologists and neuroscientists might describe the self as an...

When I quieten myself, I find that Life is forever tapping me on the shoulder and muttering, “Listen here.” Too often I am on autopilot, and the poor thing may as well be prompting an errant Chatbot Eventually...

It is unnerving to recognise that my reality is largely subjective. Even writing that statement makes me hesitate to continue. The tempting and terrifying leap is to declare that everything is made up. That...

20/20 is a fine thing in hindsight. By conventional measures, I was winning: elite education, thriving career, house, healthy children. I believed I was in control. But a quiet voice repeated, “If I wake up dead...

While purging my desk recently, I was struck by how some communications can be conveyed with very few words. I’d come across a file of directions to friends’ homes around the country, written simply enough to follow while...

I’m struck by how many brilliant people I meet who misuse their intellect. At first, I’m intrigued by how quickly they connect disparate concepts and curious to learn. But inevitably, something shifts. The energy...