Hello—and welcome.
If you’re new here, I’m glad you found your way in.
If you’ve been reading for a while, welcome back.
These letters exist for a simple reason:
to remind us to create internal space as leaders—before reacting, optimizing, or committing to a direction that isn’t quite ours.
::Your Five Minutes Start Now::
Part I: A Shift for 2026
Over the past year and a half, The Pause has become a quiet through-line in my work.
The newsletter has been organized around quarterly themes—Presence, Transformation, Capacity, Momentum—each explored in layered progression.
I’ve proven to myself that there’s real value in teaching.
Every time one goes out, I receive “this landed right now” messages.
And I love knowing that many of you have saved specific issues and returned to them when the moment called for it.
What’s shifting in 2026 isn’t the work—it’s the way it’s delivered.
Working closely with founders, CEOs, and senior leaders, I get a front-row seat to recurring patterns—not just in how challenges show up, but in how human behavior evolves to meet them.
So this year, The Pause will be more point-in-time and pattern-led.
The frameworks aren’t going anywhere.
They’ll show up as support—woven into what’s actually surfacing week to week—rather than taught in long arcs.
Part II: What I’m Hearing Right Now
As we move through the first two weeks of the year, there’s a consistent undercurrent in conversations across industries, roles, and stages of business.
Leaders are navigating expansion and contraction at the same time.
Viscerally.
Here are some of the ways it’s showing up:
🧠😮💨 “I feel clear, but also tired.”
🎯🪨 “I made the right moves… but they asked more of me than I expected.”
📡🌊 “Everyone came back online at once, and it’s a lot to hold.”
🌤️🗺️ “I want this next phase to feel lighter—but still strategic. Is that even possible?”
That simultaneous stretch—forward and inward—can become draining and disorienting when it goes unnamed.
Part III: The Pattern
When the pace accelerates, you don’t lose agency because you’re incapable or ungrounded.
You lose it because your attention quietly shifts outward.
Decision-making starts to orient around:
Urgency before clarity
Market narratives (AI included) before lived capacity
Headlines before inner state
It’s subtle. And it makes sense—especially when political, economic, technological, and cultural forces are all moving fast at once.
Over time, that external orientation erodes something essential:
a felt sense of center.
How we come back to ourselves.
Part IV: The Practice
This isn’t about slowing everything down.
It’s about re-anchoring before you move.
Try this once this week—no journaling required.
Before responding to a request, committing to a direction, or setting a priority, pause and ask:
What do I actually know to be true in my lived experience right now?
(Are we ready? Do we have the right people? Are we aligned on what we’re trying to do?)
Where are the “shoulds” in my decision-making?
Is this truly my choice?
If I were acting from center, what would I do next?
You’re not looking for certainty.
You’re looking for orientation.
That orientation back to your own center—more than speed, more than information—is what steadies momentum when everything else is in flux.
Part V: Up Next
You’ll see me sharing ideas more broadly this year—long-form on Substack, short-form video on TikTok.
Note: I’m still deciding whether we combine this newsletter with Substack or keep them distinct—more on that as it evolves. 😉
Each channel will have a different delivery, but the focus stays the same:
human behavior, leadership, and navigating our lived experience with more clarity and choice.
Here’s to a year of expansion, service, and learning how to meet ourselves through the contractions.
Thanks for being on the ride with me.
More soon. ❤️