Emotional Explorations
Emotional Explorations is an email newsletter series where together, we explore our deeper emotional truths. Through these short letters, I hope to bring us all more clarity — why we feel the things we feel, and how we came to be who we are.
A tree grows taller... and deeper.
Hello friends! I was recently reflecting on my coaching journey to see if I could tease out the one common thread that ties together everything my clients face. It took a while, but I eventually found the one unifying dream outcome across all of my clients: I want to perform and achieve my goals. I just want to do it in a manner where my emotions aren't fluctuating with the external conditions. And for some reason, this image of a tree then popped into my head. My clients were like tall trees...
Feeling lost: The only two conditions that got you here
Hello friends! We've all been there before. Those moments in life when you feel so lost and the only question on your mind is: "What should I do?" This unknowingness is painfully familiar. But it's actually fairly straightforward to resolve if we back solved the conditions that got us feeling lost in the first place. That's what this week's exploration is about. This week's theme: Why we feel lost: the two conditions Put aside your life for a second and try to bring yourself to another...
How to know when it's the right time to *insert your big life decision*
Hello friends! One of the most commonly asked questions I receive is this: "How did you know it was the right time to quit McKinsey?" I got asked this so much that I started to ask myself the meta-question of: "Why do I get asked this question so frequently?" And then it dawned on me. The question wasn't about timing... it was about how to know when you're ready. There's no framework people can go to for this problem, and so that's why I get asked this question all the time. And so I came up...
When life feels confusing, be selective with the kinds of questions you ask.
Hello friends! I spent a lot of my early-to-mid-20's feeling confused about what I should do with my life. During this period, I collected a lot of questions that I thought would help me gain clarity. And then I noticed something interesting... The most commonly suggested questions always left me feeling more confused: What is your purpose? What are your strengths? What world problems do you want to solve? While certain variations of those questions seemed to be far more effective: What makes...
Why some goals leave us feeling empty
Hello friends! "When I achieve my biggest goals... I just feel relieved." This is a recurring theme in conversations I've had since starting up Emotional Explorations. People who want to feel more from their goals... but their past goals just left them feeling empty. And so first thing's first... it's completely normal. I've felt it myself! In my journal entries after the biggest wins in my life, the word "relief" always popped up. I couldn't understand why back then, but now I do. That's...
The psychology behind gut feelings
Hello friends! I don't know about you, but I've always found gut feelings to be some mysterious 'woo-woo' thing that we get told to avoid like the plague. Well, I strongly disagree with that now. Gut feelings are only mysterious because we don't understand them. But there's a psychology to them, and that's what this week's exploration is about. This week's theme: The psychology behind gut feelings 1. Understanding the mind Carl Jung, one of the pioneering psychologists who mapped out the...
Allowing myself to let people down
Hello friends! One of the most life changing moments during my time at McKinsey was when my counsellor called me out on a deep fear of mine: "Ah Eric, there's your problem: you've built your entire life identity around not letting people down." He dropped this truth bomb on me while I was the most stressed I'd ever been in my career. I knew he was right, and I knew I had to change. I needed to give myself permission to let people down. And in doing so, I became far more impressive in work...
The physics formula to get unstuck in life
Hello friends! When you reflect on a period in life when you felt stuck, can you remember what kept you stuck? Maybe it's that the circumstances felt too unfavourable, or maybe there was a deep fear holding you back. Well, regardless of the driver keeping you stuck, one thing had to be true: There was more friction than you had energy to overcome. That's what this week's exploration is about. This week's theme: The physics formula to get unstuck in life. This is a concept borrowed from...
The most dangerous high achiever mindset I see as a coach
Hello friends! After coaching 100+ high achievers, the one mindset that always leaves me feeling most concerned is this: "I'm not a feelings person." And it's particularly heartbreaking because it hits close to home. I used to believe that I wasn't a feelings person. Heck, my friends even called me "the token robot friend"! All those years, I thought my absence of emotions was a strength. But looking back now, I see a darker truth... it was a coping mechanism to numb myself of pain. That's...
The burden belief
Hello friends! One of the most common fears I come across in my coaching practice is the fear of being a burden: "I don't want to be a burden to my partner" "I don't want to disappoint my parents" And honestly, I was the same. When thinking about quitting my job at McKinsey to explore entrepreneurship, I had the exact same thoughts. And it almost stopped me from embarking on this chapter. Almost. That's what this week's exploration is about. This week's theme: The burden belief Here's...
Emotional Explorations is an email newsletter series where together, we explore our deeper emotional truths. Through these short letters, I hope to bring us all more clarity — why we feel the things we feel, and how we came to be who we are.