The women and men who come to work with me often feel they’re pinned against a wall.

Pressure from the board. Pressure from a deal that fell apart at work. Pressure from their partner at home.

Being a leader costs you. A lot of the people I meet with are used to being strung so tight that they don’t remember ever being relaxed and centered. One said to me recently,

“I don’t have time for feelings.”

If you don’t have time for feelings, relationships with yourself and other people have a built-in distance. Your job is certainly exciting, there are highs and lows. But your life speeds past as if you’re not really there while it is happening.

That’s a lot to sacrifice. And there usually comes a moment in our work, a point of discovery, when people say,

“I want to live before I die.”

You learned how to tie your shoes. You learned how to build a business. You can learn to do this, too.