Be Confident. Question Everything
“The bad news is that life is like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute.
The good news is there is no ground.”
– Choyam Trungpa
In this issue:
Be Confident. Question Everything.Zen of Coaching: Course for Executive CoachesA Poem, by RumiHalf Day Meditation Retreat, October 12thCoaching In Complexity, Paradox, and Insight: A Free Webinar, October 10thOur minds crave predictability. Certainty feels safe; uncertainty feels dangerous. That reflex once kept our ancestors alive, but today it often narrows our vision. It’s easy to cling to rigid beliefs or constant busyness, mistaking movement for mastery. We overvalue “knowing,” as if the right plan could protect us from life’s unpredictability.
Yet the more tightly we grip, the more anxious we become. Real practice begins when we notice the impulse to control and soften it. Instead of armoring ourselves with conclusions, we can engage in a blend of confidence and questioning.
Be confident, Question everything is a useful set of practices, a paradox, and an aspirational way to work with today’s rising levels of uncertainty. It was actually the original title to one of my books, which ended up being published as Know Yourself, Forget Yourself. Right now, there is no shortage of uncertainty. This is probably always true, but is more in our faces and on our minds in the midst of our current government and the events around our world.
Imagine, moving through your day with a sense of confidence – doing your best to show up, be aware, to feel, and act; knowing that you can meet more, control less, whatever comes your way. And, at the same, imagine moving through your day with a touch of humility, a sense of curiosity and wonder about what will happen next, and what it all means.
Confidence includes being confident enough to not avoid the pains and difficulties we are facing. Humility is allowing ourselves to be vulnerable and to find comfort in living with a sense of wonder.
Mindfulness practice and mindful leadership could be described as engaging with and cultivating being confident and questioning everything, finding our own presence and ground, and at the same time embracing the reality of uncertainty, the reality of change and impermanence.
Practices
Acknowledge that uncertainty is the way things are. Experiment with more confidence (more agency and less scarcity, less blaming) and more questioning everything. Explore what it’s like to be completely confident and completely uncertain, at the same time, the best you can.
Zen of Coaching: For Executive Coaches: Transforming Others, Becoming Your Best Self, Changing The World (Register now, by October 10th to save $100.)
An online course, beginning October 24th
Coaching is a way of helping others find the deepest places of their hearts.
Program Overview
Zen of Coaching is a transformational program for executive coaches and leaders who want to deepen their presence, expand their impact, and build a coaching practice rooted in wisdom, not just performance. Blending Zen principles, mindfulness, and real-world leadership experience, this course—created by Marc Lesser, the Zen teacher and CEO who helped bring mindful leadership to Google—supports you in cultivating stillness, navigating complexity, and coaching with greater authenticity, clarity, and purpose.
To register and for more information.
[image error]A Poem
The Hurt We Embrace, Rumi
The hurt we embrace
becomes joy. Call it to your arms
where it can change.
A silkworm eating leaves makes a cocoon.
Each of us weaves a chamber
of leaves and sticks.
Like silkworms, we begin to exist
as we disappear
inside that room.
Without legs, we fly.
When I stop speaking, this poem
will close in silence more magnificent . . .
Half Day Meditation Retreat, Sunday, October 12th
In person, in Mill Valley, and online.
In our world of busyness, of more/faster/better, this half-day retreat offers time to stop, reflect, and renew. We will explore the practices of effort and effortless as a path to well-being and “stepping into your life.” Together we’ll follow a gentle schedule of sitting and walking meditation, a talk, and some discussion. Anyone looking to begin or deepen a meditation and mindfulness practice is invited to attend.
Coaching In Complexity: Paradox and Insight: A FREE WEBINAR
Friday, October 10th, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. PT
This free webinar is an opportunity to explore how to coach with more presence, curiosity, and trust — even when things feel complex or unresolved. We’ll explore how paradox can become a doorway to insight, and how to meet complexity not with fear, but with grounded awareness.
Register here.
Warmest regards,
Marc
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