Tag: anxiety

The Wisdom of Leadership and the Courage to Be Vulnerable

We live in a culture of performance: business, sports, and education all expect leaders to be strong, certain, strategic, and always in control. Yet the paradox of high performance is this: striving to be invulnerable can make us fragile.

Neuroscience and sports psychology (for example, acceptance and commitment therapy) show that anxiety, perfectionism, and fear of mistakes shrink cognitive flexibility and creativity. The more we obsess over results, the more our attention collapses into the future. This focus makes us less present with what is happening now. As mental performance coach Graham Betchart puts it: “Stress is the absence of presence.”

This is not a new idea. Long before modern psychology, philosopher Simone Weil described attention as the most radical form of presence. She argued that attention is not controlling the world, but consenting to it. True attention, she wrote, requires self-emptying: standing unprotected in front of reality, without illusion or defense. Vulnerability is the precondition for wisdom.

Read the rest in Psychology Today.

Liberating Conversations

Today’s human life is marked by confusion, loneliness, and neglect of deeper meaning, leading to anxiety, depression, stress, and other familiar psychological struggles.

Therefore—if you…

  • feel lost,
  • suffer from anxiety or restlessness,
  • have existential questions or doubts you cannot find answers to,
  • are caught in an addiction and don’t understand what lies beneath it,
  • struggle with insomnia, fear, or experience a certain chaos in your life,
  • carry a diffuse sense of guilt,
  • live in a home with frequent conflicts, 
  • don’t quite know what is happening with you, but feel trapped in dissatisfaction or anger,
  • uncertain about your role or identity, for example, regarding gender or the demands of modern life,
  • feel sad, unmotivated, or emotionally burdened.

In short: if you feel the need to understand or free yourself from something that prevents you from living a life worth living—with a reasonable degree of authenticity and freedom—I am convinced that I can help you. Not as yet another therapist, but as a philosopher with a focus on practical wisdom.

Often, a few liberating conversations are enough. Each 50-minute session is designed to provide clear insights, practical guidance, and a renewed perspective tailored to your unique concerns. The cost is 100 euros per session. I offer online sessions only, which makes it simple and flexible to create a present and safe space—wherever you may be.

If you are ready to take a step toward greater clarity and fulfillment, reach out today. Together, we can schedule your first session and begin your journey toward the life you deserve.

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Kierkegaard: A Responsible Philosopher?

Søren Kierkegaard (1813 – 1855) is without a doubt the greatest Danish philosopher. The father of existentialism. In a very simple way, he lived his philosophy. After all, to exist means not only to be alive and breathing but also to “stand out.” 

I always visualized existentialism as a vibe board, where a particular life stands out in an ocean of other lives. The image is romantic but it fits with Kierkegaard. He stood out. 

To the world he is known for setting the tone for such themes as fear, guilt, and anxiety, but also for choosing the choice, freedom, and love. In Denmark, his name is spoken with a certain amount of reverence because it can be difficult not to be seduced by his vision of life and poetic style, but also because he was radical. For example, Kierkegaard was openly critical of democracy when he elevated the individual above the crowd. In fact, he would not see imprisonment in isolation as one of the worst forms of punishment, because the truth emerges, undisturbed, between the individual and God. 

For Kierkegaard, I suggest, it all comes down to four important concepts: the self, truth, freedom, and one’s relationship to God.

Read the rest of the essay in Erraticus

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