Stop Chasing Promotions
Unleash Your 'Favorite Self' For Real Success
You’re on the corporate ladder.
Climbing. Delivering. Balancing it all.
From the outside, you’ve “made it.”
Inside? There’s a low static pulse....
Like your soul is trying to ping through a firewall.
Maybe it’s in the pause before the next Zoom.
Maybe it’s at the fridge at 10 PM.
Your leg vibrates… without the phone in your pocket?
That signal?
It’s your Favorite Self.
The one buried beneath meetings, metrics, and masked ambition.
The one who knows what ease felt like once.
And how purpose tastes.
If we were chatting by the kitchen, I’d probably say something simple:
"Hey, you good?"
And you’d probably exhale.
And then the truth would come out.
Not because I have magic.
But because you do.
You just forgot where you stored it.
This newsletter isn’t a therapy session.
It’s a re-introduction.
A calibration ritual.
A reminder that your ambition isn’t the problem.
Let’s recalibrate your navigation system.
Welcome to Iteration #1 of Standup & Surrender.
Not here to lecture.
Here to walk beside you.
Standup & Surrender is a systems check.
A return to center.
A gentle reboot.
This isn’t about quitting your job or fleeing to Bali.
It’s about releasing the survival self that got you here, and trusting the Favorite Self that knows where you belong.
The one that doesn’t chase promotions to feel worthy.
The one that already is worthy.
That resistance you feel?
It’s not coming from the org chart.
It’s coming from within.
Each iteration will deliver:
• ⚙️ Agile-inspired rituals for realignment
• 🧭 Navigation prompts to course-correct
• 🛠 Tools to slow down, recalibrate, and find your frequency
It’s not about tuning out the noise.
It’s about tuning into your signal.
You don’t need a new map.
You get to trust your internal compass.
The Promotion Mirage: Why Climbing Leaves Your Soul Parched
A recent Gallup poll shows only 21% of global employees are engaged.
For senior leaders, that disengagement becomes a quiet crisis of meaning.
You’re not broken.
You’re playing a broken game.
The next promotion?
It won’t fix what’s misaligned.
It keeps you optimizing for metrics that don’t measure fulfillment—
yours or your team’s.
This isn’t about trashing ambition.
It’s about redirecting your purest energy.
Toward Future You.
That grounded, intuitive version of you that already knows what success feels like.
Not how it looks on LinkedIn.
That org chart Kool-Aid?
Nobody wants it anymore.
Put the pitcher away.
We’ll dissect the dead ends.
Then we’ll build something deeper—
a blueprint to unlock your internal asset:
🧭 Your Favorite Self.
Stop chasing.
Start unleashing.
Meet Casey: The Burned-Out Builder
Casey is your classic Burned-Out Builder.
Mid-40s. Strategic. Steady. Respected.
She climbed with intention and sacrifice.
Missed birthdays.
Skipped sleep.
Deferred wellness.
She delivered.
She led.
She won.
But the spark?
Gone.
“I’m in back-to-back calls, solving problems I used to care about.
I come up for air and realize... I haven’t felt anything in weeks.”
From the outside: rock solid.
Inside: hollow.
Her turning point?
Quiet.
Staring at a calendar: 13 meetings, zero whitespace.
She whispered, “This isn’t it.”
No breakdown.
No tears.
Just clarity.
So she micro-pivoted.
Blocked time to think.
Said no to performative work.
Asked, “What would my Favorite Self say yes to today?”
This wasn’t a rebellion.
It was a return.
She didn’t just lead others.
She led herself.
Calmer.
More creative.
Respected for who she was, not just what she produced.
This is what happens when you navigate from your Favorite Self.
Five Micro-Pivots That Shift Everything
1️⃣ The Inner Standup
No leader drives results on autopilot.
Presence calibrates your signal and filters the noise.
Without it, you’re executing someone else’s agenda.
2️⃣ Team Norms
The signal gets scrambled when your boundaries blur.
Resentment builds in the absence of resonance.
Presence is your only source of precision.
3️⃣ Somatic Sprints
Presence drives flow. Flow starts in the body.
Clarity follows when you stop thinking and start sensing.
Burnout thrives on disconnection.
4️⃣ The Observer View
Chaos needs a witness, not a reaction.
Reactivity severs trust with your instincts.
Observation restores choice before action.
5️⃣ Micro-Projects
Impact doesn’t require a blueprint.
Overplanning is just procrastination in disguise.
Clarity comes from movement, not permission.
This Is Your Reboot Point
You don’t need to realign your teams.
You need to realign your receiver.
Start with the pivot that calls to you.
Not the hardest one. Not the flashiest.
The realest.
Let it disrupt something.
Let it unlock something.
You don’t lead by knowing all the answers.
You lead by listening for the next honest step and taking it.
This isn’t about becoming someone new.
It’s about remembering who you already are.
Your Favorite Self is waiting.
Standup & Surrender.
—
🧠 Bonus PDF:
"What Happens After the Pivot"
The deeper shifts leaders miss and how to stay aligned when systems fail.
🔒 This one isn’t public.
DM me “Favorite Self” to get the drop.
🔁 Share this with burned-out leaders you support.
🧭 Follow for the weekly release of Standup & Surrender.
Love this! Because you don’t need a breakdown to deserve clarity.
You just need space, a signal… and one honest micro-move.