When thinking harder doesn’t work: Why clarity lives in your body, not your head
How to stop looping in your mind, release what’s trapped in your body, and finally take aligned action on the life waiting for you.
When people first come to me, it’s often because they’re disillusioned with coaching.
They’ve tried the traditional approach:
A coach who pushes harder goals, sharper accountability, performance hacks that squeeze more out of a life that already feels misaligned.
And it works… for a while.
Until it doesn’t.
I recently spoke with someone who had lived through a year of upheaval — a divorce, a move to a new country, a resignation from a stable job.
The kind of year that cracks you open whether you want it to or not.
From the outside, it looked like change.
But inside? They felt like they were standing still.
They told me:
“The gears have already shifted… but the highest risk is my inability to take action with the information I have now.”
I knew exactly what they meant.
My own unraveling
Years ago, I was in the same place.
I’d built a life that looked right on paper: global leadership roles, recognition, stability, applause.
And yet, I was empty.
I kept succeeding at things I no longer cared about.
I kept performing in ways that cost me parts of myself.
But let’s wind this back a little — so you can see the context of my journey.
I was the son of a preacher man (cue the song 😉) — raised inside faith traditions that gave me music, devotion, and beauty… but also rules, boxes, and fear.
Later, I served in a modern global church as a worship leader. I loved the unity of voices, but I couldn’t ignore the questions that dogma shut down.
At 35, I hit a wall. I had no choice but to act.
That’s when the shedding began:
Layers of identity.
Layers of trauma stored in my body.
Layers of stories that were never mine to carry.
From there, I went beyond the maps I was given — into esoteric traditions, astrology, Human Design, Gene Keys, somatic practices… and intentional plant medicine journeys with ayahuasca, used for millennia by indigenous tribes as rites of passage into deeper truth.
What I discovered was this: every tradition, every system is a mirror. None of them the final truth.
At 42, after years of exploration and integration, I was finally ready to align my outer world with my inner. I moved my family to Portugal — to live by the rhythms of nature. Slower. Simpler. More intentional.
And that journey taught me the lesson that shapes all my work today:
To live fully, you have to trust what you feel more than what you’ve been taught to fear.
Why the body matters
Here’s what I’ve learned: most of us try to “think” our way into clarity.
We circle the same questions in our heads:
Should I take the safe path?
Try the creative dream?
Escape to nature?
But the body already knows.
The body stores the trauma, the conditioning, the old identities that keep us frozen.
The body also holds the compass — the yes, the no, the passion waiting to be rekindled.
One client once described their job like this:
“It felt like cutting off a limb. Fifty hours a week, but no connection to who I really am.”
That’s what happens when we live out of alignment. We numb ourselves just to keep going.
Traditional coaching doesn’t go there. It stays in the head.
Transformation only happens when we reconnect to the body — when we stop proving, start feeling, and allow the fire inside to catch again.
That’s what embodiment is: coming home to yourself so you can finally lead from your wholeness.
There is no other way.
Becoming an embodied leader
This is the work I do now: helping people become embodied leaders.
Not leaders in the corporate sense — but leaders of their own lives.
When you start to listen to your body, release the stories projected onto you, and reclaim the parts of yourself you shut down years ago, something shifts:
Your energy rises.
Your clarity sharpens.
Your emotional buy-in for your own hidden desires skyrockets.
You stop living someone else’s script.
And you start writing your own.
A way through
That’s why I created The Return Plan – Foundation.
It’s not traditional coaching.
It’s not surface-level.
It’s a potent one-month journey designed to re-align you from the inside out.
Here’s how it works:
Step 1 – Timeline Deep Dive (90 mins)
We map your story — the pivotal moments, the trauma, the conditioning that shaped your choices. You’ll see clearly what’s been running the show.
Step 2 – Soul Purpose Blueprint (60 mins)
Two weeks later, we layer Human Design, Gene Keys, and Astrology as mirrors to define your North Star. You’ll know what energises you and what drains you.
Step 3 – Bridge Plan (60 mins)
Finally, we bring it all together into a clear action map: the shifts, steps, and supports you need to move from limbo into aligned action.
And throughout, I’m there — holding the space, challenging the patterns, helping you embody your next season.
Why now matters
When the gears have already shifted inside, waiting only dims the fire.
The cost isn’t just time.
It’s passion.
It’s self-trust.
It’s possibility.
The longer you wait, the easier it is for comfort and fear to pull you back.
The real risk isn’t falling.
The real risk is regret.
That’s why people find me when they’re at the edge of change.
Not because they’re lost — but because they’ve outgrown the old map.
And if that’s you?
Maybe this is your moment to step forward.
👉 If you feel pulled to explore what this journey could look like for you, I’m opening up 2 spots for September.
Book your 30-min Clarity Call here: