LIFT Newsletter 068 Three months. That’s all that’s left of 2026. Somewhere between the meetings, deadlines, family responsibilities, and everything else you’ve been carrying, there are still a few questions you haven’t quite answered. What do I actually want next? Is this career still right for me? Should I build something of my own? Perhaps the most valuable and confrontational question is: Can I grow into my next chapter without growing away from my faith and values? With

LIFT Newsletter 067 We clap when something succeeds. We almost never see what it costs to keep going long enough to get there. Here is the part nobody shows you. When you are building something meant to matter beyond you, for your people, your community, further than yourself, the hardest thing is not the work. It is the doubt that comes back, again and again, and asks whether any of it is wanted at all. I know it because I live it. Ten years building COMB, my leadership work

LIFT Newsletter 066 You can be successful in your career and still feel like a beginner when you enter a new chapter. A new role. A business you are building. A career you are deliberately stepping away from. Or simply a decision about what comes next. Different circumstances, but often, the same underlying question:“What am I building, and is it rooted in who I am and what I believe?” The strange thing is, you may not actually need more information.You may need space to thi

LIFT Newsletter 065 On Thursday I sat down live with Pak Salman, co-founder of ParagonCorp. It was live and not shared, so if you could not join, you might think you missed it for good. You did not. For a while now I have been building a channel called LIFT: ElevateX. It is where I sit down with leaders across Southeast Asia and ask them the real questions, how they built what they built, what it cost them, what they got wrong, what kept them going. Not the clean version peop

LIFT Newsletter 064 There is who you are, and then there is who you become in the meeting room. Quieter. Careful. Holding the real opinion back, keeping what you believe most to yourself, because somewhere it feels safer to. You have done it this month, I am sure of it. I have too. But here is where a lot of us get confused, and the confusion is worth clearing up, because two very different things get called by the same name. Being agile and flexible is not losing your values

LIFT Newsletter 063 Over the last couple of weeks we built two moves a leader uses to get things done. The request, asking clearly so nothing gets lost in a hint. The offer, putting yourself forward for the work that decides what you get known for. Both act on what is already in front of you. This week's move creates what is not there yet. The declaration. A declaration is you saying something is so, and by saying it, starting to make it so. “This is where we are going.” “We

LIFT Newsletter 062 Last week we sat with the request, the plain act of asking clearly for what you need, with the five parts that stop it sliding back into a hint. A clean request gets today's work done, because nobody is left guessing what you wanted or by when. But if you are trying to rise, the request is not the move that lifts you. That one is quieter, most people barely use it, and the ones who do tend to get somewhere. The offer. An offer is a request turned around. I

LIFT Newsletter 061 There is a story running quietly underneath most of our lives, and we picked it up long before we were old enough to question it. That was the heart of a conversation I was recently invited into, on the Luminihsan podcast with Guzelya Marisova, and it has been sitting warmly with me ever since. We talked about the beliefs that limit us, and how quietly they end up shaping the whole of the lives we lead. If you want to sit in on it, you can watch the full c

LIFT Newsletter 060 For the past couple of months we have been building this together. Body first, learning to feel what is going on in you before your mind talks you out of it. Then emotion, reading the mood you bring into a room and the mood you find when you get there. Both of those you learn to notice, because they happen inside you. This week is where noticing turns into doing. Language. It is the one part you actually get to choose, because you can feel your body and re

LIFT Newsletter 059 Have you ever paused and wondered… while we're busy building our careers, are we also building the person our family truly needs? That question stayed with us after attending Legacy Makers Summit 2026: Raising Families, Raising Ourselves: Parenting, Purpose, and The Inner Work on 27 June 2026, where LIFT had the privilege of joining as a Supporting Partner. The summit gathered parents, professionals, and lifelong learners who believe that building a meani

LIFT Newsletter 058 For the past few weeks we have been doing quiet inner work together. With the body, the work was learning to feel what is happening in you before your head rushes in to explain it away. With emotion, it was reading the mood you carry into a room, and the mood you meet when you arrive. And last week we sat with a young woman who had been holding a story about her own worth after two rejections, and what shifted for her the moment she stopped believing it. U

LIFT Newsletter 057 Technique gets you ready. Something deeper is what gets you heard. Last week, I shared the story of coaching a 19 year old through her scholarship interview after two previous rejections. If you missed the post on LinkedIn, you can read the full story here. Read Her Breakthrough Story What I want to share with you in this week's newsletter is what made the difference for her. Because I think it applies to almost every professional reading this. When she c

LIFT Newsletter 056 Most workplace conflict is not caused by the issue itself. It is caused by the emotion underneath it. Have you ever noticed how two people can discuss the exact same issue and get completely different outcomes? One conversation creates clarity. The other turns tense within minutes. Same topic. Same workplace. Very different result. Most professionals assume conflict becomes difficult because people disagree. That is only part of it. What usually makes conf

LIFT Newsletter 055 A team can look productive on the surface and still feel emotionally unsafe underneath. Have you ever been in a team meeting where nobody disagrees, yet something feels off? People nod. Updates are shared. Deadlines move forward. But the energy feels careful. Nobody wants to be the difficult one. The risky idea stays unspoken. Concerns get softened into politeness. Real conversations happen in the corridor after the meeting instead of inside it. And slowly

LIFT Newsletter 054 Most professionals do not notice the moment their nervous system takes over. Everyone else in the room does. You know that moment when you suddenly stop sounding like yourself? You walk in calm. Prepared. Clear. Then one comment lands badly. A senior leader challenges your recommendation. A client changes direction without warning. Someone questions your judgment in front of the room. And within seconds, something shifts. Your breathing changes. Your chest

LIFT Newsletter 053 Most professionals think they're communicating. Many are transmitting emotional states they haven't noticed yet. Have you ever walked into a meeting already irritated from the previous one? You tell yourself, "I'll stay professional." But your answers get shorter. Your patience gets thinner. You interrupt a little faster. Your face tightens when someone pushes back. Nobody says anything directly. But the room slowly changes around you. People contribute le

LIFT Newsletter 052 Not all strength is loud. Some of the strongest people simply keep showing up. Today is Mother's Day. And I keep coming back to one word when I think about the mothers in my life. Resilience. Not the kind that gets applause. The kind that wakes up early when everyone else is still sleeping. That holds the family together during the hardest seasons without asking for recognition. That keeps loving even when running on empty. My own mother carried a lot quie

LIFT Newsletter 051 What used to be "nice to have" is now the edge. Let's be honest. The layoffs are real. The retrenchments are real. AI is not coming to the workplace. It is already here. Already being used. Already quietly reshaping who is needed and who is not. And somehow we are already in May. Five months in. The half year mark is closer than it feels. Before this week moves too fast, I want to ask you something. Not what you have been busy with. But what you have actua

LIFT Newsletter 050 The plan will change. The question is whether you tighten, collapse, or adapt with strength. Let me ask you something before we get into this week's disposition. When was the last time you walked into a conversation knowing exactly what you wanted, and walked out having won something better than what you originally asked for? That is not luck. That is Flexible in action. Over the past few weeks we have been building a practical chain. Observation shapes Ac

LIFT Newsletter 049 When the world is uncertain, exudes stability in your presence. Over the last few weeks we have been building a practical chain. Observation shapes Action, and Action creates Result. O + A = R. We also covered BEL. Body, Emotions, Language. This week we go to the simplest place to start. Stable. Not as an entry state. As a return state. Because many professionals do not lose confidence before the room begins. They lose it mid-conversation. A senior leader