"That impulse to push through discomfort rather than sit with it may have served you well for decades. It built careers, drove results, and earned promotions. But something's shifting, and you can feel it even if you can't name it. There is a fear of being still, quiet, or listening. It's easier to press onward, rather than sit on what you might hear, see, or have to feel."
"Most high achievers systematically compressed everything that felt "soft," often because those things-presence, feeling, relationships-didn't show up in measurable outcomes. Emotional range got filed under "inefficiency." Stillness felt like stalling. Vulnerability looked like weakness. That compression was adaptive. In environments that rewarded speed and certainty, numbing the noise made sense. But now, AI handles speed and certainty better than any human can. And the capacities that got compressed? They're the only ones that still matter."
AI outperforms humans on speed and certainty, eroding traditional advantages built on efficiency and optimization. High performers historically compressed soft capacities—presence, emotional range, relationships, vulnerability—because those capacities lacked measurable outcomes. That compression became adaptive in environments rewarding speed, but those human capacities now form the primary competitive moat against AI. Leaders who chronically push through discomfort rely on an operating system running at unsustainable speed and risk dysregulation. Regulated nervous systems enable creativity, trust, empathy, and presence required to lead others. The future will favor leaders who slow down, feel through discomfort, and reclaim irreplaceably human skills.
Read at Psychology Today
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