Honest by Default

Before we begin, find a comfortable position — either sitting upright in a chair with your feet flat on the floor and your hands resting naturally on your thighs, or lying down if you prefer. You do not need to do anything with your eyes just yet. Simply settle into whatever surface is supporting you right now. This session is designed to help you access a state of calm, clear-headed honesty — particularly around writing those weekly investor updates. You will not be asked to perform or pretend. You will simply be guided to a place inside yourself where the truth feels safe, even easy, to express. There is nothing you need to force here. Your only job is to follow the experience as it unfolds. If at any point you feel uncomfortable, you can open your eyes and return to full awareness whenever you choose. You are always in control. Now, when you are ready, allow your eyes to gently close.

Feel the weight of your body against the surface supporting you. [6 second pause] Notice the temperature of the air on your skin. [7 second pause] Not warm, not cold — just the simple fact of it touching you. [8 second pause] There is a pressure beneath you right now. The chair, the floor, the surface — whatever it is — is holding you completely. [7 second pause] You do not have to hold yourself up. [8 second pause] That support is already there. [9 second pause] Notice the weight of your hands. [6 second pause] The slight heaviness of your fingers resting where they are. [8 second pause] And now, without trying to change anything about your breathing, simply notice that your body is already breathing for you. [7 second pause] Air moving in. [6 second pause] Air moving out. [8 second pause] You are not doing it. It is simply happening. [9 second pause] And as you notice that — the breath just happening on its own — you might begin to feel something shift. [7 second pause] A slight softening somewhere. [8 second pause] Maybe in your jaw. Maybe across your shoulders. Maybe just behind your eyes. [10 second pause] That softening is the beginning of something. [8 second pause] Let it happen. [10 second pause] Your eyelids may feel a little heavier now. [7 second pause] That is fine. Let them be heavy. [9 second pause] There is nowhere to look. Nothing to see. [8 second pause] Just this. [10 second pause] Just the weight, the warmth, the breath. [12 second pause]

Imagine now that you are sitting at a plain wooden desk. [7 second pause] It is early morning. The light is soft and grey-blue through a window beside you. [8 second pause] There is a cup of something warm just within reach — you can almost feel the heat radiating from it. [7 second pause] The room is quiet. [9 second pause] There is no pressure here. No clock ticking loudly. No one watching. [8 second pause] Just you, and the desk, and the soft morning light. [10 second pause] On the desk in front of you is a single open notebook. Clean, cream-coloured pages. [7 second pause] A good pen resting beside it. [8 second pause] And you notice something about this room — something you can feel rather than see. [9 second pause] There is an atmosphere of complete permission here. [8 second pause] Permission to say what is true. [10 second pause] Permission to write the numbers as they are. [9 second pause] Permission to speak plainly, without dressing anything up. [11 second pause] This room exists inside you. [8 second pause] It has always been here. [10 second pause] And in this room, honesty does not feel like exposure. [8 second pause] It feels like relief. [12 second pause]

And as you settle deeper into this quiet room, I want you to become aware of your feet. [6 second pause] The soles of your feet — feel the texture of whatever they are resting against. [8 second pause] That contact, that pressure, that realness — let it anchor you further down. [9 second pause] Now your calves. [6 second pause] Heavy and still. [8 second pause] Your thighs. [7 second pause] Sinking. [9 second pause] Your lower back releasing into the surface behind you. [8 second pause] Your spine long and easy. [10 second pause] Your shoulders — let them drop just a little more than you thought they could. [9 second pause] Your arms, your hands, your fingers — soft and open. [10 second pause] Your jaw — unclenched. [8 second pause] Your forehead — smooth. [9 second pause] Your eyes resting behind closed lids, still and quiet. [12 second pause] And now imagine that with each breath out, you travel a little further into this calm. [8 second pause] Breathing out — and going deeper. [10 second pause] Breathing out — and the room around you feels more real, more safe. [10 second pause] Breathing out — and the part of you that knows how to be honest, how to be clear, how to be steady — that part is waking up now. [12 second pause] Ten. [10 second pause] Deeper into calm. [8 second pause] Nine. [9 second pause] Settling further. [8 second pause] Eight. [10 second pause] The mind becoming still and clear, like water that has stopped moving. [9 second pause] Seven. [10 second pause] Six. [9 second pause] Deeper and more comfortable with every count. [10 second pause] Five. [11 second pause] Four. [10 second pause] Three. [11 second pause] Almost there now. [9 second pause] Two. [12 second pause] And one. [15 second pause] Deeply, comfortably, peacefully calm. [15 second pause]

In this place of stillness, something becomes very clear to you. [10 second pause] You are someone who cares deeply about the work. [8 second pause] That care is not the problem. [9 second pause] The care is actually the very thing that makes you worth listening to. [11 second pause] And right now, in this quiet, you can see something you may not have seen before. [9 second pause] When you bury a bad metric in vague language, you are not protecting anyone. [8 second pause] You are carrying the weight of it alone. [10 second pause] You are holding the truth at arm's length, and it is exhausting. [11 second pause] But when you write it plainly — when you simply say the number, and what it means, and what you are doing about it — something extraordinary happens. [9 second pause] The weight lifts. [10 second pause] The truth, stated clearly, becomes manageable. [9 second pause] It becomes something you can work with. [12 second pause] Notice now how calm you feel in this room. [8 second pause] This is the feeling that is available to you every Friday when you sit down to write. [10 second pause] This steadiness. This groundedness. [9 second pause] You can access it any time you choose. [11 second pause] And from this place — from this calm — honest writing is not hard. [8 second pause] It is simply accurate. [10 second pause] You write the number. You write what it means. You write what you are doing. [9 second pause] Three things. Clear and complete. [11 second pause] You are not performing confidence. [8 second pause] You are not managing perception. [9 second pause] You are simply communicating. [12 second pause] And here is something your deeper mind already knows: investors do not lose trust when they see a bad metric. [9 second pause] They lose trust when they sense they are not being told the truth. [10 second pause] Plain honesty — even about hard numbers — builds the kind of trust that lasts. [11 second pause] Your clarity is a form of leadership. [9 second pause] Your directness is a form of respect. [10 second pause] And every time you write with calm honesty, you are strengthening that muscle. [12 second pause] You are becoming someone for whom plain truth is the natural first language. [15 second pause] Feel that settling into you now. [12 second pause]

And now, still in this calm, I want you to gently imagine it is Friday morning. [9 second pause] You are at your desk — your real desk. [8 second pause] You have the numbers in front of you. [9 second pause] Some of them are not where you wanted them to be. [8 second pause] And you notice — you feel something different today. [10 second pause] Instead of the familiar urge to soften, to qualify, to bury — you feel steady. [9 second pause] You feel that same quiet calm you have right now, in this room. [11 second pause] You open the email. [8 second pause] You write the metric, exactly as it is. [9 second pause] You write one clear sentence about what it means. [8 second pause] You write one clear sentence about what you are doing about it. [10 second pause] And then you move on to the next thing. [11 second pause] No circling back to soften it. No extra qualifiers. No vague language added at the end. [9 second pause] Just the truth, stated plainly, from a place of calm. [12 second pause] You press send. [8 second pause] And you notice — you feel lighter. [9 second pause] Not because the numbers changed. [8 second pause] But because you did not carry the weight of concealment. [11 second pause] You told the truth. And it was enough. [12 second pause] Now imagine the next Friday. [8 second pause] And the one after that. [9 second pause] Each week, this becomes more natural. [8 second pause] Each week, the calm is easier to find. [10 second pause] Each week, the honest sentence comes first — without the fight. [12 second pause] You are building a reputation — not for having perfect numbers — but for being someone who can be trusted to tell the truth about any number. [10 second pause] That reputation is worth more than any single metric. [15 second pause]

And now, gently, it is time to begin returning to the room around you. [8 second pause] You carry everything from this session with you. [9 second pause] The calm, the clarity, the permission to be honest — all of it is yours now. [10 second pause] In a moment I am going to count from one to five. [7 second pause] With each number, you will feel yourself returning — refreshed, clear-headed, and grounded. [9 second pause] One. [7 second pause] Becoming aware of the room around you. [8 second pause] Two. [7 second pause] Feeling the surface beneath you, solid and real. [8 second pause] Three. [7 second pause] A gentle energy returning to your body. [8 second pause] Four. [6 second pause] Your mind bright and clear, like a window that has just been cleaned. [8 second pause] And five. [6 second pause] Eyes open when you are ready, fully back, feeling well.

Take a moment before you move. [7 second pause] Notice how you feel right now. [8 second pause] That quality of calm — remember it. [9 second pause] You can return to it any time by simply taking one slow breath and letting your shoulders drop. [10 second pause] That breath is your anchor. [8 second pause] It is the doorway back to this place, whenever Friday comes around. [10 second pause] You do not need perfect numbers to be a trustworthy communicator. [8 second pause] You need honest ones. [9 second pause] And you have just proven to yourself that honesty feels like this — calm, clear, and light. [11 second pause] Go well. Write plainly. The truth is enough.