Calm and Firm Before the Call

Before we begin, let yourself lie down in a comfortable position — on your bed, on a couch, wherever you intend to sleep tonight. Let your arms rest naturally at your sides or gently on your belly. You don't need to do anything with your hands. Close your eyes now, or let them close naturally as we begin. There is nothing you need to do, nowhere you need to be, and nothing to figure out tonight. This session is designed to guide you through a gentle mental rehearsal of your negotiation — not to stress-test it, but to anchor you in calm, quiet confidence — and then carry you all the way into deep, natural sleep. You will not need to emerge from this session. Simply allow yourself to drift off whenever sleep finds you. The session will continue softly in the background, and your unconscious mind will absorb everything it needs. If you fall asleep before the session ends, that is exactly right. That is the goal. So settle in now, close your eyes, and let tonight do its work.

Your eyes are already closed, aren't they. [5 second pause] And already — even before I say another word — something in you is beginning to let go. [6 second pause] You know you're ready for this. [5 second pause] Part of you has been waiting for permission to stop rehearsing, to stop running the worst-case scenarios, to just... put it down for tonight. [7 second pause] And I'm giving you that permission now. [6 second pause] You can let the negotiation rest. [8 second pause] Because here is something true — the version of you that shows up tomorrow is being built right now, in this stillness, in this quiet. [7 second pause] So the best thing you can do for that call is exactly this. [8 second pause] Let your body sink a little heavier into the surface beneath you. [7 second pause] Feel the weight of your shoulders. [6 second pause] The weight of your arms. [7 second pause] The weight of your legs. [8 second pause] Each breath you take is carrying you a little further from the noise of the day. [7 second pause] A little deeper into rest. [8 second pause] Notice how your chest rises... and falls. [6 second pause] Rises... and falls. [8 second pause] You don't have to control it. [7 second pause] Your body already knows how to breathe. [8 second pause] Your body already knows how to rest. [9 second pause] And your mind... your mind is already beginning to slow. [8 second pause] Like a river that has been rushing all day and is now finding a wide, still pool where it can spread out and become calm. [10 second pause] That's right. [9 second pause]

I want you to imagine, in your mind's eye, a quiet room. [7 second pause] Not a boardroom. Not a Zoom call. Not a term sheet. [6 second pause] Just a quiet room — warm, softly lit, completely private. [8 second pause] Maybe it feels like a library, or a study, or simply a room you've always felt safe in. [7 second pause] The walls hold the light gently. [6 second pause] The air is still and easy to breathe. [8 second pause] There is a chair in this room — your chair — and you are sitting in it with a kind of effortless ease. [7 second pause] Not tense. Not braced. [6 second pause] Just... settled. [8 second pause] Grounded. [9 second pause] And as you sit here, you notice something about this room. [7 second pause] It is completely insulated from urgency. [8 second pause] Whatever was pressing on your mind before you came here — it cannot follow you in. [9 second pause] The term sheet, the pushback, the numbers, the voices — they are outside this room, and this room is sealed. [10 second pause] In here, there is only quiet. [8 second pause] And the quiet feels... good. [9 second pause] It feels like the kind of quiet that belongs to someone who knows what they're doing. [10 second pause] Someone who has done the work. [8 second pause] Someone who doesn't need to rehearse fear anymore — because they've already chosen confidence. [10 second pause]

And now, I'm going to count down from ten to one. [5 second pause] With each number, you will drift deeper into this stillness. [6 second pause] Deeper into the quiet room. [7 second pause] Deeper into rest. [8 second pause] Ten. [10 second pause] Letting the surface beneath you hold your full weight now. [9 second pause] Nine. [10 second pause] Your jaw softening. [8 second pause] The muscles around your eyes releasing. [9 second pause] Eight. [10 second pause] Your shoulders dropping just a little more. [9 second pause] Heavier. [10 second pause] Seven. [10 second pause] Your arms heavy and still. [9 second pause] Your hands resting completely. [10 second pause] Six. [11 second pause] Halfway down now. [8 second pause] Deeper with every breath. [10 second pause] Five. [11 second pause] The room around you growing softer, warmer, quieter. [10 second pause] Four. [12 second pause] Your legs heavy and still. [9 second pause] Your feet at rest. [11 second pause] Three. [12 second pause] Going deeper now. [10 second pause] Deeper than you expected. [11 second pause] Two. [13 second pause] Almost there. [10 second pause] Your whole body at rest. [12 second pause] Your mind growing quiet and still. [11 second pause] One. [14 second pause] Deep. [12 second pause] Completely at rest. [15 second pause] That's right. [13 second pause]

And from this deep, still place, I want to speak to the part of you that already knows how to handle tomorrow. [10 second pause] Not the part that runs worst-case scenarios. [12 second pause] The part that has done the work. [10 second pause] The part that built the model, ran the numbers, knows the story, believes in the value. [12 second pause] That part of you is calm. [10 second pause] That part of you is ready. [12 second pause] And here is what that part of you knows — your valuation is not a guess. [10 second pause] It is a position. [11 second pause] It is a considered, defensible, honest position. [12 second pause] And you don't have to fight for it. [10 second pause] You simply hold it. [13 second pause] Like a stone at the bottom of a river. [10 second pause] The current moves over it. [9 second pause] The water rushes past. [10 second pause] And the stone stays exactly where it is. [13 second pause] That is you tomorrow. [10 second pause] Steady beneath whatever comes. [12 second pause] When pushback arrives — and it may — you don't need to react. [10 second pause] You can simply breathe. [9 second pause] One breath. [10 second pause] And let the words land without letting them move you. [12 second pause] Because you know something important. [10 second pause] Silence after pushback is not weakness. [9 second pause] It is power. [12 second pause] A pause before you respond is not uncertainty. [10 second pause] It is the signature of someone who does not need to scramble. [13 second pause] You are not scrambling tomorrow. [11 second pause] You are grounded. [10 second pause] You are clear. [12 second pause] And the other side of the table can feel that. [13 second pause] They can feel when someone knows their number. [10 second pause] They can feel when someone isn't bluffing. [11 second pause] They can feel when someone is calm enough to walk away if they need to. [14 second pause] And that calm — that groundedness — is not something you have to perform. [10 second pause] It is something you already have. [12 second pause] It is already in you. [11 second pause] Tonight is simply reminding you of what was always there. [15 second pause]

In a moment, I'm going to walk you through tomorrow morning. [9 second pause] Not to rehearse fear. [8 second pause] To rehearse ease. [12 second pause] Imagine waking up tomorrow. [10 second pause] The room is quiet. [9 second pause] Your body feels rested. [10 second pause] And before the day fully arrives, there is a moment — just a breath — where you feel clear. [12 second pause] You remember that you know this material. [10 second pause] You remember that you've prepared. [11 second pause] And you remember that calm is a choice you've already made. [13 second pause] You move through your morning without urgency. [10 second pause] You don't rehearse the worst case. [9 second pause] You simply show up. [12 second pause] And when the call begins — when you hear the first voice, when the first question is asked — you notice something. [11 second pause] You are steady. [10 second pause] Not because nothing challenging is being said. [9 second pause] But because your feet are on the ground. [12 second pause] Your voice is even. [10 second pause] Your thinking is clear. [11 second pause] And when someone pushes on the number — when they test it — you take one breath. [12 second pause] And you say what you know to be true. [10 second pause] Calmly. [9 second pause] Directly. [11 second pause] Without apology. [14 second pause] And you feel, in that moment, exactly how it feels to hold a position with grace. [12 second pause] Not aggression. [10 second pause] Not anxiety. [11 second pause] Just... quiet certainty. [15 second pause] That is the version of you that is being built right now, in this sleep. [13 second pause] Resting. [12 second pause] Integrating. [14 second pause] Becoming ready. [18 second pause]

And now there is nothing more to do tonight. [12 second pause] The work is done. [13 second pause] The preparation is complete. [14 second pause] All that remains is sleep. [15 second pause] Deep, restorative, natural sleep. [16 second pause] Let your thoughts drift now like clouds moving slowly across a night sky. [14 second pause] Not chasing them. [12 second pause] Not holding them. [15 second pause] Just watching them pass. [18 second pause] Your body is heavy and warm. [16 second pause] Your breathing is slow and even. [18 second pause] And somewhere beneath the thoughts, beneath the plans, beneath the numbers and the voices and the scenarios — there is a deep, quiet place. [18 second pause] And you are already moving toward it. [20 second pause] Deeper now. [18 second pause] Quieter. [20 second pause] Softer. [22 second pause] Let the sounds of the room fade. [20 second pause] Let the weight of tomorrow lift from your chest. [22 second pause] It will be there when you need it. [18 second pause] But right now, right here, there is only rest. [24 second pause] Only stillness. [22 second pause] Only the slow, easy rhythm of your breath. [25 second pause] In. [20 second pause] And out. [25 second pause] In. [22 second pause] And out. [28 second pause]

Drifting now. [25 second pause] Deeper. [28 second pause] Further into the quiet. [30 second pause] The mind growing still. [28 second pause] Like the surface of water late at night. [32 second pause] No ripples. [28 second pause] No current. [35 second pause] Just stillness. [30 second pause] And in that stillness, sleep is already here. [35 second pause] Already wrapping around you. [32 second pause] Already carrying you down. [38 second pause] Down. [35 second pause] And down. [40 second pause] Deeper. [38 second pause] And deeper still. [45 second pause] Rest now. [45 second pause] Sleep now. [50 second pause]