World Mental Health Day
World Mental Health Day
“All great discoveries come from a deep inner journey.”
-W. Brian Arthur
The trajectory of my life and work was largely influenced by an early struggle with my mental health. I look back on those days with a lot of compassion and gratitude. As a young adolescent, I didn’t understand the sadness that sat heavy inside me—or the quiet question whispering that maybe life wasn’t worth living. With my therapist, Dave, what I would come to understand was that I had an inner world and it was mine to take care of.
On a particularly dark day, as I paced in my kitchen, considering ending my own life, a voice emerged inside of me. “We need help.” This was before cell phones so if you were a child home alone getting that help was not an easy feat. But a new friend was home and her brother drove her over to sit with me. Not many words were shared; she was a child herself. But her very presence was a salve.
The aha of this moment regarding my inner world, which I could not fully understand at that time was:
There was a part of my consciousness that was deeper and wanted life.
I could observe myself from this part with curiosity, clarity and compassion.
I could tend to this part; live from it.
Understanding this inner world became the great work of my life.
Trade Last is about the Science and Soul of Leadership—because who we are as leaders is who we are. I’ve learned that leadership tools, skills and competencies are only as healthy as the hands that hold them. Without self-awareness and inner management, the very skills meant to empower can unintentionally create control, disconnection and harm.
Dr. Richard Schwartz’s work on Internal Family Systems gives us language and practices for this truth: that our adaptive and maladaptive behaviors both arise from parts of us trying to protect something tender. And that beneath it all is a True Self—the calm, curious, compassionate center that can lead our inner world and, therefore, our outer one.
On this World Mental Health Day, may we each pause to listen inwardly—to that small, steady voice that says, “We need help,” or “We need rest,” or “We’re okay.”
The most courageous act of leadership you may take today is to tend to your own inner world.