7% BETTER NEWSLETTER - 7.13.25
This Week: Facing the Unknown, Cosmic Perspective, and Inspirational Leadership
Welcome back to the 7% Better newsletter! Doubt and fear creep in when we face uncertainty or find ourselves in the midst of adversity. We underestimate the strength we’ve yet to fully tap into. Difficult moments often demand sudden, sometimes painful growth. Still, the risk of failure from changing course can be too frightening, so we settle for the familiar, even when we know it’s holding us back.
But challenging times can also reveal our toughness if we’re willing to believe in our unrealized potential and do the work. Inner strength is built over time through lived experience and reflection. Consistency in effort, even through setbacks, quietly instills confidence that our ceiling is higher than we thought. We build resilience by adapting our approach while keeping our energy steady. A new version of ourselves, capable of meeting the moment, begins to take shape. We persevere. And the cycle continues.
Self-doubt convinces us we can’t grow into something more. But the key isn’t to ignore that cautious voice or blindly replace it with false confidence. It’s to examine it, understand where it’s coming from, and revise the parts of ourselves that need refining. This resistance to change is rooted in the anxiety of leaving what feels safe. And that’s exactly when we need to break free of these self-imposed restrictions and step into the unknown. Venture in, stack right action on top of right action, and keep going until you’ve proven to yourself what you’re made of.
And with that, here are some of the ideas, tools, and practices helping me this week:
Quote that’s lifting my spirits this week
“To remember how little you matter, on a cosmic timescale, can feel like putting down a heavy burden that most of us didn’t realize we were carrying in the first place.”
— Oliver Burkeman, Four Thousand Weeks
Check out Oliver Burkeman’s website & Newsletter here !
Audiobook that has me questioning my assumptions
Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know - Adam Grant
In search of a new audiobook to listen to this Summer, this one grabbed my attention! Adam Grant shares his unique perspectives on we shouldn’t shy away from the act of rethinking, why we should stop assuming we have all the answers, and how we can create humble, curious communities founded in the ability to critically think.
Thoughts on Inspirational Leadership
Paul Slaggert, Principal at Slaggert Leadership Consulting, LLC, is a former instructor of mine and someone whose guidance on developing our capacity as leaders I abide by and hope to share.
You can find more about Paul’s work with the Inspirational Leadership at Kylemore (ILK), Notre Dame’s transformational leadership development program, here.
See his most recent post about adapting to new, challenging environments here.
Slaggert writes: “Self-reflection combined with self- awareness is critical to the journey to develop new capabilities and a greater capacity to lead effectively.”
