Two wolves live inside each of us.
One feeds on fear. The other on hope.
I’ve had to choose. More than once.
The first time, I wasn’t ill. I was just… stuck.
No job. No assignments. A market that felt indifferent. A voice in my head growing louder by the day — you’re too old, too late, too much.
I was feeding the wrong wolf without even realising it.
The Day I Learned More About Leadership in My Pyjamas Than in a Coaching Conversation
So I made three quiet decisions. Shift how I thought. Write down what I was grateful for. And deliberately nourish what was good — walks, conversations, showing up to people and spaces that reminded me who I was.
Slowly… something shifted.
Work came back. So did I.
I thought that was my lesson.
Then came cancer.
And the lesson came again. Deeper this time.
No phone. No rushing. No performing. Just a body asking me to slow down and a life asking me what I actually valued.
What I found in that stillness wasn’t despair.
It was clarity.
The Two People Who Taught Me Everything I Know About Leadership
Pain has a way of cutting through everything that isn’t real. It showed me what nourishment actually means — not just food, not just rest, but the thoughts I was choosing to live inside. The stories I was telling myself. The wolf I was feeding.
Two very different moments. One woman. The same truth, arriving twice.
What you focus on expands.
Not as a motivational phrase. As something I had to learn in the quiet of a job search… and again in the quiet of a hospital room.
The wolf you feed wins. It really does.
What are you focusing on? And is it feeding the life you actually want?
With love, Usha
I’m Usha. Executive Leadership Coach. Let’s talk.
Usha Nagrani, an HR Leader turned ICF Executive Coach, empowers senior management professionals and business leaders to achieve breakthroughs as expats, build cross-cultural teams, and navigate the exciting journey of career acceleration.
