A Blind Man Leading the Group

Even life coaches need coaching sometimes.

When everything feels loud, start by getting quiet.

Find a place where you can breathe, settle, and hear yourself again.

Show yourself the same compassion you offer everyone else.

Reach out to your supports — friends, family, mentors, anyone who has walked a similar road. Leaning on others is not weakness; it’s wisdom.

But sometimes you enter a season where the real work has to happen inside.

A moment where you must build yourself from the inside out.

I often say:

“Be careful what you’re standing on, lest the carpet is pulled out from beneath you. When it is, what’s the first thing you reach for? What’s the first thing you grab?”

--That moment reveals your foundation.

Identity sits at the core of your values and beliefs.

Beliefs are the invisible threads that shape us, guide us, and carry us into the next phase of our lives. They’re formed by experience — molded, stretched, strengthened, and sometimes shattered.

So what happens when those beliefs get questioned?

When the ground shakes and you feel it in your core?

It’s unsettling, yes.

But it’s also powerful.

Because it gives you the chance to rebuild — intentionally — and decide what truly matters.

If you had to start from scratch, what would you rebuild first?

We all face our own fires.

But the fire isn’t meant to destroy us.

It’s meant to refine us.

There’s an old story about a group of travelers being led by a blind man.

They reached the foot of a mountain. The group said, “There’s a mountain ahead. We can go around it, but if we go forward, the climb is steep.”

The blind man replied,

“I don’t see a mountain. I only see the next step.”

Sometimes the people around you — even well‑meaning ones — can become your biggest distraction.

Sometimes we can be our own distraction.

In the past, I've dealt with insecurities and the Fear of Failure.

I've also dealt with the Fear of Success as well.

Success brings about change and more responsibility. We can have great fear when walking alone, we may feel inadequate at times feeling success.

Carve out space for yourself.

Protect your focus.

And ask yourself:

“What does identity have to do with walking alone?”

Everything.

Walking alone can be powerful.

It strengthens your values.

It clarifies your beliefs.

It reconnects you to who you are when no one else is speaking into your steps.

Sometimes the next step is all you need.

--John Edward