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Simp Of Human Progress's avatar

I really liked how you connected inner growth to real lasting change. The Tolstoy quote about changing ourselves first really hit home and the Avicii lyrics added a touching layer to it all. Thank you for sharing this. It gave me a lot to think about.

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Chusana Prasertkul's avatar

Nate, I am so very glad to have been part of the conversation that sparked this piece. I definitely resonate so much with the message for inner work. It is the main reason why I started The Soulful Systems in the first place. After spending years in the corporate world, reaching the top and realising that it was never just about business strategy. The biggest barriers to success were never external, they were always human - the ego, the fear, resistance to change, the inability to trust, to let go, to truly listen. So much energy is wasted trying to fix surface-level (aka save face) problems instead of addressing the more fundamental ones.

Thank you for sharing so openly about your life experience. It reminded me just how much easier it is to focus on changing the world than facing what's inside. The goodness can only ripple out from within - and this is what I keep coming back to.

I've watched Avicii's documentary a while back, so it's haunting to read that lyric again. For someone who gave the world so much joy through music, he suffered immensely beneath it all. And I think his struggles are the very thing we're talking about - the cost of avoiding inner work, the pain of being consumed by an external world that demands more, faster, louder.

I'm honoured to be walking this path alongside people like you.

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