After attending events over the last year
meeting some of the most successful entrepreneurs,
one thing has become painfully clear:

Success in your career doesn’t make us good with intimacy.
It’s often quite the opposite.
Many high achievers I work with
grew up in family systems where showing anger,
sadness, or vulnerability was basically off-limits.

"Don’t cry,"
“don’t let them see any weakness.”

As a result of this
Those vulnerable (but authentic)
parts get shoved into exile,
out of sight and out of mind.

While short term that strategy works
to help get your needs met,
long term –it’s got its consequences.
When you exile parts of yourself,
your emotional self-worth takes a hit.

You start feeling disconnected,
like something’s missing
but can’t quite put your finger on it.
In its place, we see a fawn response take over.

Fawning is a sneaky coping move
where you adapt to what you perceive others expect
just to avoid rocking the boat
or exposing your true (vulnerable) feelings.

If you think that ends up feeling quite lonely–
You’re right.
But here’s something interesting —
your psyche doesn’t just let those exiled emotions hang out quietly.

Nope.

It mirrors them back through your triggers,
irritations, and those unconscious reactions
that make no sense until you look closer.
Carl Jung nailed it:
what bugs you in others
points right to what you need to integrate within yourself.
So that’s our real work.

Shadow work.

It’s about swapping the knee-jerk defense for curiosity —
getting curious about what your triggers really feel like in your body
instead of burying them.
That curiosity cracks open the door
to reclaim those lost parts of yourself.
And as you do, your emotional resilience deepens
and your feelings of self-worth grow.

It’s like turning conflict into growth.
Some folks I work with are surprised it’s not about "fixing"
but about embracing all the messy,
rejected bits inside.
If any of this sounds familiar,
you’re definitely not alone.

It’s a practice —
but one that grows your emotional wholeness
and leaves you genuinely connected.

You can have success and intimacy at the same time.
Your wingman on the journey,

Nima