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**A Trip to India Revealed Something Important About Leadership Growth**

This article delves into a journey to India that uncovered key insights about leadership growth. It explores personal experiences and reflections on what truly drives effective leadership. For the full article, please visit https://soulfulb.com/2012-in-india/.

**Excerpt from "Why High Performers Often Don’t Notice Stress Until It Starts Affecting Their Decisions"**

High performers frequently overlook the subtle signs of stress, which can gradually accumulate and impact their decision-making processes. This oversight often stems from their intense focus on achieving goals, sometimes at the expense of their mental well-being.

To read more, visit: https://soulfulb.com/the-hidden-costs-of-stress/

The BIGGEST expense line of your Sales Team is not marketing, not business trips or conferences, or stands costing 10-30k EUR. It is 𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.

👉🏻 Confidence derives from latin word Con (with) and Fidere (trust/belief) - meaning With Trust or With Belief.��When a person lacks confidence - the whole team and business suffers.

It can happen to anyone who:
‣ has been recently promoted,
‣ got more responsibilities that they can handle,
‣ not feeling well or
‣ feeling undermined, not heard.

When you as a leader or your team lacks confidence:�

1. You simply miss opportunities - everything looks hard;�
2. Generate less revenue - discounts / deals get offered again and again trying to justify the price;�
3. New business is lost because of the sticky idea that “they won't buy anyway”, "the market is slow right now, "they just bought xyz”.

If you are in sales for longer, you, same as me, probably sold when the market was considered to be slow, or non-existent, but you did it anyway. Right?

However, when the doubt may creep in, it is hard to manage the performance and then as an example - the discounts get offered.��Imagine that every member of your sales team, let’s say 10 people can offer a max 10% discount.

Each of them having targets of 300k EUR will easily give away 10% just to sweeten the deal, making the customer buy not the 𝗩𝗔𝗟𝗨𝗘 , but - 𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗘 .

This also makes the client consider other cheaper options versus the VALUE that they could be getting from your company.

On the other hand when the VALUE is the focus, the price can often be even higher: better service, fast delivery, the client is OK to pay more for the peace of mind.

𝗦𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝟭𝟬 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘅𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝟯𝟬𝟬𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝟯𝟬𝗸 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝘀𝗼 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝟯𝟬𝟬𝗸!

“Building confidence takes years” - incorrect.
“You have to be born with it” - also incorrect.

I call this Leadership Growth, where creating CONFIDENCE state in leaders can take as short as 3 weeks!

If you are keen to learn more about the process, see www.soulfulb.com .

Stop wasting money and selling by PRICE.
Restore Confidence and offer VALUE.

⭐️ Comment “Confidence” and I will show you how

𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝟭𝟵 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗼𝘂𝘁.𝟯 𝗔𝗠 → 𝟭𝟬 𝗣𝗠.

Not a lifestyle.
Not a recommendation.
An experiment.

Because we keep hearing:

👉 “Work less”
👉 “Protect your energy”
👉 “Avoid burnout”

But what if the real issue isn’t 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 you work…

…𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸?

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>> 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗱 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱):

𝟭. 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 — 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝘆

From 3 AM to 9 AM:
6 hours of uninterrupted, high-quality work. This was GOLD.

No fatigue. No resistance and No headaches.

Why?

Because the brain performs best when it’s not constantly switching context — something cognitive science has shown repeatedly.

👉 It’s not long hours that drain you.
👉 It’s constant interruption.

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𝟮. 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿 — 𝗶𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴

After every meeting, I stepped outside.
15–20 minutes. No phone. No input.

That simple habit changed the mood and the energy levels.

Research (e.g. Stanford-led studies) shows that exposure to nature can reduce mental rumination and restore attention capacity.

👉 You don’t need less work.
👉 You need better recovery w̲i̲t̲h̲i̲n̲ the day.

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𝟯. 𝟭𝟬–𝟮𝟬 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗽𝘂𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵

Around 2 PM, I laid down for ~15 minutes.

Not a full sleep. Just to relax with my eyes closed.

Came back clear. Focused. Reset. 🎯

According to Harvard Health Publishing, 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗮𝗽𝘀 (𝟭𝟬–𝟯𝟬 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀) can improve alertness and cognitive performance without the grogginess of longer sleep. NASA's research showed 54 % alertness and 34% performance increase due to short power naps.

👉 Most people don’t need a break.
👉 They need a 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 .

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𝟰. 𝗡𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Light food. Frequent hydration.

No energy crashes.

Simple, but consistent with research on how large meals can reduce alertness and slow reaction time.

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>> 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁:

At 10 PM — I still felt energised. 🔥
Next morning, I woke up as normal at around 7 AM and ran 5 km.

No energy crash or grogginess.

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>> 𝗦𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆?

This is not about glorifying 19-hour days. I don't do them often anyway nor I want to.

It’s this:

𝗕𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵.𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝘆.

* Too much context switching - multitasking. The fact is that only 2% to 2.5% of population — can actually multitask effectively
* Too little real recovery - we get glued to the phone
* Too much internal resistance - it is sometimes hard just to hit breaks and step out on the grass

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>> 𝗔 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀:

Instead of asking:

👉 “How do I work less?”

Ask:

👉 “𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗲?”

Because when that shifts…

𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 — 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆.

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I wonder:

Have you ever felt MORE exhausted after 𝗮 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁, 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗮𝘆
than after 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴, 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗲 ?

Audrius Kazlauskas is an ex-FTSE100, NYSE sales and leadership capacity expansion specialist, known for his innovative approaches on business development and impactful contributions. His work spans aviation, energy, banking and other industries that highlight his dedication and expertise. To read more, visit https://soulfulb.com/about-audrius-kazlauskas/