Whenever I Focus on Me, I Collapse with Joel Burgess

In this episode of True North Alignment, Keith Hodge is joined by Joel Burgess, embodiment and business coach to CEOs, founders and coaches, and founder of the Elevated Coaching Collective.After spending five years building a food-tech company, raising £1 million and reaching a seven-figure valuation, Joel finally found product-market fit—only for the business to be wiped out by COVID. Left with significant debt and a young family to support, the years that followed became both a rebuilding of his business and a profound inner journey.Through that experience, Joel discovered a principle that now sits at the heart of how he lives and works:“Whenever I focus on me, I collapse. Whenever I focus on service, I expand.”Together, Keith and Joel explore what it means to build and create without being driven by fear, pressure or the need to force an outcome.They discuss:Why service has become the foundation of Joel's approach to business.How to face fear rather than allowing it to dictate your decisions.Why Joel does the opposite of what his mind tells him when he feels emotionally activated.The shift from pushing harder to becoming still and allowing clarity to emerge.Joel's surprising perspective on hope, fear and “hopelessness.”What it means to become empty enough to receive rather than force.How the body communicates our internal state.The crossover between embodiment and Keith's work with True North Alignment.How we can use the body not only to recognise emotional patterns, but to consciously embody a different state.The episode concludes with Joel guiding Keith and the audience through an embodiment practice designed to cultivate stillness, presence and the experience of returning to centre.A conversation about business, service, fear, embodiment and what becomes possible when we stop pushing long enough to hear what is actually true.Connect with Joel BurgessInstagram & YouTube: @coach.joel.burgessConnect with Keith HodgeLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithphodge/