Welcome to part 2 in a 7-part blog series exploring the A.I.M. for Effectiveness© journey — told through real-life stories.
Each blog explores a different part of the A.I.M. approach — Awareness, Integration, and Modelling — and how these show up in the mess and magic of daily life. If you’ve only just joined us, you can catch up via the links at the bottom of this page.
Keep reading — these aren’t just concepts. They’re human experiences, and maybe you’ll see yourself in the stories we share.
The story below is based on a real client experience. I’ve changed some details to protect confidentiality. For clarity and flow, I refer to this manager as “he” — but the patterns and insights are universal, regardless of gender, role, or context.
You are not alone. Professionals today juggle multiple roles, responsibilities, and identities. When energy is scattered and habits go unchecked, we often fall into behavioural patterns that drain us.
This is a story about awareness — and how one small shift in perspective helped a high-performing manager rewrite the story he didn’t know he was living. It’s a story about reclaiming choice, and how the Functional Fluency framework helps professionals like you move from reactivity to effective, conscious behaviour.
Not long ago, I was working with a sharp, 39-year-old manager at a high-profile global enterprise — the kind that regularly features on Forbes’ list of the world’s biggest companies.
He was brilliant at what he did. He was clear, capable, and committed, and yet, he was running on empty…
Caught between a boss who prioritised personal status over purpose, a high-performing team under pressure, and the intense push-pull of parenting a two-year-old with a partner also working full time, he was quietly burning out.
He loved the foreign city they lived in, but questions kept swirling.
“Is it time to return - for the family, and a quieter life?"
“Would that mean giving up better education?”
“Are we really making the right long-term decisions?”
Together with his partner he was considering buying a house — a major investment that would increase financial pressure. At work, he felt he had to prove himself, not just succeed but succeed visibly and decisively, to show his boss was wrong. The stakes were high... and he was exhausted.
He was thinking constantly about the past and the future, but the one place he wasn’t . . . the present.
The here and now.
Then something unexpected happened.
As he was talking about his father — his struggles, his unrealised potential, and his belief that success was the only way to feel safe — I asked gently, “Is it possible you’re living the life he never got to have?”
He stopped. The words hung in the air, and then the tears came.
It touched something deep. He hadn’t seen it before, but now he could. He was chasing achievement and approval, not just for himself, but to fulfil a dream that wasn’t his.
In that session, we did something simple but powerful.
We paused, he checked in, and I invited him to step into Accounting Mode — the grounded, evaluative behavioural mode at the heart of the Functional Fluency framework.
Together, we looked at his inner reality — emotions, thoughts, energy levels — and his outer reality — what was really happening in his environment.
And in that moment of clarity, something shifted.
He noticed how much he had been reacting instead of responding, he recognised what he had been ignoring, and he saw that there were, in fact, options.
No big drama, no instant answers, just awareness, and from that, a new possibility.
Because we create stories — often unconsciously — to make sense of what’s happening around us.
“You always have to prove yourself.”
“You can’t let anyone down.”
“There’s no time to pause.”
“You need to stay in this job to feel financially secure.”
“It’s easier to say yes than risk conflict.”
Sound familiar? These stories might once have served a purpose, but when left unexamined, they become barriers to effectiveness — quietly draining our energy and narrowing our perspective.
One perspective I find helpful is this:
We don’t suffer because of our circumstances. We suffer because of the stories we tell ourselves about them.
But the good news is, that all stories can be rewritten.
And the key to rewriting them is awareness.
Awareness is more than mindfulness. In fact, it’s foundational. Without awareness, we can’t truly be mindful.
It’s the ability to consciously notice and understand:
It’s what allows you to catch yourself in the moment, reflect with clarity, and choose behaviour that benefits both yourself and others.
And when you use Accounting — the evaluative, reality-checking mode within Functional Fluency — you build your capacity for perspective, presence, and practical decision-making.
That’s how you go from reacting to responding, from survival to intentional action, and from drained to effective.
We often assume that good habits stick because of discipline, but that’s not the whole story.
The habits that last are the ones that create craving.
Marketers know this. Social media platforms are built on it. A notification, a like, a ping — your brain lights up and wants more.
So here’s your opportunity.
What if you could crave clarity?
What if you could crave those small moments of presence and power that come from conscious choice?
Once you start noticing the energy shift that comes with awareness, you won’t want to go back. You’ll start to crave what supports your well-being, what connects you to others and what makes you more effective.
And that’s what builds sustainable habits and lasting transformation.
And if you're ready to pause and reflect, our guided worksheet invites you gently to explore your inner patterns and make more conscious choices. You can download this fillable PDF worksheet at the bottom of the page.
Remember, this practice isn't about fixing everything. It's about interrupting the automatic. It's about bringing choice back online. That's how stories shift. That's how energy shifts. Thats how effectiveness grows.
In the A.I.M. for Effectiveness Accelerator©, awareness is the first pillar of change. Not as a theory, but as a practice. We help professionals bring awareness to life — through powerful frameworks like Functional Fluency, self-reflection, storytelling, and behavioural insight grounded in neuroscience.
If you're curious where your own energy might be leaking — or ready to flow, try our free 2-minute self-check quiz.
Because awareness isn’t just a soft skill.
It’s a survival skill — and a thriving skill.
A leadership skill, a life skill.
A skill that allows you to flourish and invites others around you to do the same, and it starts with paying attention — right here, right now.
Leona Bishop
Other blogs in this series:
