This week we explore an ironic realization I had about Wisdom Bandwidth. It raised questions that caught me off guard and left me rethinking something deeply important. If you are a mentor, coach, provider, practitioner, or a human being, this one’s for you.

NOVEMBER 7, 2025

Ironically, I found myself stuck in Functional Freeze at the beginning of the year.

And while I was still doing all the things we always talk about in our LinkedIn posts and Instagram reels, like working, producing, planning, running the household, and caring for my family, internally I felt stuck.

I was struggling to sleep, my body ached, my mind was scattered, and I had the distinct sense of simply feeling nothing, one of the big red flags that come with Functional Freeze. 

In my mind, recognizing Functional Freeze was not the real challenge. The challenge was figuring out how I ended up in it. And that is where I encountered the concept of wisdom bandwidth.

I carefully retraced my steps, untangling the threads that brought me to this place of feeling so profoundly stuck. This led me back to a turning point last year that shaped my life and business in so many unexpected and wonderful ways.

At the time, I belonged to a business coaching group. The experience sparked powerful insights and without doubt, accelerated my progress. To this day, I remain grateful for that transformation. The mentors I worked with inspired shifts I don’t believe I would have found on my own, helping me shape my vision and strategies for years to come.

As grateful as I am now and was at the time, I also noticed a widening gap between who I wanted to be in my life and business and what was expected of me.

The same external voices that had offered so much support and wisdom started filling up the internal space I once used for quiet reflection. Advice, suggestions, and insights gradually silenced my own thoughts and ideas and replaced my internal voice.

Implementing the exact steps they had taken would ensure my success because it was a proven framework.

In all those helpful suggestions, frameworks, roadmaps, tips, and insights, I lost the connection to myself over time. 

Over the course of those few months, the constant stream of external advice disconnected the intuition I once took for granted. Without realizing it, I was using up what I have started calling my Wisdom Bandwidth. The result was a little bit of overwhelm to start, then fatigue, mild burnout, and eventually, Functional Freeze.

Last summer I made a difficult choice. Despite encouragement to move faster, invest more, and trust external strategies, I stepped back. It was uncomfortable to say the least because I felt like I risked slowing down, missing opportunities, and maybe even losing ground I had already gained.

Who was I to question someone’s strategies that had made ten times more than I had in my business?

Yet, intuitively, I knew it was the one and only right decision.

As a mentor and coach myself, I struggled even more with this decision because I knew that for my clients, I often was that external voice in their lives.

Was I adding value to my clients’ lives or was I, too, depleting their Wisdom Bandwidth?

My book includes a holistic framework for recovering from Functional Freeze. Was this a helpful tool to share with the world, or another “proven” thing that simply disconnects people from their inner wisdom?

An answer started forming as I stepped back from the coaching program and allowed myself space to be me again. Some of the things I learned were helpful and I implemented them. Others didn’t fit me at all and I discarded them.

Sure, it may have taken me longer and cost me a little more to arrive at where I am today but I feel fully aligned in my life and business without having to question what came from me and what was external chatter.

While there is always more knowledge to gather and more external strategies to apply, the transformation lies in protecting the internal space that allows our intuition and inner knowing to be heard and felt.

Today, I am acutely aware of how easily even the most valuable guidance can become noise. As a coach, this realization has made me humbler and more sensitive.

I understand that my own voice can sometimes crowd out someone else's internal wisdom unintentionally. That knowledge shapes the care and respect with which I offer my perspective and approaches.

Maybe you have felt something similar. Perhaps you have external voices in your life (mine included) that have become louder than your own intuition without meaning to.

I believe that as mentors, coaches, practitioners, and providers we usually come from a place of love and care and yet this sometimes happens.

This reflection left me with deeper questions.

I don't believe so.

Instead, perhaps it is an invitation to explore a deeper dynamic, where mentors, coaches, and practitioners openly share their expertise, while intentionally holding space for silence and integration.

A dynamic where as clients, we receive external insights, but remain mindful about filtering each suggestion through our own intuition and alignment.

Most importantly I would offer this as a gentle reminder to keep checking in, to ensure the voices guiding us never grow louder than our own wisdom we carry inside.

Ultimately, meaningful transformation happens in the spaces we leave open. Spaces we hold with care and respect, where external guidance meets inner wisdom.

Perhaps the deepest act of mentorship and self-care is empowering each other to protect and honor our Wisdom Bandwidth?

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