Those who know me know this: I don’t do ‘easy.’ Not because I enjoy struggle, but because I can’t fake alignment. I’m drawn to what’s real. To depth. To the kind of experiences that break you open; not break you down.
I share more about what shaped this mindset in my latest post on our blog at TheRootedWay.co
🌱 Planting the Seed: The Courage to be YOU
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
— Howard Thurman
Unlike many of my peers, I never had a five-year plan. But I always had a compass - an inner fire I couldn’t ignore.
I was 14 when I stumbled across an old article on Shaolin monks. Something clicked. I didn’t want to admire their discipline from afar - I wanted to embody it.
By 18, I was enroute to a monastery in China. Saying goodbye to the comforts of my home in Holland, fuelled by curiosity.
When I arrived at the monastery, my first lesson came fast: “Zeger, you’re not special. You’re not the hero. You are one of many.”
That truth didn’t shrink me; it grounded me.
I trained harder than I ever had. No praise. No spotlight. No six-pack selfies. Just sweat, repetition and presence. No chasing outcomes - only devotion to the process.
🌿 Watering the Soil: What Martial Arts Taught Me About Leadership
A Forbes piece recently profiled a CEO who credited 20 years of martial arts, not his MBA, with shaping his leadership. I couldn’t agree more.
To lead well is to live well. And to live well - especially at the edge of burnout - requires:
Presence: Not just being there, but being here.
Discipline: When no one’s watching.
Emotional control: Power without groundedness is just volatility.
At ROOTED, this is what we guide leaders back to. Not a hardened edge - but a quiet inner strength. A deeper operating system.
🪨 Clearing the Soil: When We Get in our Own Way
You know the voice. That inner whisper that says, “What are you doing? You can’t do this. You should give up. You don’t have what it takes.”
Sometimes it’s reflective, but most times it’s full-on self sabotage.
I’ve learned not to fight it - but to face it.
Here’s a practice I return to whenever I feel stuck:
Write one sentence about what you’re wrestling with. Not the surface-level drama - but the deeper truth.
Draw a circle. Inside: what your gut says (a word, phrase, picture). Outside: everything else - logic, fear, expectations, pressure.
Ask:
Which voice is loudest?
Which one do I believe?
Which voice is actually mine?
This won't give you all the answers. But it will bring you back to the one that matters: you.
Because leadership isn’t about having it all figured out. It’s about remembering what you already know, and having the courage to live it.