What Are You Resisting? How Founders Block Growth by Avoiding Emotion
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Show Notes:
00:00 – Intro + recap: resisting emotions, what it means for founders
02:00 – Why emotions feel unsafe (and how that started in childhood)
06:00 – “I’m not an angry person” and other signs of repression
08:30 – Judging others = a sign of emotional resistance
11:00 – Conscious vs. unconscious resistance patterns
13:00 – How emotions physically manifest in the body
15:00 – Jesse's empty calendar anxiety & shame around not being busy
17:30 – Why repressing feelings blocks clarity and reinforces false beliefs
20:00 – Welcoming vs. resisting: the energetic shift
23:00 – The illusion of “fixing” feelings vs. fully allowing them
26:00 – Getting started: how to actually feel your feelings
29:00 – Mapping physical sensations to specific emotions
31:00 – Live guided practice: check in with your body
33:00 – Emotion + resistance vs. emotion without resistance
35:00 – Expressing emotions physically: cars, bats, pillows, and yelling
38:00 – Why adults need temper tantrums too (just healthier ones)
41:00 – Gender bias and feeling shame at work
43:00 – Making emotions safe in work cultures
46:00 – Why “I’m stressed” is just code for fear
48:00 – The emotional gym: building strength through feeling
What You’ll Learn:
If you’ve ever thought “I’m just not an emotional person,” this episode is for you.
Jesse Pujji and Dave Kashen break down how founders unknowingly block their growth, clarity, and power by resisting key emotions—like anger, fear, sadness, and shame. They explore how childhood patterns shape adult reactions, and offer a practical roadmap to help entrepreneurs reconnect with the full range of human feeling.
You’ll learn:
- The unconscious signs of emotional resistance (and why we all do it)
- How repressing emotions creates physical tension and false beliefs
- A live body scan to detect where emotions show up
- How to healthily express anger, sadness, and fear
- Why workplaces suffer when emotions are avoided or hidden
- The metaphor of the “emotional gym” and how to train yours
In this episode of Heart of Entrepreneurship, Jesse and Dave explore the invisible ways founders resist emotions—and how that resistance sabotages performance, leadership, and personal growth.
They cover the neuroscience and psychology behind emotional repression, how to identify suppressed emotions through physical sensations, and why expressing feelings (not fixing them) is the key to unlocking clarity and presence.
This episode is a must-listen for founders working on self-awareness, emotional intelligence, or unblocking limiting patterns in both their work and life.
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#emotionalintelligence #entrepreneurshipgrowth #foundermindset
