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Have you ever found yourself desperately wanting to move forward in life or at workwhether its launching a new venture, making a bold pivot, or finally saying yes to the idea thats been tugging at your mindbut somehow, you cant gain momentum? You might be living out what I call the Gas and Brake Paradox. This paradox shows up when you press the gas pedal of ambition, opportunity, or desire while unknowingly stomping on the brakes through unconscious resistance. You’re accelerating and stalling simultaneously. And heres the thing: The most visionary, high-performing leaders Ive worked with often dont even realize theyre caught in it. Its not laziness. Its not a lack of clarity or capability. Its usually an unspoken inner conflict between expansion and safety. The Hidden Drag on High Performers A Deloitte study found that 59% of high-level leaders feel trapped in successtheyve hit the outward milestones but feel unfulfilled, stagnant, or quietly disengaged. Meanwhile, a Harvard Business Review survey revealed that 71% of executives cite internal resistance, not external barriers, as the biggest roadblock to innovation. The Gas and Brake Paradox is often the invisible force behind that drag. It manifests subtly: You plan obsessively but never hit “go.” You say yes to everything except the thing that matters most. You dream of change but cling to whats familiar. And just like a car doing both at once, you create friction, burnout, and inertia. You move nowhere, exhaustingly fast. Why We Hold the Brake At the root of this paradox isnt just a fear of failure; its often a fear of transformation. Real growth demands letting go not only of titles or routines, but also of identities. And thats terrifying. Because who will I be if Im not this anymore? Many leaders push forward externally while holding onto internal stories that no longer serve them. One of my clients was poised to launch a disruptive new startup after spending decades in corporate leadership. But he kept defaulting to one more safe project. Another was ready to write a book that would redefine her field, but she couldnt stop editing chapter one. Both had one foot on the gas and the other on the brake. And heres the reframe: Resistance isnt weakness. Its often a form of inner wisdom, a message from your psyche: This next move requires a new version of you. 5 Ways to Release the Brake Without Losing Control You dont need to floor the gas or stomp on the brakes. True momentum comes when you learn to navigate both with intention. Heres how. Name the pattern. Awareness is the first unlock. Ask yourself: Where do I feel both excitement and dread? What patterns keep repeating, despite my best intentions? One client described it like reaching for the door but never turning the handle. He journaled his stuck points for a week and discovered a subtle pattern: Anytime he came close to clarity, hed immediately flood his calendar with distractions. That awareness changed everything. Use a habit tracker for a few days. Highlight moments where you feel conflicted. What triggered the brake? Reframe the story. Most resistance lives in outdated personal narratives. You might believe that success requires sacrifice, or that changing will result in losing everything you have built. In my coaching practice, I guide leaders through rewriting their origin stories. Because transformation doesnt mean erasing your past; it means integrating it. When you shift from Im starting over to Im evolving forward, a whole new possibility opens up. Create a future snapshot. Instead of fixating on what to do next, picture a day in your life two to three years from now. Where are you? What are you doing? Who are you becoming? Choose one image or object that symbolizes this version of you and keep it visible. Its not about fantasy; its about anchoring into possibility. Have a mirror conversation. We all need someone who can reflect us back to ourselves, without an agenda. Ask a trusted peer or coach: Where do you sense I am holding back? Where do I seem most alive but also most hesitant? What feels ready to emerge in me that I might be missing? A single honest conversation, when grounded in curiosity and care, can surface insights you cant reach alone. Sometimes, clarity doesnt come from more thinking, but from truly being seen. Take a micro-move. Instead of leaping into the void, start with a courageous toe-dip. Small, aligned action builds confidence while creating momentum. Write the first sentence of the book, block off one hour to explore the bold idea, or share your vision with a trusted colleague. As behavioral scientist BJ Fogg puts it: Tiny habits lead to big change. Micro-moves signal to your nervous system: This is safe. This is possible. And it’s okay to keep going. The Gas and Brake Paradox isnt a flaw; its a signal. It means youre on the cusp of something important. So instead of asking how you can go faster, ask: What part of me am I ready to release so I can move freely? Success without fulfillment isnt success, and movement without alignment is just motion. However, when your ambition meets inner claritywhen gas and brake begin to harmonizeyou stop spinning your wheels and start driving with purpose.
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What if buildings and neighborhoods were planned with health and climate risks in mind, just like businesses use financial data to guide their decisions? What if public health and real estate werent at odds, but instead coauthors of a healthier, more equitable urban future? Thats the bold premise of Architectural Epidemiology, a new book that offers a radical rethinking of the relationship between place and health. Written by architect and public health expert Adele Houghton and Dr. Carlos Castillo-Salgado, an epidemiologist, the book introduces a place-based framework for aligning real estate investment with public health goalsusing the tools of epidemiology to guide design decisions that affect buildings and the way they engage the surrounding city. At its core, architectural epidemiology is not a metaphor. Its a methodology. Diagnosing places like patients Just as a doctor might diagnose a patient based on symptoms and environmental exposures, Houghton and Castillo-Salgados framework helps designers, developers, and policymakers diagnose the health of a place. The process begins by gathering publicly available health and climate datarates of asthma, heat exposure, housing-cost burden, chronic illness, and moreand dialing into the specific needs of any real estate project boundary. These place-based insights then inform customized development strategies tailored to local needs. (Courtesy Johns Hopkins University Press) This isnt a one-size-fits-all checklist. Its a locally calibrated, equity-centered approach that asks: What are the most urgent public health and climate concerns in this neighborhood? And how can this project become part of the solution? Two case studies from the book, one in the South Bronx and another in East London, show how this approach plays out in the real world. Toxic infrastructure to health-first housing The South Bronx is one of New York Citys most environmentally burdened neighborhoods. Residents face compounding public health concerns, including high rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and pediatric asthmaconditions tied directly to chronic exposure to air pollution, extreme heat, and poor housing conditions. Infrastructure like solid waste transfer stations, natural gas plants, and a daily flow of more than 750 diesel trucks has left a lasting environmental footprint. Three projects demonstrate how health-driven interventions play out in real life. Arbor House, a 124-unit LEED Platinum affordable housing development, took an indoor-focused strategy. With no regulatory leverage to reduce nearby traffic or emissions, the project team instead designed a protective shell: a high-performance building envelope, mechanical exhaust and ventilation systems, low-VOC materials, and a no-smoking policy. These features directly addressed local respiratory and cardiovascular risk data, providing a sanctuary of clean air in a polluted context. The Eltona, another LEED Platinum project by the same developer, built on these strategies but also benefited from its location within the Melrose Commons urban renewal zone. This area, guided by a community-authored plan, introduced pedestrian-prioritized streets and small green spaces to break up heat and pollution hot spots. This sort of coordinated planning can push health equity beyond the building envelope. The Peninsula represents an even bolder intervention: transforming a former juvenile detention center into a mixed-use anchor of community well-being. Once all phases are complete (anticipated in 2026), the project will deliver 740 units of affordable housing, a wellness center, daycare, supermarket, light industrial space, and a workforce development huball aligned with the long-standing Hunts Point Vision Plan. Created through a collaborative effort between local government and community groups, the plan calls for cleaner air, economic opportunity, and access to green space without displacing existing residents. This multiscalar transformation wouldnt have been possible without partnership. The development team committed to providing both affordable and middle-income housing, as well as commercial and industrial spaces aligned with local needs. The local government played a convening role, confronting outdated zoning and building codes to enable community-led regeneration. And community groups acted as watchdogs and visionariesdocumenting health inequities, advocating for residents needs, and ensuring decades of disinvestment didnt translate into displacement. From industrial blight to inclusive growth In East Londons Hackney borough, Gillett Square shows how long-term, community-led urban design can build resilience without triggering displacement. Residents here also face elevated risks from exposure to traffic-related air pollution, unsafe pedestrian conditions, and mental health stressors, particularly among children and the elderly. Climate concerns such as extreme temperatures compound vulnerability, especially in a borough with high poverty rates and a large renter population. The project began in the 1980s as part of a broader, three-pronged effort to reduce crime, create economic opportunity for women- and minority-owned businesses, and preserve affordability in the face of rapidly rising property values. Organized by Hackney Co-operative Developments, a community interest company, this initiative has grown over 40 years into a model of place-based health equity.Unlike top-down redevelopment, the transformation of Gillett Square unfolded through continuous negotiation among residents, developers, and the local government. A former parking lot became the square itself. Adjacent buildings were renovated to create 30 affordable workspaces and 10 retail units prioritized for local startups and cultural groups. The existing street-facing storefronts remained intact, maintaining the character and economic rhythms of the block. During construction, current tenants were temporarily relocatedbut not displaceda rare feat in most urban redevelopment narratives. The built environment improvements werent just aesthetic or economic. The renovated Bradbury Works building added insulation, operable windows, and improved ventilation to respond to extreme temperatures and indoor air quality concerns. It was also designed to accommodate a future rooftop solar array. Elsewhere on the square, an old factory became a jazz club. Another was converted into a mixed-use building with social housing and office space. Each adaptive reuse project layered with health-promoting elements such as natural light, passive ventilation, and energy efficiency. Importantly, these design moves responded to both immediate and long-term public health concerns identified in the architectural epidemiology framework: exposure to air pollution, heat vulnerability, mental health stressors, and pedestrian safety risks. The health situation analysis for the neighborhood emphasized the need for strategies that reduced the risk of obesity, mental health issues, and traffic-related injury, many of which were tackled by fine-grained, community-rooted design rather than by sweeping interventions./p> Gillett Squares evolution also depended on progressive land use policy and community engagement over time. The local government enabled critical rezonings: converting the parking lot into a plaza, allowing mixed-use development, and permitting the installation of small retail kiosks. The development team, operating as a nonprofit social enterprise, prioritized community interests. And community groups, many of which had been active in Hackney for decades, fought to ensure that the squares benefits didnt come at the expense of its existing residents. In a borough where 75% of residents are renters, and poverty rates among children and the elderly are among the highest in the U.K., the stakes of gentrification are high. Gillett Square proves that design can support resilience without fueling displacementand that longevity, not speed, can be a hallmark of justice-oriented urban development. These case studies show that health equity can be the foundation, not a by-product, of urban development. By aligning investments with public health and climate data, Architectural Epidemiology offers a road map for building places that protect and uplift communities. This framework identifies community needs and guides community residents, developers, and designers to solutions that create value for both stakeholders and shareholders. This story was originally published by Next City, a nonprofit news outlet covering solutions for equitable cities. Sign up for Next Citys newsletter for the latest articles and events.
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The designers Charles and Ray Eames were two of the most important designers of the 20th century, and their legacy of innovative furniture, product, and industrial design continues to have an influence today. Now, the foundation that carries the couple’s torch is planning to open a new museum that explores their work and its enduring impact on the design world. The Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity just announced the purchase of a disused corporate campus in the San Francisco Bay Area that it will be converting into a large-scale art and design museum. With an adaptive reuse design by the architecture firms EHDD and Herzog & de Meuron, known for its work on the Tate Modern art museum in London and the De Young Museum in San Francisco, the new museum will focus on design through the lens of purpose. The Eames Institute expects to open the museum before 2030. John Cary, president and CEO of the Eames Institute, says the museum is a dream project that’s finally taking form. “When we conceived of the Eames Institute seven years ago, we always wanted to create a very large, high-capacity venue for the community and the public to come and experience art and design in ways that they might not be able to otherwise,” he says. [Photo: courtesy Eames Institute] The Eames Institute is still in the early stages of thinking through the curatorial angle for the museum, but Cary says it will be undeniably Eamesian. “We’re especially inclined toward problem-solving design, the kind of design that actually addresses a need. What we’re really interested in is trying to untangle the process from the product. That’s something that the Eameses did so well.” [Photo: Iwan Baan/courtesy Eames Institute] Known best for iconic furniture pieces like their molded wood lounge chair and ottoman, the Eameses were multihyphenate designers who worked on projects ranging from World War II leg splints to lamps, children’s toys, and educational films. Cary says this range of outputand the emphasis on designing things people neededmakes the Eameses’ work continually relevant. He says the new museum will celebrate this legacy of design work and house the official Eames archive, while also championing newer generations of designers and artists, as well as emerging talents. “We’re interested in really teasing out the life stories of these creatives. What were their trajectories? How did they come to be who they are?” Cary says. [Photo: courtesy Eames Institute] Located about 30 miles north of San Francisco in the city of Novato, the museum project is adapting a 1960s-era corporate campus and distribution center originally designed for the publisher McGraw-Hill, and used most recently by the shoemaker Birkenstock. The 88-acre campus was designed by John Savage Bolles, a modernist architect who designed San Francisco’s Candlestick Park stadium and the IBM campus in San Jose. [Photo: Herzog & de Meuron/courtesy Eames Institute] Despite the Novato campus being mostly a utilitarian warehouse, it jumps out from its freeway-adjacent landscape with a boldly layered shark-tooth roofline in bright white. After Birkenstock left in 2019, it sat unused. “I fell in love with that warehouse, mostly by driving by a lot, then managing to sneak my way in. Authorized, but nonetheless, it wasn’t on the market at that point or anything,” Cary says. “I just am pretty relentless about things.” The campus eventually went up for sale, and Cary says the Eames Institute had to beat out some stiff competition to take it over. They bought the property for $36 million and have been working with Herzog & de Meuron for the past few months to come up with conceptual designs for adapting the warehouse, an adjacent office building, and the site’s vast landscape. [Photo: Iwan Baan/courtesy Eames Institute] Herzog & de Meuron have deep experience creating museum spaces, including the Tate Modern in London and the De Young Museum in San Francisco, and in adaptive reuse. According to Simon Demeuse, partner at Herzog & de Meuron, the firm is “deeply committed to working with existing buildings whenever possible.” Turning a former goods distribution facility into a museum offers the potential to rethink how collections are made accessible to the public, he says, via email. “The Eameses explored the world and their designs in a very open manner, leading to new ways of understanding and seeing their surroundings,” says Demeuse. “This building will allow its stewards and visitors to experience the collections and exhibits in an open manner as well, from many different perspectives and vantage points that can evolve over time.” Despite sitting right next to Highway 101, which expands from four to six lanes across the span of the campus, berms around its edges make the property surprisingly quiet. “That kind of acoustical protection was really, really appealing,” Cary says. [Photo: Iwan Baan/courtesy Eames Institute] It’s a bucolic condition that’s led the Eames Institute and the architects to think about the warehouse building as a kind of indoor-outdoor space. Made up of five long bays that once held canyons of pallets full of schoolbooks and, later, sandals, the warehouse’s edges could feasibly open up wide to allow programming to spill outward. Partly subterranean, the warehouse stays naturally cool, which works well for preserving artwork and archival materials, as well as for handling the region’s hot summers. These conditions all play into the problem-solving ethos of the Eames Institute. Adapting the building to a new use instead of simply building from scratch is squarely on brand. But Cary is cautious to note that this is not a museum about the Eameses, or at least not only that. “We’re really interested in creating a multigenerational offering for a truly multigenerational audience,” he says. “While we will always celebrate the Eameses as the seed of all of this, we have the chance to create an even bigger canvas and to bring others into it.”
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