Instagram story viewer> @maxokazaki> Posts

Max Okazaki

@maxokazaki

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Trying to figure out what’s next has kept me more stuck than not knowing ever did.

For a long time I’ve been trying to get it right.
The right niche. The right offer. The right plan.
Every idea had to be the right answer.
So every idea also felt too heavy to start.
And not starting felt like proof I still hadn’t figured it out.

So I tried a different question in my journal:
“If I stopped trying to make my life make sense, what would I naturally do next?”

The answers were almost boring.
Family. Friends. Eat. Sleep. Go outside. Make something cool.

Then I asked what actually makes me feel alive.
Not ideas. Things I already do.
Great conversations. Running. Watching people do hard things. Doing them together.

Somewhere in there I wrote “(wow, this feels good, energetic, exciting…)”
And then:
I help people do hard things.

So I wrote: “I want to run 2 more Courage Habit groups.”
And right underneath, the weight came straight back:
“even now writing this, that idea of ‘commit’ makes it feel like it’s again me wanting to figure it out.”

That’s when it clicked.
I’m not scared of committing.
I’m scared of making it mean everything (and potentially getting it wrong).

So I’m not necessarily building a Courage Habit Group or Coaching business.
I’m doing something that excites me, something I’d love to do anyways, and inviting others into that.

A month of doing one hard thing, next to other people doing theirs.

The next one starts on October 1st.

Let’s see what happens.

Send this to the friend who’s trying to figure it all out before they start.

And send me a message if you have something you’ve been wanting to do, but haven’t figured out how to start and follow through.

#couragehabit #doitscared #innerwork #personalgrowth #careerchange by @maxokazaki

36

8

23 days ago

I read this question today and it had me question everything.

no one is coming to save you. that doesn’t mean you’re on your own or need to do it all alone. but it does mean stop waiting to take full responsibility for the life you have between your birth and death.

what would you stop putting off if you really let that land? what would you stop tolerating? by @maxokazaki

28

5

2 months ago

still to this day, asking for help isn’t easy for me. I do love to figure things out on my own, but I’ve also come to learn the life-changing benefits of having someone in my corner, someone who can help me see myself more clearly.

it’s an honor to get to sit on the other side of that for so many people now. if you’re open to a change and support, and any of my things resonate, send me a message.

if you know anyone who might benefit from a conversation with me, send them my way or reach out to me about how to best engage them. by @maxokazaki

50

7

2 months ago

What have you made peace with that actually deserves your resistance? by @maxokazaki

5

0

5 months ago

This artwork came from a coaching session with a founder who was stuck — not because she lacked clarity, but because she was moving too fast for clarity to land.

I asked an AI to turn the core insight into a piece of art. What came back was a room full of particles — dust, pollen, tiny suspended things that had always been there but were only visible because the light hit at exactly the right angle, at exactly the right moment of stillness.

That’s what I keep seeing in this work. The answers people are looking for aren’t hidden somewhere exotic. They’re floating right in front of them. But you can’t see suspended particles when you’re running through the room. You have to stop. And in the stillness, everything reveals itself.

The biggest breakthrough in this session wasn’t a strategy or a reframe. It was one word: notice.

What would become visible if you actually stopped? by @maxokazaki

15

9

5 months ago

Many people who come to this work don’t lack awareness.

They know the pattern. They’ve named it, traced it back, and might even know where it came from.

And then Monday comes along and they live from it anyway.

That is one of the biggest gaps I see in the healing world and our journey back to wholeness. Between knowing and actually becoming someone different.

The Courage Method is a 30-day program built for exactly this. One fear, one edge, one shadow pattern — worked on in your real life, not just on paper or in your head.

The next cohort starts on May 3rd.

DM me courage if you’re interested. Cause it’s definitely gonna take some courage :) by @maxokazaki

5

1

6 months ago

Fear doesn’t need to be defeated. It needs to move.

Not in the mind. In the body.

We can spend days/weeks/months/years analyzing our fears, trying to reason past them. But when we finally let ourselves feel it, it can shift, it can move (as it’s meant to). Same fear, but it had somewhere to go.

His words at the end: “I am powerful. I’m not stuck.”

A big part of my work is somatic body work. Taking it from the mind back into the body. Reconnecting to what is present in each moment.

What do you keep circling in your mind, that might be something you could instead go into your body to answer?

—

If you want a conversation like this, send me a DM. by @maxokazaki

69

8

6 months ago

I asked an AI to turn a moment from a coaching session into a piece of art. This is what came out.

The moment was simple. A man closed his eyes and described what his fear felt like in his body. It was cold, purpleish-blue, all around his heart area. Just sitting there.

After being with it and exploring for some time (guided), we checked back in and he realized that it had changed.

The cold became warm. The blue became red. What was frozen became a river - alive, rushing, powerful. He didn’t get rid of the fear. He let it thaw. And when it didn, it wasn’t the thing stopping him anymore. It was the thing waking him up. Leading to action.

That’s what this artwork holds. One side frozen. And the messy, alive border in between where the real transformation happens.

What are you holding frozen that’s waiting to move?

#whatdoyousee #coaching #somaticwork #fear #transformation by @maxokazaki

11

3

6 months ago

Creative blocks aren’t about creativity.

They’re about certainty. The demand for it. The need to know it’s going to work before you begin. The need to feel ready.

But we don’t actually want certainty. We want to know that we’re going to be okay. And that’s a very different question.

This is the first episode of The Session, a series where I share real insights from coaching sessions.

I thought it would be apt to share this insight as I’ve had this series, or at least the intention to post more about my coaching work, on my mind for a while. I’ve just been waiting till I was certain it was ‘right.’ Ha! 🤪

I love how much learning and wisdom I get to witness, absorb, and apply to my own life from the people I work with.

If you’ve been waiting to feel ready, maybe this is for you.

—

I work with people who are ready to stop waiting. If that’s you, send me a DM. taken in Portland, Oregon by @maxokazaki

62

16

6 months ago

Real audio from a coaching follow-up a year after starting work together.

A year ago, this person came to me feeling stuck, not because he lacked ability, but because he was building/living a life based on expectations that weren’t his.

We did a lot of work really creating an image of how he wanted to live and what HE really wanted. Then got to work letting go of the expectations and actually showing up each day, navigating the fears that can come up alongside that. If you want change, you gotta change.

That’s the work.

DM me “ready” to inquire about starting.

#coaching #transformation #career #whatsnext by @maxokazaki

46

4

7 months ago

This artwork came from a coaching conversation — a man who spent years building a life that looked right but never felt like his.

When I asked an AI to turn the core insight from that session into a piece of art, this is what came out. A figure standing in a field of translucent pages — old scripts, old expectations — pulling one aside to reveal the landscape that was always behind them

The scripts aren’t always dramatic. They’re quiet. “This is what success looks like.” “You should want this.” “Don’t risk it.” You don’t even notice them until one day you look around and realize you’ve been living someone else’s version of your life.

The work isn’t burning it all down. It’s pulling the pages aside, one at a time, and seeing what’s actually there when you do.

What scripts are you ready to let go of?

#whatdoyousee #coaching #identity #authenticity #transformation by @maxokazaki

19

2

7 months ago

Being yourself isn’t always easier, but it sure is worth it. And you might find that the universe ends up opening up for you… by @maxokazaki

12

2

8 months ago