Monday Meditations- The Aura We Exude

I was talking with my mom recently about energy—specifically, the energy we put out into the world.

"Energy" is a fuzzy word. It can feel abstract or overly spiritual. As we talked, another word surfaced that felt more precise: aura. An aura is not what you say about yourself. It's not your intentions, credentials, or self-concept. It's the ambient signal you emit. The emotional residue people experience after interacting with you. It's how it feels to be around you, not just what happens while you're there.

Whether we acknowledge it or not, we all exude one.

Most of us move through the world reacting to the aura around us. Certain people feel grounding. Others feel draining. Some conversations leave us energized. Others leave us inexplicably tense. We're quick to attribute those reactions outward—to circumstances, to markets, to other people's behavior.

But often, the aura we experience from the world is at least partially a reflection of the one we project into it. This isn't about being performative or relentlessly upbeat. A kind or positive aura doesn't require false optimism, silence, or submission. It doesn't mean avoiding hard truths or dulling sharp edges. Some of the most grounded people I know are direct, opinionated, and unafraid to disagree. What distinguishes them isn't what they say, but how it lands.

There's a version of honesty that feels generous even when it's firm. And there's a version that feels adversarial even when it's correct. The difference is rarely the substance. It's the aura carrying it.

We underestimate how sensitive people are to this. Teams feel it. Partners feel it. Kids feel it. Strangers feel it. Long before someone processes your argument, they've absorbed your tone, posture, pace, and presence. The nervous system does its own pattern recognition.

As the year gets underway, it's worth pausing to ask a quieter question than the usual resolutions.

What do I want to achieve this year? is an important question.

But it's not the only one worth asking.

What do I want it to feel like to be around me?

What aura do you want to move through rooms ahead of you?

What do you want people to experience after a meeting ends, a call hangs up, or a dinner wraps?

If you want to experience more patience, support, or conviction from the world, it's worth examining how much of that you're emitting yourself. Not as a tactic. Not as a trade. But as a recognition that you're part of the system.

The world doesn't just happen to us. We're a nontrivial input.

The aura you exude doesn't guarantee what comes back. But it meaningfully shapes the field of play.

And that makes it one of the few things truly worth being thoughtful about.