About Michael Hurd
I know a thing or two about performance anxiety.
I have spent most of my life in environments where pressure is normal. Competitive sports, business ownership, sales leadership, and high-stakes decision making. I am a lifelong competitive swimmer, a business owner, and a former top sales performer. On the outside, things often looked steady and successful.
On the inside, like many people, I was navigating anxiety that did not always make sense.
For more than 50 years, I lived with a form of performance anxiety called paruresis, commonly known as shy bladder syndrome. It shaped where I went, what I avoided, and how much mental energy everyday situations required. I also experienced periods of chronic pain and anxiety that deepened my curiosity about how human experience actually works.
What ultimately changed my life was not learning better coping strategies or trying harder to manage symptoms. It was seeing, clearly and simply, how experience is created from the inside out. That understanding did not just help me recover from shy bladder anxiety. It changed how I show up in every area of life.
Today, my work is grounded in that same understanding.
I help people who feel pressure deeply. Leaders, business owners, professionals, and everyday humans. They reconnect with clarity and confidence that has not gone anywhere, even when anxiety has been loud.
My Work
While people come to me through different doors, the underlying experience is often the same. Pressure, self-doubt, and the sense of being held back by something internal.
Coaching
I work one-on-one with individuals navigating performance anxiety, stress, leadership pressure, business challenges, and personal transitions. My approach is insight based, not technique driven, and is designed to create lasting change without force.
Consulting
I provide consulting and advisory support to leaders and organizations, particularly within the automotive industry. This work draws on decades of real world business experience and focuses on clarity, decision making, and sustainable performance.
Training and Speaking
I deliver workshops, talks, and trainings that help individuals and teams thrive under pressure. These conversations are practical, relatable, and grounded in lived experience rather than theory or motivation tactics.
How I Work
I do not see people as broken or in need of fixing.
I see capable, resilient individuals who have temporarily lost access to clarity under pressure.
When clarity returns, performance improves naturally. In leadership, in business, in the body, and in everyday life.
“All feelings derive and become alive, whether negative or positive, from the power of Thought.”
— Sydney Banks
If you are curious about what this might look like for you, the best place to start is a conversation.
