Rory Callaghan | TEDx Style Talk “Coherence Is the New Power”

Coherence Is the New Power by Rory Callaghan

I want to start with something simple.

Burnout is not a badge of honor.

It’s a design flaw.

Not a personal failure.
Not a discipline problem.
Not a motivation issue.

A design flaw.

We’ve built systems that reward output
and ignore regulation.

We’ve normalized stress
as the cost of ambition.

We’ve built businesses that break their founders,
families that fracture under pressure,
and economies that extract faster than they regenerate.

And then we ask:

“Why is everyone exhausted?”

Let me offer a different lens.

Nature doesn’t burn out.

Forests don’t hustle.

Oceans don’t grind.

Nature grows in pulses.
Expands in spirals.
Regenerates through rest.

And here’s the part we forgot:

We are not separate from that system.

Human beings are biological organisms living inside ecological law.

When regeneration exceeds degeneration —
systems thrive.

When extraction exceeds regeneration —
systems collapse.

This is true for:

Your body.
Your relationships.
Your company.
Your civilization.

Collapse isn’t dramatic.

It’s slow incoherence.

A few years ago, I started noticing something.

The most intelligent founders I met
weren’t failing because they lacked ideas.

They were failing because their nervous systems were overloaded.

The most ambitious leaders
weren’t stuck because they lacked strategy.

They were dysregulated.

And the most “successful” enterprises
were unstable under the surface.

High revenue.
Low coherence.

So I stopped asking:

“How do we scale faster?”

And started asking:

“How do we stabilize first?”

Because here’s the truth.

You cannot build coherent enterprises
from fragmented humans.

You cannot create regenerative wealth
from stressed nervous systems.

And you cannot design enduring civilizations
from short-term thinking.

So what if we flipped the model?

What if the new power
was regulation?

Imagine this.

Instead of starting with business plans,
we start with biology.

Instead of optimizing for speed,
we optimize for nervous system stability.

Instead of asking,
“How big can this get?”

We ask,
“Can this endure for 30 years?”

Because real luxury
is not private jets.

It’s a calm nervous system.

Real wealth
is not valuation.

It’s continuity.

Real power
is restraint.

Think about this.

Most civilizations didn’t collapse
because they lacked intelligence.

They collapsed
because extraction outpaced regeneration.

They built monuments.
But forgot maintenance.

They mastered power.
But forgot restraint.

And we are repeating that pattern
faster.

But here’s the hopeful part.

Change doesn’t begin with movements.

It begins with one regulated human.

One person who decides:

I will not sacrifice my biology
for performance.

I will not build wealth
at the cost of my children’s nervous systems.

I will not scale
if it destabilizes the field around me.

That person becomes coherent.

From there, the ripple expands.

Self → Household → Team → Community → Enterprise → Nation.

But you cannot skip the order.

Scaling without regulation
just multiplies stress.

Let me give you a practical example.

If one founder regulates their rhythm —
sleeps properly,
protects nature exposure,
limits digital overload,
designs seasonal work cycles —

They make clearer decisions.

Clearer decisions create stable teams.

Stable teams reduce turnover.

Reduced turnover stabilizes enterprise.

Stabilized enterprise compounds long-term wealth.

All from regulation.

This is not spiritual.

It’s biological.

Now imagine 144,000 regulated leaders.

Imagine 1,000 enterprises designed not just for growth,
but for endurance.

Imagine capital allocated with a 25-year lens.

Not quarterly pressure.

Not extraction.

Stewardship.

We wouldn’t need heroic change.

We would need density.

Enough coherent nodes
that the system shifts.

So here is the idea I want to leave you with.

Coherence is the new power.

Not dominance.

Not speed.

Not scale.

Coherence.

The alignment of:

Biology.
Behavior.
Enterprise.
Capital.
Time.

When those align,
growth becomes regenerative instead of extractive.

We stop chasing success.

And start designing systems
future generations will thank us for.

You don’t need to save the world.

You need to stabilize your field.

Regulate first.

Align structure.

Scale coherently.

Endure.

Because in the end,

The question isn’t
“Will they remember us?”

It’s:

Will they inherit something stable?

Thank you.