Aug 24, 2026 · 13 min · 7 segments
Ever got midway through a project with a client who's got you screaming silently into a pillow? Or lying awake at night because your brain won't stop worrying about a certain project? Or picked up…
And that is okay because sometimes, not everyone in life is gonna love you and you are not gonna love everyone in life but sometimes we get caught in these situations where we're having a bad time on a project and then we are just on red alert of oh god this is so stressful this client is such a red flag i can't stand working with this client and it can eat away at you and affect the rest of your projects and so i wanted to come up with a solution that helps you to not let it affect everything else and to try and move forward in a positive way and so my wasabi model goes through each of the letters in wasabi conveniently enough so the w stands for witness the emotion and you want to run through all of these letters basically if you're having this icky experience with someone i want you to witness the emotion so what is the main negative feeling that you are feeling around this client or the project as a whole because if you're able to get really clear on the specific emotion i.e. are you feeling frustrated, anxious, undervalued? Is it something else entirely? Witness the emotion and observe it rather than actually getting lost in it.
I want you to just objectively look at how you're actually feeling inside.
So for example, I'm feeling frustrated and a little overwhelmed by this client's constant last minute requests.
We need to be able to label what we're feeling and what the issue is in order to solve it.
The A is to acknowledge the trigger.
So what is the specific client action or behaviour or thing that has happened in this project that is triggering this feeling in you? Wasabi clients will usually have a certain kick that sets us off and you want to pinpoint those exact actions, whether it's constant last minute changes, unclear communication, or even just a vibe that isn't quite aligning.
focus on what's actually happening and again separate your emotional reaction to it.
So for example, the client often sends emails at odd hours with changes that weren't part of the original scope.
This is throwing off my workflow and it's making me feel like I'm on call.
So the trigger is these emails are coming in at really odd hours.
It's making you feel like you're on call, going outside of scope.
That's the thing that is making you feel those frustrated, overwhelmed feelings.
And that is okay because sometimes, not everyone in life is gonna love you and you are not gonna love everyone in life but sometimes we get caught in these situations where we're having a bad time on a project and then we are just on red alert of oh god this is so stressful this client is such a red flag i can't stand working with this client and it can eat away at you and affect the rest of your projects and so i wanted to come up with a solution that helps you to not let it affect everything else and to try and move forward in a positive way and so my wasabi model goes through each of the letters in wasabi conveniently enough so the w stands for witness the emotion and you want to run through all of these letters basically if you're having this icky experience with someone i want you to witness the emotion so what is the main negative feeling that you are feeling around this client or the project as a whole because if you're able to get really clear on the specific emotion i.e. are you feeling frustrated, anxious, undervalued? Is it something else entirely? Witness the emotion and observe it rather than actually getting lost in it.
I want you to just objectively look at how you're actually feeling inside.
So for example, I'm feeling frustrated and a little overwhelmed by this client's constant last minute requests.
We need to be able to label what we're feeling and what the issue is in order to solve it.
The A is to acknowledge the trigger.
So what is the specific client action or behaviour or thing that has happened in this project that is triggering this feeling in you? Wasabi clients will usually have a certain kick that sets us off and you want to pinpoint those exact actions, whether it's constant last minute changes, unclear communication, or even just a vibe that isn't quite aligning.
focus on what's actually happening and again separate your emotional reaction to it.
So for example, the client often sends emails at odd hours with changes that weren't part of the original scope.
This is throwing off my workflow and it's making me feel like I'm on call.
So the trigger is these emails are coming in at really odd hours.
It's making you feel like you're on call, going outside of scope.
That's the thing that is making you feel those frustrated, overwhelmed feelings.
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