Last week, I almost blew up my business.
I started questioning decisions that didn’t need questioning, and treated quiet progress like a problem.
It’s early January, and this is a dangerous time of year for me.
I call it the “maybe I should rethink everything” season.
I started questioning the direction of my practice.
Started wondering if Subtle Shifts was landing the way I thought it would.
Started telling myself a familiar story:
“The work you are doing isn’t good enough, and people don’t really see the value in what you are creating.”
And once that thought shows up, here’s what happens:
Reinvention fantasies.
New angles.
New positioning.
New everything.
Thank God, I had a conversation with my friend Chris Littlefield while I was in the middle of this mindset crisis.
Chris is the founder of Beyond Thank You.
He is a keynote speaker, teacher, expert in employee appreciation, and all-around great guy.
One of those rare people who lives his message and cuts through the noise by noticing what is working.
I told him what I was thinking, and he was kind enough to listen and chat about it.
Then, two days later, he reached back out:
“Matt, I was in a meeting last week, and someone was describing a breakthrough she had.”
Okay…
“She quoted you and described her breakthrough as a subtle shift.”
Really…
“She used your name, your book, and your language to explain what was changing for her.”
Then he said something I haven’t stopped thinking about:
“When people start using your words to make sense of their experience, that’s not a signal to change direction. That’s a signal you’re leading.”
His insight hit me like a ton of bricks, because this wasn’t really about my business.
It was about leadership.
Specifically, how leaders abandon direction too early.
We set a course.
We communicate it.
We reinforce it.
And then, before it has time to take hold, we interpret silence and struggle as failure.
So we pivot, add complexity, and start chasing shiny new objects.
Ultimately, we end up causing more problems than the problem we think we are dealing with.
That’s how teams get confused.
That’s how priorities blur.
That’s how momentum quietly dies.
Doubt → Drift.
If I hadn’t had that conversation, I would’ve changed direction and weakened it, at the exact moment I needed to stay focused.
Here’s the leadership lesson in this:
Alignment doesn’t always show up as applause.
It is much more subtle than that.
Alignment starts to show up when people start to use your language.
So before you change direction this year…
Before you introduce a new priority, framework, or initiative…
Pause and ask yourself:
Is the direction unclear?
Or am I just uncomfortable holding it steady?
Because one of the most expensive mistakes that leaders make is changing course right before others start to follow.
