What If You Stopped Designing for “Growth”?

A coaching client has been with me for a few years. Through steady ups, some serious downs, business reshaped, targets hit, building a reputation.

We spoke this week, he sounded shaky.
Not from burnout, but from something subtler.

He said, “I’ve worked so hard to build this. But now, I’m not sure it’s what I want.”

This isn’t unusual.

Sometimes the very thing we set out to build becomes the thing that boxes us in.
Especially when we don’t stop to check whether it still fits.

We default to the next logical step. More growth, bigger clients, better margins.

What happens when you realise you’ve designed for growth, not for you?

When it's not right for you, even the wins can feel a little off. Steps forward get heavier.

I’ve been there too.

A few years ago, my wife and I put everything on the table — career, house, community, schooling — and made the call to reset. We didn't do it because things were falling apart, but because we knew they were drifting out of alignment.

What we were building no longer reflected who we were becoming.

It’s a strange thing, realising the idea of success you worked so hard for no longer fits.

But it’s not a failure. It’s just time to pause. To re-align.

And sometimes that’s the bravest, most strategic move of all.

So if growth doesn’t feel good right now, it might not mean you’re on the wrong path.

It might just mean it’s time to make sure the path still leads somewhere you want to go.

Growth is a beautiful thing — if it’s in service of a life you actually want.

Otherwise, it’s just a busy version of stuck.