When Your Business Is Working. But You Don’t Feel Steady…

Is this familiar:

On paper, things look fine.

The work is getting done. There’s momentum, growth, consistent execution...

Yet, underneath all of that, something feels off. You may feel overextended, unsteady, or simply notice that even though things are running just fine, you’re still feeling off. 

If you’ve found yourself thinking, “I should feel more confident than this,” you’re not alone. 

This is one of the most common experiences of building something that actually works. It’s also, unfortunately, one of the least talked about parts of building a business. 

Don’t let that isolation make the feeling heavier! 

The quiet contradiction of traction

We’re taught to believe that once a business starts working, things should feel easier. More clear, grounded, satisfying… easy. 

But for most founders and leaders, the opposite happens.

As traction increases, so does:

• the weight of decisions

• the number of people affected by those decisions

• the cost of getting things “wrong”

The business has expanded. 

And expansion changes the internal experience of leading, often before anything looks visibly different from the outside. The gap between external success and internal unease can be disorienting.

It makes capable people question themselves unnecessarily.

Why this feeling is so hard to name

Part of what makes this stage difficult is that there’s no obvious problem to point to. You’re not in crisis, the team is not starting from zero. There’s no obvious reason to feel unsettled. This makes naming difficult, and people tend to internalize that.

It’s natural for anyone in this situation to assume:

• they’re being ungrateful

• they’re missing something obvious

• they should just “get it together”

But this feeling isn’t about those things.

It’s about transition.

When what worked before stops being enough

Early on, businesses run on proximity.

You’re close to everything:

• the work

• the clients

• the decisions

• the context

That closeness creates speed and clarity. And a feeling of control. 

As things grow, that closeness starts to strain because you’re beginning to depend on other people - and on more formalized processes.  This is especially true with stable growth. 

As this (somewhat silent) transition happens:

• each decision carries more consequence

• everything feels interconnected (and sometimes jumbled or unclear because of it)

• and the stakes get higher (payroll, vendors, coordinating, etc.)

The systems, habits, and ways of thinking that worked well before have reached their limits. And change is challenging, even when it’s good. 

With all of this comes a frustrating truth: these limits don’t announce themselves. 

They show up as tension at first. And when it’s not obvious what the tension is from, it grows. 

Tuning in to this tension is the best first step. You don’t need to understand it fully. Just noticing it helps you accept it so that you can see it as merely information telling you where to take a deeper look. 

Unsteadiness is not a personal flaw

It’s important to say this plainly:

Feeling unsteady when your business is working is not a sign that you’re doing something wrong.

It’s most often a sign that you’ve succeeded in getting your business to grow… which also means:

• the complexity of the business has outpaced the structures supporting it

• the scope of leadership has expanded faster than the space to reflect and plan

• the cost of decisions has increased, but the way decisions are made hasn’t caught up yet

None of this means you lack skill or resilience. It means you’ve built a business that is working. And now, because of that, you’re operating in a different terrain than you were before. It can be so confusing when it happens without an obvious or conscious shift. 

Transitions truly are one of the hardest parts of life!

Why “just push through” makes it worse

When the tension and this feeling of restlessness goes unnamed, the default response is usually effort: 

Work harder. Be more decisive. Move faster.

Sometimes that works. But only briefly, if at all. 

Pushing through the unnamed without understanding it adds pressure rather than resolving it. The business keeps moving, but the internal experience becomes more brittle.

And brittle systems don’t break immediately. They crack quietly over time and build unspoken tensions internally. They may also activate the need to control or micromanage (always a strong warning sign). 

This is why I don’t recommend just pushing through. When something feels off, trust yourself. It doesn’t have to be a crisis. And it doesn’t indicate failure. These extremes are usually what make us think we need to push harder. Thanks, societal conditioning!

This stage asks for orientation, not urgency

What’s usually needed here is not a fix or more effort. It’s orientation.

Orientation answers questions like:

• What has actually changed?

• Where is the strain coming from?

• What decisions are carrying more weight than before?

• What assumptions are no longer serving this stage?

• What are the murky or grey areas we’re dealing with? What’s still unknown?

The thing is: these are not questions that reward speed. They reward clarity. 

This is typically why naming that something feels off gets skipped or brushed under the rug only to grow larger over time. We’re programmed for speed and efficiency. These questions require slowing down for a moment, to find your clarity. And it’s really hard to slow down, especially when you feel some unknown tension… 

The thing is, if you’re going to push yourself towards anything, I strongly recommend it be to slow down more often. It feels painfully counterintuitive. And it’s the best thing you can do for yourself and your business. 

Doing this requires making space. Reminding yourself that allowing curiosity, exploration, and openness while suspending judgment is productive helps. Though, you’ll need to do it often ;) 

Does this resonate?

If something inside pings as you read this, the first thing I want to say is:

There’s nothing you need to do right now.

Quite counterintuitive, I know. When you notice this is happening, you’ll want to learn more. It's second nature to jump to action. 

Here’s the thing to consider…

You don’t need to fix anything just yet.

Simply recognizing that this feeling has a context is grounding in itself. If you can sit in that discomfort. 

Unsteadiness at this stage is most often a sign that your business is growing and becoming something new. And you’re still finding your footing inside that shift.

The reason I suggest a pause rather than jumping into “fix it” mode is that there are so many things the unsteady feeling could be caused by. Moving into action at this point means that what’s under the feelings gets skipped. In my view, that’s a mistake because what is driving your feelings is crucial information. 

To show you what I mean, read through some examples here. 

I hope this article unpacks why it’s important to slow down and see what your specific situation is bringing up. There is no one-size-fits-all answer. And while that’s disappointing, it’s also liberating. 

Slowing down often feels like it’s going to break everything. But allowing yourself space to figure out what’s working and what’s not, on a deeper level, is how we find a solution that is aligned with your needs in addition to your business’ needs. 

You’re always welcome to reach out if you’d like to discuss what advising support looks like. 

And if you’d rather give it a try on your own, here are some reflection questions that you may find useful:

• If I had to describe what I’m feeling in a metaphor, what would it be? This could be anything from a weather pattern, a landscape, a physical sensation… a color or a shape. There’s no wrong answer, whatever comes to mind is information you can work with.

• Where in my week do I feel most unlike myself? What am I doing or thinking about when that happens?

• When did this feeling start? Or when was the last time I did not feel like this?

• What have I stopped saying out loud because it feels too hard to explain? (to my team, my friends, even myself)

• What parts of my business would I quietly walk away from if I knew everything else would stay stable?

• Is there a conversation I’m avoiding because I can’t yet put the real topic into words - or I’m worried it won’t work to bring it up?

• When I imagine taking two or three full weeks off, what do I fear would fall apart? And what might that tell me?

• Where have I become more reactive or controlling lately—even if I don’t want to admit it?

• What thoughts or worries do I keep revisiting, even though I’m not acting on them?

• Have I started fantasizing about pivoting, selling, or burning it all down? If so, what need might that fantasy be pointing to?

• What’s the thing I secretly hope someone else will notice without me having to say it?

You don’t need to answer all of these at once (and please don’t!)

Simply notice which one calls to you most. Sitting with it can help you see what the unease is trying to say. If another is important, trust that it will show up. 

I wish you the best on your journey!