What if it could be even awesomer?

As I listened, I could feel this business owner’s voice drop into lower and lower energy cadences.

She was telling me about the situation in her business—the tangle of team dynamics, family members involved in the operations, and a history of decisions that had layered on top of one another. It was complicated. It was interconnected. And the longer she talked about it, the heavier the conversation felt.

She didn’t sacrifice nights and weekends for years just to manage a complex web of relationships, service offerings, and clients. But somehow, drifting along the way, this is what she ended up with.

The Cost of Complexity

As a result, when she looked out into the future, she didn’t see possibility. She saw more complexity, more work, and less freedom.

But the real cost wasn’t just operational—it was personal.

Because she was constantly navigating this fragile web, she had stopped leading. She was hesitant. Every time she wanted to make a bold move, she stopped herself, worried about which thread she might pull that would unravel the whole knot.

The complexity was constraining her natural confidence. Instead of driving the vision, she was managing the confusion.

A Shift in Perspective

I paused us for a moment.

“What would make this business awesome?” I asked.

There was a really long silence. You could almost hear the gears shifting. Eventually, she started talking about her original vision. She spoke about the difference she wanted to make in the world and the clients who were genuinely excited about the work she was doing. Her voice started to lift.

Then I asked the follow-up: “What would make it even awesomer?”

The Vision of Freedom

That’s when the dam broke. She started talking about how her life could be different—more free, less constrained, with fewer heavy obligations.

She imagined a team with the capacity and capability to take ownership, moving past the conflicts holding the business back. She saw herself stepping back into that bold, decisive leadership role she used to inhabit.

She began to describe the freedom and impact she originally set out to create.

What are you tolerating?

If any of that story resonated with you, I want to offer you an invitation.

Take a look at your current reality. How much of the complexity you are managing today is just “stuff” that has accumulated over time? And more importantly—how is that complexity affecting your confidence to lead?

It’s true that this web didn’t appear overnight, and it will take time to untangle it. But you don’t have to settle for the friction and the weight.

Imagine if you stopped tolerating the complexity and started leaning into what you actually want. By this time next year, you could be in a completely different place—one that looks a lot less like obligation and a lot more like freedom.

What would make your business awesomer?

Hit reply and let me know. I’d love to hear what came up for you.