Here's The Thing About Desire

The most deceptive desire is the desire to be desired.*

It’s a trap. 

You get hooked on their approval, their likes, their head nods. You start checking the metrics more than your own internal compass.

But you didn’t start this for them.

That vision that got you moving? It wasn’t focus-grouped.
It was yours.

So why are you handing them the keys now?

The people who matter don’t shift. The ones who are shifting? They were never your people anyway.

Here’s your choice: You can optimize for their approval, or you can get back to the work that made you come alive.

The right people will find you.

— — —

*This is a paraphrase of a quote from Lacan. It’s also a conversation I’ve had far too many times with leaders who start questioning everything the moment a few people (who showed up yesterday) stop supporting their thing. Were they a part of your original vision? Were they at all the reason you got started so many years ago?