Hello and welcome, Reader!

Last week I wrote about the Quiet Signal–the moment we recognize that something has changed inside us long before anything changes on the outside.

This week I'd like to tell you about something that often happens next.

About ten years ago, I became convinced I'd found the future.

After years of consulting, coaching, and teaching in MBA programs, I wanted to create something that could help people grow without depending on one-on-one coaching only.

Together with a partner, we designed a self-development platform.

We invested months of work, time, and hope.

We hired designers.

We hired programmers.

We even had a well-thought-out marketing plan.

Finally, we launched it.

And... nothing happened.

At first, we assumed we simply hadn't worked hard enough.

So we improved the product.

Again.

And again.

Eventually, we joined a startup accelerator.

One of the very first things they asked us to do was interview potential users.

I still remember those conversations.

The message was remarkably consistent.

"If I really want coaching, I'll find a coach."

It wasn't what we wanted to hear.

Looking back, the surprising part wasn't that our idea with the self-development platform failed.

It was how difficult it was to stop.

For a long time, I thought this experience was simply part of being an entrepreneur.

Today I see something different.

What kept us going wasn't just optimism.

It wasn't perseverance.

It wasn't even stubbornness.

It was the growing weight of everything we had already invested.

The more time, money, energy, and hope we poured into the project, the harder it became to imagine walking away.

While reflecting on this experience as I was writing my new book, I realized that this pattern is relevant not only to startups.

I had seen the same thing in coaching conversations for years.

That's what I now call The Investment Trap.

The years we've already invested cannot be changed.

The only investment we can still choose is tomorrow's.

Next week, I'd like to explore another answer to the question that became the title of my new work: Why Smart People Stay Too Long in the Wrong Career.

Until next time,

Elena