"Everyone would think I'm crazy not to pursue this opportunity."

"Everyone would think I'm crazy not to pursue this opportunity."

A client, we'll call her “Leila”, texted me recently. A company she'd interviewed with months ago reached back out - the hiring manager got promoted and immediately thought of her for a senior leadership role.

Big title. Big company. Great pay.

Her instinct? No.

But she wanted to talk it through.

Me: "What about this opportunity sounds compelling?"
Leila: "It's the role and pay most everyone would think I'd be crazy not to pursue. That pretty much says it all."

There it was. The "should."

Here's what I've learned: The loudest voice in your head is often someone else's.

When Leila and I met, she wasn't chasing titles or name-brand companies. She wanted impact, velocity, the ability to mentor, and freedom from layers of management BS.

She'd found exactly that - at a company with under 40 employees where she was learning fast, doing meaningful work, and never bored.

But a "should" showed up disguised as an opportunity.

So I asked: "When we met, you weren't focused on pay or prestigious roles. Does anything about this feel genuinely compelling to you?"

The little text “typing dots” appeared, disappeared, appeared again...

Then, finally
Leila: "It is good to have you reflect that back to me. Because it was my immediate thought."

The hardest career decisions aren't always about choosing between good and bad.

Sometimes they're about choosing between what you actually want and what you think you *should* want.

Between the life you're building and the one others think you should be building.

➡️ Have you ever turned down an opportunity everyone thought you were crazy to pass up? What helped you know it was the right call?

➡️ Facing a decision where everyone else's opinion is louder than your own? DM me.

Image: Kiki and Mimi, the kittens. This is the look I imagine them giving me when I need to stop myself from paying too much attention to the "shoulds" in my head. 😺