The Best $600 I Ever Spent Was Walking Away

Everyone talks about speed in entrepreneurship. This is what it actually looked like for me. Not speed for the sake of chaos—but speed in acting on an idea, pressure-testing it, and being willing to kill it early if it’s not the right fit.

Earlier this year, I had a business idea that—on the surface—made a lot of sense. There was a clear gap in the market. I did customer discovery. The need was real. The next logical step was training.

The program required a certification, and I was advised that even if I planned to subcontract the operations, I should hold the credential as the owner. Fair enough.

About an hour into the training, I realized something important.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t learn the material. Technically, I could have powered through, passed the exam, and checked the box.

But instead, I had a very clear “oh wow” moment.

I was stepping into a highly regulated space with real exposure and liability. And even though I would have been operating properly, I had to ask myself a better question:

Do I actually want this level of risk in my life and business?

The wellness space has a lot of nuance. A lot of regulation. A lot of responsibility. And realizing that early saved me thousands of dollars—and countless hours—by not going any further.

That $600 training? Best money I spent all year.

Because speed isn’t just about launching.It’s about learning fast enough to make a clean decision.

Running Ideas to the Ground (Before They Run You)

I’m always looking at opportunities. I get genuinely excited about them. And I like to run them all the way to the ground—not halfway, not theoretically—before deciding whether they deserve more energy.

Which brings me to a very on-brand moment the other night.

I woke up around 3am (thank you, perimenopause 🙃), did what any reasonable person does, and started doom scrolling. Somewhere in that haze, I clicked on a certification link…and promptly went down a rabbit hole of programs, frameworks, and possibilities.

One offering stopped me cold: ADHD coach certification.

In the middle of the night—like a true entrepreneur and undiagnosed ADHDer—I bought it, hit play on the first lecture, put my phone down, and tried to fall asleep while absorbing new knowledge.

And almost immediately, it clicked. This wasn’t a pivot. This was a complement.

What felt empowering wasn’t learning something brand new—it was realizing that I’ve been coaching this way all along. The certification simply gave me language, structure, and additional tools for work I was already doing intuitively.

I also had a moment of recognition: I was already using many of the core tools and systems being taught. Some were framed differently, the research was explained—but the fundamentals were familiar. There were also plenty of technology-heavy solutions, and I’ll be honest, my blood pressure went up a bit. Anyone who knows me knows I still rely on a paper planner and have a very real love-hate relationship with technology and the constant bombardment of data.

What that reinforced for me is that focus doesn’t come from more tools—it comes from the right ones. Simple, intentional systems that help externalize thinking without adding noise. Tools that support clarity instead of competing for attention.

Entrepreneurs Don’t Need Fixing—They Need Focus

Founders are creative. Big thinkers. High-energy. Vision-driven. They’re also often carrying way too much in their heads.

For years, my consulting work has focused on the business. But I’ve always paid just as much attention to the founder—how they think, how they decide, where they get stuck, and what pulls them off course.

This certification adds a layer of intentionality to that work.

Not therapy. Not hustle culture. Not “optimize your morning routine.”

Instead: Clear thinking. Better decisions. Systems that actually work for how your brain operates.

What’s Next

I’m excited to officially offer The Focused Founder as part of my consulting practice.

It’s designed for revenue-stage founders who don’t need more ideas—they need clarity around what actually matters right now, and a thinking partner who understands both business and brain.

I’ll share more soon. For now, I’ll just say this: Sometimes the fastest path forward is acting quickly—so you can decide just as quickly what to keep, what to refine, and what to walk away from. And that, in my experience, is where real momentum comes from.