“I get no joy in consulting anymore.
I don’t know if this is what I should do."
That’s not a casual thought.
It’s not something you say when everything is running smoothly.
It’s the quiet sentence that only surfaces when something deep inside feels really off.
And that’s exactly what came through from a client recently, a very successful executive in a tech space.
(Note: Some details have been changed to protect the client’s privacy.)
Here’s what he shared with us:
"I was having an afternoon in Barcelona... went to my usual places… visiting watchmakers and car dealers I know well.
And I noticed… I get joy doing this. When I offer gifts. When I create meaningful experiences.
But... when it comes to my work, I don't feel it's what I should be doing."
This is the real question many leaders quietly wrestle with.
Not "How do I grow my practice?"
Not "How do I scale adjacent services?"
But — "Am I doing what I’m supposed to do anymore?"
And here’s where it gets complicated.
You may still be successful.
Selling the largest projects you have ever sold in your career.
Adding new services to the consulting practice you are leading.
Launching successful products in a large tech firm.
But there’s no joy anymore.
And that’s dangerous in ways most never talk about.
“I didn’t feel I should do the call.”
“I was feeling that... discomfort.
The feeling when you know you should do something… but you really don’t want to.”
At first, it’s subtle.
You forget a call here and there.
You avoid certain meetings.
You push aside the new ideas.
But quietly, under the surface, something is breaking down.
It’s like what happened in the show The Office.
Remember when Jan, after that Jamaica trip with Michael Scott and the embarrassment of her private photo being forwarded across the organization, decided she deserved to be happy?
It didn’t fall apart instantly. But once that decision was made, her life slowly, and then suddenly, started to unravel.
Same idea here.
"If you're unhappy… at some point you are going to find the unhappiness intolerable.
And all your wheels will fall off."
That’s reality.
And this is why the story of Walt Disney, which we unpack in detail in the program, is so revealing here.
“Disney lost everything. The intellectual property. The team. The dream.”
And yet...
“Out of necessity, Disney and his colleague created Mickey Mouse.”
So what does that mean for people like us: senior leaders responsible for businesses and teams?
Is that deep frustration a sign to push harder and break through…
Or is it a signal that it’s time to let go and shift?
"You can have a vision.
You can have a business.But unless there’s congruence... you’re going to struggle."
That’s the real decision point.
And in a new Legacy program, we go into this.
Not surface-level.
But real, candid examples of what happened behind the scenes when world-class leaders faced this exact moment.
"The business model may not work with the vision.
And unless you have congruence… you are going to struggle."
We go deep into this inside Should I Invest in This New Business, a new Legacy program.
And if you’ve ever caught yourself wondering, “Is what I am doing still right for me?” — this is for you.
