Why trying to be “normal” nearly cost me my business
The cost of “behaving” in business
WRITTEN BY: Danielle Thompson, Goldspun Support
For years, I thought the reason my business felt harder than it should was a lack of discipline.
Not enough focus.
Too many ideas.
Too much curiosity.
You know the drill.
So, I did what a lot of sensible, grown-up entrepreneurs do.
I tried to behave.
I stayed in my lane.
I narrowed my thinking.
I told myself creativity was something you earned after success, not something you built with.
From the outside, everything looked fine.
Inside, something was quietly grinding me down.
The cost of “behaving” in business
When your brain naturally spots patterns, ideas, opportunities and connections, suppression doesn’t show up as instant burnout.
It’s subtler than that.
Energy drops.
Momentum slows.
Work feels heavier than it needs to.
My business didn’t fail. It stalled.
Not dramatically.
Just… flat.
And because nothing was technically wrong, I kept assuming the fix was more discipline. More restraint. More staying on message.
What I didn’t realise at the time was that I was starving the very thing that made me good at what I do.
The shift wasn’t strategy. It was acceptance.
The turning point for me wasn’t a new growth plan or a clever framework.
It was finally accepting how my brain actually works.
That meant:
accepting that I’m idea-driven
accepting that novelty and stimulation matter
accepting that ideas aren’t distractions, they’re data
Once I stopped fighting that, everything else got easier.
But acceptance alone isn’t enough.
Left unchecked, creativity can absolutely turn into chaos.
So instead of swinging from suppression to free-for-all, I did what I always do best.
I designed a system.
Creativity doesn’t need restriction. It needs containment.
Here’s the thing most productivity advice gets wrong:
Focus isn’t the same as restriction.
Trying to kill ideas doesn’t make you more effective.
It just creates internal friction.
What actually works is giving creativity somewhere safe to go.
In practice, that meant:
ideas are captured, not acted on
creative thinking has a container, not free rein
experimentation is low-stakes and intentional
only ideas that earn their place get integrated
No hustle.
No shiny-object chaos.
Just structure that works with how I think.
What happened when I stopped working against myself
Once I stopped suppressing creativity and started structuring it, growth followed quickly.
Within a year:
one business became three, all in active growth
writing moved from “something I enjoy” to publishing three bestselling books
a long-talked-about podcast became a top-ten show
turnover doubled, with a 97% client retention rate
Not because I worked harder.
If anything, I work less now.
The difference was alignment.
When your systems match how you operate, momentum stops being forced.
Why this matters (especially if you’re doing well already)
Most of the people I work with aren’t beginners.
They’re capable. Experienced. Already “successful” by most measures.
But they feel:
mentally overloaded
quietly frustrated
torn between growth and sustainability
They don’t need motivation.
They need better design.
Creativity isn’t a personality trait.
It’s a business input.
And like any input, it needs structure.
The biggest mistake I see founders make
They assume the answer is either:
more output
or more focus
Neither works long term.
Sustainable businesses aren’t built by thinking less.
They’re built by channelling what’s already there.
When you design systems that respect how you think, work stops feeling like a constant negotiation with yourself.
That’s when growth becomes calmer.
And frankly, more enjoyable.
Final thought
Trying to be “normal” nearly cost me a business I was capable of growing.
Designing around who I actually am gave me something far more valuable than focus.
It gave me momentum.
And that’s what I help others build now.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Danielle Thompson is the Founder & CEO of Goldspun Support, specialising in high-level operational and business support for Fractional Directors, consultants and growing service-based businesses. With over a decade of experience, she helps leaders streamline their workflows, reduce overwhelm and stay focused on strategy. She also leads Fractional Link, a platform elevating the fractional leadership community.
