You’re heading into a conversation you know won’t be easy. It could be a strained business relationship, a contract conflict, a leadership discussion with real financial consequences, or a personal matter that’s reached a tipping point. You’ve done what most people do to prepare: clarified your position, thought through your asks, and mapped out potential responses. You feel ready. What most people don’t prepare for is the internal shift that happens the moment emotions enter

Every professional has encountered that client, the one who floods your inbox at odd hours, nitpicks the tiniest details, or rethinks decisions three times before lunch. They leave you mentally exhausted and occasionally googling “Is it legal to fire a client?” And yet, something surprising tends to happen: Those same high-maintenance clients often become the most loyal. They stay longer, refer more people, and advocate for your work far more than the so-called “easy” ones. T

There’s a kind of fatigue that comes with being in charge, one that never shows up on your schedule or in your KPIs. It’s the heaviness that lingers after you shut down your laptop late at night, the thoughts that pull you awake before sunrise, the steady hum of responsibility that refuses to quiet. If you’re a founder, an executive, or someone steering the ship, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Yet it’s something we rarely acknowledge out loud, however the emotional