You know it when you feel it. Something isn’t right. There’s some discussion happening somewhere else, and you aren’t in it. Or the email isn’t returned. Or the tone is guarded.
You can feel that unease for a lot of reasons. Maybe it’s a communication issue. But maybe communication is the symptom. You give the benefit of the doubt. You wish for the best and assume it.
And then days become weeks, weeks become months. And you look back at those months, and wonder what happened.
I could be describing anything. The girl who didn’t call you back in High School. The conference that said they might want you to speak. The employee who said they’re working on it. The investor who said they really like the company and will talk with his partners about it.
And then nothing.
Radio silence.
And then you have that feeling. Face it–he’s just not that into you. You were counting on hope. But you can hope in one hand and piss in the other and see which one fills up first. Taking action is the only way to get the outcome you want without paying dearly for it in wasted time.
Your job is to bring light to the darkness.
Bring it early and often, and don’t fear the consequences of taking action, holding people accountable, or overstepping the line between tenacity and being a complete pain in the ass.
Clarity is worth much more than the mild discomfort you might cause. Don’t hold back. That’s what they’re doing. They’re scared. Or they’re nervous. Or they’re ashamed. Don’t let them piss on you because of their shortcomings.
Take control and get clarity.
And then move on. You don’t have time for those who will drag you down, slow you down, hold you down, or let you sink amid the murky darkness they themselves created.
See it early and deal with it.
And if you still have that uneasy feeling, it means you have to stop giving the benefit of the doubt and cut that crap out of your life, out of your hopes and dreams. You can’t count on what you can’t count on.
That uneasy feeling is telling you something incredibly important–listen to it.