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NOTES FROM THE EDITOR

The cost of making wrong choices

In business (as in life), mistakes are unavoidable. But the unpopular truth is that many of them can be minimized.

The now-popular adage “move fast and break things” worked for a specific period of time, and for a very specific type of business. Yet for years, we’ve been encouraged to move fast, try and fail, throw caution to the wind, and “build in public,” regardless of context.

The cost of that mindset rarely shows up right away. It reveals itself over time, as money spent promoting the wrong thing, time invested in the wrong direction, or, worse, a growing sense of disillusionment with one’s business.

Momentum is compelling, even addictive. But momentum built on speed rather than strategy puts us on a hamster wheel from Hades.

What actually happens

When we're not pausing to get clarity on the direction for our business, our clients, and how we present ourselves to the world, we end up with a business we never intended to build.

In a private practice world it translates into:

• Clinician burnout from overfilled caseloads with low reimbursement
• Overextended ad budget.
• Quiet panic about competing with mental health tech companies or AI.

Sometimes you can put a dollar number to this cost. Often, the emotional price we pay is unquantifiable.

Why these decisions keep repeating

What makes these decisions costly is that, in the moment, they feel right.

Speed brings relief. Action creates the appearance of progress. Visibility offers reassurance. In the short term, each of these signals progress, even when direction hasn’t been established.

In private practice, the downside is delayed. A positioning choice doesn’t fail immediately. A visibility bet doesn’t collapse overnight. The cost shows up later, quietly, as misaligned inquiries, mounting fatigue, and the sense that the business requires more effort than it should.

And because the penalty isn’t immediate, the cycle repeats because motion is rewarded long before cost is revealed.

So what feels like momentum often turns out to be waste.

See you next week,

Avivit

And now to the news!

AD BREAK

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Why it matters: Peer support reflects a growing need to address burnout as a business and capacity issue, not just a personal one.

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Survey Highlights Pay Gaps in Mental Health

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