Do You Ever Get the Collywobbles at 5am?

Have you ever woken up at five in the morning thinking about a client who owes you money?

Not because anything has been said. Not because there is a crisis. Just a feeling. A quiet voice telling you something is not right.

Here is what I have seen happen next, more times than I can count.

Nothing.

The director gets up, goes to work, and tells himself it will be fine. Because the client said it would be fine. Because the relationship is good. Because doing something about it feels more frightening than doing nothing.

There are usually two fears. The first is that if you push, you will lose the client. The second is that if you draw attention to it, you might actually stop the money coming in altogether. So you wait. And you hope. And you accept the reassurance, even though deep down your gut was telling you there was a problem. You just chose to ignore it.

I will tell you something honestly. Whenever I have made a mess in my life, I have ignored my gut and gone with logic instead. Do not make that mistake.

That 5am feeling is not anxiety. It is information. It is your instinct telling you something your spreadsheet has not caught yet. The directors who act on it early have options. The directors who wait until the spreadsheet confirms what their gut already knew often do not.

Pick up the phone and call me. No fee for calling. I just do not want to see you in that place.