Avoidance in Disguise

When Scaling Becomes a Clever Form of Escape

Growth is seductive.

It makes you feel strong. Strategic. In motion.

You’re scaling.

Building systems.

Expanding your reach.

Launching new products.

Hiring a team.

The numbers are up, the pace is quick, and the vision is thrilling.

But quietly, beneath the movement, something feels off.

You’re not more fulfilled — just more distracted.

You’re not more aligned — just better defended.

You’re not more powerful — just harder to reach.

This is the paradox:

Growth can be a form of hiding — if you're using it to outrun the truths you're not ready to face.

We call it momentum.

We call it vision.

But sometimes, it's avoidance in disguise.

When Growth Becomes the Smokescreen

Most people don’t run from pain.

They run toward productivity.

Because productivity looks noble.

It earns applause.

It earns income.

It earns identity.

But underneath the surface-level excellence, there may be a quieter truth:

• You scaled so you’d never have to sit still.

• You built so you’d never have to feel the space.

• You stayed busy so the emptiness couldn’t catch up.

The faster you move, the less you feel.

And in a world obsessed with acceleration, that gets rewarded.

Until it doesn’t.

Case Study: The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

In The War of Art, Pressfield introduces the concept of Resistance — a powerful, invisible force that rises whenever we attempt meaningful, identity-shifting work.

He says Resistance doesn’t always appear as laziness or fear.

Sometimes, it wears a suit.

It shows up as overplanning.

As perfecting the logo.

As endless strategy sessions.

As one more funnel, one more expansion, one more product line.

“Resistance will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work. It will perjure, fabricate; it will seduce you. It will lie to you. Resistance is always lying and always full of shit.”— Steven Pressfield

What he’s saying is this:

You can build a successful empire around avoidance — and no one will call you out.

Because it looks like leadership.

It looks like mastery.

But it’s not rooted in instinct.

It’s rooted in fear — disguised as growth.

The Cost of Escaping Through Scaling

Scaling before alignment fractures your integrity.

You build structures around outdated desires.

You make promises from a place of proving, not presence.

You create velocity without a compass.

It becomes harder to stop.

Because now you have staff.

You have expectations.

You have a reputation that must stay in motion.

Stopping feels like death.

But continuing feels like erosion.

And so, the business scales.

But your identity thins.

Slowing Down Isn’t Regressing — It’s Returning

Stillness isn’t a punishment.

It’s a pulse.

When done well, slowing down is not about quitting.

It’s about realigning.

You pause — not because you’re lost,

but because your next move needs altitude.

You get quiet — not because you have no ideas,

but because your best ones won’t shout.

You listen — not to the metrics,

but to the moment where your body says, “This isn’t it anymore.”

Real leaders don’t outrun misalignment.

They outlisten it.

Final Thoughts

You can scale to escape.

Or you can scale with clarity.

The world won’t always know the difference — but you will.

One leads to expansion.

The other leads to distortion.

So before you move again, ask:

• Am I building this from instinct… or avoidance?

• Am I scaling because I’m ready… or because I’m scared to stay still?

Momentum is powerful.

But direction is sacred.

Choose the altitude.

Choose the signal.

Choose the strike — not the scramble.

That’s how leaders lead themselves first.