Honestly, Losing Momentum Sucks… But That’s Not the End of Your Story

When life derails your carefully laid plans it’s not always about descending into total chaos or facing outright failure – often, it’s an opportunity for something much deeper to emerge.

Most of us build our careers around this idea of building unstoppable momentum: we map out the next big step, fine-tune every detail, and focus on stacking up those victories, convinced that flawless execution will keep us on a straight upward path. But then, inevitably, life steps in and shakes things up. Maybe it’s a child who needs you closer, forcing a sudden change in where you live. Or perhaps a crucial contract falls through without warning, or your company goes through a restructure that flips your role upside down. Even something as profound as a health diagnosis can completely reshape your timeline, making that once-perfect plan on paper feel utterly mismatched with the reality you’re living in right now.

I’ve gone through those kinds of seasons myself, more times than I’d like to count, and what they’ve taught me is that when everything falls apart, it shines a light on what your foundation was really made of—if it was rooted in ego, it tends to crack under the pressure, but if it was built on true alignment with what matters, it finds a way to adjust and hold strong. For instance, when I decided to move to be near my daughter instead of chasing after that career momentum, it didn’t seem like a smart, strategic choice at the time; honestly, it just felt inconvenient and disruptive. And when a big contract vanished, leaving me to scramble and negotiate my way into something new, it wasn’t this motivational high point—it was downright uncomfortable. Then there were the times I stepped back to focus on being home with family, or the time I had to navigate through cancer; there wasn’t some grand master plan guiding me, just a series of what felt like the next right decisions in the moment.

Those experiences weren’t the kind of highlights you’d proudly list on a resume (although i do)—they were more like pivotal moments of recalibration, forcing me to pause and reassess. And that’s precisely where HITSLeadership came from, not in some fancy conference room or during a polished branding workshop, and certainly not sketched out on a whiteboard in a strategy session. No, it emerged right in the heart of those disruptions, from having to face reality head-on instead of stubbornly defending an outdated plan. It grew out of learning to weave in what was actually happening around me, rather than holding tight to strategies that no longer fit, and from being honest with myself about what truly deserved my energy and what I could let go of.

In the end, when life gets in the way of your plans, what shows up isn’t necessarily a shinier or more efficient replacement plan—it’s often a much steadier foundation beneath it all. That’s the real difference. When all that external momentum gets stripped away, you start to see clearly whether you’re leading from a place of positional power or from genuine conviction, whether your sense of self is wrapped up in titles and accolades or in the deeper responsibilities that come with them, and whether you have the resilience to rebuild without carrying around a bunch of bitterness. Those challenging seasons didn’t just throw a wrench in things; they actually shaped the framework of what I do now. That’s the hidden story behind it all, the one that doesn’t fit neatly into a bullet-point list, but it’s the part that carries the most weight.

So, if you’re reading this and finding yourself in one of those recalibration phases, remember that it’s not the end—it’s a chance to build something more enduring. What do you think? Have you had moments like that where disruption led to a stronger base? I’d love to hear about it if you’re up for sharing.

About the Author

Andrew Bloo is a leadership consultant and the creator of the HITSLeadership™ framework. He works with founders, executives, and operators who are tired of reactive leadership and burnout-driven culture, helping them build clarity, steadiness, and trust through practical leadership systems. Andrew focuses on leadership under real pressure — when decisions are messy, people are human, and presence matters more than polish.