Growth or Security: The Creatives’ Favorite Bug

Opening

Francis, a former artist manager, once told me: “I realized I was burned out… while filling out an Excel spreadsheet to calculate Spotify streams.” There. The precise moment your brain whispers: “this is not what you signed up for, buddy.” We laugh, but behind that was the look of a guy who realized he had built a prison with his own ambitions.

Observable Pattern

We’ve all experienced this bug: staying stuck in a comfortable role that no longer fits us. The 3D animator who dreamed of emotions, the DJ turned email manager… We say we “learn,” that we’re “building foundations.” Translation: we’re scared to start over. So we keep our “stable” jobs, our “civilized” hours, and we’re surprised to feel drained.
Spoiler: security is a great drug. But like any drug, it eventually leaves you numb.

Revealing the Need

Here’s what we don’t see: it’s not laziness, it’s a conflict between security and growth.
Two perfectly legitimate human needs… but rarely 100% compatible. Security promises us a good night’s sleep. Growth wants us to jump out of bed at 6 AM to build something that doesn’t exist yet. And these two battle in the same mind.

Francis wanted to evolve, but remained attached to the recognition in the music industry. Maurine craved freedom, but feared letting go of the comfort of a stable position. The day they accepted that security would never precede growth, everything changed. She launched her studio. He, a musical SaaS. And ironically, that’s when they finally found… real inner security.

Cost + Awakening

The price of comfort is the slow erosion of joy. No spectacular crash, just invisible wear: we become lukewarm. By avoiding risk, we avoid ourselves.

But with practice, we begin to see the pattern:
every frustration is a disguised growth signal. When you listen to it, you take back control. And strangely, everything becomes more fluid. You work better. You sleep better. You finally breathe.