Three years ago, I was working 14-hour days for clients who paid well but made me question my life choices. The money was good. My mental health wasn't.

Here's the brutal truth: some client types will drain your soul faster than a magpie swoops in spring. And most solo operators keep them because they confuse "good money" with "good for business."

Time to fix that.

More than half of founders experienced burnout last year
54% of founders said they'd experienced burnout in the past 12 months. The kicker? Only 6% said they had no mental health issues. But sure, keep grinding harder.

Use These 10 Red Flags to Spot a Difficult Client From a Mile Away
Print this. Laminate it. Check it before every client call. Your future self will thank you when you spot the boundary-pushers early.

The Two-Hour Rule to Make Progress on Your Creative Projects
If explaining your process takes longer than doing the actual work, you've found your problem. Simple math most of us ignore.

Setting Boundaries With Clients: How to Deal With Overstepping
Stop chasing unicorns. Start building boundaries. This breaks down how to avoid clients who turn every project into their personal therapy session.

How to Fire a Client Professionally (3 Email Scripts)
Template included. Use at your own risk (and relief). Sometimes the best business decision is showing bad clients the door.

Grab your client list. Score each one:

Energy Drain Scale (1-10):

Revenue vs. Misery Formula: Monthly revenue ÷ hours of your life you'll never get back = your sanity rate

If any client scores 8+ on energy drain, they need to pay 3x your normal rate or get the boot. No exceptions.

The 48-Hour Test: After every difficult client interaction, track how long it takes you to stop thinking about it. If it's longer than 48 hours, that's not a client—that's a parasite.

I once kept a client who paid $6k monthly for process mapping their operations. Should've been straightforward—map their workflows, identify bottlenecks, done.

Instead, they turned every process review into a therapy session about "company culture."

Week 1: "Can we add a step for positive affirmations?"
Week 3: "What if we gamify the invoicing process?"
Week 6: "Our receptionist feels the new system doesn't reflect our values."

Every documented process became a philosophical debate. They'd agree to streamlined workflows, then call panicked because "it doesn't feel collaborative enough."

The final straw? They complained my process maps weren't "practical for the teams" while simultaneously refusing to let me talk to anyone who actually did the work. Apparently, the CEO's interpretation of how invoicing worked was more valuable than asking the person who'd been doing it for five years.

I told myself the retainer was too good to lose. What I didn't see was the opportunity cost—while I was playing corporate therapist, I missed three manufacturing clients who just wanted their processes fixed, not their feelings validated.

Fired them on a Tuesday. The replacement client pays $8k, implements what I recommend, and never mentions "synergy."

Lesson learned: Some clients hire you to fix their processes. Others hire you to enable their dysfunction. Know the difference.

Speaking of sanity-destroying clients, want to know exactly which ones are actually profitable versus just expensive?

My Time Flux Method is a 90-minute calendar audit that shows you where your time really goes. Most people find it... uncomfortable. But necessary.

Here's the thing: I only share it with people who refer new subscribers to this newsletter. Because the hardest conversations about firing bad clients happen best when you've got mates going through the same reality check.

Know a solo operator drowning in client drama? There's a share link at the bottom of this email. Send them here to subscribe, and I'll send you the Time Flux Method—assuming you're ready to face the music.

P.S. Next week: The uncomfortable truth about why your "best" clients might be keeping you broke. (Spoiler: revenue isn't profit, mate.)

Switch Off Sooner. Live Larger.

Lone Wolf Unleashed

Enjoy this post, refer new subscribers and get the Time Flux Method - what I use to help people save 2+ hours a day.