Remember that hour convincing yourself about the deer path. What was the final thing that made you pull the map back out? For me, it's usually the trail getting stupid, like suddenly needing to crawl under a giant fallen tree a horse could never pass.

Totally get the "saying 'no' more often" part. Read a blog post about the 80/20 rule for freelancers. It said most of your good work comes from a few good clients. Chasing every new lead just burns you out. Like last year, I dropped a client who was always late on payments. Freed up time to do better work for the people who actually value it. Felt like a weight was lifted.

Check your boost lines for a small leak, that whistle is usually air getting sucked in somewhere.