Ignoring a red flag doesn’t make it go away. It just lets it grow into a bigger flag.

Early warnings show up before much has happened, which is exactly when they are cheapest to act on and hardest to take seriously. Nothing bad has occurred yet, so raising it feels dramatic. Meanwhile the pattern continues and gathers history, and the same conversation gets more expensive every month you wait.

When something bothers you twice, treat the second time as the signal rather than waiting for a third. Say it small and early, in one sentence. If nothing changes, you have learned something sooner than you would have.