Anyone else realize their temporary startup compromises became permanent?

When I started I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted the company to look like. Keep the product simple avoid unnecessary features and don’t make decisions just because they might help short-term numbers. Then things got harder and some of those rules started feeling less practical. One compromise became another and eventually I wasn’t sure which decisions were actually strategic and which ones were just easier in the moment. How do you know when changing your original rules is healthy growth versus slowly becoming the kind of company you never wanted to build?