Why Are You In Such A Hurry?

I was washing my car last weekend and vacuuming the inside. I had nowhere to be. I had no plans afterward.

And still, I found myself rushing.

I noticed it most when I was vacuuming. I was flying over the dog hair from my 1.5-year-old Goldendoodle, Simon, moving fast and missing spots. Hair everywhere. I kept going anyway, like speed alone would somehow make it done.

At some point, I deliberately slowed down. I went over the same areas again. And again. Nearly all of it came up.

That is when I stopped and asked myself a question that landed harder than I expected:
Why am I in such a hurry?

There was no good answer.

Or maybe there was, and I just did not like it. When I slowed down enough to notice, I realized I was rushing to avoid the truth: I did not actually want to be doing this on a Saturday morning. Rushing let me pretend I did.

Once I acknowledged that, something shifted. I slowed down even more deliberately and really paid attention. I noticed how much better the car looked as I went over it again and again. Suddenly, the task stopped feeling like a chore. I realized I was actually looking forward to getting into a clean car, and that small shift made the work feel lighter, even a little satisfying.

Many of us move through our days like this. Fast. Efficient. Slightly tense. We rush through moments that do not require speed and call it productivity. But often, hurry has very little to do with time.

It has more to do with avoidance.

When we slow down, we feel more. We notice more. Our thoughts. Our bodies. Our discomfort. Speed becomes a way to stay ahead of that. Being busy can feel safer than being present.

So we rush through conversations.
We rush through meals.
We rush through moments that could actually nourish us.

And then we wonder why we feel disconnected or exhausted.

This shows up in leadership all the time. Decisions made from urgency instead of clarity. Conversations that skim the surface because no one pauses long enough to name what is really happening. Speed can look like competence. Presence is what builds trust.

The question is not whether you can slow down.

It is whether you are willing to sit with what shows up when you do.

The next time you find yourself rushing, try asking:
What am I avoiding by moving so fast?

You might discover that the work is not about doing something differently. It is about noticing, claiming, and fully engaging with what is already in front of you. In the process, you may find that even ordinary tasks can feel surprisingly good when you slow down and really pay attention.