The ER Reminder Every Professional Needs
- Sarah Garrison
- 7 days ago
- 2 min read
One morning a few months ago, I woke up and thought, “Whoa. I gotta go. Let’s get out of bed. I gotta get up.” I skipped my glass of water and headed straight for the bathroom. And the next thing I knew, I was coming-to on the bedroom rug, flat on my back, completely dazed.
Henry was right there. I heard him say, “Tracy, honey, wake up.” And then he went into full “coach” mode. Henry’s a lifelong athlete and coach, so he knows concussion protocol. “What day is it?” “Who’s our governor?” And I’m thinking, “Why are these questions so hard?” I couldn’t answer him. A few minutes later, we were in the car heading to the ER, and my brain finally came back online. I said, “It’s Thursday and I know our governor’s name.”
At the ER, the doctors were very kind and thorough. And they said, “You have a mild concussion, you stood up too fast, and you were dehydrated.” As I heard the diagnosis, I remembered something my doctor told me years ago at a routine appointment. She looked me right in the eye and said, “Tracy, here’s my best advice. Don’t be in a hurry.”
I’ve repeated that advice to other people for years and clearly, I needed to hear it again myself. Because this isn’t only about rushing out of bed in the morning. It’s about how we live and how we lead.
In business, speed is rewarded. And all of us can feel that pressure. Sometimes we hit ‘send’ too quickly on a tense email. Or tap, ‘reply all’ before asking, “Who really needs this information?” Or, skip, spellcheck because we’re racing against a deadline. Or we text Sam…and then realize, “Yikes! It’s the wrong Sam.” We speak before we’ve fully listened. Or we react before we have the full picture and we can form opinions too fast. Or we honk if another driver doesn’t go the second the light turns green.
When we hurry, we miss what matters.
We overlook details. Jump to conclusions. Skim instead of reading the full document. And can react when it’s better and kinder and more patient to respond. And none of those habits build trust or confidence. Not in ourselves. And not in the people who are counting on us.
The most confident people I know are not the fastest people in the room. They are intentional. They think before they speak. They ask better questions, Prepare and they pause before pressing, send, on any device.
Slowing down is not a weakness. It’s a leadership and life skill.
In the next 30-days, don’t be in a hurry to ‘reply’ when it’s emotional, to speak before you have the facts, to judge what you don’t fully understand, or to press ‘send.’
Take a breath. Take a beat. Take your time.
And remember, drink your water!
Thank you for reading.
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