#26 Moving Too Fast: When Urgency Undoes Alignment

In this episode of The Jeweler's View, Courtney Gray, with over 25 years in the jewelry industry, discusses how living with a constant sense of urgency led to burnout and costly mistakes. She shares personal anecdotes and insights on the detrimental effects of rushing, such as overcommitment, confusion, and disconnection. Courtney emphasizes the importance of slowing down to find clarity, build sustainable businesses, and avoid burnout. She encourages listeners to recalibrate their pace and offers support through her resources and discovery calls. The episode is a call to embrace a slower, more thoughtful approach to achieve lasting success.

Transcript

# Episode \#26 Moving Too Fast: When Urgency Undoes Alignment

[00:00:00] 

Welcome to The Jewelers View. I'm Courtney Gray, and after 25 years in the jewelry industry, 15 of those running one of the most elite schools in the country and working with masters and aspiring makers from across the globe. I've experienced the highs, the lows, and everything in between. I've consulted for organizations both large and small, and I work one-on-one with makers who are building their own creative business.

In this podcast, I'm here to help you do the same. Whether you're just starting out, maybe you're dusting off the bench or looking to elevate your craft to the next level, we'll explore topics that build confidence, tackle challenges, and help you achieve your goals. So what's holding you back? Let's dive in.

**Audio Only - All Participants:** Welcome back to The Jeweler's View. I hope that you are gaining something from these podcasts. I like to keep them short and sweet and leave you with something tangible you can walk away with each week.

I [00:01:00] also wanna make sure you're getting my weekly email, so jump over to Courtney gray arts.com and make sure that you're on the list. I also have free resources and other opportunities there for you. Okay. I realized something recently, the reason I needed to pause, the reason I burned out, the reason I kept feeling off track Wasn't because I lacked passion. It was because I was moving way too fast. Urgency has been my MO since my mid twenties. It's how I've survived, how I've gotten things done, how I've built and rebuilt entire businesses. I've also seen the fallout, and I'm working hard to pivot away from that pace. Now, I've stacked projects, said yes too quickly, and tried to make things happen faster than they were meant to unfold. And when I move like that, I make mistakes. I forget things, I lose clarity. I disconnect from the heart of why [00:02:00] I'm here even doing this Anyway.

Here's the truth. Urgency has cost me. It made me feel careless Let me give you an example. Years ago I shared a Google Doc that was meant to be a private brain dump, raw, unfiltered thoughts on our internal operations, only to discover I'd sent it out to the entire team. It led to irreparable hurt and fracture. I could not repair. I still think about it to this day, and that employee that I really admired still won't even acknowledge me when I see her.

When I'm rushing, I stop seeing clearly, I stop treating my work and my people with the level of thoughtfulness that they deserve. Sound familiar? This episode is for you. If you've been feeling like your foot is always on the gas, but you're not even sure where you're headed anymore. This one's all about what happens when we let urgency run the show.[00:03:00] 

When we confuse speed with momentum, when we push so hard that we bypass the clarity we actually need. And yes, I have been doing this lately, which is why I'm sharing it with you now.

So let's start here because urgency is sneaky. It feels like productivity. It feels like you're in motion, but a lot of the time it's just panic in disguise, adrenaline, that pressure to get ahead even when you're not clear on what ahead really means. And I've felt that rush. If I don't do it now, I'll lose my chance.

When I look back, almost none of those things were real emergencies. Urgency can feel like forward motion, but it's often fear driving the wheel.

So here's a few mistakes I've made from rushing. I've overcommitted myself so many times thinking I'll figure it out. I've launched things that weren't ready, missed details, [00:04:00] lost joy in the process, sent messages before I was ready. I have done all of it.

I think what hurts the most about those mistakes is that they weren't about malice or neglect. They were about moving too fast to care the way I wanted to, and that's what urgency does. It steals presence. It strips away the space. You need to be thoughtful, to be kind, to be clear. The result, confusion, overwhelm, disconnection, and regret.

So here's why we rush and what it can cost us. Why do we do it? Honestly, fear. Fear of missing out. Fomo, right? Fear of being forgotten. Fear that if we slow down, someone else will speed past us. We think we're creating momentum, but really we're draining our energy. The cost is high. Burnout, resentment, half finished [00:05:00] ideas, unclear messaging, broken trust it adds up.

Let's name something else here. The culture we live in feeds that urgency. We glorify hustle. We celebrate the person who can do it all. And for creatives, There's this constant fear that if you're not producing, you're falling behind. But what if slowing down didn't mean falling behind?

**Audio Only - All Participants:** What if it meant catching up with yourself?

What I'm learning is that everything, everything has a natural rhythm. Some projects need more space, some decisions need sleep. Some ideas need to simmer, right? And if we're not listening for that timing, we'll push too soon and then we'll wonder why things feel off or they don't work like we'd like them to.

Here's where it shifted for me. I started noticing that things [00:06:00] I'm proudest of. The pieces, the programs, the pivots that really landed, they weren't rushed. They came from stillness or long walks or journal pages I thought no one would ever see.

They came from space, not speed. Here's what I'm practicing, working with my energy, not just the clock building in breathing room, reflection time. Deep work sessions and giving things time to get good, not just done because I don't wanna create things that are rushed and forgettable.

I'm feel like I'm doing important work here. I wanna build things that last and I know what you're doing is important too. Moving fast doesn't mean moving forward. Clarity takes time and space. Growth takes time and space. So I want to ask you, where in your life or business have you been rushing? Where have you been [00:07:00] moving too fast, but not really feeling forward? Momentum? What might shift if you slowed down just a little bit? Just 10%. You're not behind, you're not lazy. You're allowed to choose a different pace and find a rhythm that works for you.

That's how we build sustainable businesses. That's how we avoid burnout and illness and overwhelm. If you're ready to recalibrate your rhythm, I'd love to support you. You can always reach out, book a free discovery call or explore what I offer@courtneygrayarts.com.

I'm here listening and I'm excited to connect with you truly. So reach out hi at Courtney Gray Arts, and tell me what you've been rushing through and what might happen if you slowed down just a little bit. I'll see you in the next episode. Onward and upward. [00:08:00]