I saw an Instagram post the other day about being difficult to rush, and it hit different. I'll post it below...
But here's the thing - it's not about disappearing, or not being there for those you love. It's about staying so grounded in your own timeline that other people's panic doesn't become yours.
Most of us think being un-rushable means being unavailable or purposely difficult. But that's not it at all. Being un-rushable means you're present, you're there, you're responsive - but you're not permeable to someone else's urgency. You don't absorb their panic like it's yours to carry.
I learned this in Mexico, on the last day with a business group I went with.
I found out I had the same flight as someone else in the group. She was spiraling about getting to the airport, convinced she needed to switch her transportation, texting the group in full chaos mode. And I felt that pull, that instinct to match her energy, to panic too.
But instead, I sat on my balcony with a can of tuna like a feral cat on my last day of paradise. Someone had graciously brought back a couple cans from town earlier in the trip, and I decided:
I'm keeping my preplanned forty-dollar shared transport, and I'm going to savor this moment, looking out to paradise.
When seven forty rolled around, I checked out and headed downstairs. There my flight partner was, with a few others, AND the transport company. It turned out someone had booked an extra-large private Suburban for seven thirty and never showed. They offered it to us. Private transport, forty-five minutes early, at no extra cost (which by the way... was $190... thank you to whoever didn't show up). Because I didn't scramble, the better option found me.
Then it kept going. Security was completely dead - almost suspiciously dead. We breezed through. My friend turned to me and said, "We almost could've stopped at Starbucks," and I looked to my right and said, "There's your Starbucks!" We got our coffee, browsed a little shop full of Mexican trinkets, and by the time we looked back, security was slammed. Perfect timing, every step. We walked down one hallway, through a set of doors, and there was our gate. Right there.
She turned to me and said, "I guess we didn't have to rush."
Nope. We didn't.
· · ·
Here's where my paramedic brain kicks in. We were trained on one fundamental rule: someone else's emergency is not my emergency.
If I absorbed every patient's panic, I couldn't do my job. I couldn't think clearly, act efficiently, or actually help. Staying calm under pressure wasn't optional... it was the skill that made everything else possible.
That training didn't stay in the ambulance. It's nervous system regulation, and it applies to your inbox, your group texts, your deadlines, your family drama - ALL of it.
When you rush, you're not just moving faster. You're broadcasting a frequency of panic, and your nervous system pays for it. The more you worry, the more resistance you create.
But when you stay regulated, things flow. And here's the kicker - your calm is contagious. My friend didn't just make her flight. She relaxed. She saw with her own eyes that the urgency was never required. By the end of it, she told me, "I need to travel with you more often!"
That's the ripple effect. Regulating your own nervous system doesn't just change your day. It changes everyone's day around you.
· · ·
This Week's Practice: The One Small Thing
This week, catch one moment when someone else's urgency tries to become yours. A frantic text. A tone in a meeting. A deadline that isn't actually yours to carry.
- Pause and name it: that's their nervous system talking, not mine.
- Check your own timeline. Did anything actually change? Usually, no.
- Stay in your pace. Don't speed up to match their panic.
- Notice what happens - in your body, in the outcome, and in them.
- And if you're feeling extra fancy... write it down somewhere. In your phone notes, in your AI, or on paper in a notebook. But keep a record of it so you can come back to the moment you held your ground and see how the rest of the day transpired afterwards for proof.
🎧 This Week on the Hustle Rebels Podcast
Hustle Rebels Podcast — Double Feature This Week
🎙 Suzanne Ducharme-McFarlane: The Nervous System Shapes Everything
If this week's newsletter resonated, this episode is the deep dive. I sit down with Suzanne Ducharme-McFarlane, an integrative clinician with over 30 years of experience in speech pathology and craniosacral therapy, and we get into why burnout isn't just mental - it's physiological. Why your body eventually forces you to slow down. Why "pushing through" isn't resilience. And why babies literally co-regulate through your nervous system (moms, this one's for you). If you're dealing with burnout, chronic stress, postpartum overwhelm, or nervous system dysregulation, this conversation will change how you think about healing.
🎁 Suzanne also has a free download for new moms navigating postpartum, hormones, new family dynamics, and going back to work - grab it through her links in the show notes.
Listen Here: Burnout, Motherhood & Nervous System Regulation with Craniosacral Therapist Suzanne Ducharme-McFarlane
Watch on Youtube:
🎙 Erica Ando & Michelle A.M. Miller: What If "Good Enough" Raised Your Standards?
In this Toolbox Tuesday episode, I'm joined by the co-founders of Interval Paper and creators of The Good Enough Guide - a pocket-sized guided journal for anyone untangling themselves from hustle culture. We unpack "never enough culture" (the sneaky force whispering you're not thin enough, smart enough, successful enough), and why the antidote isn't lowering your standards - embracing "good enough" paradoxically elevates them. They're also hosting an online summer retreat (July–September) exploring joy, enoughness, and time.
🧰 This Week's Toolbox: Visit Erica and Michelle at intervalpaper.com to explore The Good Enough Guide and their summer retreat.
🎁 Listener Offer: And there's a special offer for Hustle Rebels listeners - so check out the episode, grab the offer and add the code to their summer retreat checkout! - but don't sit on it, the code expires July 18th!
Watch on Youtube:
🎧 Listen here: [You're Already Good Enough: Unlearning Never Enough Culture with Interval Paper]
New here? Or feeling nostalgic?
Want to read previous newsletters?
Check em out here: [Read Previous Editions of The Weekly Recharge]
Until next week — Take your time out there. Everything always ends up working out.
- Renae
Wayward Wellness Coaching
Hustle Rebels Podcast
