Why Your Business Strategy Stops Working When You're Moving Too Fast
The pace of modern life and business has outstripped what our nervous systems can handle. We're trying to make decisions, lead teams, serve clients, and build something meaningful while operating in a state of constant overactivation.
Here's what I've noticed: your best business decisions don't come from your anxious mind. They come from that quiet place in your body that knows - without a doubt - whether something is right for you or not.
You know this feeling. It's when a potential client reaches out and something in your chest immediately expands with a "yes." Or when you're asked to take on a project and your whole torso contracts with a "no" - even before your mind starts calculating whether you have time.
But when you're moving too fast, when you're future-pacing through your day instead of being present for what's actually happening, you can't hear that wisdom. You end up making decisions from scarcity, from "should," from what you think you're supposed to do rather than what actually feels aligned.
Your business feels this disconnection too. Clients sense when you're not really present in conversations with them. The folks you work with mirror your energy - if you're scattered and reactive, they become scattered and reactive. Projects that should flow feel forced because you're pushing instead of responding.
This is one thing I love about bringing my
clients to work with horses. You can't fake presence with a horse. They feel your scattered attention, your impatience, your mental chess game of what comes next. If you want to connect with them and accomplish anything of value, you have to slow down to their rhythm and meet them where they are.
The same is true for people and businesses. When you're truly present and responding from a grounded place rather than reacting from panic, everything changes. Decisions become clearer. Conversations go deeper. The right opportunities start showing up because you're finally calm enough to recognize them.
The Real Cost of Decision-Making from Panic
I used to think being a good entrepreneur meant making decisions quickly. The faster I could analyze options and choose a direction, the more productive I was being, but I was confusing speed with clarity.
When you're operating from a dysregulated nervous system - when your shoulders are up around your ears, your jaw is clenched, your breathing is shallow - your decision-making capacity is compromised.
You're literally thinking with a brain that's in survival mode.
This shows up everywhere in business. You procrastinate on the important decisions because your system is overwhelmed. You say yes to clients who aren't a good fit because you're afraid of saying no. You second-guess yourself constantly because you're making choices from fear instead of wisdom.
I remember one particularly stressful period where I kept putting off a crucial decision about hiring a new team member. Every time I tried to think through the options, my mind would race through all the things that could go wrong. I'd end up scrolling social media instead, which only made me more anxious about "falling behind."
It wasn't until I took a slow walk outside - no phone, no agenda, just moving my body and breathing - that the answer became clear. Not because I thought harder, but because I finally got quiet enough to hear what my body had been trying to tell me all along.
That's the thing about your nervous system: when it's activated, everything feels urgent. But when you're regulated - when you feel grounded and safe and like you have time to respond - you can be really clear about what you want and what you're able or not able to do.
Your business needs you to make decisions from that grounded place, not from the panic of your racing mind.
How to Know What You Actually Want (And Stop Saying Yes to Everything)
The entrepreneurs I work with are generous people. They want to help, to say yes, to be accommodating. But somewhere along the way, they've lost touch with their own boundaries because they're moving too fast to feel into what they actually want.
You know that moment when someone asks you to take on a project and you immediately feel your stomach drop? That's your body giving you information. But if you're operating from your head - calculating whether you "should" say yes based on money or opportunity or what people will think - you override that wisdom.
I'm experiencing this right now as I plan an event for about 50 people. It would be easy to get caught up in all the details - the logistics, the spreadsheets, the timeline management. There's a certain satisfaction in having everything mapped out and controlled.
But what I really want to create is an experience of belonging. I want people to walk into that space and feel truly seen and connected to each other.
The difference between managing an event and creating an experience is this: one lives in my head, in task lists and contingency plans. The other lives in my body, in intuition and attunement to what the moment is asking for.
When I slow down enough to feel into what matters most - not just what needs to get done, but what I actually want to create - everything else starts to fall into place. The "urgent" tasks that aren't essential begin to sort themselves out. What remains feels manageable and aligned.
This is true for every business decision. Your body knows what you want before your mind does. But you have to be present enough to hear it.
When You Slow Down, Your Clients Feel the Difference
There's something clients can sense when you're really present with them versus when you're going through the motions. It's the difference between feeling truly seen and feeling like just another appointment on someone's calendar.
I noticed this most clearly in my own client calls. When I was rushing - mentally preparing for the next meeting while we were still talking, or thinking through my to-do list instead of really listening - the conversations felt flat. Clients would leave without the breakthrough or clarity they came for.
But when I took three deep breaths before starting a call, when I felt my feet on the floor and reminded myself to
be here now, everything shifted. I could hear what they weren't saying. I could sense what they really needed. The conversations went deeper, and clients left feeling genuinely supported.
This isn't about perfection or having to be "on" all the time. It's about remembering that presence is a choice you can make moment by moment. And when you make that choice, your clients feel it.
They stop feeling like they're imposing on your time and start feeling like they matter to you. They trust you more because you're demonstrating - through your attention - that
they're worth slowing down for.
This is true whether you're working with individual clients, speaking to groups, or even just responding to emails. The quality of your attention changes everything.
What Becomes Possible When You Lead from Your Body
When you start making business decisions from a regulated nervous system - when you feel grounded and safe instead of panicked and rushed - you discover capacities you didn't know you had.
You can sense what's really going on with your team members instead of just hearing their words. You can feel into whether a potential partnership is aligned before you get caught up in the details. You can trust your instincts about pricing, boundaries, and business direction because you're finally connected to your inner compass.
A friend of mine experienced this recently with a team member who was struggling. In the past, she would have been direct to the point of harshness - efficient but not particularly kind. But because she's been practicing slowing down, she found herself approaching the conversation differently.
Instead of launching into what needed to be fixed, she paused. She felt her feet on the ground. She noticed the tension in her chest and took a breath to soften it. Then she spoke from curiosity rather than frustration.
The response was completely different. Instead of defensiveness, she got openness. Instead of excuses, she got ownership. The same issue that would have created conflict became an opportunity for connection and growth.
This is what becomes possible when you're not leading from anxiety and urgency: you can respond to what's actually happening instead of reacting to your own internal chaos.
Your team feels safer. Your clients trust you more. Your decisions are clearer because you're making them from wisdom rather than fear.
Most importantly, you remember that building a business doesn't have to feel like surviving a business. It can feel like an expression of who you are when you're grounded, present, and connected to what matters most.
A Way Back to Grounded Leadership
You don't have to overhaul your entire business to experience this shift. You don't have to slow down forever or abandon your goals or pretend that deadlines don't matter.
But just for today - maybe right now - let yourself try something different.
Before your next client call or team meeting, take three deep breaths. Feel your feet on the floor. Notice if your shoulders are up around your ears and let them drop. Ask yourself: "What does this conversation really need from me?"
When you're about to say yes to something, pause. Feel into your body's response before your mind starts calculating pros and cons. Notice if there's an expansion or a contraction, an opening or a closing.
Before you dive into your task list tomorrow, spend five minutes doing absolutely nothing. Don't optimize the time or plan your day. Just sit with yourself and notice what you notice. Let your nervous system remember what it feels like to not be rushing toward the next thing.
These aren't productivity hacks or business strategies. They're invitations to remember that you have a body, and that body has wisdom your anxious mind doesn't have access to.
When you start making decisions from this grounded place - when you lead your business from presence instead of panic - you don't just get better outcomes. You remember who you are when you're not performing or proving or pushing.
You discover that the business you've been trying so hard to build already exists within you. It just needs you to slow down enough to hear it.
Ready to go deeper?
If this resonates and you're tired of running your business from a state of constant urgency, I'd love to support you in making this shift.
You can explore more about nervous system regulation and embodied leadership in my free resource,
Building Your Capacity - a guide to working with your nervous system for healing and performance.
And if you're ready for deeper support in moving from pressure to presence in your business and life, you can join the waitlist for my small group experience designed specifically for women entrepreneurs who are done operating at full tilt and want to lead from a different place entirely.
The transformation isn't just about feeling better (though you will). It's about discovering what becomes possible when you run your business from your body's wisdom instead of your mind's panic.
Remember: your business needs you present, not perfect. Trust what your body already knows.
Rooting for you,
Kathy
View my bio
