I took a small piece of brass to my eye. 

I didn’t even know you could bleed from your eye, but there I was, blood in my hand and my eye bleeding like a cut. 

Hurry is the enemy of BEST WORK. 

Hurry is the enemy of FLOW. 

I had been in a rush, cutting a small piece of wood for a template. I was in too big of a hurry to take my backpack off, too big of a hurry to wear safety glasses, so when I pushed down on the miter saw, a small piece of brass came up straight to my eye. 

I instantly knew I needed help. I made my way into a local optometrist’s office, whom I didn’t have a relationship with, and just asked to be seen. On my drive in, my thought was, ‘I hope I can make an eye patch look cool.’ 

By that time, my eye was starting to pulsate. The room started to spin, my body started to go limp, and suddenly I couldn’t stand anymore. I passed out at their front lobby check-in counter. 

Now an optometrist’s office is typically a calm place, with predictable days. 

But not this Tuesday. This Tuesday, normal was replaced with a grown man, a stranger, lying on the floor bleeding, asking for help. I brought up the drama that day.

I imagine my story was the first thing they told their spouse that night when asked, ‘How was your day?’

Aftering numbing my eye, cleaning me up, and completing a full examination, the optometrist confirmed that all was good. A little bit deeper, a little more toward my pupil, and the wound would have been significant. 

I’m lucky. But is this incident enough for me to be more present with my work? 

Am I likely to be more conscious of my actions rather than rushing? 

Most importantly, am I going to lead by example in our business?

Safety, to me, doesn’t sound like a calling or an adventure — mostly the opposite.  

However…

  • Preparing for the Win sounds like what a master in a trade would do. 

  • Being the Pro gives me context to who I want to be. 

  • Don’t Be A Noob is how the young men on my Team would talk. 

The master doesn’t rush. He knows a shortcut here means wasted time later.

Hurry affects all parts of the work. It’s the opposite of intention.  

Hurry is not fair to a customer, it’s not fair to yourself, and it ruins the ability to grow others. 

Hurry is the enemy of BEST WORK.