The other day I had a really tight connection in Atlanta.

My inbound flight was delayed… and my flight from Atlanta home was somehow five minutes early. So I’m standing on the arriving plane looking at my clock thinking:

I have 13 minutes until the boarding door closes. And this is the last flight home tonight.

And if you’ve ever been in ATL, you know: it’s not a small airport. You almost never arrive at the same gate you need to depart from.

Also… I had chosen that day to wear metallic gold open-toe slides — the absolute worst shoes for walking, let alone sprinting through an airport.

So I made a decision.

I took my shoes off.

And I ran.

Barefoot. Through the Atlanta airport.

I remember thinking: I cannot miss this flight.

Because if I missed it, I wouldn’t get home that night. And if I didn’t get home that night, I wouldn’t be there early the next morning before getting my kids before my week with them. And I wasn’t willing to risk that.

In that moment, I didn’t care if I looked ridiculous. I didn’t care if anyone stared. I didn’t care if it was uncomfortable. Because my values were at play.

And when your values are at play… you stop negotiating. You choose the only path even if it’s the hardest path.

That barefoot sprint got me thinking about how life (and leadership) often works:

Sometimes you don’t get an easy option.

Sometimes both paths are hard.

And your job isn’t to find the “comfortable” path — it’s to choose your hard.

The clearest way I know to do that is to let your values make the decision.

When you know what matters most, you know what’s worth the discomfort.

You know when it’s time to stop trying to look composed… and start moving.

Your values help you decide:

When is it worth it to take your shoes off and run?

And yes, it was worth it. I made my flight as the boarding door closed and received an actual cheer from people on the plane.

So now it’s your turn.

Where in your life are you trying to keep your shoes on?

Where are you trying to stay comfortable, polished, or “reasonable”… when what you actually need is to commit fully and run?

Hit reply and tell me:

Cheering for you — always.

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