The Final Minutes

I’ve been noticing something about the end of long days.

Not the obvious fatigue.

The subtler kind.

The kind that doesn’t feel like exhaustion —

just a narrowing.

Patience shortens.

Curiosity tightens.

Decisions feel slightly more urgent than they did that morning.

Nothing dramatic.

And yet something has shifted.

Watching a game recently, I noticed how often goals are scored in the final minutes.

Sometimes from brilliance.

Often from a lapse.

A moment when concentration thins.

It made me wonder about the equivalent moments in leadership.

Not the bold decisions that launch something new.

But the small judgments made when energy is low and margins are thin.

An email sent quickly.

A tone slightly sharper than intended.

A call made because it feels easier than waiting.

We rarely attribute those moments to fatigue.

We attribute them to personality.

Or pressure.

There is a difference between being committed

and being clear.

Commitment can carry us forward long after clarity has begun to dim.

And it isn’t always obvious when that happens.

Perhaps rest is less about stepping away dramatically

and more about protecting the conditions in which judgment remains steady.

About noticing when the final minutes have arrived —

before we decide from there.

Paul