Pilots wait on the runway for clearance, even with somewhere important to be. Being cleared beats being first.

Being ready and being permitted are different conditions, and the gap between them is where most impatience lives. The wait is not about doubting you, it is about everything else in the sky you cannot see from your seat. Going early is not brave, it is a decision made with a fraction of the information.

When you are held up by someone else’s process this week, assume there is a picture larger than yours. Ask what they are waiting on rather than how much longer. Then use the time to finish your own checks, so when it clears you actually go.