Me: “Talk to him. If you want help, he’s the first best … no, the best first … mmm.”
Colleague: “I know what you mean.”

What I meant to say to was, “He’s the best place to start.” Meaning, “If you want information, speak with this person first.”

The words weren’t coming out clearly and I could feel the confusion in my head. I knew what I was trying to communicate, but the wording seemed off.

Shortly afterwards, I realized that I had started the phrase oddly. There was nowhere to go after that. I couldn’t resolve the sentence because I was anchored in a false start.

Sometimes when we can’t quite figure out the next step, it’s because we’ve begun down the wrong path. A brief pause and a reset is the only way to clarity.