Move Slow, but move with purpose

My whole adult life has been about pushing boundaries, high intensity environments and all that comes with it, and it was fun in my 20’s. However through these years I have often had bosses or restaurant owners, before they got to know me, tell me that they need to see more intensity out of me.

Boss : “We need more”

Me : “More what?”

Boss : “You know, more… umf”

Sound familiar? It has always made me wander and this morning I woke up unexpectedly at 4.30am and that thought needed addressing.

I have also met a lot of people in my professional and personal life that are always ‘moving’ but never getting anything done, projects pending, sometimes procrastination too, and I see them as the “magician” that comes to your table and puts down one ping pong ball and three cups up side down and shuffles them around in all sorts of creative ways, distracts us on which cup to look at and probably keeps the ping pong ball in the same place.

I am not like that.

I like to move with purpose, I prefer to move at a manageable pace and budget my energy for a spark, ready to push the button. I am not a frontline player that picks up the ball, head down, into another person, roll over, get up and repeat. I am more of the backline player who spends more time positioning themselves for those moments where a string of events align, and an opportunity presents itself, and then I put all my energy into opening up that door of opportunity and scoring some points for my team, my family.

Now in this there are two topics to discuss, and I will try keep them brief, but feel free to comment below or subscribe for free so that you can email me your query.

The first topic is, Moving slow but moving with purpose and the second is using that pace to Budget Your Energy in order to take full advantage of that opportunity when it presents itself. The bonus topic is if you live this way consistently, your ability to notice opportunities and take them become more of a habit than a chore.

When I mention move slow, some people that know me might chuckle, because I am not known to move at a slow pace, and I do not, by any means, consider myself lazy. However I do my best to allocate time and attention, which I describe as Energy, for specific tasks. I focus on that task and If you interrupt me, you will think I am rude, but I am only focused. I have no need to impress you and multi task with all my tricks so that you say “well done clown, that was impressive”. This ties into the sports analogy, where unless you are in the league of greatest of all times like Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant who only had one pace, INTENSE, you might need to rest once in a while. I would hate to be needing a rest when it is time to take the lead or hold the lead in the final seconds of the match, Do you know what I mean ?

This takes us back to the theory of Budget Your Energy. Professional or Personal, sometimes in sport too, you need to be aware of your strengths and weaknesses. In soccer I always played Center Defender, the last man before the goalkeeper. I can kick with both feet, I can jump above others to header, I can score, but my biggest strength was that I was aware of everyone else’s strengths and what they needed in order to extract their best and display it during the game. Life can be like that. If you know you can be constantly moving forward, even if by the slightest, however still forward, then do that. If you have bursts of fast movements in the right direction then position yourself, Budget Your Energy, for the moment you will need it most.

Your pace is up to you and how your Body, Mind and Soul are set to function, BUT, whatever your pace is, go about your tasks with reason and purpose. Do tasks that full up your cup, replenish the Energy used earlier. Focus on tasks for a budgeted amount of time or to a deadline and forget the distractions or notifications on your phone. (I absolutely adore aeroplane mode for this reason, who said you only have to use it on an aeroplane. Enjoy that feeling of accomplishment when you are done with a task, and then repeat this habit of success.

What this will allow you to do too is replenish the Energy used on this task with activities like phoning a friend or family member and actually focusing on the conversation at hand, going for a walk and seeing a stingray jump out the water, 1 second and you have missed the opportunity to say “wow, that is not something you see everyday”

I do not know what that recharge is for you, but if you Budget Your Energy you will have more time to figure that out for yourself. Feel free to tell me about it in the comments below.

Bonus topic for today is about the currency of attention. Stay with me for 1 more minute. I read in a book once, that there is a simple test to prove this. Have you ever noticed that when your friend or family buys a new car that you start seeing this car everywhere? Is this because the whole world decided to produce and purchase this car within this month, or is it because you are aware and paying attention to this car, therefore you notice it more?

Now what if you applied that exact same concept to OPPORTUNITY. Instead of noticing your friends car, pay attention to opportunity. The more you figure out your pace and Budget Your Energy , the more opportunities you will notice but more importantly the more opportunities you will be in the right position to take advantage of.

Don’t believe me?

Try it for yourself.

P.S. I am writing this on the beach from an Island in Seychelles…