Slow Down to Speed Up

A common saying I repeat to myself is, "Slow down to speed up". Sounds like an oxymoron, I know.

As I'm writing my next book, the true value and meaning of this saying has become even more clear to me. Below is the short version of what it means to me. I'm also open to constructive feedback and questions.

Basically, we have two ways of thinking which also translate into actions. We have "autopilot" which is fast and based on our preprogrammed beliefs, past associations, and our instincts. It has many benefits, but also numerous downfalls.

Then there's "manual", which is slower, more intentional, provides more control and ultimately is where our power and freedom lives.

Our ability to slow down, switch into manual mode, assess the meaning we're assigning to something, and understand how that meaning drives our emotions and actions is the key to our power and freedom. This doesn't happen in autopilot mode.

Most of our past associations, programming, and beliefs weren't something we intentionally created. Many of the beliefs and associations we hold are very valuable, but there are numerous beliefs that we hold about ourselves, about others, about the world, that are not beneficial in any way. Many are severely impacting our health, our happiness, our relationships and keeping us from living our best life.

Autopilot is EXTREMELY POWERFUL and utilizes our unconscious brain to process millions times more information than our conscious brain. Imagine you have a super computer (which ya do), but you didn't really program it (which ya didn't). You had some input in it's design sure, but much of the programming was unintentional and done by past programmers (parents, teachers, friends, our younger less mature selves, our environment, etc.).

Ultimately, our ability to switch into manual mode consistently and intentionally choose more beneficial beliefs, choose our response, and develop new patterns leads to the reprogramming of autopilot mode. This not only helps us be way more effective and efficient, but helps our beliefs, thoughts, and actions in autopilot be more aligned with our values and our vision for our best life. There is significant more detail and complexity here, but I will save that for the book.