Slow Down to Speed Up

One of the main reasons I started my own business was to give me the flexibility to spend summers any way I wanted to. So this year, for the first time ever, my husband and I decided to take a train from Chicago to California (and back). It was the first time I could decide how much time to invest in making the journey part of the vacation.

The trip is essentially three days lumbering across the country in tiny spaces with expansive views. And, if you choose, three days back the other direction.

We went through parts of our beautiful country that can’t be accessed by car. Some of the most stunning, breathtaking views I’ve ever experienced. Traveling through Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and finally Northern California, the terrain is as diverse as we the people.

We were forced to be way less active than we like, and were absolutely off the grid for roughly 70% of the journey. After I calmed my nervous twitching provoked by tech inaccessibility, I started to settle into the small joys of this somewhat lost mode of transportation.

I read books. Wrote blog posts. Meditated. Met and chatted with all kinds of people from all over. Listened to a Spotify playlist with songs about trains. And just sat, staring out the window as our magnificent country rolled by.

It was exhausting - from (barely) sleeping in a tiny bunk with a thin foam mattress and (ironically) doing nothing but sitting for three days in each direction. But I also immediately experienced a sustained sense of complete refreshment and vigor. For the first time in - well, probably ever, it was like time slowed down, nearly stood still.

It reminded me of that saying going around, “slow down to speed up.” My creative energy has been awakened. I experienced so many ideas, so many moments of clarity, so much inspiration. I felt true gratitude and abundance.

I’m refreshed, renewed, clear-headed, and joyful. I can see the acceleration ahead of things I’ve been wanting to accomplish. All because I slowed way the f*ck down.

I returned with more certainty around what to do next. Stronger flow. Bigger ideas. Greater confidence that I’m moving in the right direction.

How can you slow down to speed up? Your friend Google can give you many ideas, and I like this article for some inspiration. I'd love to read your comments on how you slow down and how it helps you speed up!

Laura Honeycutt is a former stressed-out advertising executive with imposter syndrome who now helps high-achieving business leaders step fully into their own power, stop second-guessing their genius, and achieve massive success without selling their souls.