Slowing Down In A Busy World

The incessant "need" to do.

Nagging its teeth deep into your habitual routines.

Always reminding you to do more, be more, act more, live more.

It's like the more you have achieved, the more it feeds into the need.

Is this "really" what life is all about? Constantly moving and shaking?

Always on the lookout for the "next" thing?

There is no way this is how we are supposed to live.

Distracted, Greedy & Needy, lol.

This is my mind this morning. Trying to attain all things at one time. I think they call it ADHD? Do we all have varying degrees of it? Especially entrepreneurs? It seems like so many of us in the business world float from idea to idea, theme to theme. Exploring, spelunking, and adventuring to a place we never really get to in hope of it being the "thing."

These shiny things often appear quickly and fade even faster. I like to call them trends, and I avoid them at all costs. You see trends are cool, they make money, are fun for some time and everyone knows about them. Yet, they die quickly. They also never leave a long-lasting impact that provides REAL value for people. They seem to be the "next big thing" but eventually are snuffed out for what they really are, psychological wizardry.

I can see why so many people fall into the trends, distractions, and confusion. It's because it's easier to stay "with it" than away from it. It's easier to let others shape your habits and mind than your own. One happens without you doing anything but wandering online, watching shows, and being around others and one is a conscious process that takes time.

People sell out themselves to feel accepted in the group because it's simply more convenient. That is the scary part about convenience, we do it because it's easy not always because it's actually helpful. Think about how many businesses today are shaped around convenience, and then decide to slow down and really think through the business model. Is it really convenient, or just allowing us to become lazier and caught up in things that don't really matter?

This is the challenge with slowing down in a busy world, 99% of people around you probably aren't slowing down with you. You'll be like a lone wolf, attempting to find others wolves on the journey who see what you see. They see the travesty of modern life, always trying, needing, and wanting. Never really satisfied, never really happy. Just barely hanging on for dear life caught up in the rabbit hole of a scroll.

I absolutely fear being caught up in the rabbit hole of a scroll because to me nothing is scarier than finding myself wasting time doing something that I unconsciously chose. Are we really hopping on trends to grow our businesses? Or are we falling prey to a trend? Is it wise to do something just because it earns more, but puts you at psychological risk long term?

These are the questions I ask myself often because I can't help but notice my younger cousins and family being caught in a rabbit hole of a scroll and becoming ill. It's cool and all cause' ya know we are "adults" and we can "handle" the psychological trickery on these "apps" because children are not as "developed" as we are. You may be wondering why I use so many quotations right now, and to be blunt it's because I believe we are just as lost in the sauce as younger generations and just don't want to admit it yet lol.

At scale these distractions and trends are dangerous. They don't breed focus or genuine connection. They breed ADHD and short-term pleasure. The scariest part of it is, that it's designed to do that and the people that design it absolutely know it's not in your best interest. That is the craziest part of all of this.

As a wise man once said (sorta as I've adjusted the quote a little bit for the context of this writing)

"We know it, they know it, they know we know, we know they know we know and yet they keep doing, and we keep on allowing them to"

Yes, it's a mouthful, but just slow down and think through it. Shut off all distractions and think about this. Use your critical decision-making abilities to see through the smoke and recognize what is really going on here. We are all distracted AF, we all know it, we keep letting it happen and will continue to be taken advantage of as a society at scale, putting future generations at risk until enough people say NO.

To wrap this all up, I simply ask you to do ONE THING today.

For the next decision, you have to make, slow down and think through it.

Don't make it because of a fleeting feeling, external pressure, or anything like.

Make it because you slowed down and thoroughly thought through it.

-Skylar