? Todo: Slow Down ??
Last week I shared that I've spent most of my life in a state of urgency as a Super Woman in Training until a recent "quarter-life crisis" helped me realize a few key lessons:
And lastly, to go fast, be willing to slow down.
I want to lean into the idea of slowing down.
I used to think slowing down represented a lack of ambition, acceptance of things as they are, and gravitation towards the mediocre. However, I have come to understand it can also be a demonstration of intentionality, a strategic focus, and bias towards the meaningful and fulfilling.
My current interest in and acceptance of a slower life would not exist if I hadn't discovered a new meaning of the term "patience". Patience has always meant - wait your turn, don't interrupt, and hold your tongue. It now embodies longevity, compassion, intentionality, confidence, and faith. Interestingly enough, it wasn't until I started healing old wounds about not being good enough that I discovered this new definition of patience.
When you are in a state of mind that begs you to prove your "enough-ness" and implores you to solve everybody's problems so they will value you and you can be okay, you're not very patient.
Once you trust that you are ?amazing? as you are, you can save things (asking questions, seeking praise, requesting feedback, checking off tasks, solving problems, identifying skill deficiencies, etc) "until next time". You no longer need to address or resolve everything right now in the hopes of preventing anyone from looking at you and seeing all the "wrong". Your time horizon expands quite a bit and you can slow down, plan, focus, rest, and enjoy.
Why would anyone have a mindset of "everything needs to be solved right now" anyways?
Living in a state of needing to constantly prove yourself because what you did yesterday is not relevant for today in terms of your worth (*false idea*), creates a very short timeline to operate on. It develops an extreme sense of urgency.
My definition of patience now includes having longer timelines, being more timely in my questions and requests, accepting other people's growth and developmental timelines, and giving myself plenty of time to go where I'm going - I get to ?? smell the roses and savor the journey.
领英推荐
Down time is not wasted time. It's time to prepare for the climb.
You may wonder, if you are taking life slowly, why do you need to be productive?
I used to correlate fast to busy, busy to full, full to meaningful. If I wanted a meaningful life I had to be full, busy, and fast...incorrect.
A slow life does not mean an empty life. A slow life does not mean a boring life. A slow life is not a less productive life. So far, (2 weeks into this productivity revamp) I would argue a slow life is actually more productive.
Productivity is highly related to meaning and impact. I want to master #productivity because I want to do less and have everything I do mean more. I'm seeking to dramatically increase my impact and decrease the drama required to be impactful.
To help me get there, my new focus is ruthless prioritization, timely communication, and consistency. Things are going to feel slower, I'm going to spend more time in "Sprint 0" - the planning phase, and not every second of my day will be packed (weird, I know ?? ), but after adjusting to having a lunch break, the night off, and not working seven days a week, I think I'm going to be okay.
Final reflection: I do think this perspective shift also comes from making it pretty far "up" the professional ladder and realizing "the top" is full of the same everyday people that were at "the bottom". You start to see there is no "top" or "bottom", just people, opportunities, lessons, and work.
With that in mind, you begin to think what's the rush? Where am I trying to go? Now, if you go somewhere fast, it's because you're being intentional, not heroic.
Don't be a hero, join the conversation on LinkedIn:
What does slowing down look like for you?
Follow me on LinkedIn?and send this newsletter to anyone who is ready to remember they are enough, for we all are good enough!???#InThisTogether?#OpportunityMade
Serve widely, give greatly, & take care y'all.
Founder of Dandelion Fields | Burnout Recovery Coach | Burnout Survivor
2 年Great newsletter post! I'm glad you're starting to "slow down" from what you were doing before (how?). I've found in my own journey that slowing down, or what I call living more intentionally and taking more time to see the purpose and meaning of what I'm applying myself to becomes a more intentional form of productivity with a much deeper resonance. Our culture, especially in the US business world, is all about checking as many boxes as possible, and very often, those boxes aren't for us. Slowing down, becoming intentional, seeking that deeper purpose in what we do - that's when we start to truly shine. I look forward to hearing more about your journey in future posts!
Engineer | Inspiring Life Beyond 9-5 ??
2 年??