That resonates with me so much. I think we all look for a shortcut sometimes. But somehow it feels like this "hacking" culture is the way to do things these days. The quicker the better. I used to study literature and read a lot of difficult texts. It was exhausting, but totally rewarding. Now my 40-ish year old brain is used to this quick dopamine kick and my concentration and attention span have definitely diminished. I have to consciously retrain myself to slow down and go the 'other' way, even if it's uncomfortable and exhausting. In the end, maybe this is the blue pill of modern times that you have to swallow ;) Great post.
Hi Katie. I think we've all gotten trained now to want and expect things faster. As you said, the quicker the better. I wasn't always like this and I'm trying to think when exactly I crossed over 😂 I'm trying these days to retrain myself too! Cheers!
Slowing down allows us to savor experiences more deeply, appreciate both good and bad moments, and achieve more meaningful success. Thanks for sharing Lou.
This is good food for thought. I am a big fan of hacks and finding effective ways to get stuff done. But there are definitely things like boredom (important for down time) delayed gratification, putting in the hours to learn a skill, which we lose if we are not careful. These things brings more joy as we have to wait/work for them. So whilst hacks can help sometimes (eg I wear a weighted backpack every day I walk my dogs to get more cardio and muscle training from something I do everyday) long process is better (e.g. spending 3+ hours on writing an article to have it realy flow and read nice). Thanks for this reflection.
I hear you JFT. I'm a fan of hacks too and it's finding that "magic balance" (ugh, so hard to keep!) and opting for the voluntary slowness when it could provide the best experience in the long run.
This is the second post I've read today about slowing down. I could probably use the reminder once a day, truly. Especially since I was given more work this term, I find myself utterly exhausted every day. But like you, I'm figuring out that life is about those little moments, soaking in, and pausing. I hate the go-go-go world anyway, you know?
Hi Lani! I'm learning to appreciate a kind of world where it's not go-go-go all the time. It's been like that for me for much of my life TBH, and I'd like a different kind now.
I've been High Performance Driving on racetracks for 3 years now. If you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend it. Amazing fun. One of the things you learn early on is that "Smooth is Fast". If you try to drive fast, you won't. If you learn to be smooth, the speed comes (nearly) effortlessly. The quality of the journey is what brings rewards. I don't know if there are any shortcuts to getting faster driving on racetracks short of throwing money and time at the problem. But the sport is definitely a quick study in the rewards of quality over urgency. In my other life I teach yoga. There is a new meme in the industry, "Slow is the New Advanced." Thanks for the newsletter, and for the reminder!
That resonates with me so much. I think we all look for a shortcut sometimes. But somehow it feels like this "hacking" culture is the way to do things these days. The quicker the better. I used to study literature and read a lot of difficult texts. It was exhausting, but totally rewarding. Now my 40-ish year old brain is used to this quick dopamine kick and my concentration and attention span have definitely diminished. I have to consciously retrain myself to slow down and go the 'other' way, even if it's uncomfortable and exhausting. In the end, maybe this is the blue pill of modern times that you have to swallow ;) Great post.
Hi Katie. I think we've all gotten trained now to want and expect things faster. As you said, the quicker the better. I wasn't always like this and I'm trying to think when exactly I crossed over 😂 I'm trying these days to retrain myself too! Cheers!
Slowing down allows us to savor experiences more deeply, appreciate both good and bad moments, and achieve more meaningful success. Thanks for sharing Lou.
You're welcome Tinashe. Savoring experiences more deeply is exactly what I'm after these days. :)
Yes to taking my time to learn new things and enjoy life, easier is not always better ♡
Yay! Happy to hear this resonated with you Tanya.
This is good food for thought. I am a big fan of hacks and finding effective ways to get stuff done. But there are definitely things like boredom (important for down time) delayed gratification, putting in the hours to learn a skill, which we lose if we are not careful. These things brings more joy as we have to wait/work for them. So whilst hacks can help sometimes (eg I wear a weighted backpack every day I walk my dogs to get more cardio and muscle training from something I do everyday) long process is better (e.g. spending 3+ hours on writing an article to have it realy flow and read nice). Thanks for this reflection.
I hear you JFT. I'm a fan of hacks too and it's finding that "magic balance" (ugh, so hard to keep!) and opting for the voluntary slowness when it could provide the best experience in the long run.
This is the second post I've read today about slowing down. I could probably use the reminder once a day, truly. Especially since I was given more work this term, I find myself utterly exhausted every day. But like you, I'm figuring out that life is about those little moments, soaking in, and pausing. I hate the go-go-go world anyway, you know?
Hi Lani! I'm learning to appreciate a kind of world where it's not go-go-go all the time. It's been like that for me for much of my life TBH, and I'd like a different kind now.
I've been High Performance Driving on racetracks for 3 years now. If you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend it. Amazing fun. One of the things you learn early on is that "Smooth is Fast". If you try to drive fast, you won't. If you learn to be smooth, the speed comes (nearly) effortlessly. The quality of the journey is what brings rewards. I don't know if there are any shortcuts to getting faster driving on racetracks short of throwing money and time at the problem. But the sport is definitely a quick study in the rewards of quality over urgency. In my other life I teach yoga. There is a new meme in the industry, "Slow is the New Advanced." Thanks for the newsletter, and for the reminder!
Oh wow, High Performance Driving sounds like fun! And "Slow is the new advanced" sounds very appealing to me. Thanks so much Valerie!