#34. Slow Is Smooth And Smooth Is Fast.
Make the boat go faster in the right direction.
Day in and day out, you are bombarded with speed-based strategies, how to x, y and z quicker, but that doesn’t mean you are guaranteed any success.
Too often, I have seen business owners and strategies executed at full speed with little understanding of if the destination is the right one. And you likely are one of them.
Over the past year or so, I have been using the concept of an anchor ALOT, based on the concept that an anchor can drag and hold you back, but it can also hold you steady in rough seas; being in business can be the roughest you experience.
With that said, knowing that this spot is the right spot to anchor up in the storm is critical to success.
This all comes down to knowing what you want, what you really really want. (The Spice Girls were onto something!) And this is something I am relentlessly boring about when working with leaders.
We assume we have a clear idea of what ‘good looks like’, but rarely can we articulate it, let alone execute it.
For example, a year ago, we were told by our daughter that we didn’t spend enough time with her as our property was such a handful. This only came to light when emotions were running a little hot.
I must admit it knocked me sideways; in fact, it hurt. My wife and I pride ourselves on being good parents, but we fucked this royally.
So what did we do? We sat down as a family and asked what we all needed from life and what we weren’t getting. With love and honesty, in the end, we all felt that we put ourselves under too much pressure in all aspects of our lives. We had to change.
With Millie being an only child, she didn’t have access to many kids, mainly hanging with adults; from that, she has a very mature head on her, but she is a kid and needs to be a kid.
The goal: More time for all of us to fully live.
The action: Scale back our property and move back into a more practical community.
The outcome: More hobbies, Millie has play dates, we moved the office out of home, we walk the dogs, go out for dinner. We rest!
I have to say I don’t think I work less hard as I love what I do, but I put less pressure on myself to fit into what is expected of me. I made choices I thought were right, but they were right for others and not me.
A client brought this home today when he shared that he loved change, that it was time to push right out of his comfort zone, and that he had caught himself stuck in a couple of old ways.
This self-awareness is a powerful tool to move forward and in the right direction.
But you don’t want to lose momentum; if you slow down, you won’t ‘win’! WRONG
I launched a passion project with a clear plan 7 weeks ago. The thing I didn’t plan for was success. A strange thing to say, but the business has exploded. All because I went in with the right vision and passion for the business, and with that focus, the speed is natural and positive.
Don’t get me wrong; I LOOOOOOVE moving at pace. But after 12 years in business, I realise that speed is only helpful if you are heading in the right direction.
So, tell me this, what speed are you going, and are you going in the right direction?
Until next week, Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.
G.
