The Case for Slowing Down

Hello and welcome to the Curiosity Chronicle, a weekly podcast where I provide actionable ideas to help you build a high performing, healthy, wealthy life. Today's podcast is brought to you by AG1 by Athletic Greens my all in one daily supplement. Seriously, this stuff replaced an entire cabinet of supplements for me in one daily Scoop. There's a reason it's been a staple of my morning routine since 2011. To find out why, go to drinkag1.comsahil and take advantage of a limited time offer. Now on to today's the Case for Slowing down this is an old story I love A martial arts student approaches his teacher and asks, how long will it take me to master this craft? The teacher replies, 10 years. The student, looking impatient, responds, I want to master it faster than that. I will work harder than anyone else. I will push myself to practice for many hours every single day. I won't rest until I become a master. How long will it take then? The teacher considers this new information, smiles, and answers, 20 years. The lesson more Intensity is not the Answer to achieve the things you want in life, you must pursue them with balance. Unfortunately, this idea runs counter to much of what we're taught in the modern era, where speed, extremes and perpetual busyness are celebrated irrespective of the outcomes they create. To pursue things with balance in our culture is almost indistinguishable from laziness. But in today's piece, I want to make the case for slowing down. Because in a world that wants you to speed up, there is tremendous upside to be found, personally and professionally in doing the opposite. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. The single greatest challenge for any ambitious person is reframing slowing down as an essential part of your performance, not a reward for your effort. I spent most of my life as the stereotypical maximum intensity person. I viewed anything less than 100% intensity as a missed opportunity. 10 out of 10 effort was all I knew. This mindset worked, but only up to a point. As a strategy, maximum intensity is effective in the short and medium term, but begins to show cracks when you extend the time horizon. You hit the proverbial wall and stagnate or drop off. By then, it's often too late to change course and assume a balanced approach. Similar to the distance runner who starts a race too fast and is unable to complete it, you've effectively knocked yourself out of the game. Life is a simple game of compounding, and compounding is just returns to the power of time, meaning the returns matter less than time. As the exponent, the most important thing is staying in the game long enough to allow compounding to work its magic. The longer you're able to stay in the game, the more significant your growth. When you're constantly moving fast, everything is a blur. When you slow down, you start to see the world more clearly. You can identify the energy killers in your life, the people and activities that are draining your energy and happiness. Find the energy creators that are life giving and make best use of your unique blend of talents and competencies. Embrace the free time that allows you to seek out the asymmetric high upside opportunities you might have missed. Observe the tiny beauties around you, the moments of gratitude and joy. The Navy Seals have a saying that I love Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. It's a powerful reminder of the paradox of speed. Slowing down is what allows you to speed up. 5 simple ways to slow down more regularly Here are 5 strategies you can use to slow down in your everyday life. Take pride in unitasking Multitasking is a myth perpetuated by hustle culture. It's fake productivity. You think you're crushing it, but you're just running around churning out a bunch of c work. Build your day around a few focused sprints with with breaks in between Compartmentalize to focus on a one key task at hand. Take more 5 minute breaks Microsoft's Human Factors Lab studied 14 participants across two days of video meetings, with day one comprised of four back to back 30 minute meetings and day two comprised of four 30 minute meetings with 10 minute breaks in between. The researchers found that the breaks increased performance significantly, as measured by frontal alpha symmetry, a brain state connected to levels of engagement. Taking short breaks throughout your day is an easy way to reduce stress and improve your overall performance. During the breaks, you can sit, walk, or just close your eyes and breathe. Take a power walk when he got stuck on a difficult problem, Steve Jobs was known to leave his office to go for a walk. As it turns out, the science now shows that walking improves creativity and problem solving. Stanford researchers found that walkers performed significantly better on tests measuring creative, divergent thinking during and after walks. In fact, walking boosted creative thinking by an average of 60%, and the benefits lasted well beyond the walk itself. Embrace the power of no Perpetual busyness is often a natural byproduct of our fear of saying no. This problem is most pronounced for people who self identify as nice. A nice person says yes to every request for their time, every coffee chat, every weekend invitation, every dinner with colleagues or friends. Unfortunately, being nice to everyone may get in the way of being kind to yourself. Normalize saying no to things to create more space in your life. Two simple tricks to reduce new commitments when someone asks you to do something in the future, ask yourself if you'd want to do it if it were today. If the answer is no, say no. If you're about to say yes to something under the assumption that you'll have more time for it in the future, say no to it instead. Find your garden. John D. Rockefeller would take regular breaks from his notoriously demanding schedule to mill about in his garden. It was his personal escape, the place where he could think slowly and clearly. When I ask ultra successful people about the daily rituals that contribute to their effectiveness, all of them cite some personal version of Rockefeller's garden. An escape that allows them to create space in their life to think. Find your garden. Enter it daily. The good old days are happening. Life isn't short. It's actually very, very long. But we make it short when we sprint our way through it. We all need to stop racing through life. A powerful reminder. Every single thing you do today is something that your 90 year old self will wish they could go back and do. The good old days are happening right now. Slow down. Look around. Embrace the present. Your entire life will change the moment you realize that the growth you asked for is on the other side of the stillness you've been avoiding. That's all for today. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you learned something and I hope you'll share it with others. If you if you enjoyed this, you're going to love my first book, the Five Types of Wealth. You can order it now on Amazon or go to the 5typesofwealth.com to buy it anywhere books are sold. Thank you. And as always, until next time, stay curious. Friends.