In this solo podcast episode, Tony Suriano reflects on a recent road‑trip to illustrate the dangers of constantly rushing toward goals. Using vivid driving metaphors, he contrasts the reckless speed of a driver who races past a slower car with the calm, mindful cruising he experienced, highlighting how haste can lead to accidents, burnout, and missed experiences. He connects this to modern culture’s instant‑gratification mindset, noting that many people neglect vacations and overwork, which fuels a cycle of stress and reduced well‑being. Suriano urges listeners to prioritize the journey—slowing down, “smelling the flowers,” and aligning actions with personal values—while still allowing occasional acceleration when the risk‑reward balance is favorable. He ends with a call to action: engage in the comments, subscribe, and sign up for his newsletter for further guidance on living a balanced, purposeful life.
Chapters
Have you ever let yourself go? Well, in this case, I let my car go. As you can see in the background, if you're watching here on YouTube, my car is disheveled. Why? Because I just came back from a really empowering road trip across a few states, and it was fun. It was great, and I learned a few lessons. I'm Tony Suriano, and this is the Tony Suriano Show. I want to share some simple ideas here today with you, and it's one of those cliché ones. It's not about the destination, it's about the journey. Have you ever caught yourself speeding to the destination, that place you really want to go to? We all have, I'm sure. I have. And I was driving down this beautiful highway with trees on the left, trees on the right, Sun shining in, a little bit of a windy road up and down the hills, and I'm cruising around the speed limit, maybe even a little slower. And then out of nowhere, there's that guy— we all know who that guy or girl is— speeding past me. And this is a one-way forward, one-way the opposite, so it's really 2 lanes, and there's a little bit of danger in that. You have to pass someone. On the left, um, and it's scary because someone could be coming right over that hill as you're passing, or around that curve. You have to be very careful. But what happens, a lot of people, they will just race past the slow driver. I wasn't going too slow, don't worry. Yeah. They'll race past the slow driver as fast as they can. They'll risk their lives and others' lives because there is that possibility That they can't get around my car and the car in front of my car and the other car in front of that car in this case, and they're risking their lives and others. Now imagine one step further. If they get in an accident, hopefully they don't kill anyone, but what happens if they need to go to the hospital themselves because they just got in this accident and now 3 months they're bedridden healing up? From broken bones, all this horrible stuff that happened because they were racing towards a destination. Or rather, they were missing out on the present moment, all the beauty around them, the sun, the trees, just cruising and enjoying. And I'm sharing that because there's so many times in life we want to go to that next place, we want to get that goal so fast. Because we have this instant gratification need, especially in this day and age with all the distractions and the instant flips and flops on the social media, that we forget to stop and smell the flowers. To say the cliché thing, stop and smell the flowers. Because if you don't, you're gonna get in a crash and you're gonna actually not get ahead anymore. You'll be 3 months behind. And then the other people that are enjoying and making progress, doing the journey, enjoying the journey, being the journey, they'll achieve their goals in a more peaceful way, in a more enlightened way, in a way that actually serves them so they can stay in alignment. That is so profound to me. It's simple, it's cliché, but I'll say it again. It's about the journey, not the destination. Because once you get to the destination, it's cool for a while, it's fun, but then you're looking for another destination. So if we know we're gonna have unlimited destinations, sit back, enjoy the ride. It doesn't mean you can't speed up at times, but the risk versus the reward ratio needs to be expansive, and you don't want to put others at risk. So think about that today. Where are you going? Are you enjoying the journey, or are you slaving away, grinding in pain and fury? Which one is it? I know for me, yes, I really like to streamline what I'm doing. I like to be smarter, not harder. But I also understand that things take time. I also understand that the tortoise gets there and the hare doesn't. I understand that when I want that instant gratification, I need to move back, get some perspective. You got to get out of the woods, right? So you can see the whole thing and enjoy that journey and understand that's the path you need to take. You'll get there. Don't rush it. Enjoy it. And actually, time expands. When you do that, because if you're flying and you're racing to the destination, you're not only missing out on the things, the experiences, the people— something happens where it's like a loss of time, not in a good way. You wonder what happened. Wow, I've been pushing for a decade and I didn't even go on vacation. Did you know that a big number I don't know exactly, but a high amount of people don't take their vacation times. People that work full-time, often jobs they are not satisfied with, they don't take their vacation time. And it is something like above 50%. Look it up. Let me know in the comments. That baffles me. That boggles me. But it's also expected because people get lost in the grind. They get burned out so much to get that thing that they don't stop to recharge. They don't pull over when they see something. They don't slow down to embrace and to experience. That's what I want to share today. I was reflecting on that because after this road trip, I just have these reminders that I need to enjoy the experience. I need to sit down in between my busy life and just watch the tree blow in the wind and let that be my recharge, and then go on and do what I need to do, but do a little more of that. So what is it for you? I want to know. Let me know in the comments. And if you're on YouTube, please give me a subscribe. Appreciate it. It helps more than you know. That's it for today. If you want to go further and sign up to my newsletter, check it out at tonysuriano.com/newsletter. That's the message today. Slow down, smell the flowers, and enjoy the journey.
