The greater danger

In my experience, going too fast is far more dangerous than going too slow.

Oh, you want to implement some new healthy habits?
Show what you can do at work?
Make meaningful progress on a passion project?

I will say it again: going too fast is far more dangerous than going too slow.

As a life coach, I see it time and again: we bite off an amount that seems reasonable. Heck, it seems like less than “lots of other people do every day”!

And yet – it’s too much. We can’t keep it up. We’re tired, we’re discouraged. Of course, if we want it enough, we’ll eventually pick it up again — but we’ve wasted so much time and energy in the drama, frustration, and meandering path. 

…

The crazy, not-said-enough thing is:

It takes discipline, to purposefully constrain yourself to a slower, truly sustainable pace.

In other words: It may feel frustrating and terrible, to go slowly. You’ll think: But I can do more! I have more in me! There’s fuel in the tank!

Yes. That’s exactly the point.

You need to have more than enough fuel on some days — so that on other days when your fuel is far less, you’ll still have enough. So you can avoid flaming out, on an empty tank, by the side of the road. (Or, less dramatically, watching TikTok instead of doing your newfound healthy habits, or working on your screenplay.)

Repeat after me: going too fast is far more dangerous than going too slow.

Slow will get you there every time, team.

…

As always, I’m rooting for you in the week ahead. You’ve got this.

Katie

p.s. Yes, this lesson is age-old. (See also: the tortoise and the hare.) But I find that many of us — me included —need a reminder, sometimes.

p.p.s. Would you like me to be your life coach? I specialize in working with people who are already pretty “together” in their lives — paying their bills, and meeting their commitments. But just because your life looks pretty good on paper, doesn’t necessarily mean that it feels right to you, from the inside out.  Learn more.