I looked at my Garmin Connect running log the other day and it showed the past 12 months have been my worst performance in 15+ years. There were lots of two-steps forward and three-steps back. I ramped up my weekly mileage too rapidly after a long break due to a relocation and am now dealing with an injury.
I should have slowed down to speed up.
Slowing down would have given me time to focus on pre-run stretching, warmup, breathing, and pace. Slowing down would have allowed me to do run/walk intervals and take in the sunrise. Slowing down would have left me feeling more rested instead of fatigued.
Isn’t life a bit like this?
We get in a hurry and then something goes wrong.
If we don’t think we have time to do things right, how will we have time to fix it when it does not go well?
I think back to things that went wrong in my life, whether it be work or personal relationships – haste and focusing in a self-imposed deadline seemed to be the common theme.
Let’s try slowing down to speed up. Let’s avoid self-imposed deadlines.
Doing so would have given us time to say a nice word to the store clerk who appeared to be struggling. We would have time to speak to the unsheltered person on the street corner to acknowledge their humanity. We could have spent more time chatting with our friend at the store. Maybe, just maybe our life would be better by not having to go back and fix something because we moved too quickly.
Thank you for your perspective and comments. I especially like the last paragraph – “When the stakes are important…”. Slowing down during those times could be the difference between success and disaster.
The push for constant acceleration is progressively extending also to thought processes: the activities associated with making decisions, formulating judgements, solving complex problems and carrying out projects are increasingly subject to pressure to constantly reduce implementation times.
The fundamental assumption on which our drive to accelerate in every situation is based is that it is possible to do more things (well) in the same amount of time, whether it be mechanical actions or thought processes.
Pausing for a few seconds after receiving an input (the request to make a decision, to solve a problem, to express an opinion, to answer a question) allows us to avoid the risks of conditioning and errors associated with automatic reaction, and to consciously exercise our freedom to choose the response.
When the stakes are important, it is wise to abandon the illusion that you can think quickly and take all the time you need to think clearly.