Slowing Down Will Make You Richer And More Fulfilled

Modern life constantly pushes us to move faster. More work. More urgency. More output.

And if you’re ambitious, that pressure multiplies 1000x. You feel like every hour needs to be filled, every gap needs to be productive and having any idle time makes you feel guilty.

I’ve dealt with this myself. Where I’m already thinking about the next thing before finishing what’s in front of me and being present feels impossible. My mind is everywhere except where I am at the moment.

You can also see this all around you. Most people can’t sit still for ten minutes without grabbing their phone. They eat while scrolling Instagram or train with headphones on because silence feels uncomfortable. Presence is almost nonexistent now.

I believe you have to work hard and act with urgency to achieve your goals, but you also need time to THINK. You need to know WHAT to work hard on.

If you don’t, you’ll get stuck on a hamster wheel digging everyday where there’s no gold to be found.

Reconciling speed with strategic thinking has been a huge challenge for me.

I’ve started being more deliberate about creating moments in my day where I can slow down and hear my own thoughts:

• Eating without my phone.
• Training without music or headphones.
• Waking up without an alarm and avoiding my phone for the first hour.
• Enjoying a cigar with friends instead of turning it into a work session.

I’ve found that for me, these small habits help me declutter my mind and spark my creativity.

All while confronting my belief that slowing down makes you lazy or that you lack ambition.

If there’s one hard lesson I’ve learned these last 2 years, success has less to do with the hours you put in and more with what you put in the hours.

• Johnny