How To Move Slow and Steady (ánd Win The Race) – 6 Life-Changing Tips
“It is not about the quantity of your product or service, it is about the quality”. I bet we all know that famous saying and it is absolutely accurate. It is much better to have written one great phenomenal bestseller than ten books who are barely selling and no one knows about or reads. It is all about the final outcome of what it is you are doing, what are you finally producing?
In my personal life and experience, I have come to find out after being disappointed with myself many times due to procrastination, that it is rather unnecessary than useful to get all wind up for not finishing or doing something when you intend or plan for it. There are moments when you just do not feel like doing something, maybe because you are tired or perhaps because you lack the motivation or inspiration, either way it is more beneficial to put in the work when you feel like doing so, in contrast to forcing yourself when you feel the total opposite. This is because when you force yourself to do something, there is a lack of imaginative ability because you are simply uninspired, which again makes it a lot harder to come up with creative ideas and solutions. Your brain simply is not working in its best optimal manner whenever the imaginative part of your brain is foggy and hard to get a hold on. It is only when you intuitively feel the timing to be right to do something, that includes having a creative spark, that your body, mind and spirit works as whole to complete those tasks in its best capability.
Why putting in effort can be difficult
One of the reasons why putting in effort into things can be hard or difficult especially at first, is because our brain lacks the dopamine to do it – that we are so used from getting from activities that take very little conscious effort (spending time on social media, watching TV etc). Therefore our brain is in a sense programmed to take the path to least resistance and thus our subconscious automatically will make us do what is most easy, which of course ultimately ends up working against us. Think about how easy it is to go on your phone and just watch Youtube videos continuously for two hours on end. Before you know it you spent the whole afternoon on your mobile device while you were not even planning on doing so! That is the danger of being into a constant dopamine hit cycle that is derived from such things as social media, it works just like a drug.
Lifting the pressure
Let’s talk about why we just do not take a little action at a time instead of none at all then? Wouldn't that be a lot smarter and more productive? Well yes of course, but the problem with most people is that they set their goals or intentions way too high, they have unrealistic expectations. I am not saying I am not guilty of being that way myself sometimes still, but I have realized the power of setting smaller goals and intentions at a time. We are naturally more likely to give up fast when we perceive something to be a lot of work, but when we make things smaller in our mind, we believe more that it can be achieved and even more so that it can be fun and rewarding and as a result, we will continue doing it. You see how working a little slower actually creates the opposite effect in the end, it actually moves you towards success more rapidly, ironically enough.
How moving slow, yet steady will produce your desired results
I am now going to show you and explain how moving slow and steady will actually benefit you and work in your favour in the long run. As I have stated at the very beginning of this article, it is the quality of the effort you invest that matters, it is not about the quantity. This is why we are moving rather slow, because doing that increases our chances for more success long-term. I am well-aware of course that this does not account for each person since everyone is different, however this is my personal advice for those who do not have or want to invest the time to spend hours every single day doing what they feel is necessary in order to achieve great results or success, but still want the outcome they desire. There really is no need to do that at all as a matter of fact, as I believe you should work, invest or simply entertain things at your own pace, what feels best and most natural to you and your own situation.
Here are my 6 tips on how to move slow, yet steady and win the race:
1. Do not force yourself when you really lack inspiration or motivation
I wrote about this earlier and it is simple, just do not do that. One reason is because you will probably waste your time thinking too much on how to take action ór you will spend a much longer time finishing whatever it is you have attempted to do, rather than if you would just take action whenever you feel inspired. Just give yourself a little time to recuperate, rest or do something else instead and come back to it when you feel ready. Not only does this take away a ton of pressure off of your shoulders, it also will increase the chances of achieving greater final results.
2. Take quick immediate action when you do feel inspired or motivated
When you feel like you want to invest or emerge yourself into your project or whatever you are doing or are interested in, take quick and rapid action. This is very important and it goes hand in hand with the following tip down below. You want to make sure that now that you are feeling wrapped up, you are using this energy to your fullest potential. Remember that what you are feeling inside of yourself at that moment is creative energy, so do make the best use of that by simply getting started right away.
3. When taking action focus 100% on the task at hand and do not distract yourself with other things
Once finally being devoted to your work or craft, concentrate your entire attention on what is right in front of you. Focus solely on what is important, put away your phone and other things that may distract you and do not engage in other activities. Try your best to put all of your interest and energy on your pursuit while you are busy.
4. Complete your task fully first before doing anything else
Make sure to round up everything you planned to do before jumping unto something else (unless you are performing strong physical work/working very long hours/studying/feel drained). This is also a very important tip and you must make sure to really do this and finish off the whole thing before actually starting to do other things. I promise that it is easier in many cases than it seemingly seems. This will help you greatly to move forward more quickly in the complete process. I know this from my own personal experience, especially with writing. For example, it is much easier for me to write a whole article in one go, instead of doing it in two or three separate parts. The reason for this is because if I divide my time writing an article in separate parts, I will have to reread and intellectually digest the whole article all over again each time, which is going to result in a lot of wasted time.
5. Reward yourself after you are done
You want to absolutely reward yourself once you are done as proof that you accomplished something amazing. I am sure you probably already do this after doing things that are very productive, time-consuming or are demanding in any sort of way. Now it is “ok” to have some social media time, spend time with friends or do something else that you enjoy or love doing. Rewarding yourself after hard work gives you a sense of fulfilment and pride of which you tell yourself that you especially deserve this treat because you are working towards your goals.
6. Make sure to have a schedule and stick to it
One last thing you do need to make sure you have and stick to, is a schedule. To be honest with you, it is ironic for me to say this because I have rarely ever stuck to a schedule for long periods of time, but somehow generally speaking I have always been able to remain consistent with the things that I do that are important to me. Obviously you will have to figure out for yourself what schedule suits your life and personal goals (f.e. if you are a content creator, uploading a Youtube video twice a month), the only rule is that you remain consistent because doing so will grant that you move slow, yet steady ánd win the race!