Slow Enough to Win

Many people fail not because they lack ambition or discipline, it is because of our rush to become successful all at once. During our pursuit of evolving, improving, and trying to get it together, goals become stacked on top of one another and there is an expectation that the transformation will occur almost immediately. It begins with motivation, but it then becomes pressure, which, when not properly managed, turns into collapsed momentum. 

Taking on too much all at once is one of the common mistakes that we make leading to failure. Intensity is mistaken for commitment and speed is viewed as progress. We trick ourselves into thinking that doing more is a sign that we care deeply about what we’re setting out to accomplish. Truthfully, this will probably lead to us skipping or overlooking the hard part, which is to build something that will last.

There’s an appeal to overloading the calendar; it feels like we’re getting things done; it feels important. We develop new standards, routines, and new expectations arise all at once. Then, for a moment, things feel completely aligned with how we envisioned them. After time, the truth sets in. Our motivation dips and then we slowly begin to lose consistency. What used to feel exciting becomes tiring, and eventually, it is left abandoned.

This is the part where confidence becomes lost, but it’s not because you’re not capable. It is due to the version of growth that was created which requires absolute perfection in order to survive. How can this possibly be sustained? When the overloaded systems fail, we internalize the failure as if it is our identity. We feed into created stories of ourselves that we were not focused, strong, or disciplined enough. Rarely do we ask ourselves if the plan itself was simply too unreasonable. 

When it comes to growing, we have to remind ourselves that it’s not explosive-it takes structure. There has to be capacity in place. Before more weight is added, strength must be built, there is a demand for foundation before expansion can take place. Scaling too soon isn’t an indicator that you are ambitious; it will only make you unstable. Lasting progress respects time, stages, and limits.

Restraint is a quiet discipline which people don’t realize. There are many people that can sprint for a week, but there aren’t many that can consistently appear over months and years. Deciding to take things at a slower pace doesn’t mean that you lack drive-it just means that you have committed yourself to sustainability. There’s an understanding that momentum is held by repetition, not intensity. 

Only when we give ourselves time is when growth becomes possible. We must give ourselves time to learn and adjust. Give grace and time to fail to avoid your entire system from collapsing. When one direction becomes our focal point instead of three or four, we allow ourselves room to develop confidence instead of constantly stealing it from motivation.

There’s tension throughout this process, which comes from asking for results from the part of ourselves that is not fully developed yet. Outcomes become rushed through neglecting our foundations. However, all of the work that was avoided in being patient will always reappear as a form of being burnt out. 

You will not receive a reward for arriving early and exhausted. Remember that the goal is durability-not speed. Lasting growth compounds quietly, almost as if it is invisible, until it is, one day, undeniable. Time is not our enemy, but the misuse of it certainly is.