How to accelerate your path to success by slowing down
In order to move forward, you have to take your foot off the gas.
After all, if we continue down a path with uncertainty and a lack of clarity, who knows where we’ll end up. It’s only after we hit the brakes, recalibrate the compass, and create a new path, that we can accelerate with intention and focus.
When the destination is clear, the directions have a way of showing themselves.
So many of us are driving blindly, never taking the time to identify where it is we want to go. We hustle and struggle through obstacles; speed bumps, traffic jams, and construction try to slow us down but instead we fight through, determined that we are on the right path. But what if those blockers are trying to tell us something and we’re just not listening…?
While it might sound counterintuitive, we can only move forward when we know what direction we want to go and that begins with slowing down. Pulling the car over, taking a deep breath, and leaving it in the driveway. It’s either that or we keep going in circles wondering why nothing has changed… This leads to feeling stuck, frustrated, overwhelmed, and eventually burnt out.
It’s only when we slow down, take the time to connect with ourselves, that we can build deep awareness and unlock our deepest desires that open the door to the world of possibility.
This is the first critical step in goal setting.
Too often our goals are aligned to someone else’s priorities; whether that’s society, our company, or our family. But your true goal, your true desire, lies in the answer to this question:
What do you want?
In your response lies hidden gems, ready to be mined, sanded, dusted off to reveal their true essence. The deeper you go, the more layers reveal themselves and the jewel begins to appear in crystal clear form - the first step in moving your life forward.
With this new sense of clarity, we can start to get specific around our goal - to create timelines, measures, and specificity so that we can focus our energy (time, attention, money, and resources) on what we want to achieve.
What we focus on grows.
But this is only the beginning…
Without the next step our goal is nothing more than a great idea.
"Genius is in the idea. Impact comes from action."
~ Simon Sinek
Action is where the true magic happens.
But not just any action.
The challenge lies in taking action towards the thing that you most want but do not have.
After all, a goal is something new, something you haven’t experienced. When, and only when, you take a new action, create a different habit, experience unfamiliarity, can you start to move towards your goal.
So many of us are stuck in the doing for doing’s sake. We’re caught up in the hustle, in the chase, leading us to undesirable results. We’re distracted by all the things that should be done without giving any thought to whether or not the actions we’re taking are in service of what we want, where we want to go. Keeping busy is easy. Doing things for the sake of productivity is easy.
But are your actions and activities rote? Or are they leading you to a new, desired, result?
This is where the slow down allows you to speed up. When you’re clear on what you want your actions are inspired by you, they come from inside you… As a result, it feels good to do the work. It feels good to move forward. It feels good to be doing. Because it has intention. Because it’s in alignment. Because it’s what you want.
Are you ready to keep going and start building your staircase to success?
Dive deep with me in AIM + ACTION: a goal setting workshop to help you hit the ground running in pursuit of your goals!
Kirsten Schmidtke is a professional coach, speaker, and lover of lake life. She works with leaders, creators, and entrepreneurs to help them up-level their careers, businesses, and lives. Are you ready to explore what’s possible for you? Contact Kirsten to start the conversation!
