How to go fast slowly in 2019
Do you find yourself constantly running a race? Going really, really fast in a rush to keep up with everything, but then feeling so frantic and frazzled that you get nothing done?
The period between Christmas and New Year offers you a chance to press pause and take stock.
New clients often tell me how they have big dreams, but feel completely exhausted and have no idea how to reach them.
The first thing I do is help them identify where they have been pressing repeat on old ways of doing things, because often this is what has been holding them back from experiencing different results. As Einstein once said:
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.
You may think that you are taking different action, but if the thinking behind your action stays the same, then the results won’t be any different.
The key is to uncover the things you have subconsciously been telling yourself year on year, that have been holding you back from truly following your passions and fulfilling your potential.
The thought patterns that routinely sabotage success for many of my clients tend to revolve around guilt about not doing enough, fear of not giving enough, and a compulsion to go faster, work harder and be better. Do any of these resonate for you?
Below I share a story from the Philippines that I came across in a children’s book I was reading to my daughters.
Once upon a time a farmer went to gather melons from his field to take to market. He was excited when he discovered that it had been a good harvest and there were many melons for him to harvest.
It took the farmer a long time to fill his cart and it was nearly midday by the time he had finished. “Gosh!” said the farmer, “I had better hurry or I will miss the market”. He set off with his donkey and decided to find a shortcut to save time. He remembered that is neighbor used a track through the forest to travel to the market, instead of taking the road. “I will try taking the track” thought the farmer to himself, “maybe that will get me there quicker”.
The farmer saw some children picking wild berries near the start of the track. He asked them how long it would take to get to the market if he went that way. “If you go slowly, the journey will take you about ten minutes. But, if you go fast it will take half an hour” replied one of the children.
“How silly!” thought the farmer, “the child must have confused what she meant”. He pulled the reins of the cart and commanded the donkey to go faster. Just as he did so, the front wheel of the cart hit a large stone and several melons fell out onto the ground. The farmer sighed and stopped to pick up the melons. They had rolled in many directions and it took him a long time to find them all.
The children walked past him carrying their baskets of berries. They were going very slowly to make sure that they didn’t drop any. “Oh dear!” the children said to the farmer. “You went so fast that your journey to the market has taken you a whole hour.”
The message of the story is that when we allow ourselves to slow down we can make more progress than by rushing everywhere.
Often the way we do one thing is the way we do everything.
Are you addicted to rushing and busy-ness?
What one thing could you change about your approach this year that would make the biggest difference and help you harness the energy of renewed possibility and potential that 2019 offers?
Make that change today!
Need more tips? See my other New Year articles: ‘What’s Your Vision for 2019?’ and ‘Make 2019 Your Best Year Yet’ or check out my best selling book “Burnout to Brilliance: Strategies for Sustainable Success”
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Need some help gaining clarity to create your vision for 2019?
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Burnout Coach Jayne Morris
Bespoke burnout recovery coaching programmes & retreats
Jayne Morris is the author of Burnout to Brilliance: Strategies for Sustainable Success. Jayne has over fifteen years’ experience in the mental health field, specialising in Burnout Coaching as an ICF PCC Executive Coach and is accredited in PG Cert Business & Personal Coaching, as well as being a Postgraduate-level Tutor and Coach Supervisor. She is also a former NHS Online Health Sector Life Coach, endorsed by Professor Dame Clare Gerada MBE, Chair Royal Council General Practitioners NHS. Jayne additionally holds an Advanced Diploma in Integrative Art Psychotherapy and BSc Economics. She is also accredited by the International Coaching Federation, the Association for Coaches and the National Council for Integrative Psychotherapy. As a member of the British Neuroscience Association, American Board of Neuro Linguistic Programming, International Transactional Analysis Association, Functional Fluency International and Institute for Arts and Therapy in Education Alumni Association, Jayne is passionate about continued professional development and stays across the latest developments in the fields of neuroscience, executive coaching, neuro linguistic programming, transactional analysis and integrative art psychotherapy. As a sought-after speaker, workshop leader, BBC radio and TV personality, Jayne is regularly invited to talk on a variety of topics relating to burnout prevention and recovery, sleep and stress management. Jayne delivers a postgraduate coach training programme on behalf of Barefoot Coaching Ltd, accredited by the University of Chester and ICF. She is also an ICF Mentor Coach and Coach Supervisor qualified at postgraduate level. She has been featured in many national and international publications on the topics of burnout, stress and wellbeing. Jayne runs Balanceology, a wellbeing business, with her husband Dylan. Balanceology offer in-person and online wellbeing workshops, coaching and consultancy. Jayne has extensive experience managing retreat spaces and running retreats, including projects for Charlotte Church's The Dreaming (Wales), Pythouse Kitchen Garden (Wiltshire), Belmont Estate (Bristol), 42 Acres (Frome) and Lucknam Park Spa (Bath). She creates bespoke individual and group retreats hosted in specially selected venues in the UK and abroad. When not writing, speaking or coaching on topics relating to burnout, Jayne can be found swimming in the sea, practicing martial arts (she is a black belt in both Karate and Tae Kwon Do) or our on long walks with the family dog, Blade. She resides with her husband and two daughters by the coast, near Bristol, where she loves running 3-day restorative retreats and being outdoors.