Picture this, a guy named Fred is finally going on a date with the girl he’s been too scared to talk to for the last month, but, he’s running late. He tries to get there as fast as humanly possible, but he forgot his wallet at home, now he has to go back, which makes him even more late and even more nervous. Back on his way & he almost gets into an accident because the old lady in front of him was “driving too slow”, he drops his phone trying to look for directions now the screen is cracked, he finds the restaurant but has to park far from the restaurant, so he starts running like a madman and arrives drenched in sweat. But hey, at least he brought her flowers. Lovely!
Now you may be thinking, ‘what a mess of a situation, he was better off not rushing at all’. Which is true. But we can’t judge him too harshly because the truth is, we are all Fred! At least sometimes.
We all have goals, and more often than not, it takes us longer to achieve them because things never go according to plan. So what do we do? We rush! We try to skip steps, attack multiple things at the same time, we go all over the place thinking it’ll help us reach our goal faster, only to be disappointed when we realize we’ve gone backwards.
There is a process to accomplishing goals, and we must respect it. Now what does this process entail? Simple: no matter how many things we have to get done, no matter how big the task, the best approach is to patiently & attentively tackle each task one by one! This is why the good guys in movies always win the fights, because no matter how many people they’re fighting against, for some mysterious reason, the bad guys always attack one by one. Giving our protagonist the best chance at whooping their ass. That’s it, that’s the key to life. You are welcome, now go be a billionaire. Okay, fine. I’ll explain this a bit further. Or better yet, I’ll let Robert Greene do it for me:
“If you let the complexity of the situation confuse you and either hesitate or lash out without thought, you will lose control, which will only add momentum to the negative force coming at you. Always divide up the issue at hand, first placing yourself in a central position, then proceeding down the line, killing off your problems one by one. It is often wise to begin with the smallest problem while keeping the most dangerous one at bay. Solving that one will help you create momentum, both physical and psychological, that will help you overwhelm all the rest” — Robert Greene
This is the irony of life: in order for us to move faster, we must slow down. Efficiency and speed are the result of deliberate action, that can only be achieved through focusing deeply on a singular task. It is why the mantra of the Navy SEALs is “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast”. We must slowdown in order to accomplish more. If it works for people that are risking their lives fighting terrorists, it definitely works you, me and Fred! I got some more Robert for ya:
“A person who can lie back and wait for the right moment to take action will almost always have an advantage over those who give in to their natural impatience.” — Robert Greene
So take it slow, be deliberate with your actions, don’t be like Fred!
