When I was in the busiest time of my life; I was getting my business going, I was raising some teenagers, I was struggling with figuring out how to get everything done and do this “life thing” in a way that felt at all successful.
In the middle of that time, I asked an older mentor for some advice.
How do I get it all done?
His advice shocked me!
“Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”
All I did at that point in my life was hurry. I would wake up super early. Pack up some lunches, make breakfast, run out the door, and get into my first meeting of the day. I ate lunch behind my steering wheel as I ran to my afternoon meetings, struggling to get home in time to make dinner…
That was my life. I was rushing from one thing to another. And here was my mentor telling me that I needed to ruthlessly eliminate hurry from my life.
Although this advice seemed insane, I didn’t have any better ideas, and so I leaned in to slowing down.
- I tried having fewer meetings and getting less done
- I tried saying “no” to more and more assignments.
- I tried to be more present to what I was doing every moment of the day.
What I found underneath the hurry was fear.
Fear that I would disappoint people fear that if I didn’t constantly produce, I wouldn’t have value, fear that I wasn’t enough.
Looking back, it seemed crazy to slow down, but living every day in fear is way worse.
I still bump into those fears almost every day, but they don’t have the exact grip that they once did, as long as I’m not in a hurry!
How would you rate your level of “hurry” and business? What would that do for your business and life if you could find a way to be 50% less busy?
Hit reply with your thoughts; I’m looking forward to hearing them.
