Slow and Steady Wins

If you feel like you are always busy and never getting anything done, this episode will help you shift your perspective. Slowing down is the key to boosting productivity. 

Transcript

The slow and steady wins message is age old wisdom that still rings true today, despite this fast paced, instant-gratification driven world. Our society has never been more stressed, depressed and anxious during any time in history, and yet we have access to better time-saving resources and technology that supposedly makes life easier. The truth of the slow and steady wins message has gotten lost in favor of boot camps, crash courses, and the less-than-five-steps-please mentality. We live in a fast-paced world, and it’s stressing us out in ways that are ruining our mental and physical health. It’s time to slow down!

After I wrote my book, “I’m a Turtle: Biblical Wisdom from the Hare and the Tortoise,” (Slow and Steady if you get the second edition) I continued to explore ways to apply this concept of focus and consistency to my life. There is such a rush in this world to accomplish goals in no time flat, keep up with your peers, and get more done in less time. These impossible standards and insane productivity goals left me always feeling behind. I felt like there was never enough time in the day to do all of the things I wanted to do. Not only was the time lacking, but so was my energy and ability to focus. I was split into so many directions, trying to be amazing at everything, and feeling like a failure in areas of my life that are important to me. I began to realize that the profound yet simple message of slow and steady that the Lord had placed on my heart was not just for a season. This message of streamlined focus and intentional repeated action was meant to be a lifestyle.

The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 9:11 “…The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle…” The Lord is truly the one who decides our outcomes, and things always work out in His timing, not ours. The world thinks that we can take short cuts and it promises success based on hacks, trends and tricks. If you look around, it may seem like these people are seemingly successful overnight, but that just isn’t reality.

I’ve learned over the past few years that I always do better at a slower pace. My focus is better, my attention span lasts longer, I pay more attention to detail and the quality of whatever I am working on is better. I used to think that getting a certain number of things done in one day meant that I was being super productive and that was a good thing. Now I understand that it isn’t about doing everything and doing it quickly. It is all about the process and how you learn and grow while you’re doing these things. It is about doing the right things at the right times, and being able to prioritize well. Whenever I slowed down, let go of the anxiety, I was able to see clearly what really mattered, what deserved my energy and attention. In the end I found myself doing less on average, but actually accomplishing more of what really mattered. I have less stress and anxiety, I feel more accomplished on days that I sometimes only get one thing done. I am free. I’m productive but not overly busy, I’m well rested, and I am moving forward towards my goals. Are you in that place? Do you want to be in that place?

We may want things to happen quickly. We may feel ready for our circumstances to change. However, the reality is that nothing happens under the sun until God allows it, and our hasty ways can actually set us back. Proverbs 21:5 says, “Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.” I trust the wisdom and truth of the word of God over any method that promises instant results or success without time and effort. Fast and easy is not God’s way, no matter how much our human nature appeals to it. Nothing is fast and easy in the kingdom of God, and there is a reason for that.

You see, it is all about the journey of become who God has created us to be, even more so than doing what He has called us to do. We need to go through the process of being molded and shaped into His likeness, the holy, righteous form of Christ. We slowly have to die to our former selves, and continuously be transformed by the renewing of our minds, as Romans 12:2 tells us. Without this transformation, which is often a slower process then we would like, we can never fulfill the purposes of God or truly experience all of the blessings that He has in store for us. God is wise enough not to give us things that we are not prepared to handle, just like you wouldn’t hand your toddler a pair of scissors before they have been taught how to cut.

Before we can have all that God has for us, we need to become who He wants us to be. You must be before you have. When things come to us fast and easy, they can go just as fast and easy. The reason why that is because if you don’t develop the discipline it takes to achieve it, you will not have the discipline you need to maintain it. It takes time to develop the character necessary to withstand success and all of the challenges associated with it. Rapid growth before you are ready for it can absolutely crush you, and leave you back at square one.

It is the same thing with blessings. Those things that you are patiently, or not so patiently, praying for. The big promise that you just can’t wait to see fulfilled, is on the other side of this growth. Are you focused on the end result, or are you paying attention to the lessons that the Lord is trying to teach you in the waiting? He can’t give you that thing that you are so earnestly seeking yet because you would probably mess things up. You aren’t ready, and the Lord wants to prepare you first. He has to make sure that your love for the blessing doesn’t outshine your love for Him. He has to make sure that you will continue to draw near to Him after your prayers have been answered. There is no big rush, absolutely no hurry in answering your prayers, but that doesn’t mean that God isn’t working on them. That doesn’t mean that He doesn’t hear you.

Isaiah 40:31 NLT says, “But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
     They will soar high on wings like eagles.
 They will run and not grow weary.
     They will walk and not faint.”

Did you ever try to run really fast to catch something or to get to somewhere quickly and found yourself out of breath? How about trying to keep up with an aerobics video or class only to find out that you are way more out of shape than you realized? Sometimes life is like that, we try to rush things and we end up fainting. We get really weary pretty fast, and we give up. If we just wait on the Lord, He will give us the endurance that we need to move ahead at just the right pace, with just the right timing, and we’ll still be able to breathe. Going ahead of God’s plan is draining and exhausting. 

It’s time to slow down. Think about your approach to your life and your goals right now. Are you trying to run this race at full speed ahead? Are you trying to find the fastest, easiest way to get where you want to go? Everyone is looking for the shortest route to their destination, but I would like to encourage you today to consider another way. How is the fast-paced rush, doing all the things all of the time, multitasking, pressured-filled life working out for you? Isn’t it time to reevaluate the hurry, and bring it down a notch?

I’d like to invite you to the slow and steady lifestyle. It’s going to require you to take five minutes everyday to tune into your purpose. You will have to make some mindset shifts. You will have to breathe a little more. This journey is about taking one step at a time, putting one foot in front of the other and trusting the process. This is not a five-step system, hack, or bootcamp. It’s a focused, consistent lifestyle of stress-free productivity. Does that sound good to you?

I’m deep diving into the Biblical mindset that you need to have to overcome stress and be more purposeful and productive than ever. I’m offering scriptural, practical ways to get more done with fewer headaches. It all begins with your mindset, slow and steady, one small mental shift at a time. I will be teaching and delivering proven psychological strategies to boost productivity and relieve stress in micro-lessons everyday. Are you ready to do less, yet get more done, and feel good about it at the end of the day?

Subscribe today to my Faith Flow Daily Mindset Shift for just $7 a month to get access to my private, 5 minute, weekday podcast episodes. I’ll be posting every weekday to subscribers only. Just click “support the show” in the description.

Remember, don’t quit, get equipped! Take care!